CONVICTED MURDERER LACK OF GOOD DUMINDA SILVA OUT ON GOVERNANCE WILL COST PRESIDENTIAL PARDON JUNE SRI LANKA DEARLY 25 - 27, 2021 ANOTHER ‘HORRIFIC’ VOL: 4- ISSUE 253 DISCOVERY OF INDIGENOUS . CHILDREN’S REMAINS THE STYLISH JET SETTER 30 GLOCAL PAGE 03 HOT TOPICS PAGE 04 COMMENTARY PAGE 07 LITERARY LIVES PAGE 09

Registered in the Department of Posts of Sri Lanka under No: QD/130/News/2021 EU leaders reject push for Putin summit BRUSSELS - European Union leaders have rejected a push from Germany and France to restart meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday (25). "It was not possible to agree today that we should meet imme- diately at the top level," Merkel said after talks between the bloc's leaders at an EU summit in Brussels. Merkel said that leaders had agreed to maintain and develop a "dialogue format" with Russia. "I would have liked to see a bolder step here, but it is also good this way and we will continue to work on it," she said. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said "there will be no meetings at the European Union leaders' level with Russia". "We see that the situation of our relations with Russia is deterio- rating and we see new aggressive forms in behaviour of Russia," he said. Berlin and Paris had blindsided their EU counterparts by put- ting forward a last-minute proposal for the bloc to resume meetings with Putin in the wake of US President Joe Biden's sit-down with him in Geneva last week. There was opposition from numerous member states - especially in eastern Europe - who remain deeply wary of rewarding the Kremlin with talks before it changes course. Moscow said Thursday (24) that Putin was a "supporter" of the proposal, which would have potentially revived a regular fixture fro- zen in 2014 after the takeover of Crimea by Russia. The last summit between EU chiefs and Putin took place in early 2014, but the Kremlin strongman has always preferred to deal bi- laterally with individual nations. The EU is looking to revamp its strategy on keeping its vast eastern neighbour in check as Brussels admits that relations with the Kremlin look set to deteriorate fur- ther despite having already reached their "lowest level". Moscow has been at loggerheads with a number of Western capi- tals recently after a Russian troop build-up on Ukraine's borders and a series of espionage scandals that have resulted in diplomatic expulsions. - J. Sujeewakumar/ENCL -DPA/Agencies Wildlife officials carry the carcass of a turtle X-Press Pearl burned for 12 days and sank last surrounding waters and a long stretch of the that was washed ashore at the beach of week off Sri Lanka's main port in the capital island’s famed beaches. Post-mortem analysis Angulana, south Colombo on Thursday (24). Colombo. The fire started on the ship on May on the carcasses are being performed at five 1 dead, 99 missing in harrowing Over a hundred carcasses of turtles with 20 and dead marine species started washing government-run laboratories and separately throat and shell damage, as well as 15 dead ashore days later. A ship manifest said 81 of by the Government Analysts Department. condo collapse near Miami dolphins and five whales, have washed ashore its nearly 1,500 containers held ‘dangerous’ “Provisionally, we can say that these deaths in Sri Lanka since a container ship burned and goods. The Sri Lankan navy believes the blaze were caused by two methods — one is due SURFSIDE, Fla. — The rumble that awoke people inside the sank, raising fears of a severe marine disaster. was caused by its chemical cargo, most of to burns from the heat and secondly due Champlain Towers condo complex just north of Miami Beach after Ecologists believe the deaths were directly which was destroyed in the fire. But debris to chemicals. These are obvious,” said Anil midnight Thursday (24) sounded like thunder. It was, horrifyingly, caused by the fire and release of hazardous including burned fiberglass and tonnes of Jasinghe, secretary of the environment the collapse of half the building, which proceeded to pancake into chemicals while the Singapore-flagged plastic pellets have severely polluted the ministry the ground as if struck by an earthquake. The sudden collapse of the condominium left at least one person dead and 99 unaccounted for, an enormous number that led to an intense search operation above and below ground with trained dogs COVID-19 and sonar, looking for signs of life. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said search-and-rescue teams had “made contact” with some people in the wreckage of the 12-story, 136-unit residential complex. Emergency workers heard “sounds ‘Brutal’ third wave hits Africa as and bangs” late Thursday afternoon, said Ray Jadallah, a Miami- Dade Fire Rescue assistant chief — but no voices. Early on, rescuers saved one boy whose fingers wiggled from atop the jumble of concrete and steel as he cried for help. vaccination slows Teams of 60 to 75 fire-fighters plus an urban search-and-rescue JOHANNESBURG - Africa is facing Africa's worst yet". Africa Centres for Dis- precedented influx of patients. Unlike past squad were rotating in and would continue working into the night, a vicious coronavirus resurgence, with ease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) waves, this time "the hospital system is Jadallah said. The stunning partial collapse of the residential build- unprecedented hospital admissions and director John Nkengasong on Thursday not coping," said doctors' association chief ing at 8777 Collins Ave. left few answers and considerable questions fatalities pushing health facilities to the described the third wave as "extremely Angelique Coetzee. about how a 40-year-old condo could have suddenly crumbled as its brink as the continent falls far behind in brutal" and "very devastating". South Africa's average new daily infec- residents rested in their beds. the global vaccination drive. And Liberia's President George Weah tions have increased 15-fold since early Fifty-five units were affected by the collapse, Miami-Dade County With just under 5.3 million reported has warned the wave is "far more alarm- April, with hospital admissions rising Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said. The building was home to a mix of cases and around 139,000 deaths among ing than a year ago" as hospitals overflow around 60%. retirees and well-off professionals with young families. its nearly 1.3 billion people, Africa is still in his country. Namibia, Uganda and Zambia are also -NYT the world's least-affected continent after Compounding Africa's third wave are seeing steep infection curves. Oceania, according to an AFP tally. immunization hitches, the spread of more According to the WHO, about 1% of the So far African nations have been spared transmissible virus variants and winter continent's population is fully vaccinated - Rights groups outraged over disasters comparable to Brazil or India. temperatures in the Southern Hemi- the lowest ratio globally - and 90% of Afri- But the pandemic is resurging at an sphere. can nations will miss a target to inoculate alarming rate in at least 12 countries, with The Delta variant, first detected in In- a tenth of their populations by September. Pakistan PM’s rape comments continental cases expected to hit a record dia, has so far been reported in 14 Afri- "We are running a race behind time, the KARACHI - Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was facing a peak in around three weeks. can countries, making up the bulk of new pandemic is ahead of us. We are not win- growing backlash Thursday (24) after he blamed victims of rape for "The third wave is picking up speed, cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo ning in Africa this battle against the virus," wearing "very few clothes". spreading faster, hitting harder," World and Uganda, according to the WHO. said Africa CDC's Nkengasong. Former playboy cricketer Khan told television show Axios that Health Organization (WHO) Africa direc- Doctors in South Africa, which accounts "It's frightening what is going on in the how women dress affects men's behaviour, outraging activists in the tor Matshidiso Moeti warned Thursday for more than 35% of all cases recorded on continent," he added. deeply conservative Islamic country. (24). "The latest surge threatens to be the continent, are struggling with an un- -AFP "If a woman is wearing very few@Copyrights clothes it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. It's common sense," he said in Eng- lish when asked about the epidemic of sexual violence and rape in Pakistan. He did not elaborate on what he meant by "few clothes", Trending News Quote for Today in a country where the vast majority of women wear conservative national dress. USA: President Joe Biden meets Afghan closed public places following a surge in Respect for the rule of law is not More than a dozen women's rights groups including the Human President Ashraf Ghani and his former po- new cases since it was dropped 10 days ago. optional; it's fundamental. Rights Commission of Pakistan released a statement on Thursday litical foe, Abdullah Abdullah, to discuss Australia: Central Sydney and its popular -Frans Timmermans demanding an apology. Washington’s support for Afghanistan as eastern beaches around Bondi are ordered "This is dangerously simplistic and only reinforces the common the last US troops pack up after 20 years Word for Today public perception that women are 'knowing' victims and men 'help- into lockdown as authorities try to contain of war and government forces struggle to an expanding outbreak of the highly con- less' aggressors," they said. repel Taliban advances. Picaresque [pik-uh-resk] -adjective "It gives impunity to the culprits of rape, sodomy and molesters," tagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in the - of, relating to, or resembling rogues Karamat Ali, head of the Pakistan Institute for Labour Education - Britney Spears writes to her fans on Ins- country’s largest city. tagram saying she is sorry for “pretending and Research -- which signed the statement -- told AFP. Hong Kong: Chief executive Carrie Lam Today in History Weekend protests have been organized in the megacities of Ka- like I’ve been OK the past two years”, her first public statement since her disturb- reshuffles her cabinet, naming Secretary for 2009 - American singer and dancer rachi and Lahore. Earlier this year the PM was accused of "baffling Security John Lee as chief secretary – the ignorance" by one of the country's top rights groups after he advised ing courtroom testimony on her “abusive” Michael Jackson, renowned world- conservatorship. number two job in government – and police women to cover up to prevent rape. chief Chris Tang as Lee’s replacement, in a wide as the “King of Pop,” dies at age His media team later insisted the comments in the national lan- UK/Russia: A war of words between move seen as a tightening of China’s grip on 50 from a lethal combination of seda- guage of Urdu had been misinterpreted. Moscow and London escalates as both the territory. tives and propofol, an anaesthetic Victims of sexual abuse are often viewed with suspicion and crim- sides accuse one another of giving inac- inal complaints are rarely seriously investigated in Pakistan. curate accounts of an incident involving a Japan: Shareholders of the scandal- Today is... Much of the country lives under an "honour" code where women British warship and Russian forces in the plagued industrial giant Toshiba throw out who bring "shame" on their families can be subjected to violence or Black Sea. the company’s board chairman, after an in- Take Your Dog To Work Day murder. It regularly ranks among the worst places in the world for vestigation revealed that top executives had gender equality. Israel: The health ministry re-imposes a worked with the government to inappropri- A Day that attempts to help people -AFP requirement for masks to be worn in en- ately pressure investors. understand the human-animal bond 2 JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS BUSINESS This is the plan to rescue poor countries from the pandemic John McAfee, WASHINGTON - In a global economy proposal during a meeting Friday (25) tution’s coffers, with their obligations Kristalina Georgieva said the fund’s plan software pioneer defined by extreme forms of inequality, before forwarding it for final approval to determined largely by the size of their would rely on “encouraging voluntary the pandemic has widened the divide. its board of governors, which comprises economies. channeling of some of the SDRs,” with turned fugitive, dies Now, fears that the world may emerge representatives of the fund’s 190 mem- The new reserves would be distrib- a goal of yielding “$100 billion for the from the pandemic more unequal than ber nations. Officials hope it will gain uted according to this ranking, meaning poorest and most vulnerable countries.” ever have prompted a substantial effort final passage by August. that the largest economic powers like The United States is prepared to make in Spanish prison to close the gap: Under a proposal near- The IMF’s approach involves not mon- the United States would gain the biggest available about one-fifth of its allocation, John David McAfee, the founder of ing completion, the International Mone- ey but so-called special drawing rights — tranche. worth approximately $20 billion, said a the antivirus software maker bearing tary Fund(IMF) would issue $650 billion reserve funds that the institution credits Fund officials are crafting a plan un- Treasury official who spoke on condition his name, died in a prison in Spain on worth of reserve funds, essentially creat- to the accounts of its member nations. der which wealthier member countries of anonymity. Wednesday (23), after a Spanish court ing money that troubled countries could Governments can swap these SDRs for would transfer some of their reserves to The Biden administration is seeking to said that he could be extradited to the use to purchase vaccines, finance health regular currency, to spend as needed. poorer countries to allow an expansion persuade other members of the Group of United States on tax-evasion charges. care and pay down debt. The IMF’s ex- Under the rules governing the IMF, of debt reduction and poverty-fight- 7 to contribute similar shares. His death was confirmed by his law- ecutive board is expected to advance the member nations contribute to the insti- ing programs. IMF managing director -New York Times yers. He was 75. After selling his pioneering virus- fighting firm in 1994 and losing most World health, IP, trade bodies launch of his fortune during the 2008 finan- Luxury in the clouds: Shanghai opens world’s cial crisis, McAfee led a peripatetic life that included a turn to paranoia and a COVID platform highest hotel string of arrests around the globe. That GENEVA - The heads of the global with other countries going through sim- all culminated in his detention in Spain health, IP and trade agencies on Thurs- ilar challenges. in 2020 after prosecutors in the United day (24) announced a joint platform to The leaders also announced a series States accused him of not filing tax re- help countries plug the gaps in access- of workshops to boost the flow of in- turns for several years. The indictment ing COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and formation in the push to get equitable filed by the Justice Department said technologies. access to Covid-19 technology. Sharing McAfee had earned millions from “pro- The leaders of the World Health Or- technology is an increasingly hot topic moting cryptocurrencies, consulting ganization (WHO), the World Intellec- in the fight against the coronavirus pan- work, speaking engagements and selling tual Property Organization (WIPO) and demic. the rights to his life story for a documen- the World Trade Organization (WTO) The WHO has been calling for a tem- tary,” and had tried to avoid taxes by us- said countries would be able to access porary waiver on IP rights for COV- ing cryptocurrency and channelling the expertise in places where the three fields ID-19 vaccines in a bid to boost pro- money through bank accounts. He could cross over in battling the pandemic. duction around the world and thereby have faced prison time if convicted. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghe- increase access to doses in poorer coun- McAfee said he had been arrested breyesus, WIPO head Daren Tang and tries, where immunisation rates are way despite paying “millions of dollars in WTO director-general Ngozi Okon- lower. Talks are inching forward at the taxes” and resisted extradition, claim- jo-Iweala met on June 15 when they WTO after South Africa and India put ing he faced political persecution for agreed to work together more closely to forward a proposal in October. Agree- denouncing corruption in the Internal support access to medical technologies ments at the global trade body require Revenue Service and opposing the fiat to tackle the coronavirus crisis. the consensus of all member states. money system, in which central banks "We will implement a joint platform The notion has long met with fierce like the Federal Reserve control the for tripartite technical assistance to opposition from pharmaceutical giants money supply. But on Wednesday, the countries relating to their needs for and some of their host countries, which Spanish court released its decision to al- COVID-19 medical technologies," they insist patents are not the main road- SHANGHAI - The world's highest lux- Its opening was delayed partly by the low the Justice Department’s request to said in a joint statement. The platform blocks to scaling up production and ury hotel, boasting a restaurant on the coronavirus pandemic but the hotel has extradite him, saying there was “no sup- will provide "a one-stop shop that will warn the move could hamper innova- 120th floor and 24-hour personal butler now started receiving well-heeled guests porting evidence that such a thing could make available the full range of exper- tion. service, has opened in Shanghai to guests who can call on the services of a dedicated be happening.” tise on access, IP and trade matters pro- Nearly 2.8 billion doses of COVID-19 with deep pockets and a head for heights. butler at any hour, day or night. The justice department for the Cata- vided by our organisations, and other vaccines have been injected in at least Elevators whizz guests up the intimi- Patrons can also enjoy one of the hotel's lan region of Spain said that, pending an partners", in a coordinated way. 216 territories around the world, ac- dating spiral-like skyscraper at ear-pop- seven restaurants, bars, spa, 84th-floor investigation, it was treating his death They said it would support states in cording to an AFP count. ping speeds of 18 metres per second to the swimming pool, and all the other usual as a probable suicide. It said in a state- assessing and prioritizing their unmet In the highest-income countries, as J Hotel's 165 opulent rooms. The hotel trappings of a top-notch hotel. ment that McAfee had been found in his needs for COVID-19 vaccines, medi- categorized by the World Bank, 76 doses occupies the top floors of the 632-metre The hotel is part of Jin Jiang Inter- cell and died despite efforts by security cines and other related technologies. have been injected per 100 inhabitants. (more than 2,000 feet) Shanghai Tower national Hotels, a major Chinese state- guards and prison health care officials to It would also help them make full use That figure stands at just one dose per in the city's financial district, the second- owned group, and officially opened on revive him. of all available options to access such 100 in the 29 lowest-income countries. tallest building in the world after Dubai's Saturday (19). Before his troubles with US federal tools, including through coordinating -AFP Burj Khalifa. -AFP law enforcement, McAfee was at the centre of a media frenzy surrounding the death of a neighbour in Belize. In 2012, he fled his home there after the police US bans target forced labour in China’ called him a “person of interest”. The government of Belize had also raided his solar panel industry house more than once, looking for evi- dence that he was assembling a militia WASHINGTON - The White House implicated in human rights violations and dealing in narcotics. Within a few on Thursday (24) announced a se- and abuses in the implementation of weeks, McAfee was arrested on charges ries of steps to crack down on forced China’s campaign of repression, mass of illegally entering Guatemala, where labour in the supply chain for solar arbitrary detention, forced labour and he had sought political asylum. panels in China, including a ban on high-technology surveillance against By 2015, he was back in the United importing products from a silicon Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other members States and, after an arrest in Tennessee producer in the Xinjiang region. A of Muslim minority groups” in Xinji- on gun and drunken-driving charges, significant portion of the world’s poly- ang. ran for president as a Libertarian, with silicon, which is used to make solar In addition, the Labour Department his campaign video declaring, “Here’s to panels, comes from Xinjiang, where added Chinese polysilicon to a list the crazy ones”. the United States has accused China of goods believed to be produced by Last October, the Securities and Ex- of committing genocide through its child labour or forced labour. The list, change Commission accused McAfee of repression of Uyghurs and other Mus- which already contained a number of promoting initial coin offerings — deals lim minorities. other Chinese goods, is intended to for cryptocurrencies — on Twitter with- In one of the newly announced ac- increase awareness about exploitative out disclosing that he had been paid to tions, US Customs and Border Pro- labour practices. do so. The SEC said McAfee had pre- tection has banned imports of silica- Allegations of forced labour in the tended to be independent and impartial based products made by Hoshine solar panel supply chain have cre- but had received more than $23 million Silicon Industry Co. as well as goods ated a dilemma for President Joe for stirring up interest in the offerings. made using those products. The Com- Biden and his aides. The administra- McAfee grew up in Roanoke, Virginia, merce Department also added Ho- tion wants to press China over human the son of a road surveyor and a bank shine Silicon Industry (Shanshan) rights abuses, but it also wants to ex- teller in an unhappy marriage. He said in Co. and four other Chinese entities pand the use of clean energy sources press reports that his father was a severe to a trade blacklist, a move that re- like solar power in the United States alcoholic who beat him and his mother, stricts US companies from exporting as it seeks to reduce carbon emissions. and who fatally shot himself when McA- products and technology to them. The Shortly before Biden took office, the fee was 15. “Every day I wake up with other entities are Xinjiang Daqo New Trump administration banned im- him,” McAfee told a reporter for Wired Energy Co., Xinjiang East Hope Non- ports of cotton and tomato products magazine in 2012. “Every relationship I ferrous Metals Company, Xinjiang from Xinjiang. The Biden administra- have, he’s by my side; every mistrust, he GCL New Energy Material Technol- tion had faced pressure to take action is the negotiator of that mistrust.” ogy Co. and the Xinjiang Production regarding products containing poly- McAfee Associates, the software com- and Construction Corps. Those enti- silicon produced in the region. pany that he founded, was once a house- ties, the department said, “have been -New York Times hold name in computer security. He started it in 1987 in his small house in @CopyrightsSanta Clara, California, in response to Egypt signs non-disclosure deal over canal the news of a Pakistani computer virus called Brain, thought to be the first to blockage compensation attack personal computers. McAfee said CAIRO - Egypt has signed a non-dis- dle of next week." One of the vessel's that, at the time, it reminded him of the closure agreement with the Japanese insurers, UK Club, said an agreement way his father would suddenly attack owner of a megaship that blocked the in principle had already been reached him. His plan was to create an antivirus Suez Canal in March as it finalizes a and the two sides were now working program and give it away on computer compensation agreement, the canal to finalize a signed agreement as soon bulletin boards, with the hope that us- authority chief said. as possible. ers would install it on their computers at Egypt has been seeking hundreds The 200,000-tonne MV Ever Given work. They did, and the companies paid of millions of dollars in compensa- got stuck diagonally across the canal licensing fees, giving McAfee revenues of tion from Japanese firm Shoei Kisen during a sandstorm on March 23, about $5 million a year by 1990. Kaisha for lost canal revenues and the blocking the vital trade artery for six McAfee Associates went public in costs of salvaging the ship and repair- days before salvage teams could dis- 1992, making its founder’s stock worth ing the damage to the canal. lodge it. Egypt lost between $12 mil- $80 million, but he resigned in 1994. The It slashed its initial claim for $900 lion and $15 million in revenues for company’s rise to prominence continued million to $550 million late last month each day the waterway was closed, ac- without him. Intel, the computer chip but the final amount has been the sub- cording to the canal authority. maker, bought the company in 2010 for ject of tough negotiations between the The grounding of the ship and the $7.7 billion, then sold its majority stake two sides. intensive salvage efforts needed to to an investment firm six years later. "What we signed is a non-disclosure refloat it also resulted in significant By that time, McAfee’s fortune had agreement" regarding the amount of damage to the canal, which Egypt fallen to $4 million from $100 million, the compensation, Suez Canal Au- wants to be compensated for. forcing him to auction off major assets thority chief Osama Rabie told Egypt's Last month, President Abdel Fattah and fly coach, and he had moved to DMC television channel late Wednes- al-Sisi approved a major expansion of Central America, seeking a simpler and day (23). "A final deal is expected to the canal to avoid future blockages. cheaper life. be reached and announced in the mid- -AFP -New York Times WEEKEND EXPRESS JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 3 GLOCAL

Express Newspapers (Cey) Pvt. Ltd., 185, Grandpass Road, Colombo 14, Sri Lanka BASL questions Telephone: 0117 322 705 (Editorial) 0117 322 731 (Advertising) 0117 322 789 (Circulation) basis for Silva’s Email – [email protected]/[email protected] Epaper - http://epaper.newsexpress.lk pardon Facebook –News Express Sri Lanka Says presidential Convicted murderer Duminda Silva out on presidential pardon power and discretion must not be exercised UN, US condemn the release as weakening rule of law and undermining accountability arbitrarily and COLOMBO – Former Sri Lanka MP Duminda parliamentarians seeking a presidential pardon for selectively Silva who was serving a death sentence over mur- his release. Meanwhile, the United Nation Human der charges was released from prison on a ‘special Rights office, in a Twitter message, condemned the COLOMBO – The Bar Associa- presidential pardon’ on Thursday (24), leading to presidential pardon and release of the convicted tion of Sri Lanka (BASL) on Thurs- a chorus of protest from the United Nations Hu- murderer as a move that weakens rule of law and day (24) questioned the basis on man Rights office to the US embassy in Sri Lanka, undermines accountability. which convicted murderer and the Bar Association and the opposition Samagi “Presidential pardon of Duminda Silva, a former former parliamentarian Duminda Jana Balawegaya (SJB), condemning the pardon as MP convicted of the murder of a fellow politician, is Silva was selected for a presiden- weakening the country’s rule of law. another example of selective, arbitrary granting of tial pardon, and urged President Superintendent of Prisons and its Media Spokes- pardons that weakens rule of law and undermines Gotabaya Rajapaksa to explain to man, Chandana Ekanayake, confirmed the Depart- accountability,” the tweet read. Earlier, US Ambas- the Bar and the public, whether ment had received the release documentation from sador to Sri Lanka, Alaina B. Teplitz, also tweeted six specific conditions were ful- the President’s Office to free Silva on a presiden- condemning the release of Silva as undermining the filled in deciding on his release. tial pardon and that he was released on Thursday rule of law, but welcomed the early release of the 16 In a statement released shortly morning, along with 93 prisoners including 16 ex- ex-Tamil Tiger combatants arrested under the Pre- after the controversial release on Tamil Tiger combatants. vention of Terrorism Act (PTA) Thursday, the BASL said the pres- However, Ekanayake initially claimed Silva was Teplitz tweeted: “We welcome the early release idential pardon granted to Silva not among the 93 prisoners who had received the of PTA prisoners, but the pardon of Duminda Sil- would be “unreasonable and arbi- pardon. News of Silva’s release came mere minutes va, whose conviction the Supreme Court upheld in trary” unless the conditions were after the denial. Asked about the denial and release, 2018, undermines rule of law. fulfilled. Silva is the second mur- Ekanayake said he had received the documents per- Accountability and equal access to justice are derer on death row to be pardoned taining to Silva’s pardon later, after the 93 prison- fundamental to the UN Sustainable Development by President Rajapaksa. ers had already been released. Goals to which the Government of Sri Lanka has The BASL said it had written to Silva, along with two others, was sentenced to committed.” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, death by the Colombo High Court on September The main opposition SJB, in a statement issued asking him to reveal the circum- 2016, over the 2011 murder of former MP and pres- on Thursday, called on the President to reverse the stances of Silva’s pardon and re- idential advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachan- decision, deeming the pardon of a murder convict a lease, and convey the following to dra. The conviction was upheld by the Supreme violation of the independence of the judiciary and both the Bar and the public: Court in 2018. its judges. The party also condemned the President - WhatsApp 1. The basis on which Silva was However, Silva’s release had been long specu- for the arbitrary use of his powers to pardon the for- Former parliamentarian Duminda Silva leaving the Welikada Prison selected for the purpose of grant- lated, since the change of government in 2019. A mer MP. from the rear entrance after he was released on a presidential ing a pardon under article 34 (1) petition was signed last year by several government -ENCL pardon Thursday (24) of the constitution 2. The circumstances which were taken into consideration in Death- row prisoners Sri Lanka pardons suspected Tamil Tigers convicted under granting such pardon 3. The reasons as to why Silva’s launch hunger strike terrorism law case stands out from others who are currently sentenced COLOMBO - Death- row prisoners at COLOMBO - President Gotabaya Raja- but said US welcomed the early release of Government officials said the release 4. Whether a report was called the Mahara and Welikada Prisons com- paksa Thursday (24) pardoned 16 minor- PTA prisoners. The Bar Association of Sri was the first phase of a plan to free all those ity Tamils imprisoned for over a decade, as Lanka and the main opposition party Sa- held or charged under the PTA. for by the president from trial menced a hunger strike on Thursday judges as required by the proviso (24), protesting the presidential pardon the country faces renewed United Nations magi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) also slammed Another 78 people arrested under the pressure over detentions without charge his release. law on suspicion of supporting the separa- to article 34( 1) prior to granting granted to former parliamentarian and the pardon and, if so, the contents murder convict Duminda Silva, who was under draconian anti-terrorism laws. "Today, those found guilty of the most tist Tamil Tigers have been in custody for also serving a death sentence. The amnesty is a first for people linked serious crimes in our law enjoy presiden- decades, political sources from the Tamil of the report Local reports said the prisoners have to the Tamil Tigers since Rajapaksa, a tial protection while the judges and po- community told AFP. 5. Whether the advice of the at- called on the authorities to grant them member of the majority Sinhalese commu- lice officers who brought them to justice Lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, the presi- torney general was called for prior presidential pardons, commuting their nity, came to power in 2019 on a national- have targets on their backs," SJB legisla- dent's nephew and son of Prime Minister to granting of the pardon and, if death sentences to life sentences. ist agenda. The men were convicted under tor Thalatha Athukorale, a former justice Mahinda Rajapaksa, told Parliament this so, the contents of such advice -ENCL the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that minister, said. The US has been pressing week that some of those detained had been 6. Whether the recommenda- gives security forces sweeping powers to Sri Lanka to ensure accountability for war- in jail since before he was born in 1986. tion of the minister of justice was arrest and detain suspects. time atrocities by both government forces He added that his government is working obtained prior to granting the par- Basil returns from US, A total of 78 other convicts, including a and Tamil rebels during a 37-year separa- to free them. The Human Rights Council don and, if so, whether the minis- murderer closely linked to Sri Lanka's rul- tist war that ended in 2009. last week urged the government to either ter made such a recommendation slated to be sworn as ing Rajapaksa family, were also released A prison official said the 16 Tamil pris- charge or release those detained under the If any of the above considera- under an amnesty to mark a Buddhist holi- oners freed Thursday were due to complete PTA, including human rights activists who tions are not satisfied, the BASL day. their sentences soon. were recently arrested. said, the pardon will result in MP on July 6 US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina "The 16 Tamil detainees are among 94 Critics warn the law is being used as a “erosion to the rule of law and re- COLOMBO – Basil Rajapaksa, presi- Teplitz, criticized the release of Duminda prisoners who received a presidential par- weapon targeting dissidents and minori- sult in a loss of public confidence dential brother, National Organizer Silva, a former ruling party legislator fac- don," prison superintendent Chandana ties in the fractured country. in respect of the administration of of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna ing a death sentence for a 2011 murder, Ekanayake said. -AFP justice”. (SLPP), and Head of the Presidential BASL noted in the statement Task Force for Economic Revival and that whilst article 34 (1) allows the Poverty Eradication, returned to Sri Travel between provinces to be curtailed till July 5 President to grant such a pardon, Lanka on Thursday (24) morning, and either free or subject to lawful is slated to be sworn in as a Member of COLOMBO – Travel between provinces Though movement was allowed, restric- recovered and discharged from hospital. considerations, the provisos to the Parliament on July 6. will continue to be restricted till July 5, tions with regard to gatherings remained, Sri Lanka also recorded 45 COVID-relat- article require the president to call Rajapaksa left for the US on May 11, despite Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 lockdown with restaurants, bars, coffee shops, only ed deaths on Thursday taking the fatality for a report from the judge who citing personal reasons, and was expect- being relaxed, Director General Health allowed to deliver. “We observed that peo- count to 2,814. Of the total deaths, 2,205 tried the case where the offender ed to return in the first week of June. Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, said, ple were not adhering to restrictions the had occurred in the third wave of the epi- has been condemned to death. Local media reports quoting political adding that new guidelines will also be is- past couple of days. If there is an increase demic that officially recognized as break- Such report is required to be for- sources said the Rajapaksa sibling, upon sued for shops and stalls in the Western in cases, we will again go in for restric- ing out on April 15. Meanwhile, Dr. Guna- warded to the attorney general for being sworn in as an MP, would be ap- Province where daily COVID-19 cases have tions,” Dr. Gunawardena said. wardena said no final decision has been advice, and the proviso also re- pointed as the Minister in Charge of Eco- been high. Sri Lanka confirmed 1,941 new cases taken yet on the use of the Pfizer-BionTech quires the attorney general’s opin- nomic Affairs. Sri Lanka relaxed its curfew-style move- on Thursday, the first time in weeks that vaccine as a second job for those awaiting ion to be referred to the minister ment restrictions on Monday (21) but the number had dropped below 2,000. their second dose of AstraZeneca. “The Media reports said Basil would enter of justice who too is required to Parliament through the national list, and temporarily re-imposed them again from Total cases now stand at 248,050, with committee will meet again next week and 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday (23) to 4:00 32,456 patients receiving treatment in will take a final decision on whether or not submit a recommendation to the to a seat likely to be vacated by national president, it elaborated. list MP Prof. Ranjith Bandara. a.m. on Friday (25) to cover the Poson designated hospitals across the country. to use Pfizer,” he said. Poya public holiday on Thursday (24). So far, 212,825 patients have been deemed -economynext.com/ENCL “It is the right of the public to -ENCL know whether the said pardon has been granted in accordance COVID-19 crisis with the report of the trial judges, Malaysia enforces mandatory 21-day the opinion of the attorney gen- eral, and the recommendation of quarantine for travellers from Sri Lanka US provides vital food aid for 110,000 SL students the minister of justice,” the BASL COLOMBO - A group of 110,000 stu- lies overcome food insecurity issues.” said, and added that while the Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan arrivals also in the list dents from 887 primary schools in Ba- Implemented in Sri Lanka in col- President has the power and dis- @Copyrightsdulla, Kilinochchi, Monaragala, Mul- laboration with Save the Children and cretion to pardon, such discretion PETALING JAYA - Travellers arriv- For those undergoing 14-day quaran- laitivu, Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, and the Government of Sri Lanka, the Pro- must always be exercised judi- ing from South Asian countries, specifi- tine, a RT-PCR test will be conducted Trincomalee, and their families, re- moting Autonomy for Literacy and At- ciously and such power must not cally Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and on the 10th day, and if negative, they ceived emergency take-home rations on tentiveness through Market Alliances be exercised arbitrarily and selec- Pakistan, will now have to undergo 21 will be released upon completion of the Monday (21), under a vital food aid pro- (PALAM/A) Project helps boost school tively. days of mandatory quarantine upon ar- full two weeks. For travellers undergo- gram funded by the American people. enrollment, increase attendance, and -ENCL rival in Malaysia, in light of the spread ing the 21-day quarantine, this test will Monday’s donations was phase one improve reading outcomes and literacy of variants of concern (VOC). be performed on the 18th day. of the US Department of Agriculture’s results by providing nutritious school Last month, the health ministry in- Arrivals undergoing 14-day quaran- (USDA) $26 million McGovern-Dole meals and take-home rations, teacher creased the quarantine period for arriv- tine may have their stays extended by a project in Sri Lanka that assists food- training, and related education, nutri- als from India to 21 days, maintaining week if it is deemed necessary by a risk insecure, school-aged children and their tion, and health support. In 2020, the the 14-day duration for all other coun- assessment performed at the end of the families through the donation of US Government of Sri Lanka and USDA tries. In a statement, health director- first two weeks. Noor Hisham added agricultural commodities and technical signed a Memorandum of Understand- general Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said that numerous appeals have been made assistance. The program is scheduled to ing that committed the full support of the determination of standard operat- to the home surveillance order commit- continue till September 2021. the Sri Lankan government for the im- ing procedures (SOPs) for international tee relating to applications for exemp- The take-home ration packs included plementation of this project. arrivals was subject to periodic risk as- tions or for shortened quarantine peri- five kilograms of yellow split peas and The Ministry of Finance, Ministry sessments. “It is noted that the exten- ods. “The health ministry understands five tins of pink salmon. of Education, Ministry of Health, and sion of this surveillance period is very the various personal situations they “These protein-rich foods will provide Save the Children designed the pro- important to ensure the transmission of face, but at the same time needs to re- important nutrition to children while ject together to support Government of COVID-19 infections from abroad does main serious in the implementation of they’re out of school and unable to re- Sri Lanka efforts to promote children’s not occur, particularly those involving this quarantine policy to ensure that the ceive meals through the Government learning, nutrition, and good health. VOCs and variants of interest, which risk of COVID-19 infection from abroad of Sri Lanka’s school meal program,” Three national ministries, provincial can spread more rapidly and pose a can be minimized. US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. governments, and district authorities higher risk of death,” he said. “We would also like to inform that any Teplitz said, adding, “The American provided their fullest support to facili- All travellers must also undergo a RT- application and appeal must go through people are committed to the health and tate the distribution of take-home ra- PCR test within three days of their de- a very strict evaluation process.” well-being of Sri Lankan children and tions. parture, and upon arrival in Malaysia. - freemalaysiatoday.com I’m proud we can help Sri Lankan fami- ENCL/US Embassy 4 JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS HOT TOPICS

By Seth Mydans and Russell Goldman By Austin Ramzy and Tiffany May Benigno Aquino, What else has Hong former president Kong lost? of the Philippines, Readers ask, as a paper is silenced dead at 61 HONG KONG — Readers lined up in the rain to MANILA - Former President Benigno S. buy copies of the Apple Daily’s final edition. They Aquino III of the Philippines, scion of the rushed to archive its articles online before its web- country’s most prominent pro-democ- site went blank. Other local news outlets plastered racy political family, died in Manila on their home pages with reports of the publication’s Thursday (24). He was 61. demise, even as editors wondered where the new One of his sisters, Pinky Aquino-Abel- boundaries lay. lada, confirmed his death. The cause, she Hours after Apple Daily, one of Hong Kong’s said, was “renal disease secondary to dia- most widely read and independent news outlets, betes.” was forced to shut amid mounting government During his presidency, from 2010 to pressure, many in the city were scrambling to pre- 2016, Aquino stood up to China, oversaw serve what parts of its legacy they could. The paper economic growth and passed an impor- printed its final edition Thursday after a raid on its tant reproductive rights bill, but he later - Amber Bracken/The New York Times newsroom, the arrest of top editors and the freezing faced scandals that marred his legacy. A memorial in the province of British Columbia, Friday (18) for the 215 children whose bodies of its bank accounts made it the biggest casualty yet Aquino was, in effect, Philippine politi- were discovered near the Kamloops Indian Residential School, in Kamloops, Canada. A Canadian in an aggressive campaign by Beijing against Hong cal royalty, the son of two political icons, Indigenous group on Wednesday (22), announced the "horrific and shocking discovery" of the Kong’s once freewheeling news media. in a country where family ties are para- remains of hundreds of children at the site of another former school in the province of Sas- As the paper put its last edition to bed, hundreds mount. He was swept into office after the katchewan, the largest such discovery to date of supporters gathered outside its headquarters death in 2009 of his mother, former Pres- in the rain, waving cellphone lights and chanting ident Corazon C. Aquino. “Support Apple Daily till the end!” She in turn had risen to prominence By Ian Austen and Dan Bilefsky From a balcony, the newspaper’s employees as the widow of Benigno S. Aquino Jr., shone their own lights, shouting: “Thank you for a prominent politician who was assassi- your support!” Someone inside the newsroom nated in 1983. In Canada taped a defiant message to the window that said in That assassination set in motion a bold print: “You can’t kill us all”. surge of opposition that culminated in The newspaper said it printed one million cop- the 1986 popular uprising known as Peo- ies of Thursday’s edition, about 10 times its regular ple Power, which ended the two-decade Another ‘horrific’ discovery of daily circulation, but even that did not seem enough dictatorship of President Ferdinand E. to meet demand, and many stores were sold out. To Marcos and paved the way for Corazon many, the rambunctious, often sensational, proud- Aquino to assume the presidency. ly pro-democracy publication now stood for more In a statement, Sen. Imee Marcos, a indigenous children’s remains than just a newspaper: It was a symbol of the civil daughter of the former president whom liberties that have been lost as Beijing has tightened the Aquinos helped oust, paid tribute CALGARY, Alberta — The remains now believed the number was “well discovery of the children’s remains its grip over the city. to the younger Aquino for his “kind and of 761 people, mainly Indigenous beyond 10,000.” will accelerate the process. “I am waiting for the memories,” Jimmy Chan, simple soul.” children, were discovered at the The discovery in Saskatchewan When the commission tried to who runs a liquor store in the Kennedy Town neigh- Following Corazon Aquino’s death in site of a former school in the prov- was made by the Cowessess First look into the question of missing bourhood of Hong Kong, said as he stood in a line 2009, her son was carried to the presi- ince of Saskatchewan, a Canadian Nation at the Marieval Indian Resi- Indigenous children, the Conserva- that quickly formed at a newsstand that had just re- dency on a groundswell of sentimental Indigenous group said Thursday dential School, about 87 miles from tive government at the time turned ceived more copies of the paper. “It’s for the memo- support, succeeding an unpopular presi- (24), jolting a nation grappling with the provincial capital, Regina. down its request for money to fi- ries of the freedom we used to have to say things in dent, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. When his generations of widespread and sys- “There was always talk and spec- nance searches. Since the Kamloops Hong Kong.” term ended in 2016, he was in turn suc- tematic abuse of Indigenous people. ulation and stories, but to see this discovery at the end of May, several On Twitter and Lihkg, a social media platform ceeded by the current strongman presi- The discovery, the largest one to number — it’s a pretty significant Canadian governments have of- popular with the city’s activists, readers organized dent, Rodrigo Duterte. date, came weeks after the remains number,” said Bobby Cameron, fered to pay for searches. efforts to preserve digital records of the newspa- On Aug. 28, 1987, one year into his of 215 children were found in un- chief of the Federation of Sovereign On Tuesday (22), the federal gov- per’s coverage. Some set up spreadsheets to identi- mother’s presidency, Aquino was wound- marked graves on the grounds of Indigenous Nations, the provincial ernment announced that it would fy articles that they would back up on the Wayback ed when disaffected military officers another former boarding school in federation of Indigenous groups. provide just under 4.9 million Ca- Machine, an online archive. Others took screen- attempted one of several unsuccessful British Columbia. “It’s going to be difficult and painful nadian dollars (about $3.9 million) shots of stories that held special meaning for them. coups. Both schools were part of a sys- and heart-breaking.” to Indigenous communities in Sas- Academics tried to retain copies for research. When the rebels tried to lay siege to tem that took Indigenous children He added: “This is what the katchewan to search for graves. The “This is a newspaper with 26 years of history. the presidential mansion, Malacanang in the country from their families Catholic Church in Canada and the provincial government previously That’s a lot of memories, a lot of history about Hong Palace, Aquino, who was in a nearby over a period of about 113 years, government of Canada of the day committed 2 million Canadian dol- Kong,” said Fu King-wa, an associate professor at building, was struck by five bullets, one sometimes by force, and housed forced on our children.” lars ($1.6 million). the University of Hong Kong’s journalism school. of which remained embedded in his neck. them in boarding schools, where For Canada’s 1.7 million Indig- In a statement, Scott Moe, pre- He downloaded videos of the antigovernment Three of his military escorts were killed they were prohibited from speaking enous citizens, who make up about mier of Saskatchewan, predicted protests that had rocked Hong Kong in 2019 from while protecting him, and a fourth was their languages. 4.9% of the population, the discov- that the remains of more children the news site’s Facebook page for research. But he wounded. A national Truth and Reconcili- ery is a visceral reminder of centu- would be found elsewhere. was able to save only part of what he intended to Popularly known as Noynoy, Aquino ation Commission, established in ries of discrimination and abuse, “Sadly, other Saskatchewan First keep before they disappeared. won election in a landslide on the prom- 2008 to investigate, expose and which has led to intergenerational Nations will experience the same Apple Daily’s final print issue read like a colour- ise of steady leadership and routing out document the history and conse- trauma among survivors of residen- shock and despair as the search for ful time machine, interspersed with farewell mes- corruption. quences of the residential schools, tial schools and their families. graves continues,” he wrote. sages to its readers. ‘Hong Kongers Bid a Pained In an effort to connect with common called the practice “cultural geno- In September 2017, Prime Min- Like Kamloops, the Marieval Farewell in the Rain’, read the top headline on the Filipinos, he was the first president to cide”. Many children never re- ister Justin Trudeau acknowledged School, which opened in 1899, was paper’s front page. Archival photos of Hong Kong’s deliver a State of the Nation address in turned home and their families the nation’s past “humiliation, ne- operated for most of its history by mass protests filled its pages, as well as samples of Tagalog, the most widespread local lan- were given only vague explanations glect and abuse” of Indigenous peo- the Roman Catholic Church for the award-winning coverage of human rights issues. guage. of their fates, or none at all. Canada ple, and vowed in a speech at the government of Canada. A marked The paper also reported on the court hearing of Under Aquino, average economic had about 150 residential schools UN General Assembly to improve cemetery still exists on the grounds Tong Ying-kit, the first person to be tried under the growth surpassed 6%, the highest in re- and an estimated 150,000 Indig- the lives of the country’s Indigenous of the school, which closed in 1997 national security law, which took place Wednesday cent years, gaining the country invest- enous children passed through the people. The latest discoveries will and was subsequently demolished. (23). Hours before Apple Daily’s website went dark, ment-grade status from rating agencies. schools between their opening, add pressure for him to accelerate The commission, relying on testi- it carried a new investigative report on Hong Kong In the first quarter of 2016, shortly before around 1883, and their closing in those efforts, which many Indig- mony from former students and ar- companies that had continued investing in Myan- the end of his term, the Philippine econ- 1996. enous people complain have fallen chival materials, listed the Marieval mar after the coup in February. omy grew at a rate of 6.9%, which was, at It is unclear how the children died short. School as a likely site for unmarked Now, the newspaper’s social media sites are the time, the fastest in Asia. at the church-run schools, which When Trudeau took office in graves. blank and its home page directs to a new site, good- One of his most significant achieve- were buffeted by disease outbreaks 2015, he made the national Truth The commission called for a papal bye.appledaily.com, telling subscribers that online ments was the enactment of a reproduc- a century ago, and where children and Reconciliation Commission’s apology for the role of the church, content will no longer be accessible. tive rights law that made contraception faced sexual, physical and emo- 94 recommendations a top prior- which operated about 70% of the “Thank you for supporting Apple Daily,” it says. readily available to the poor. To do so he tional abuse and violence. Some ity. But progress has been slow, in schools. (The rest were run by Prot- Authorities have accused the newspaper’s found- faced down decades of resistance by the former students of the schools have part because some of them are be- estant denominations.) But despite er, Jimmy Lai, and its top executives of cover- powerful Roman Catholic Church in an described the bodies of infants born yond the federal government’s con- a personal appeal from Trudeau to age that posed a threat to national security, while overwhelmingly Catholic country. to girls impregnated by priests and trol. The Indian Act, a collection of the Vatican, Pope Francis has still denying that the investigation would harm press Under Aquino’s leadership, the Philip- monks being incinerated. laws dating to the 19th century that not taken that step. By contrast, the freedom in the city. But Wen Wei Po, a Chinese pines was one of the few Southeast Asian The commission estimated that govern the lives of Indigenous peo- leadership of the United Church of government-controlled newspaper, was more ex- nations willing to stand up to China. about 4,100 children went missing ple, also remains in place despite Canada, the country’s largest Prot- plicit about Beijing’s intentions, celebrating Apple He effectively sued Beijing over the two nationwide from the schools. But an Trudeau’s promises to move it into estant denomination, apologized Daily’s demise and calling it a warning to the rest countries’ competing claims in the South Indigenous former judge who led a new system under their control. in 1986 for its role in running the of the media. China Sea, taking his case to an interna- the commission, Murray Sinclair, Cameron and several other Indige- schools. “It is good for Hong Kong that Apple Daily came tional tribunal in The Hague. In a land- said in an email this month that he nous leaders say that they hope the -New York Times to a dead end, and it is the beginning of the purifica- mark ruling in 2016, the tribunal found tion of the Hong Kong media ecology,” the newspa- that there was no legal basis to support per said in an editorial. China’s expansive claim to sovereignty @CopyrightsBy Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt “The lesson of Apple Daily’s self-inflicted demise over the waters. is profound,” it added. “All media in Hong Kong In his greatest setback however, 44 need to think about their own responsibility, mis- special forces police officers and a num- US to move Afghans who aided troops to third countries sion, ethics and bottom line.” ber of civilians were killed in 2015 in a In the city’s newsrooms, journalists worried if botched attempt to capture one of the WASHINGTON — The Biden ad- tens of thousands of Afghans. Of- Those applicants have 53,000 other publications might be targeted next. A hand- region’s most-wanted terrorism suspects. ministration is preparing to relo- ficials said the Afghans would be family members, officials said. ful of smaller online outlets such as Stand News, The raid resulted in the largest single loss cate thousands of Afghan interpret- moved out of Afghanistan to third A senior administration official Hong Kong Citizen News and Hong Kong Free of life by Philippine police officers in re- ers, drivers and others who worked countries to await the processing said that under the plan, family Press have given voice to the city’s beleaguered pro- cent memory. In 2017, the country’s anti- with US forces to other countries of their visa requests to move to the members of applicants would also democracy movement and pursued investigations graft prosecutor said Aquino should be in an effort to keep them safe while United States. be moved out of Afghanistan to a exposing the government’s failures. held accountable for the officers’ deaths they apply for entry to the United The officials declined to say third country to await visa process- Some assumed that all news outlets in the city, no for allowing a suspended national police States, senior administration offi- where the Afghans would wait, and ing. Transportation out of Afghani- matter how assertive or meek, were at risk of being chief, accused of corruption, to oversee cials said. it is not clear whether third coun- stan will not come with any assur- censured under the national security law because the operation. With the US military in the final tries have agreed to take them. The ance that a US visa will be granted. of its sweeping scope. The law grants Beijing broad Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III phases of withdrawing from Af- opportunity to move will be given to It was unclear whether people who powers to crack down on a variety of vaguely de- was born on Feb. 8, 1960, into one of the ghanistan after 20 years of war, the people who have already begun the somehow do not qualify would be fined political crimes such as separatism and sub- nation’s wealthiest landowning political White House has come under heavy application process. sent back to Afghanistan or left in a version. On Wednesday, the police also arrested on families. He was trained as an economist pressure from lawmakers and mili- More than 18,000 Afghans who third country. The officials spoke on a columnist at Apple Daily as part of the investiga- and worked in his family’s sugar business tary officials to protect Afghan allies have worked as interpreters, driv- grounds of anonymity because they tion into the paper. before starting his political career. He from revenge attacks by the Tali- ers, engineers, security guards, were not authorized to talk publicly Apple Daily’s forced closure was likely to deepen served two terms in Congress before be- ban, and speed up the lengthy and fixers and embassy clerks for the about the decision. a chill that had already set over parts of the city’s ing elected senator in 2007. complex process of providing them United States during the war have The decision comes as President media. The paper’s overtly antigovernment slant Aquino, who never married, is survived special immigrant visas. been trapped in bureaucratic limbo Joe Biden prepares to meet Friday and confrontational posture had provided a buffer by his sisters, Kris Aquino, Victoria Elisa On Wednesday (23), administra- after applying for special immigrant with President Ashraf Ghani of Af- of sorts for news outlets that were less aggressive, Aquino-Dee, Ballsy Aquino-Cruz and tion officials started notifying law- visas, available to people who face ghanistan amid a worsening secu- said Ivan Choy, a political-science professor at the Pinky Aquino-Abellada. makers that they will soon begin threats because of work for the US rity situation in the country. Chinese University of Hong Kong. -New York Times what could be a wholesale move of government. -New York Times -New York Times WEEKEND EXPRESS JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 5 EYE ON ASIA

By Deepa Padmanaban Water of death How arsenic is poisoning rural communities in India Nine members of Pankaj Rai’s family have died from cancer over the past 20 years. But the 25-year-old farmer from Bihar only found out their deaths were likely a result of arsenic poi- soning when his father got sick. In 2017, Pankaj took his father, Ganesh Rai, to the Mahavir Cancer Institute & Research Centre in Patna. Ganesh had stage 4 kidney cancer. But Dr. Arun Kumar, a scientist at the institute, identified the severe skin lesions on his body as signs of arsenic poisoning. Pankaj’s sister and a number of villagers had also developed skin lesions and gastric prob- lems but did not know why. Kumar and his team visited the family’s home in Sabalpur village, east of Patna, where they had moved in 2000. They analyzed groundwa- ter samples and took hair samples, where arse- nic can accumulate if there is long-term expo- sure. In April, they published their findings. The - Jared Soares/The New York Times team discovered high levels of arsenic in the Rebiya Kadeer, 74, holds a framed photo of her imprisoned son at her home in Fairfax, Va., on May 28, 2021. A Uyghur groundwater – 244ug/l. The World Health activist, Kadeer has been living in exile in the United States since 2005 Organization (WHO) recommended limit is 10ug/l. Almost 90% of hair samples had above permissible levels of 0.2mg/kg. The highest ar- By Jeff Kao, Raymond Zhong, Paul Mozur and Aaron Krolik senic level in hair was 35.5mg/kg. They also found six people who had partici- pated in their research had died of cancer, in- cluding Pankaj’s father. Arsenic is listed by the WHO as one of 10 ‘We are very free’ chemicals of major health concern. About 300 million people worldwide are affected by arse- nic-contaminated groundwater; chief among How China spreads its propaganda version of reality in Xinjiang them are those living in India and Bangladesh. Arsenic contamination in communities Recently, the owner of a small store in west- there couldn’t possibly be repressive policies Publica inquired about them. Twitter said the across India has increased by 145% in the past ern China came across some remarks by Mike in Xinjiang. In one clip, a man frolicking in accounts had violated its policies against plat- five years. Pompeo, the former US secretary of state. What the snow with his children says, “I’m a Uyghur form manipulation and spam. Arsenic occurs naturally and can be released he heard made him angry. born and raised in Xinjiang.” from soil and rocks due to the weathering pro- A worker in a textile company had the same A four-character Chinese phrase meaning How the campaign changes cess into surrounding aquifers. reaction. So did a retiree in her 80s. And a taxi “born and raised” appears in at least 280 of the The effort continues to evolve. In some cas- Ashok Kumar Ghosh, a scientist and chair of driver. more than 2,000 videos attacking Pompeo that es, State media and government officials have the Bihar State Pollution Control Board, says: Pompeo had routinely accused China of com- The Times and Pro Publica found on YouTube begun to openly spread the clips attacking “Our studies have shown a direct correlation mitting human rights abuses in the Xinjiang and Twitter. Pompeo. Other videos have found new issues between arsenic and cancer.” region, and these four people made videos to “You’re speaking total nonsense,” the man and people to target. Elevated levels of arsenic in groundwater express their outrage. But they did so in oddly later says. In one clip, a woman denies accusations of have also been associated with neurological and similar ways. That expression and close variations of it ap- forced labour. cardiovascular disease, and other serious health “Pompeo said that we Uyghurs are locked up pear in more than 600 of the videos. “I have five greenhouses, and no one forces concerns. and have no freedom,” the store owner said in Establishing that government officials had me to work,” she says. Arsenic contamination in India was wide- his video. “We are very free now.” a hand in making these testimonials is some- She then turns the camera toward several spread in the 1990s in West Bengal and later in “We are very free,” the retiree said in her times just a matter of asking. In another clip, other women behind her. “Friends, is anyone Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and video. the owner of a used car dealership in Xinjiang forcing you to work?” she asks. Manipur. A study in Bihar found high levels of “We are very, very free here,” the taxi driver says: “Pompeo, shut your mouth.” “No!” they cry in unison. arsenic in water samples from hand pumps in- said. When reached by phone, the man said local The clip was posted by Global Times, a state- stalled to access groundwater for drinking. “Our lives are very happy and very free now,” propaganda authorities had produced the clip. controlled newspaper, on the Chinese platform “In the Gangetic Plain [an extensive stretch of the textile company worker said. Asked for details, he gave the number of an of- Kuaishou on Jan. 25. Two days later, the video land in the country’s central north] people are These and thousands of other videos are ficial he called Mr. He. “Why don’t you ask the was posted on Twitter and YouTube by the unaware they are consuming arsenic-contami- meant to look like unfiltered glimpses of life in head of the propaganda department?” he said. warehouse accounts within 30 minutes of one nated water and falling sick,” says Kumar. Xinjiang, the western Chinese region where the Multiple calls to He’s number were not an- another. According to Ghosh, more than 1 million peo- Communist Party has carried out repressive swered. Seven other people in the videos whose Just over a week later, two representatives ple have died in Bihar from arsenic-contami- policies against Uyghurs and other predomi- contact information could be found either de- for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted nated groundwater. “In 18 districts out of 38, nantly Muslim ethnic minorities. Most of the clined to be interviewed or couldn’t be reached. the clip on Twitter as well. the arsenic level is over the permissible level clips carry no logos or other signs that they are The name of the car dealership owner is being New videos are being uploaded to Pome- 10ug/l. We have recorded levels up to 760ug/l.” official propaganda. withheld to protect him from retribution by granate Cloud nearly every day. That means Lallanji Ojha, 70, a retired farmer from Se- But taken together, the videos begin to re- Chinese officials. the campaign, which has already enlisted thou- mariya Ojha Patti village, has suffered from veal clues of broader coordination — such as The clips’ effectiveness as propaganda comes sands of people in Xinjiang — teachers, shop- liver cirrhosis for the past 25 years. His village the English subtitles in clips posted to YouTube in part because they will probably be most peo- keepers, farmhands — could keep growing. was the first in Bihar to report arsenic contami- and other Western platforms. ple’s only glimpse into Xinjiang, a remote de- The audience outside China for the videos nation, with levels up to 1,650ug/L. “Since I A months-long analysis of more than 3,000 sert region closer to Kabul than to Beijing. could also keep expanding. have got this disease, I am not able to eat well of the videos by The New York Times and Pro- The Chinese authorities have thwarted ef- The warehouse accounts on YouTube have even though I feel hungry, due to gastrointesti- Publica found evidence of an influence cam- forts by journalists and others to gain unfet- attracted more than 480,000 views in total. nal problems,” he says, adding that he believes paign orchestrated by the Chinese government. tered access to the indoctrination camps where People on YouTube, TikTok and other plat- everyone in the village has some sort of diges- The operation has produced and spread thou- hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been forms — users with no apparent connection to tive problem. sands of videos in which Chinese citizens deny sent for re-education. the influence campaign — have cited the tes- But a complaint filed with the National Hu- abuses against their own communities and timonials to argue that all is well in Xinjiang. man Rights Commission of India by the In- scold foreign officials and multinational corpo- How the videos spread Their videos have received hundreds of thou- ner Voice Foundation, a research organization rations who dare question the Chinese govern- The video campaign started this year after sands of additional views. based in Uttar Pradesh, has triggered action. ment’s human rights record in Xinjiang. the State Department declared on Jan. 19, the In a phone interview, Pompeo said friends, Saurabh Singh, the organization’s founder, It all amounts to one of China’s most elabo- final full day of the Trump presidency, that Chi- and occasionally his son, had come across the filed the complaint after discovering that chil- rate efforts to shape global opinion. na was committing genocide in Xinjiang. Xinjiang testimonials online and sent them to dren in the district were drinking water con- Beijing is trying to use savvier and more “I’ve referred to this over time as the stain of him. taining high levels of arsenic after testing school forceful methods to broadcast its political mes- the century — it is truly that,” Pompeo told Fox As clumsy as the videos seem, he said, their pipes. sages to a worldwide audience. And Western News. influence should not be dismissed: “In places “If they are exposed to this for more than five internet platforms like Twitter and YouTube Within days, videos criticizing Pompeo be- that don’t have access to a great deal of media, or six years, they will be impacted. This is a big are playing a key part. gan appearing on an app called Pomegranate that repetition, those story lines have an ability crisis brewing,” he says. Studies have found ar- Many of these videos first appeared on a re- Cloud, which is owned by the regional arm of to take hold.” senic exposure can affect brain development, gional Communist Party news app. Then they the official Communist Party newspaper, Peo- impair memory and intelligence in children. showed up on YouTube and other global sites, ple’s Daily. How the videos divided a family In 2019, India’s rights commission directed with English subtitles added. @CopyrightsThe videos often jumped onto other Chinese For one Uyghur activist living in exile in the West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to ad- On Twitter, a network of connected accounts platforms before making their way to sites like United States since 2005, the videos have had a dress the problem. shared the videos in ways that seemed designed Twitter and YouTube. more personal impact. Bihar state government says it will set up a to avoid the platform’s systems for detecting On Twitter, The Times and Pro Publica Several of the Xinjiang videos feature fam- taskforce to prevent, detect and manage arsenic influence campaigns. found, the clips were shared by more than 300 ily members of Rebiya Kadeer, 74, whom the poisoning. They also launched the har ghar nal China’s increasingly social media-fluent dip- accounts whose posts strongly suggested they Chinese government has accused of abetting ka jal (tap water for every house) project, aim- lomats and state-run news outlets have since were no ordinary users. terrorism. In one clip, two of Kadeer’s grand- ing to provide clean and safe piped water. spread the testimonials to audiences of mil- The accounts often posted messages that daughters lash out at Pompeo while out shop- In West Bengal a water quality database using lions worldwide. were identical but for a random string of char- ping for a wedding. geographic information systems to survey sites Western platforms like Twitter and YouTube acters at the end with no obvious meaning, “Grandma, I recently saw online that contaminated with arsenic is being developed are banned in China out of fear they might be either four Roman letters, five Chinese charac- Pompeo’s making reckless claims and talk- and awareness programmes carried out. used to spread political messaging — which is ters or three symbols such as percentage signs ing nonsense about our Xinjiang,” one grand- In 2019, the Indian government introduced exactly how Chinese officials are using these or parentheses. daughter says. “I hope you won’t be fooled the Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to supply platforms in the rest of the world. Such strings were found in about three- again by those bad people overseas.” safe drinking water through taps to households They are, in essence, high-speed propaganda quarters of the accounts’ tweets. They caused Kadeer said the videos were the first time she in rural areas by 2024. pipelines for Beijing. In just a few days, videos the text of the posts to vary slightly, in an ap- had heard her relatives’ voices in years. Just before the pandemic led to a national establishing the Communist Party’s version of parent attempt to bypass Twitter’s automated “I have been crying in my heart about my lockdown last year, Kumar’s team installed an reality can be shot, edited and amplified across anti-spam filters. children,” she said in a phone interview. arsenic filtration pump in Pankaj’s house in the global internet. These weren’t the only signs of a coordinated “Some people will believe these videos and Sabalpur. Although they have not been able to operation. believe Uyghurs are living a happy life,” she go back to check the impact, Pankaj says symp- How the Videos Work All of the Twitter accounts had been regis- added. toms from arsenic exposure have improved. The dialogue in hundreds of the Xinjiang tered in recent months. Many of them followed “We can’t say they have locked up everyone. “My younger sister’s skin lesions have reduced videos contains strikingly similar, and often zero other users. And the bulk of their tweeting But what they’re saying in these videos — it’s in the last year,” says Pankaj. “If things improve, identical, phrases and structures. Most are in took place between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Beijing not true. They know they’re not speaking the I hope to get her married soon, and achieve my Chinese or Uyghur. time. truth. But they have to say what the Chinese dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur.” The subject introduces herself, then explains Twitter suspended many of these accounts government wants them to say.” -This article was originally featured on how her own happy, prosperous life means in March and April, before The Times and Pro -New York Times theguardian.com 6 JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS RETHINKING AMERICA

By Hugo Lowell By Nicholas Kristof House investigates The biggest threat possible shadow operation to America is in Trump justice America itself department “America is back” became President Joe WASHINGTON - Top Democrats in the House are Biden’s refrain on his European trip this investigating whether Trump justice department of- month, and in a narrow sense it is. ficials ran an unlawful shadow operation to target po- We no longer have a White House aide des- litical enemies of the former president to hunt down perately searching for a fire alarm to inter- leaks of classified information, according to a source rupt a president as he humiliates our country familiar with the matter. at an international news conference, as hap- The House judiciary committee chairman, Jerry pened in 2018. And a Pew Research Centre Nadler, is centring his investigation on the apparent survey found that 75% of those polled in a violation of internal policies by the justice depart- dozen countries expressed “confidence in the ment, when it issued subpoenas against Democrats US president to do the right thing,” compared Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell in 2018. with 17% a year ago. The use of subpoenas to secretly seize data from the Yet in a larger sense, America is not back. two Democrats on the House intelligence committee -Sarah Blesener/The New York Times In terms of our well-being at home and com- – and fierce critics of Donald Trump – would ordinar- Eric Adams, a Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City and a former police officer, speaks petitiveness abroad, the blunt truth is that ily require authorization from the highest levels of the to reporters after casting his ballot in the primary election in Brooklyn on Tuesday (22). A strong America is lagging. In some respects, we are justice department and notably, the attorney general. showing by Adams in the primary, and President Joe Biden’s new crime-fighting agenda, signals a sliding toward mediocrity. But with the former Trump attorneys general Bill shift by Democrats toward themes of public safety Greeks have higher high school gradua- Barr and Jeff Sessions denying any knowledge of the tion rates. Chileans live longer. Fifteen-year- subpoenas, Democrats are focused on whether rogue By Alexander Burns olds in Russia, Poland, Latvia and many officials abused the vast power of the federal govern- other countries are better at math than their ment to target Trump’s perceived political opponents, American counterparts — perhaps a metric the source said. Staving off GOP attacks for where nations will stand in a generation That kind of shadow operation – reminiscent of the or two. shadow foreign policy in Ukraine that led to Trump’s As for reading, one-fifth of American first impeachment – would be significant because it 15-year-olds can’t read at the level expected could render the subpoenas unlawful, the source said. Democrats show new of a 10-year-old. How are those millions of And if the subpoenas were issued without proper Americans going to compete in a globalized authorization from the attorney general level, it could economy? As I see it, the greatest threat to also leave the officials involved in the effort open to America’s future is less a surging China or a prosecution for false operating with the imprimatur of urgency on crime rogue Russia than it is our underperformance law enforcement. at home. The sharpening contours of the House judiciary WASHINGTON - Facing a ports police reform and a con- shootings. That may embolden We Americans repeat the mantra that committee’s investigation into the Trump justice de- surge in shootings and homi- servative party that supports the Democrats who have held back “we’re No. 1” even though the latest Social partment reflects Democrats’ determination to uncov- cides and persistent Republican police in the name of a broader from using law-and-order lan- Progress Index, a measure of health, safety er potential politicization at the department. attacks on liberal criminal-jus- law-and-order message. guage for fear of alienating core and well-being around the world, ranked the Current and former justice department officials tice policies, Democrats from Neither Biden nor Adams — elements of the party’s base. United States No. 28. Even worse, the United have described the subpoenas as part of a fact-gath- the White House to Brooklyn nor other top Democrats — have Adams wasn’t alone. Three of States was one of only three countries, out of ering effort that ensnared Schiff and Swalwell because Borough Hall are rallying with backed away from efforts to re- the four top candidates in the 163, that went backward in well-being over they had been in contact with congressional aides sus- sudden confidence around a po- form policing or pursue racial- election rejected calls to strip the last decade. pected of leaking classified information. litically potent cause: funding justice measures at the local and resources from the police, and Another assessment this month, the IMD As the justice department investigated leaks, they the police. federal levels. Both men have diverse Democratic constituen- World Competitiveness Ranking 2021, put obtained records of House intelligence committee In the nation’s capital on melded rhetoric about fighting cies from Flushing to Flatbush the United States No. 10 out of 64 economies. staffers, as well as the records of their contacts. Schiff Wednesday (23), President Joe lawlessness with calls for an appeared to reward them for it. A similar forward-looking study from the and Swalwell were not the target of the investigation, Biden put the weight of his office exhaustive reassessment of po- Republicans have already World Bank ranks the United States No. 35 the Wall Street Journal reported. behind a crime-fighting agenda, licing, and Biden has expressed signalled that they plan to link out of 174 countries. But Democrats are also concerned about the denials unveiling a national strategy hope that bipartisan talks on Democrats with the “defund” So it’s great that we again have a president from Barr and Sessions and are set to look at whether that includes cracking down on Capitol Hill will yield a land- movement next year, as they respected by the world. But we are not “back”, they made publicly misleading representations to ob- illegal gun sales and encourag- mark police-reform law. did in the 2020 campaign, and and we must face the reality that our great- fuscate the extent of their involvement. ing cities to use hundreds of bil- In his speech on Wednesday, brand Biden and his party as est vulnerability is not what other countries The two former attorneys general appeared to issue lions of dollars in pandemic re- Biden also urged municipalities more concerned with appeasing do to us but what we have done to ourselves. very carefully worded denials, the source said, which lief money for law-enforcement to spend federal funds on crime- activists than locking up crimi- The United States cannot achieve its poten- raised the prospect that they may have been at least purposes. His speech represent- prevention tactics besides po- nals. Conservative lawmakers tial when so many Americans are falling short aware of the leak inquiries into Schiff and Swalwell. ed the most muscular response licing, like youth programs and in the House have been trying of theirs. Barr said in an interview with Politico that while he so far from his administration to initiatives to absorb people re- to scuff up Biden’s largely fa- “America’s chronic failure to turn its eco- was attorney general, he was “not aware of any con- a rise in crime that has stricken leased from prison into society. vourable image by depicting the nomic strength into social progress is a huge gressman’s records being sought in a leak case”, while the country’s major cities. A group of Congressional country as being in the throes drag on American influence,” said Michael Sessions also told associates he was never briefed on In New York City, the coun- Black Caucus members are pre- of overlapping crises around Green, chief executive of the group that pub- the subpoenas. try’s largest metropolis and a paring to introduce legislation crime, border security and gas lishes the Social Progress Index. In examining the denials, Democrats could demand Democratic stronghold, it was this week to fund violence in- prices. “Europeans may envy America’s corporate testimony from Barr and Sessions, as well as other Eric Adams, a former police of- tervention and workforce devel- Rep. Val Demings, a Florida dynamism but can comfort themselves that Trump justice department officials. Nadler told the ficer who is Black, who rode an opment programs as part of an Democrat who is challenging they are doing a much better job on a host of Guardian he would also consider deposing the former anti-crime message to a com- overall crime-reduction strat- Sen. Marco Rubio in 2022, said social outcomes, from education to health to deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. manding lead in the initial egy, according to an aide. she believed her party was well the environment. But the committee is not expected to issue subpoe- round of the Democratic may- But most Democratic leaders, positioned to rebut that attack. “Rivals like China may see the fraying of nas for their testimony for some time, in large part oral primary on Tuesday (22). from the president of the United A former police chief in Orlando, America’s social fabric as a sign of strategic because Democrats and counsel on the committee are The back-to-back develop- States to the Brooklyn borough Demings said she did not believe weakness,” he added. “Emerging economies, not yet certain what information they need to compel. ments signalled a shift within president, have also firmly re- the party had to choose between whose citizens are starting to enjoy quality of The committee took its first step in trying to estab- the Democratic Party toward jected activist calls to slash po- pursuing changes to traditional life ever closer to that of Americans, may be lish what testimony it needed for its investigation last themes of public safety. Senior lice budgets and divert govern- policing and treating public less willing to take lectures from the US gov- week, when Nadler sent a lengthy document request Democrats said they expected ment resources toward other safety as a paramount goal. ernment.” to the attorney general, Merrick Garland, and de- party leaders to lean hard into kinds of social services. “The safety of our communi- Biden’s proposals for a refundable child manded a briefing before 25 June. that issue in the coming months, Adams has denounced that ties, the safety of our nation, is credit, for national pre-K, for affordable child Democrats on the House judiciary committee are trumpeting federal funding for approach with open contempt, the No. 1 priority and the No. 1 care and for greater internet access would not likely to receive a briefing until next month, the police departments in the Amer- deriding ‘Defund the Police’ ac- concern,” Demings said, adding, help address America’s strategic weaknesses. source said. But the House inquiry is sure to be the ican Rescue Plan and attacking tivists as a collection of affluent “Everybody deserves to live in a They would do more to strengthen our coun- most potent investigation into the data seizure after Republicans for having voted whites and accusing a progres- safe community.” try than the $1.2 trillion plan pursued by Republicans vowed to stymie a parallel inquiry in the against it. sive rival, Maya Wiley, of focus- It is not clear how universally American officials to modernize our nuclear Senate. “This is not a time to turn our ing on left-wing sloganeering “at Democrats will adopt that ap- arsenal. Our greatest threats today are ones Although justice department investigations into backs on law enforcement or our a time when Black and brown proach. While a majority of the we can’t nuke. leaks of classified information are routine, the use of communities,” Biden said in his babies are being shot in our party appears to welcome a mes- America still has enormous strengths. Its subpoenas to seize data belonging to the accounts of speech. streets.” sage of being simultaneously military budget is bigger than the military sitting members of Congress with gag orders to keep At the highest levels of the That message evidently reso- tough on crime and stringent budgets of the next 10 countries put together. their existence secret remain near-unprecedented. president’s party, there is a de- nated with Black primary vot- about police abuse, there is also American universities are superb, and the Justice department investigators gained access veloping consensus that Demo- ers: Adams’ lead in the mayoral significant resistance among dynamism of US corporations is reflected in to, among others, the records of Schiff, then the top crats need to treat crime as an race was built on his popularity liberals to policies that might the way people worldwide use their iPhones Democrat on the House intelligence committee and urgent political issue, and that in the Bronx and working-class bolster police departments, of to post on their Facebook pages about Taylor now its chairman, Swalwell and the family members they cannot allow voters to see Black neighbourhoods in Brook- which they are deeply distrust- Swift songs. of lawmakers and aides. the 2022 election as a choice lyn that have been hit especially ful. But they also comment, aghast, about the -theguardian.com between a liberal party that sup- hard by a spike in murders and -New York Times Capitol insurrection and attempts by Repub- licans to impede voting. American democracy @Copyrightswas never quite as shimmering a model for By Christine Hauser and Isabella Grullón Paz the world as we liked to think, but it is cer- tainly tarnished now. Likewise, the ‘American dream’ of upward Former boarding schools in US to be searched for remains of indigenous students mobility (which drew my refugee father to these shores in 1952) is increasingly chimeri- WASHINGTON - The United States “I know that this process will be long identify the facilities and sites where know where they went and we don’t cal. will search federal boarding schools for and difficult,” she said. “I know that there may have been student burials, know what happened to them. We “The American dream is evidently more possible burial sites of Native Ameri- this process will be painful. It won’t as well as the tribal affiliations of the don’t know their final resting place.” likely to be found on the other side of the At- can children, hundreds of thousands undo the heartbreak and loss that so children, the Department of the Inte- Chuck Hoskin Jr., principal chief lantic, indeed most notably in Denmark,” a of whom were forcibly taken from their many of us feel. But only by acknowl- rior said. of the Cherokee Nation, described the Stanford study concluded. communities to be culturally assimilat- edging the past can we work toward a It will also mine records from 1819 boarding schools as part of an effort by “These things hold us back as an economy ed in the schools for more than a cen- future that we’re all proud to embrace.” to 1969 that were kept by the depart- the federal government to civilize Na- and as a country,” Jerome Powell, the chair of tury, the interior secretary announced The forced removals were a result ment, which had oversight of the fa- tive Americans. The Cherokee Nation the Federal Reserve, said Tuesday (22). on Tuesday (22). of the Civilization Fund Act of 1819, cilities, working with tribal nations, identifies the boarding schools as the More broadly, the United States has lost its The initiative is likely to resemble a which sought to introduce the “habits Alaska Native corporations and Native biggest factor in the loss of the Chero- lead in education overall and in investments recent effort in Canada, where the dis- and arts of civilization” to Indian tribes Hawaiian organizations. A final report kee language. in children. The World Bank Human Capital covery of the remains of 215 children adjoining frontier settlements through will be sent to Haaland by April 1. “We saw an erosion of our culture Project estimates that today’s American chil- at the site of a defunct boarding school instruction. Christine Diindiisi McCleave, chief and language, and in some cases, it was dren will achieve only 70% of their potential rekindled discussion of the traumatic In the years after the law was enact- executive of the National Native Amer- literally beaten out of the children who productivity. That hurts them; it also hurts history and treatment of Native popu- ed, residential boarding schools were ican Boarding School Healing Coali- were forced to attend,” Hoskin said in a our nation. lations. established across the nation and used tion, said that finding the graves of the statement. “It is a history that needs to We can’t control whether China builds Addressing a virtual conference of to house relocated Indigenous chil- missing children would be “very heal- be known and remembered.” more aircraft carriers. We can’t deter every the National Congress of American dren, suppressing American Indian, ing for a lot of our people.” The discovery in Canada prompted Russian hacker. Indians, Secretary of the Interior Deb Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian “The thing that is the open wound the Department of the Interior to begin But to truly bring America back, we should Haaland said the program would “shed cultures. for our communities right now,” she the initiative to shed light on what it worry less about what others do and more light on the unspoken traumas of the The new program, called the Federal said, “is the fact that our children were called “these past traumas.” about what we do to ourselves. past, no matter how hard it will be”. Indian Boarding School Initiative, will taken, and they’re lost, and we don’t -New York Times -New York Times WEEKEND EXPRESS JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 7 COMMENTARY

By Kassapa Following the UNP’s journey under Wickremesinghe recent decision by the European Parliament, the From a regal outfit government’s conduct may to rubble lead to Sri Lanka Like a bad smell in the cesspit of Sri Lankan poli- losing largely tics, Ranil Wickremesinghe lingers on. tariff-free The septuagenarian politician entered Parlia- access to a ment for the first time in 1977 as a green-behind- major market the-ears 28-year old representing the newly created Biyagama electorate thanks to his uncle, J.R. Jaye- wardene leading the then popular United National Party (UNP) to a landslide victory. Through fortuitous circumstances, Wickremes- -Kumanan Kanapathippillai inghe leap-frogged in to the Prime Ministerial chair in 1993, following the assassination of then Presi- By Savitri Hensman dent Ranasinghe Premadasa and D. B. Wijetunge receiving a constitutional kick upstairs. Wickremesinghe was as much a part of the Par- liament as its furniture until he was kicked out by Lack of good governance will cost Sri Lanka dearly the people at the 2020 general election. His UNP, The Sri Lankan government’s failure dle income countries that do not have lence towards religious and ethnic mi- Rights and others, also mentioned in haemorrhaging from the breakaway of the Samagi to respect human rights, democracy a separate arrangement with the EU, norities and communities in Sri Lanka, the resolution. These “indicated trends Jana Balawegaya (SJB) led by Sajith Premadasa and accountability has caused alarm at offering partial or full removal of cus- including Muslims, Hindus, Tamils and towards a deteriorating human rights managed just one seat and that too only on the Na- home and abroad and may prove still toms duties on two thirds of tariff lines. Christians.” situation, including those of the LGB- tional List. more costly in various ways. After a GSP+ offers special incentives for sus- The threat of a proposed new law TIQ community,” while “security forces For ten months, the seat remained vacant. Al- recent decision by the European Parlia- tainable development and good govern- which might undermine freedom of ex- continue to apply the Prevention of Ter- though initial reports following the election said ment, the regime’s conduct may lead to ance, so that these same tariffs are 0% pression was noted, along with use of rorism Act (PTA), which deprives de- Wickremesinghe would retire from politics, he losing largely tariff-free access to a ma- if countries put into practice 27 inter- counter terrorism in some instances “as tainees of due process rights, authorises didn’t. Initially, there were indications that he jor market. national conventions related to human a pretext on which to persecute mem- executive sanctioned detention without wanted to pave the way for a successor. That too The European Parliament is the law- rights, labour rights, protection of the bers of ethnic and religious groups and charge, and has facilitated the use of never happened. His cousin, Ruwan Wijewardene making and scrutiny body of the Euro- environment and good governance. civil society, including human rights torture. Amending the PTA to bring it was appointed Deputy Leader of the UNP, but he pean Union (EU), which brings togeth- In June, Members of the European defenders.” The resolution underlined in line with international standards was was never given a guarantee that it would be a step- er more than two dozen countries. On Parliament were faced with the ques- the importance of a national reconcilia- a key commitment of Sri Lanka in the ping stone to the ultimate prize- the leadership. June 10, by an overwhelming major- tion of whether these conditions had tion process which included investigat- run-up to its readmission to the Gener- Then a story was floated that Wickremesinghe ity, it passed a resolution on abuses in been met. The resolution on ‘The situ- ing alleged human rights abuses and alized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) in would stay on until the party was ‘restructured’, Sri Lanka. The European Commission ation in Sri Lanka, in particular the ar- war crimes by senior figures on all sides 2017.” He stated that “We will continue whatever that meant. That too never happened. (the EU’s executive arm) was urged to rests under the Prevention of Terrorism during the years of armed conflict; and our open and critical engagement with And now, surprise, surprise, Wickremesinghe is consider temporary withdrawal from a Act’ pointed out that “The controversial called for “a rigorous, impartial and Sri Lanka not only within the frame- nominated by the UNP’s Working Committee to fill scheme enabling Sri Lankan trade un- Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has complete investigation into the 2019 work of the GSP+ monitoring, but their solitary seat. der highly favourable conditions. been in place in Sri Lanka since 1979 Easter Sunday bombings in line with in our regular bilateral dialogue” – a This is despite a previous edict by Wickremes- On top of the damaging impact of the and grants the police broad powers to international legal standards.” warning that action was needed. inghe himself that no one who contested from the COVID-19 pandemic, May and June search, arrest and detain civilian sus- The point was made “that the contin- The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry’s party and failed to gain entry to Parliament would 2021 have been grim months for many pects; whereas the wide-ranging pow- uance of GSP+ trade preferences is not response was dismissive, claiming that be nominated on the National List. Obviously, ordinary Sri Lankans. As the Supreme ers provided for in the PTA have led to automatic”; and the European Commis- the resolution “contains factual inac- Wickremesinghe still rules the waves in the UNP Court ruled in favour of a family whose consistent and well-founded allegations sion and European External Action Ser- curacies, and does not take cognizance and waives the rules as and when he pleases. teenage son died some years ago, after of torture and sexual abuse, forced con- vice (EEAS) were called on “to take into of the multifaceted progress made by Why not? He is surrounded by a cabal of unpop- being beaten by police, more have died fessions and systematic denials of due due account current events when as- Sri Lanka in reconciliation and devel- ular politicians- Ravi Karunanayake, Vajira Abey- in state custody in suspicious circum- process.” sessing Sri Lanka’s eligibility for GSP+ opment”. The rosy picture painted of wardena, Akhila Viraj Kariyawasam, Sagala Rat- stances. Others languished in deeply In May 2017, Sri Lanka had “re- status” and “use the GSP+ as a leverage rights and freedoms under the current nayaka, to name a few who are unwaveringly loyal unsafe prison conditions despite lack of gained access to generous tariff prefer- to push for advancement on Sri Lanka’s leadership was far removed from the to the leader. Routed at the polls, reduced to just a evidence of wrongdoing. ences under the GSP+, on the condition human rights obligations and demand more sombre realities faced by all too nominal seat, one would have thought Wickremes- The decision to allow a burning ship that it replaces its PTA and effectively the repeal or replacement of the PTA.” many Sri Lankans. Yet the pattern of inghe, after more than a quarter of a century at the full of dangerous chemicals into Sri implements 27 international conven- If this did not work, as a last resort, denial has continued. helm of the UNP, would have made way for the next Lankan waters after other countries tions”, including on human rights. In- they should “initiate a procedure for the As power has increasingly been con- generation, just as much as J. R. Jayewardene made had turned it away resulted in ecologi- stead, things have got worse. temporary withdrawal of Sri Lanka’s centrated in the hands of the President way for Premadasa, even if it was, as rumour has it, cal disaster. The long term consequenc- The PTA had been “systematically GSP+ status and the benefits that come and his close associates, they have reluctantly. Astute politician that JR was, he placed es for fishing and the tourist industries, used for arbitrary arrests and the deten- with it, and to report to Parliament on come to rely on the Chinese regime and the party’s needs before his own and ensured the already badly hit by the coronavirus tion of Muslims and minority groups in this matter as soon as possible.” a handful of other leaders to shore up UNP remained in power for five more years after pandemic, are yet to be determined. Sri Lanka, including Ahnaf Jazeem, a Stronger rights for workers were also their control, whatever the long term he retired. Alas, those genes haven’t been properly Households who have been struggling 26-year-old Muslim teacher and poet, urged, taking note of “the impact of costs to the country. The hardships transmitted from uncle to nephew. Wickremesin- for a while to make ends meet will be and Hejaaz Hizbullah, a well-known the COVID-19 pandemic on the dete- faced by workers facing inadequate ghe, by returning to Parliament and continuing to especially vulnerable economically. lawyer for minority rights and the rule riorating labour rights’ situation in the conditions), minorities and anyone else lead the party after reducing it from a regal outfit There had been little doubt that the of law.” In 2021 Regulations had been country”; Sri Lankan authorities should outside the inner circle may count for to rubble, has demonstrated his lust for power- any government’s violations of human and issued expanding the PTA, to allow for “cooperate fully with the International little to those in charge. sort of power - has not diminished. democratic rights and good govern- “two years of detention without trial for Labour Organization (ILO) to strength- Yet in these times, as the economy If Wickremesinghe had any political sense, he ance, including removing checks and causing ‘religious, racial, or communal en the labour rights of factory work- faces tough challenges, disregarding would have abdicated long ago. The most oppor- balances on use of power by those in disharmony”. ers, including health and safety condi- the EU’s concerns – especially since tune moment would have been after Gotabaya Ra- high office, have made matters worse. There were “clear signs of the ac- tions for garment workers in special these echo those of so many people japaksa’s presidential election victory, when the For four years, Sri Lanka had enjoyed celerating militarization of civilian trade zones”, “effectively implement inside Sri Lanka – is a risky approach. party was looking for a new direction. Had he hand- advantages in trade with the EU, which government functions in Sri Lanka”, and strengthen the National Policy on And if those whose social, economic, ed over the reins to Sajith Premadasa, that would had become its second-largest trading including appointment of military of- Elimination of Child Labour” and meet cultural and political rights are being have provided the younger Premadasa a semblance partner (after China), absorbing 22.4% ficials implicated in alleged war crimes international requirements protecting violated increasingly recognise their of a chance at the general election. of its exports in 2020. This was one of and crimes against humanity; deaths freedom to join trade unions and un- common interests, calls for justice will Instead, he engaged in a protracted, fractious and the international relationships to come in police custody and prisons; and “the dertake collective bargaining. be harder to ignore. divisive battle to cling on to the UNP leadership. He under strain. reversal of important constitutional In a statement, Josep Borrell, a Euro- - Savitri Hensman is an activist succeeded, but at the cost of losing almost the entire The EU’s Generalized Scheme of safeguards, political obstruction of ac- pean Commission vice-president, drew and writer based in the UNP to Premadasa’s fledgling SJB. Preferences (GSP) reduces or removes countability, exclusionary rhetoric, attention to the United Nations Human United Kingdom and this article While Wickremesinghe must be hailed for his import duties on a wide range of goods. intimidation of civil society”; and “con- Rights Council resolution and reports was originally featured on thick skin and tenacity, his achievements are by no Standard GSP is open to low and mid- tinuing discrimination against and vio- by the High Commissioner for Human groundviews.org means less significant: he has been prime minister five times- more than any other- but never made it to president. Under his stewardship, the UNP By Meera Srinivasan has never elected one of its members as president. The last president to be elected from the UNP was Ranasinghe Premadasa– and that was some thirty- two years ago! The UNP was an all-encompassing ‘Metoo’ movement sparks reflection on newsrooms monolith, dominating politics, trade unions and public life in the country when Wickremesinghe Unlike the 2019 movement, women journalists put out specific details of perpetrators and the charges took over the party leadership following Gamini Dissanayake’s unfortunate demise and D.B. Wije- include sexual harassment and rape threats tunge’s retirement. Today, the party is dead in all but name, reduced to a few hangers on and its A flurry of sexual harassment allega- said the government would investigate colleagues in other parts of the world, Meanwhile, responses to past griev- name board and building at Sirikotha in Kotte. That tions from Sri Lankan journalists this the allegations made, that also includ- including India, and looking at laws ances that have come to light must be is what Wickremesinghe has to show for his more week has brought the country’s media ed State-run media. and policies there, while we evolve our guided by what the women who shared than twenty-five years of stewardship. industry in sharp focus, with many, Colombo-based portal Roar.lk ran own in Sri Lanka,” she said. their accounts want, in Tegal’s view. At the time of the next presidential election, especially women, calling for urgent an editorial calling for a “top-down At present, Sri Lanka has only a “Asking for their consent and giving Wickremesinghe will be seventy-five years old. If he reform of newsrooms. change” of culture within Sri Lanka’s criminal law to address sexual har- them control over their own narrative contests, he will only draw votes away from a SJB Identifying with the global #Metoo media industry. “If there was ever a assment. A person found guilty may is important. Public disclosure about candidate. If he doesn’t wish to do so, what earthly campaign, women journalists took to time for industry-wide introspection be imprisoned for up to five years, or a grievance can be for many reasons. purpose does he serve by entering Parliament now? Twitter and recalled incidents in their@Copyrights and dismantling of informal struc- fined, or both, and may have to pay In these cases, it is often also to break Politics, particularly in this part of the world are newsrooms, where they said male tures that allow abuse of power within compensation. the silence about pain that has been all about branding. The Senanayakes and Bandara- colleagues sexually harassed them, newsrooms, it is now,” it said, calling However, the criminal law is rarely privately endured for many years,” she naikes were brand names that had good market val- including with rape threats. While for formal structures and mechanisms, used, according to Ermiza Tegal, law- said, adding some survivors experi- ue. Nowadays, the Rajapaksas are the brand to beat, similar allegations surfaced on social for all involved parties “to be heard, yer with a practice in human rights ence “relief and release”, by asserting no matter what their failings are. Wickremesinghe media in 2019 in Sri Lanka, the re- afforded fair inquiry, and adequate re- and addressing gender-based violence. that they were wronged. is also a brand - a brand that is long past its date of cent accounts included some specific dressal.” “Accessing justice, particularly on “If they want legal acknowledge- expiry, a brand that has been utterly rejected by the details of the men accused of harass- Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema, Ed- gender-based violence, is a harrowing ment of violence or harassment, this public so much so that anyone and any party asso- ment, although the women stopped itor of The Sunday Morning weekend experience for victims,” she told The must be supported, but given the legal ciated with Wickremesinghe will not fare well at an short of naming them. newspaper, said change must begin Hindu, citing examples of complaints system, the personal costs to survivors election. What then is Wickremesinghe’s motive in In a Twitter thread on June 18, jour- within newsrooms. “We have told our not being recorded, victims being ridi- are often high. Which is also why in re-entering Parliament? There was much specula- nalist Aisha Nazim compiled distress- staff that the paper takes the issue very culed, intimidated, and threatened, the past perpetrators have preferred tion that he is a Trojan horse, sent in to the opposi- ing accounts shared by many women, seriously, and that they should feel free a failure to initiate legal proceedings, the narrow path of legal victories and tion camp by the Rajapaksas. It is an open secret of facing sexual harassment from male to raise any concern without fear. We lengthy court cases, continued expo- defeats,” the lawyer noted. that Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa and Wickremes- colleagues and bosses, in various Sri also hope to have regular discussions sure to the alleged perpetrator and Ultimately, addressing a “perva- inghe have a personal friendship to the extent that Lankan media outlets. Currently on with our teams on what in their view possible reprisal because of prolonged sive, systemic and institutionalized” they ‘look after each other’s welfare’- hence, despite a study break abroad, Nazim said her constitutes sexual harassment, and court cases, and procedures such as in- problem such as sexual harassment, all the public posturing about revealing and punish- Twitter action was driven by the desire what action they think would be ap- person identification parades. Further, requires a focus on social change, ac- ing corruption in the other’s camp, that didn’t hap- to put out the stories in public. “Espe- propriate, so that we can collectively the demands on finances and time, not knowledgement from leaders, institu- pen during the ‘Yahapalanaya’ government and it is cially since many of these perpetrators come up with an organisational poli- only of the victim but also of her sup- tions, and professional bodies that a not happening now. are still out there, in prominent posi- cy,” she said. port system, if she has one, also dis- real problem exists, she said, so that Initial reports suggest that Wickremesinghe’s ac- tions, and can often be seen bullying A strong anti-sexual harassment suades survivors from seeking justice. practical and sensitive mechanisms for olytes are trying to lure SJB stalwarts to their camp. young women online,” she told The policy is one of the outcomes those “I think we need to remind ourselves redress and support for victims are put That can only help the Rajapaksa’s and the ruling Hindu. like. Nazim, who flagged the issue, are that criminal laws are not the only laws in place.- party. Wickremesinghe presided over the demise of A section of Sri Lankan media re- also hoping for. “It is very important that we need,” Tegal said, pointing to -Meera Srinivasan is the Colom- the UNP. Is he now turning into a political serial ported on the development, when a that media houses put policies and sys- other laws, policies and services re- bo based Sri Lanka correspondent of killer, trying to kill off the SJB? Cabinet spokesman, responding to a tems in place, so that such incidents do quired in providing support and pro- The Hindu where this article was -This article was originally featured on question at the weekly press briefing, not occur in future. We are talking to tection to the aggrieved. originally featured counterpoint.lk 8 JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS COVID-REALITY

By Jessica Washington, Syarina Hasibuan and Jamaah ‘Suddenly, she’s gone’ Mourning in the mud in COVID-hit Indonesia JAKARTA/KUDUS – It should have been a time of celebration for Puji Apriani’s family – she was pregnant with her second child, and just weeks away from giving birth. But instead of welcoming a new life, her family is now in mourning. “I miss her. She was healthy, her pregnancy was normal. And suddenly, she’s gone,” her younger sister Ery Jurniastuti said. The family lives in Kudus, Central Java – one of the worst affected areas by Indonesia’s recent surge in COVID-19 cases. “She felt out of breath, - AFP and she was coughing. She felt contractions in her Patients within Intensive Care Units are connected to ventilators and continuous positive airway therapy stomach, too,” Ery said. Home to almost 900,000 (CPAP) machines, sometimes for days at a stretch people, Kudus has recorded a 7,594% increase in cases since the beginning of this year. Following a By Kris Thomas steep rise in cases this month, overwhelmed hos- pitals have been forced to turn patients away. After being rejected by two hospitals, Puji was finally admitted, and her oxygen levels increased ‘We are exhausted’ slightly. But it was too late. Her condition dete- riorated and she died in hospital. “She died first, Three frontline doctors on battling COVID-19 then they checked the heart of the baby. The baby is still inside, they didn’t take it out. It died there.” As a stubborn third wave of COVID-19 same sentiments. But now, things have the walls of these hospitals, [compared ate family members having received a At the Loekmono Hadi General Hospital in Ku- rages through the country, exhausted spun out of control.” “Despite all of this, to] what’s shown on TV or what’s seen vaccine against COVID-19, the anxie- dus, Dr Abdul Aziz Achyar said he was “surprised” doctors, nurses, and other health sector I never regret that I chose this career. I on the road,” the doctor further ex- ties of contracting the disease remain. by the ferocity of the surge, which has pushed bed workers have a solitary plea to the pub- actually chose to work with COVID pa- plained. “We are always in fear that we will take occupancy rates in hospitals to more than 90% . lic: “please think of one another, rather tients. I was not assigned,” she said. the disease home with us. Vaccination “During Ramadan, it was so quiet. We only had than just yourself.” The doctor described how distraught We always fear that we will helps ease that burden, but not a 100 18 patients. But then, when it started … I myself “Work is tiring and exhausting,” said both patients and caregivers are during take the disease home with us percent.” was also hospitalized,” he said. One hundred fifty- three of his colleagues also contracted the virus, one doctor. “It keeps getting worse. the ongoing third wave. In comparison The case of the 60-year-old patient I can’t see myself doing They (hospital administration) just keep to the first and the second waves last who was admitted with a severely in- and two of them died. Indonesia’s capacity to adding beds and beds and beds without year, the third, with its new COVID-19 fected leg wound is fresh in the memory anything else track variants is limited, but doctors believe the having any sense of how they are going variants, has brought with it an unfore- of the surgeon at the base hospital. The The 26-year-old doctor at a neona- current outbreak in Kudus is driven in part by the to allocate staff. As a result, one or two seen severity; Sri Lanka has been re- patient had to undergo surgery multiple tal intensive care ward spoke about the spread of the Delta variant, which was first de- doctors have to take care of 150-200 pa- cording more patients and more deaths. times, and was finally on the road to re- experience treating babies who have tected in India. tients. You get fed up, naturally.” “Some walk in healthy, but deterio- covery, the surgeon recalled. tested positive for COVID-19: “It’s a “We sent cases from health centre [for genome Doctors in Sri Lanka are now logging rate without any warning,” the doctor “He then contracted COVID when he difficult situation. When we do a rapid sequencing]… from 72 samples, 62 were the new up to 240-340 work hours a month. A said. “Some, we are able to save — oth- was in the ward. We think it was proba- antigen test on the baby, it starts cry- variant,” Dr. Abdul said. single shift can last a minimum of 24 ers we cannot. (During) this wave, we bly from another patient or from some- ing. And that would distress the mother At Aisyiyah Kudus Hospital, Dr. Najib Budhi- hours. And if one is assigned to a COV- have seen more deaths and admissions one who visited him. He didn’t recover,” and she would start crying. So we need wardoyo said his hospital is completely at capac- ID-19 intermediate care centre, then than the last two waves combined. the doctor recalled. to comfort the mother, do the rapid test ity. “We are full of COVID patients. This second chances are work hours will be even There’s a death every day, and the sad This has been a common occurrence on her baby, and then do another test wave started after Eid,” he said. more. part is (that) we are used to it.” during the third wave, according to the on the mother as well,” the doctor said. “All hospitals in Kudus are experiencing this We recently spoke to three local doc- By Wednesday (23), Sri Lanka has surgeon. There had been multiple cases On May 27, health authorities re- problem … oxygen scarcity. We have to be selec- tors battling the pandemic from the officially recorded 2769 COVID-19-re- of COVID-19 patients who had either corded the youngest COVID-19 fatality. tive; we can only use oxygen for patients with very frontlines: one works at a COVID-19 in- lated deaths. When the third wave was contracted the disease or developed He was only eight days old. The doctor low saturation.” It is not just the hospitals in Java termediate care centre, one is a surgeon announced and nationwide travel re- symptoms after they were admitted for was “lucky” not to have delivered a baby that are close to capacity, but cemeteries too. In at a base hospital, and the third works strictions imposed on May 21, the death a different cause. Most patients, the who developed severe symptoms of the the Indonesian capital, the designated COVID-19 at a neonatal ward. All three doctors re- toll stood at 1,132. It took less than a doctor said, cooperate with the doctors disease. Beyond a fever, the babies the burial sites, such as Pondok Rangon Cemetery, quested anonymity. month for that number to increase two- and nurses. But many others, attached doctor had delivered who tested posi- that were opened in the early months of the pan- demic are already full. Cemetery workers said they I chose to work at a COVID fold. “We were massively understaffed to various medical equipment (oxygen tive for COVID-19 “were not very ill or at the beginning of May. It felt like the masks, CPAP masks, and machines), in a bad condition overall, thankfully.” were struggling to keep up with their workload. centre, I was not assigned entire health system was collapsing,” showed signs of depression. Special newborn intensive care is re- “Before COVID, I used to dig 10 graves each Most intermediate care centres act the doctor said. “My job, I wouldn’t say it’s difficult... quired for babies who become critically day. But yesterday, we dug 46 graves. The day as specialised centres for the treatment At that COVID-19 intermediate care (but) sometimes, it becomes very hard ill with COVID-19. However, such facili- before, it was 51,” Darsiman, a gravedigger of of COVID-19 patients, and are separate centre, most patients are poor labourers to operate on COVID patients when we ties are not widely available in Sri Lan- 20 years, said. “We are very tired. We work from from the main hospitals. At hospitals, or those from the fishing community. are wearing protective gear. It limits our ka. Therefore, babies diagnosed with morning until night.” According to this doctor, patients range In Rorotan, North Jakarta, a new burial site for COVID-19 patients are categorized ac- visibility a lot,” the doctor said. COVID-19 are transferred to hospitals those who have died from COVID-19 opened just cording to three levels: the isolation from beggars to small business own- He also spoke about how he witnessed in Colombo such as the Neville Fernan- ers. Many patients had not come with weeks ago – and already, more than 800 people ward is where the mild to moderate many patients, young and not expected do Teaching Hospital, along with their have been buried there. COVID-19 patients are treated; the the intention of getting admitted; they to be hard hit by the virus, develop a mothers. had come seeking medication for a fever As the death toll continues to rise, finding room High Dependency Unit (HDU) treats condition known as ‘long COVID’ or “COVID or not, this profession is a for the dead in this densely packed city is becom- moderate to severe patients; and the se- that they thought was normal, only to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. difficult one. Regardless of the risk we test positive for COVID-19, and be im- ing a challenge. The land at Rorotan used to be an rious cases — patients requiring venti- “Patients (even after they recover put ourselves in every day — because empty swamp – the families of the deceased have lators due to severe breathing problems mediately sent to the unit managed by from the disease) develop symptoms of the number of patients we meet, not the doctor. to trek through the mud, to pay respects to their — are treated at the Intensive Care Unit like fatigue, shortness of breath, and knowing if any of them are positive or loved ones. “This is a new cemetery … the other (ICU). “The ones affected by COVID-19 are an inability to concentrate. But no one not — we still do it day in and day out,” locations are full. There are just so many COVID “During the first wave, I never went mostly the less fortunate… They are the is talking about these conditions,” the the doctor said, adding, “And I can’t see cases, so they have to bring them here,” Darsiman home,” said a doctor who works at a ones who have to suddenly leave their doctor said. These complications can myself doing anything else other than said. COVID-19 intermediate care centre out- families because they tested positive. last weeks or months after the infection working in the healthcare sector. “It’s been raining so it’s muddy. It’s very sad to side Colombo. “My mother is diabetic Many do not have a place to quaran- has gone away, the doctor explained. - Kris Thomas is a Deputy Editor see funerals here, even the ambulances get stuck and I was afraid [of passing on the virus tine,” the doctor said. “There’s a very Despite many of the frontline workers, for Roar LK, where this article was trying to come in.” to her]. A lot of my friends shared the different scenario that happens within such as this surgeon, and their immedi- originally featured Headstone writer Wahyudin said his workload has increased because of the pandemic – and By Johnny Diaz working at the cemetery takes an emotional toll. “I feel so sad seeing this many burials. Seeing those families cry, I think about my own family,” he said. You’re vaccinated for COVID-19, and you just tested positive, now what? “Before COVID, I also made headstones but it’s Like millions of Americans, Kevin was dean of the Boston University School of But what about people in your tious disease specialist at South Shore busier now. So many people have died.” Moments vaccinated against COVID-19 in March Public Health. home? University Hospital in Bay Shore in to rest are scarce – just as workers lower a plastic- to protect himself. But the Tuesday (22) Those rare cases are called break- New York. wrapped coffin into the ground, more ambulances after visiting bars with friends over a through infections and as of April 30, The infected person should stay in a “It would be the mildest of the end of arrive, with more dead to bury. This week, Indo- rainy Memorial Day weekend in Prov- there were more than 10,000 of these separate ‘sick room’ or area and use a the spectrum of COVID-19,” he said. “It nesia surpassed two million confirmed cases of incetown, Massachusetts, he had a run- infections reported from 46 American separate bathroom, if available. may be just a mild common cold.” coronavirus – and more than 55,000 confirmed ning nose and some congestion. states and territories, according to the “If possible, maintain 6 feet between But this may be different in vaccinat- deaths. Dr. Nadia Siti, the head of Infectious Dis- “I thought it was typical springtime Centres for Disease Control and Pre- the person who is sick and other house- ed individuals with weak immune sys- eases at the Ministry of Health, said the rise in allergies in New England,” said Kevin, vention. The CDC has stopped record- hold members,” the CDC said. tems like older adults and people with cases is not surprising. 42, who spoke on the condition that his ing such infections if there are no severe This is important because an infected certain medical conditions or those who “We know that if there is a holiday or event, last name not be used. The symptoms symptoms, so the number for cases, in- person — even one without symptoms take certain medications. there is an increasing number of people moving worsened to headaches, body aches@Copyrights and cluding mild ones, is most likely higher. — could pass the virus to someone who and travelling from other cities,” she said. “The sleepless nights. His doctor told him is unvaccinated, including children un- Will this become more government had restrictions on mudik, which is that it might be the flu but suggested a What to do if it happens to you? der the age of 12 or people who cannot common? the tradition of Muslims to visit their hometown coronavirus test. The result was posi- A fully vaccinated person who experi- get a vaccine because of immune-relat- “We are going to see people pop up [during Eid Al Fitr]. Still, there are four to six mil- tive. “You don’t think it will be you,” ences symptoms consistent with COV- ed or other health issues. and be positive, but it’s not meaning- lion people who travelled.” said Kevin, who isolated in his Prov- ID-19 should isolate themselves from The centre noted that the coronavi- ful because your chances of passing it The situation in Kudus and capital are of par- incetown town-home for 10 days. others, the CDC said. rus spreads between people who are in to someone are much lower,” Cioe-Peña ticular concern to the Ministry of Health, where “At the end of the day, the vaccination “Broadly, someone who tests positive close contact through respiratory drop- said. bed occupation rates are high and hospital work- still worked,” he said. “I didn’t get as should isolate for 10 days,” Galea, not- lets that are produced when someone “Certainly, we will hear stories — my ers are already overwhelmed by the crisis. “In sick as people who got COVID prior to ing CDC guidelines, said. talks, coughs or sneezes. The virus also friend’s neighbour got vaccinated and Jakarta, the bed occupation rate is almost 80 to the vaccination being available.” Dr. Eric Cioe-Peña, director of Glob- spreads through respiratory droplets tested positive. If we continue to get 90 percent. We instruct hospitals to convert their al Health at Northwell Health in New among people who share the same in- beds into COVID-19 services, so they can be avail- ‘Breakthrough’ cases are rare people vaccinated, we will hear these Hyde Park in New York, said the guide- door space. stories of one-offs.” able for patients,” she said. If you’re one of the small number of lines were not much different from How serious are breakthrough Still, doctors emphasize the effec- “The last strategy is to establish field hospitals with the coordination of the army or police.” Long fully vaccinated people who later test those for someone who tested positive symptoms? tiveness of the vaccines and encourage positive for COVID-19, what should you before the vaccines were available. people to be fully vaccinated as supplies before the pandemic, Indonesia had a shortage of do? “You still have to isolate,” he said. Cioe-Peña said an infected person and appointments are now widely avail- medical professionals – and there are concerns COVID vaccines have been highly ef- “You still have to contact trace with the who had been vaccinated might have able in the United States. about how its stretched healthcare system will fective in preventing COVID-19, espe- understanding that your peace of mind mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. This is particularly true as the new cope when infections are expected to peak in July. cially hospitalization and death, and are is a little bit better.” “In the post-vaccine era, testing highly contagious Delta variant be- “With the existing doctors, paramedics and generally working as expected, doctors People should also inform their health COVID-positive is a lot less scary,” he comes more widespread during the nurses, it might not be enough. We might need say. The vaccines also reduce the risk of care provider of their positive result. If said. For “the vast majority of people — summer travel season. an experienced doctor to supervise five or 10 new spreading the virus. you leave home to go to the doctor, wear 99.9% of the time — I am going to be “It provides a solid degree of protec- ones, who don’t have experience in taking care of Although the risk of vaccinated peo- a mask and practice social distancing. OK. I am going to have a mild case. I tion,” Sood said. “It provides the free- patients,” Dr Nadia said. “We do hope we won’t ple becoming infected with the virus is “Fundamentally, though, someone may not even notice.” dom to move around and go on with face the same situation like India. What happened low, it can still happen, experts said. should isolate and then retest, with the The most serious symptoms include your daily life and activities almost be- in India should be our lesson.” “Yes, this will happen, unusual but latter probably in consultation with a nasal congestion and mild body aches, fore it was this pandemic.” -This article was originally featured on will happen," said Dr. Sandro Galea, provider,” Galea said. said Dr. Sunil Sood, a paediatric infec- -New York Times aljazeera.com WEEKEND EXPRESS JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 9 LITERARY LIVES

Princess Lee Radziwill -1933- 2019 Critic’s Notebook

By Parul Sehgal The stylish jet setter Yes, no, maybe so Sir Christopher Ondaatje concludes his two part series that explores the fascinating life and loves of A generation of thinkers grapples the glamorous younger sister of former first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who led a colourful life, with notions of consent married into European royalty, partied with Truman Capote and Andy Warhol, and once had a love Love, sex, money. affair with the man her sister would go on to marry - Aristotle Onassis Want, listen, help. The narrator of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel ‘The Friend’ once took a job typ- ing up transcripts of couples-therapy sessions. “The same words would come up all the time,” she notes. “I would type the words and I would listen to the couple talk, and I could tell that the same word meant this to him and that to her.” Few words might be as open to misinterpretation as “consent”, from the Latin consentire — literally, and al- most perversely, “to feel together.” Upon this word contemporary sexual ethics seem to turn. “Sex is no longer morally problematic or un- problematic; it is instead merely wanted or unwanted,” Amia Srinivasan writes in her forthcoming study ‘The Right to Sex’. Critics across the spectrum allow that the word is vital as “the least-bad standard” in sexual as- sault law, as the scholar Joseph Fischel puts it, but it is so conceptually narrow that it can frame any form of less-than-enthusiastic sex as assault, while doing noth- ing to address the painful, unsatisfying sex that many people, mostly women, experience. – Getty Images Recent novels, philosophical inquiries, young adult With her husband Stanislaus Radziwill, and romance fiction, films and television shows join boarding their plane for London in March a robust literature from the fields of feminist and dis- 1961 ability studies to ask who and what the term “consent” excludes today. They pluck at and complicate the idea, pull up its credit score, refine it. Vanessa Springora’s memoir ‘Consent’, Michaela Coel’s HBO series ‘I May Destroy You’, novels like Kate Reed Petty’s ‘True Story’ and Kate Elizabeth Russell’s ‘My Dark Vanessa’, essay collections by Srinivasan, Fischel, Katherine Angel, - Horst P Horst/Cond Nast via Getty Images Mariame Kaba, Melissa Febos, Maggie Nelson — ques- tions about consent run through them all. How is this Lee Radziwill with her two dogs at Turville Grange near Buckinghamshire in 1971 word being used, and by whom, and what does it con- ceal? Is there a better standard? What are the condi- tions that allow us to choose freely? This richer, developing notion of consent doesn’t Part ll Capote. She formed an interior design firm and seek to discard the term, but to wonder about its pri- “It is difficult for someone raised in my world to found a few wealthy sponsors – but it was not a macy and assumptions. What if it were acknowledged learn to express emotion. We are taught early to successful venture. Her designing career spawned not just as a private transaction between individuals, hide our feelings publicly.” much initial publicity but was brief. So was her lit- but, as Milena Popova suggests in her study of the -Lee Radziwill erary career. She was twice contracted to write her term, ‘Sexual Consent’, as something ever-present in memoirs – in the early 1970s and the late 1990s – our enmeshment with the world? Where is our consent Prince Stanislaw Radziwill divorced his wife but neither contract was completed. In 2001, an- in the water we drink or the air we breathe? Princess Christina ‘Lee’ Radziwill on July 23, 1974, other book Happy Times, a narrow picture book, It’s upon this shifting terrain that these new works on the grounds that he and his wife had not lived was published covering memories of the Bouvier - Bettmann Archive are set. ‘I May Destroy You’ is based on Coel’s experi- together for the previous two years and that the Sisters’ early carefree years. Jacqueline, aged six, and Lee Bouvier play marriage had irretrievably broken down. ence of sexual assault, around which orbit other stories with their dog Regent, a bull terrier, at a of ambiguous sexual encounters — “thefts of consent,” In 1988 Lee Radziwill married Herbert Ross, dog show in East Hampton, Long Island “Regrets. I think everyone has regrets, and the Hollywood actor, director and choreographer she calls them. The most stirring moments of the show people who say they haven’t are either liars ... whose films included The Sunshine Boys (1975), in 1935 unspool in silence, across the faces of the characters or narcissists. There have been many things in The Goodbye Girls (1977), the musical numbers framed in wordless confusion, searching for what at- my life to have regrets about, in the sense I wish of Funny Girl (1968), Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969), titude to take, what word to apply to the event or to I could have changed them, or somehow made Funny Lady (1975, and Steel Magnolias (1989). themselves. Annabel Lyon’s prize winning novel ‘Con- them not to happen.” Ross had married the ballerina Nora Kaye in 1959, be to demean its ordered luxury-apartment in sent’ follows, in part, a woman disturbed to learn that -Lee Radziwill but she died of cancer in 1987. It was not a hap- Paris (‘the favourite of any home I’ve ever had’), her intellectually disabled sister wants to marry — is py relationship, and they were divorced in 2001 in this, her favoured city, shows how subtly she she capable of consent? In Shatara Michelle Ford’s film Everything changed after President Kennedy shortly before he died. had lived, lives now, without the attendant glare ‘Test Pattern’, the question of consent hinges not just was assassinated in 1963. Returning to Wash- of part pomp and present self-glorification that on a woman’s assault by a stranger but on the putative- ington after the tragedy, Lee Radziwill brought “He was certainly different from anyone else others crave. She is utterly content, and it shows. ly protective behaviour of her partner afterward. The sensitivity and emotional support to her elder I’d been involved with, and the film world was What she is not is casual. She regulates her life acclaimed French writer Annie Ernaux took 60 years to sister following the crisis. She was a visible sup- exciting. Well, it wasn’t. I hated Hollywood, and by standards inbuilt by experience, by maturing piece together her latest memoir, ‘A Girl’s Story’, about port to Jacqueline Kennedy while the whole na- the provincialism of the industry ... he was still her friendships, by staying true, by her irony, by the trauma of her first sexual experience, “because it tion watched her escort her husband’s body to obsessed with Nora Kaye. Nora said this, Nora her humour, all qualities that show she is the real was so complex”. the Capitol to lie in state; during the funeral at did it like that, Nora liked brown and orange.” deal. That past sorrows and joys have merged “Had it been a rape, I might have been able to talk the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, and at -Lee Radziwill into an elegance that permeates her presence, about it earlier, but I never thought about it that way,” the burial ceremonies at Arlington National Cem- that ‘something in the air’ that indicates class and she has said. “I gave in, so to speak, out of ignorance. I etery. She also helped Jackie through the sad last Princess Radziwill was a public relations execu- courage and composure. Though she now rigor- don’t even remember saying, ‘No.’” day when she was forced to leave the White House tive for Giorgio Armani from 1986 to 1994, and ously guards her privacy, her free spirit surfaces So many writers tell this story — of losing possession with her children to move to W. Averell Harri- directed many promotional events for the Italian easily, and her thoughts come crystal clear. A of their bodies, worn down since childhood by touch- man’s Georgetown house, which had temporarily fashion designer. figure of her time, our history, Lee is her own ing, teasing, male aggression. “I was very confused for been made available to her. She then helped Mrs. harbinger for an iconic future. Ours and hers.” a long time about who my body belonged to,” Febos Kennedy resettle in New York on Fifth Avenue, a When Jackie Kennedy – Mrs. Aristotle Onassis -Nicky Haslam writes in ‘Girlhood’. “If someone wanted my body, I stone’s throw from an apartment that she herself –died in 1994, she surprisingly made no financial The Impatient Pen, 2019 tended to give it to them.” had bought. settlement for her sister. She wrote: The chipper rhetoric of consent culture, with its in- Princess Lee Radziwill died on February 15, junction to know your body and speak your mind, tells “I am always aware that I had a special and “I have made no material provision for my sis- 2019 of natural causes in her Upper East Side us so little about such states of being. Self-knowledge privileged life, yet it has always been balanced by ter – for whom I have great affection, because I Manhattan apartment. She was eighty-five is touted as a kind of armour — if you know what you tragedy as it has been for so many others.” have already done so in my lifetime.” years old. The Princess was known to have been like and what to ask for, you can’t be exploited. In ‘To- -Lee Radziwill -Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis strapped for cash due to her extravagant lifestyle, morrow Sex Will Be Good Again’, Angel links this belief and was noticeably hurt when her older sister in- to what she calls confidence feminism, with its “lean Lee Radziwill was a celebrity and popular mem- This disinheritance of Princess Radziwill was structed that each of Princess Lee’s children be in” ethos and horror of vulnerability. Beneath it, she ber of the international jet set. Aristotle Onassis widely interpreted as a snub and another sign of left $500,000, out of her estimated $200 million argues, lies the old business of making women respon- was a particular friend both before and after the strain between the two sisters, whose relationship estate, but pointedly omitted any bequest to the sible for someone else’s violence. Radziwill divorce – in London and on his yacht, had so captivated the press and public during their Princess. However her Will – released in March Reading these books together is to feel a rushing, the Christina. In fact, tabloids had even specu- lives. Lee Radziwill admitted that being the sister 2019 - showed that a $50 million trust fund was secretly set up for her decades ago by her mother, powerful confluence of ideas. “We have to complicate lated about a possible romantic link@Copyrights between Lee of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had been double- this conversation around sexual violence,” we need Janet Lee Auchincloss. The Princess’ sixteen page Radziwill and Onassis – a notorious womanizer. edged. language for a “spectrum” of harm (Kaba); we need In 1963 the Radziwills had encouraged Onassis to Will was signed by her on September 20, 2018, less than five months before she died and stipu- “in-between words” (Febos); we need to learn how to invite a grieving Mrs. Kennedy to recuperate on Princess Radziwill was inducted to the Vanity say, and hear, not just an enthusiastic “yes” or “no” but his yacht for a cruise on the Aegean Sea. The story Fair International Best Dressed Hall of Fame in lated that her lone surviving child, Anna Christine ‘Tina; Radziwill was to be her primary beneficiary “maybe” (Angel). After all, sex ought not to be under- of Jackie’s effect on Onassis during that cruise 1996. Her Paris and Manhattan apartments were stood as “capitalist free exchange” (Srinivasan), not has been exposed several times – particularly in featured in the April 2009 issue of Elle Décor mag- of her $50 million estate, and that her daughter- a book In Her Sister’s Shadow: An Intimate Biog- azine, and she was interviewed by Sofia Coppola in-law, Carole DiFalco Radziwill, the widow of her something we extract from someone else, but some- raphy of Lee Radziwill (1995) by Diana Du Bois. in 2013 about her life for T:The New York Times son Anthony, was to be left out entirely, as was thing “we make and experience together” (Nelson), a Radziwill would later tell friends that she was only Style Magazine, as well as for her film The Bling her niece Caroline Kennedy. Jacqueline Kennedy “conversation” (Angel). trying to do something nice for her sister, but that Ring (2013) and the loss of privacy. She was listed Onassis was hardly mentioned in her Will. These writers are responding not only to consent but Jackie completely co-opted Onassis on that cruise. again as being one of the best-dressed people over to #MeToo and the sorts of knowledge it produced, its Her transparent behaviour created a deep wedge fifty by The Guardian in March 2013. It may be that the stylish, husky voiced, wide- rhetoric around violence, its expectations of so-called between the two women – a rift never to be healed. eyed, jet-setter and socialite who found friends, survivors. Many of these works invoke the waves of Radziwill scoffed at reports of any fall-out between “If I really can be said to have a personal style, lovers and other adventures worldwide, while op-eds and testimonials that flooded social media, the two sisters. I think it is reflected in my taste for the exotic and bonding and competing with her elder sister, may wondering now who such stories served, what forms of the unexpected.” have, in death, had the final word. real solidarity they created. In ‘I May Destroy You’, for Five years after President Kennedy was assas- -Lee Radziwill -End example, Coel’s character, Arabella, becomes quickly sinated, Mrs. Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis were disabused of the hope that she might find comfort by married, with a pre-nuptial agreement that guar- In an exclusive interview for The New York sharing her story online. A wariness of narrative unites anteed her many millions of dollars, on Skorpios, Times with Princess Lee Radziwill, the British art many of these accounts — especially a wariness of what Onassis’ private island in Greece. Lee Radziwill director, interior designer and author Nicky Ha- Kaba, in her book ‘We Do This ’Til We Free Us’, calls went to the wedding with her husband. However, slam wrote of her: “compulsory confession”: the onus to share one’s story after the wedding the sisters didn’t see much of of trauma. Angel writes: “MeToo not only valorized each other and Radziwill developed a new coterie “In a world of passing celebrity, Lee Radziwill, women’s speech, but risked making it a duty to a man- of friends including Rudolf Nureyev and Margot seventy-nine, possesses a timeless aura that ra- datory display of one’s feminist powers of self-realiza- Fonteyn, Gloria Steiner, her former decorator diates now-ness. Her bang up-to-date personal tion, one’s determination to refuse shame.” Renzo Mongiardino, Cecil Beaton and Truman style, her laid-back – to say pared-down would -New York Times 10 JUNE 25 - 27, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS SPORTS

COUNTER PUNCH

By The Line Judge Sports ministry’s double standards for cricketers and Olympians Offers US$ 10,000 for athletes to go on a joyride for Tokyo Games

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has put ministry and the corporate sector. We do not de- letes and officials travel on business class, will it postponement of the Games by a year may have their shoulder to the wheel to help athletes achieve pend on any local sports governing bodies and we bring home medals? come as a blessing in disguise for some, but Sri greater heights in the Olympics by offering finan- work with our available resources generated from We are not grudging about the Olympians re- Lanka seems to have missed the bus since athletes cial assistance of Rs 40 million as sponsorship our sponsors. We would be much obliged if SLC ceiving financial assistance but the sports min- are still scrambling to make the cut by participat- for the contingent to Tokyo next month. This was could help the other federations in Sri Lanka so istry seems to have got its priorities mixed up or ing in an Inter-State meeting in India this week. one of the first decisions taken by the SLC execu- that sports as a whole would improve simultane- seem blind to the fact that only Mathilda Karls- Delays in getting visas prevented them from com- tive committee since Shammi Silva was re-elected ously,” stated NOCSL president Suresh Subrama- son has really ‘qualified’ in the sport of equestrian. peting in a tournament in Kazakhstan last week. president. Cricket is not an Olympic discipline but niam. Two athletes Nilani Ratnayake (3,000m steeple- A former national sprinter said because of COV- is a feature in the Asian Games. Coming on the heels of the sports minister’s an- chase) and Yupun Abeykoon (100m) are also on ID-19 and the lack of international competition, “The (SLC) board has decided to support our nouncement that the Sri Lanka Olympians will the brink of qualification according to the rank- this was the best chance Sri Lanka had to send athletes in every form and manner it can. The be receiving a grant of US$ 10,000 (Rs 2 million) ing points achieved in the ‘Road to Tokyo’, unless a huge team with qualification for the Olympics. board has always believed in helping in the devel- each for merely participating in the Tokyo Games, their position changes on June 29 – the last date “We could have sent at least five athletes for the opment of Olympic sports. In that spirit, we have there seems to be something amiss. “We have to achieve qualification by attaining the Olympic Games. Simply you don’t have to wait till the last decided to sponsor the team, which is participat- decided to grant an allowance of US$ 10,000 for standard or by accumulating points. The rest of week. They could have done something at least ing in the Tokyo Olympics,” a top SLC official was each Olympian with a further sum of US$ 40 as a the contingent are ‘wild card’ entries or by invi- a few months ago,” he said. The NOCSL chief reported as saying. “We thought that our small daily allowance,” Minister Namal Rajapaksa was tation either through Tripartite (NOCSL, Interna- also lambasted Sri Lanka Athletics for not doing contribution will be helpful for the preparation reported as saying. “We have also decided to grant tional Federation and IOC) or Universality Places. enough to help them achieve qualification. As a and other contingency purposes of our elite ath- an allowance of US $5,000 for each coach in ad- In fact, with less than a month to go for the start result, US-based high jumper Ushan Thiwanka letes who have qualified for the Tokyo Games.” dition to a sum of US$ 40 as a daily allowance,” of the July 23-August 8 global sports extrava- Perera who fell agonizingly short of Olympic Notably, the Board of Control for Cricket in India he added. ganza, delayed by a year because of the COVID-19 qualification by 0.3 centimetres may not be on (BCCI) also pledged Rs 100 million for the coun- “This is the first time that we have decided to pandemic, Sri Lankans still don’t know who their the flight to Tokyo although his winning leap of try’s Tokyo Olympics-bound athletes. reward the Olympians financially while recogniz- Olympic athletes are for Tokyo. Apart from Karls- 2.30m at the Lone Star Conference Outdoor Track The magnanimous gesture of SLC would have ing their high value and dedication to the sport. son, the confirmed entries so far are shooter Teha- & Field Championships, in Texas was the third been welcomed by the sports ministry that is Obtaining Olympic qualification is the greatest ni Egodawela, gymnast Milka Gehani de Silva and best performance this season. desperately keen to raise the profile of national achievement for an athlete and we want to value two-time Olympian shuttler Niluka Karunaratne. Participation in the Olympics is the biggest sportsmen and women to make them professional their performances in this way,” the minister ex- World swimming body FINA would be confirm- dream of athletes. “No matter how many medals in their outlook and performance. But the Nation- plained. ing the places of Matthew Abeysinghe and Aniqah you have won or how many competitions you have al Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) that At a time when the minister insists on perfor- Gaffoor on July 2. NOCSL announced earlier they been, if you have been to the Olympics that’s the is staunchly independent, being answerable only mance-based contracts for cricketers, it smacks of would be sending a “strong contingent of eight” best thing an athlete can have in his entire career. to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), double standards. What message are we sending which could be increased to 10 or 11 participants if That is the huge motivation every single athlete did not take this offer kindly and virtually rapped to athletes, most of who will be in Tokyo by in- the two athletes ‘qualify’ while the NOCSL is hop- can have,” said the Commonwealth Youth Games SLC for their unsolicited largesse. vitation, when they are given financial perks be- ing to get wild cards for judo and archery. medallist. “The NOCSL has no intention to get any help or fore achieving anything at the Olympics? What is Although authorities are aware that the multi- Sri Lanka should be gearing up to win medals at donation from either SLC or any other sports bod- their ‘motivation’ to perform beyond expectations sports events like the Olympics are held once eve- next year’s Asian Games from now itself instead of ies. On such matters the NOCSL only deals with at the Olympics? Aren’t we sending them on a joy ry four years, very little planning or preparation waking up closer to the event. the International Olympic Committee, the sports ride to Japan? By merely ensuring that the ath- has been in the build-up for the Tokyo Games. The -ENCL

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