POLARIZATION IN TIMES OF DISPOSSESSION APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 HONG KONG COURT CONVICTS SURVIVING WAR AND VOL: 4- ISSUE 241 VICTIMHOOD: WOMEN AND . DEMOCRACY LEADERS OVER 30 PROTEST MARCH TAMIL NATIONALISM HOT TOPICS PAGE 05 COMMENTARY PAGE 08 CRITICAL EYE PAGE 11

Registered in the Department of Posts of Sri Lanka under No: QD/130/News/2021 UN Security Council ‘strongly’ condemns Myanmar violence, civilian deaths UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council on Thursday (April 1) "strongly condemned" the deaths of hundreds of civil- ians in Myanmar, in a unanimous statement watered down by China after two days of tough negotiations. "Members of the Security Council expressed deep concern at the rapidly deteriorating situation and strongly condemned the use of violence against peaceful protestors and the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including women and children," read the statement, initiated by former colonial power Britain. In earlier versions of the text, obtained by AFP, Western na- tions wanted to include a "readiness to consider further steps" - a reference to the possibility of international sanctions. But China, considered Myanmar's most important ally, blocked the language, diplomats said. Beijing also insisted on softening a reference to the "killing" of hundreds of civilians and changing it to civilian "deaths". Russia, diplomats said, also blocked the text several times because Moscow wanted a sentence condemning the death of security forces members in demonstrations. Still, despite the lengthy negotiations, getting the Security Council to speak with one voice sent a "very important signal," one ambassador said on condition of anonymity. Since the February 1 coup, the Security Council has issued three unanimous statements on Myanmar. But Beijing, which has never recognized the existence of a coup, reduced the scope of the negotiated texts each time. Moreover, the Security Coun- cil's positions have had little effect on the military so far. On Wednesday (March 31), the UN's special envoy on Myanmar called for strong actions against the junta and warned of a pos- sible "bloodbath" and the risk of civil war. -AFP

- Louisa GOULIAMAKI / AFP Sao Paulo exhumes old graves A woman walks on a hill overlooking system under major strain. Civil groups of up to three people for 8,093 deaths since the start of the the ancient Acropolis in Athens protection deputy minister Nikos exercise or outdoor activities.The pandemic. More than 700 people to make space for surging on Thursday (April 1), a day after Hardalias said all retail outlets announcement came as Greece are in intensive care. A firm backer Greece said it would reopen except department stores and recorded 76 coronavirus-related of European vaccine passports, COVID-19 burials most shops and relax leisure malls would reopen from Monday deaths and over 3,600 new Greece is hoping to kickstart its restrictions despite persistently (5) and travel by car will also be infections over the last 24 hours. tourism season from mid-May SAO PAULO -Brazil’s biggest city on Thursday (April 1) sped up efforts to empty old graves, making room for a soaring num- high COVID-19 deaths and permitted for short distances Greece has registered more than onwards to claw back some badly ber of COVID-19 deaths as Sao Paulo city hall registered record infections that have put its health during weekends, for families or 260,000 coronavirus cases and needed revenue daily burials this week. Gravediggers in the Vila Nova Cachoeirinha cemetery in the city’s northern reaches worked in white hazmat suits to open the tombs of people buried years ago, bagging decomposed re- mains for removal to another location. Relocating remains is standard in cemetery operations, said Pandemic sharpens inequalities, could the municipal secretary responsible for funeral services, in a statement. But it has taken on new urgency as Brazil suffers its worse coronavirus wave since the pandemic began over a year ago. Brazil’s Health Ministry reported 3,769 new COVID-19 fuel unrest, IMF warns deaths on Thursday, narrowly missing a daily record for a third straight day. Bolivia announced on Thursday that it would shut WASHINGTON - The coronavirus pan- on children and youth, especially those good jobs. They suggested countries could its borders to Brazil, citing concerns over a new variant of the demic has worsened long-standing in- from poorer households.” rely more on property and inheritance tax- disease detected in its larger neighbour. equalities around the world, which left Increasing reliance on digital work and es, increase the tax rate for the wealthiest A day earlier, Brazilian biomedical institute Butantan said unaddressed could undermine econom- schooling worsen the impact, making it earners, and eliminate loopholes as well as that it had detected a new variant that shared similarities with ic stability and lead to unrest, the IMF harder for low-skilled workers to find jobs. “modernizing corporate income taxation.” one first seen in South Africa, which appears more resistant to warned on Thursday (April 1). “Against this backdrop, societies may Governments also could consider “tem- existing vaccines. The South African variant is more contagious, Poorest families have been hit particu- experience rising polarization, erosion of porary COVID-19 recovery contributions” as is an earlier variant discovered in Brazil. larly hard, and the damage to education trust in government, or social unrest,” the for high-income households, they said. Countries around the region have expressed concern that could last for years, the International IMF said. Using these funds for key social pro- Brazil is a breeding ground for new variants, as cases surge and Monetary Fund said in a report released The report - released a day after US grams can have “a powerful effect” at a Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro refuses to support masks ahead of next week’s Spring meetings. President Joe Biden proposed raising time when “up to six million children in and lockdowns. The findings show that the warnings corporate taxes to pay for a massive in- emerging market and developing econo- Brazil’s outbreak is the second-deadliest in the world after the fund economists sounded last year have frastructure and jobs program - called for mies could drop out of school in 2021, with United States, averaging about 3,100 deaths and 74,000 new come to pass. raising some taxes and improving tax col- lifelong adverse consequences.” cases per day over the past week - a rate that has climbed stead- “COVID-19 has exposed and exacer- lection to provide revenue for an improved “If governments increased spending on ily since February. bated pre-existing inequalities in incomes social safety net. education by one percent of GDP, for ex- Sao Paulo has also resorted to late-night burials to keep up and access to basic public services, such as Authors David Amaglobeli, Vitor Gas- ample, they could reduce the gap in en- with demand, with cemeteries authorized to stay open to 10:00 health care and vaccination, both within par, and Paolo Mauro in a blog post called rollment rates between the richest and the p.m. and across countries,” the report said. for governments to “give everyone a fair poorest families by almost one-third,” the -Agencies “Disruptions to education threaten so- shot at prosperity,” by improving access authors said. cial mobility by leaving long-lasting effects to health care, vaccinations, education and -AFP 36 feared dead in Taiwan train Quote for Today derailment Trending News Wise men speak because they have TAIPEI - Dozens of people are believed to have died in a train something to say; Fools because they have derailment in eastern Taiwan on Friday (2), railway police said. EU: Member nations fall out over how Myanmar: The ousted civilian leader to say something. In their latest rescue operation update, police said 36 passen- to divide up 10 million extra doses of Aung San Suu Kyi has been accused of gers were classified as "out of hospital cardiac arrest" - a term coronavirus vaccine with Austria, Slove- breaking a colonial-era official secrets -Unknown for someone showing no signs of life. nia and the Czech Republic refusing to law, her lawyer says, as Britain ramps Word for Today The statement said 72 people were still trapped inside train help five struggling countries. up sanctions against the junta and the carriages while 61 passengers had been sent to hospital. Brabble [brab-uhl] -verb (used without The eight-car train had been travelling from the Taipei area to UN Security Council condemns the object)- to argue stubbornly about trifles; Japan: The government announces deaths of hundreds of civilians. the eastern coastal city of Taitung when it came off the rails in a Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will wrangle tunnel just north of Hualien, causing several carriages to hit the hold face-to-face talks with Joe Biden Mozambique: More than a week af- walls of the tunnel, the government-run Central News Agency Today in History reported, citing the fire department. in Washington on April 16, as the first ter jihadists staged a deadly raid on Photos circulating online showed passengers evacuating from foreign leader hosted by the US presi- the northern town of Palma, survivors 1792 - The US dollar is introduced with the the train as fire department and medical workers tried to access dent. stream into the port of Pemba, capital of passing of the Coinage Act establishing the gas-rich Cabo Delgado province. United States Mint the carriages inside the stone tunnel Iran: World powers China, France, The Taroko Express train is one of the fastest in Taiwan and typically travels at around 80 mph. The agency said the train Germany, Russia, and the United King- Cuba: Authorities erects a giant con- Today is... had been carrying around 350 passengers at the time of the dom and Tehran meet by video confer- crete flag in front of the US embassy crash. ence to discuss the possible return of the Havana as hopes of an improvement in World Autism Day Friday was the start of the annual ‘Tomb Sweeping’ holiday, a United States to the Iran nuclear deal, bilateral relations under the Joe Biden A day dedicated to raising awareness of the time when Taiwan sees a surge in travel. in a development welcomed by Wash- administration fade on the island na- neural development disorder that affects 1 -Agencies/NYT ington. tion. out of every 150 children around the world 2 APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS BUSINESS

Sri Lanka Banks borrow Rs 64bn from liquidity window, rupee below 200 to the dollar COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s banks bor- when they do not have deposits, ana- window borrowings are collateralized, rective policy to halt a slide in the ru- at 198.75/201.00 the one week dollar rowed Rs 64.6 billion overnight on lysts say. State banks are also asked to and deposits are not. The overnight pee. In 2021 Sri Lanka is still in the on Wednesday. Earlier this week the Wednesday (March 31) up from Rs 46 subsidize losses at State energy enter- borrowings are highest since a 2018 ‘Go’ phase. Non-borrowed excess re- central bank acquired US$ 17 million billion a day earlier, keeping call mon- prises, adding further pressure on the currency crisis, which was triggered by serves rose to Rs 167.1 billion Wednes- through a one month buy sell/swap ey rates rock solid at 4.65% amid wide rupee. open market operations (‘Go’ policy) day from Rs 148.5 billion a day earlier. at a negative premium of around 153 open taps, official data show as the ru- The central bank’s holdings of Treas- and liquidity from Soros style swaps, Foreign banks and at least two large points, market participants said. pee dipped below 200 to the US dollar. ury bills were at Rs 842 billion before despite gains in tax revenues and the private banks are usually cash plus Over 70% of bill auctions remained In previous crises, liquidity short- the settlement of this week’s bill auc- deficit, critics have said. in Sri Lanka and are unable to con- unsold sold over the past two weeks, ages have been found mostly in State- tion, not counting the overnight bor- Overnight borrowings were around tribute to balance of payments trou- while foreign reserves have been run banks that finance the budget rowings which put the bill stock at over Rs 60 billion in February 2020 when bles that hit the soft-pegged rupee steadily eroding. through overdrafts shorting reserves Rs 906 billion. In Sri Lanka overnight the markets were kept short in a cor- from time to time. The rupee closed -economynext.com CEB to raise Rs 20bn from listed bonds Pakistan U-turns on plans to resume India imports COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s State- state institutions as an effective ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's government Ahmed told reporters the decision had Pakistan's economy is in the doldrums, a run Ceylon Electricity Board and efficient source of capital rais- has made a swift U-turn on plans to al- been ‘deferred’ until New Delhi restored position made worse by a third wave of the (CEB) has been cleared to sell up ing.” low limited imports of sugar, cotton and Indian-administered Kashmir's special coronavirus pandemic that has seen the to Rs 20 billion rupees of publicly The bond will pay a 9.35% fixed wheat from India after a political backlash status. reintroduction of partial lockdowns across trade 5-year bonds, the Colombo coupon. against the move. Islamabad suspended trade and diplo- the country. Stock Exchange said. The CSE said it had given the go The government's economic coordina- matic ties with India in 2019, when New The import of half a million tons of sug- “We welcome other State insti- ahead for the CEB to sell 100 mil- tion committee said Wednesday (March Delhi imposed direct rule on the restive ar would likely have slashed prices by up tutions to strongly consider the Sri lion, Rs 100 bonds and a another 31) that import permits would be approved Muslim-majority region and enforced a to 20% ahead of the forthcoming fasting Lankan stock market as a vehicle tranche of 100 million bonds if the in a bid to rein in rampant inflation, but heavy security lockdown. month of Ramadan, when consumption to finance growth and develop- first is oversubscribed. politicians criticized the apparent thaw in Both countries withdrew their top diplo- soars. ment,” Colombo Stock Exchange The bonds will carry an ‘AA- relations with their rival neighbour. mats, and consular staff were expelled or The economic committee had also paved CEO Rajeeva Bandaranaike said (lka)’ domestic rating by Fitch. Pakistan Finance Minister Hamma- withdrawn. the way for three million tons of wheat to in a statement, noting “This once Sri Lanka’s Bank of Ceylon has dAzhar had said the government made There has been a frosty stand-off since, be brought in, as well as unspecified quan- again demonstrates the confi- previously raised money through the decision "in the interest of the people", but signs of rapprochement recently have tities of cotton and yarn. dence placed in the Sri Lankan listed bonds. when asked why trade was resuming de- included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Bloomberg reported last week that the stock market by both private and -economynext.com spite no change in New Delhi's position Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran United Arab Emirates had brokered secret on Kashmir - a divided territory claimed Khan exchanging letters, as well as a re- back-channel talks between the two South in full by both countries. But on Thursday sumption of talks last week on the use of Asian nations. OPEC+ approves oil output (April 1) Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid resources from their shared Indus River. -AFP increases from May LONDON - The OPEC+ group- of the production levels for May, Steel tycoon Gupta rules out bailout, UK closures ing of oil producers announced June and July 2021... With every LONDON - Indian-British billionaire ernment earlier this week refused GFG we will support our UK business also," he after a ministerial videoconfer- adjustment being no more than Sanjeev Gupta on Thursday (April 1) ruled a rescue package totalling £170 million said. ence meeting Thursday (April 1) 0.5 million b/d (barrels per day),” out a bailout or factory closures for his ($234 million, 200 million euros). "None of my steel plants under my watch they had approved an increase in a statement from the grouping steelmaking group GFG Alliance after the There is growing concern in Britain will be shut down." output from May onwards. “The said. collapse of corporate finance firm Green- about the future of GFG and Liberty Steel, GFG has operations in more than 35 Meeting approved the adjustment -AFP sill. The remarks come after the UK gov- which together employ 5,000 people do- countries across the world, and annual mestically and 35,000 worldwide. global revenues of about $20 billion ac- GFG Alliance had been Greensill's big- cording to its website. gest customer. "Our plants are conserving cash. Many "I am not waiting for anybody to come of our customers are coming forward and to the rescue. We will help ourselves but giving us large orders, prepayments and so of course all help from everybody is always on, the market needs our material and we welcome," Gupta told the BBC. are working with financiers to refinance," He admitted that his company owed added Gupta. "many billions" to Greensill, but insisted Greensill specialized in short-term cor- that no facilities would face closure. porate loans via a complex and opaque "Our overall global operations are prof- business model that ultimately sparked its itable," the GFG founder said. "We have declaration of insolvency last month. refinancing offers, we will refinance, and -AFP

Infotainment A safe, odourless and infection-free experience

Eva launches Sri Lanka first ever sanitary napkin enhanced with all-new Antibacterial Layer infused with Green Tea essence

Eva, Sri Lanka’s leading sanitary nap- kin brand, recently launched their new and improved range of sanitary napkins enhanced with a Green Tea infused An- tibacterial Layer, offering women a safe, odourless and infection-free experience during their menstrual period. The An- tibacterial Layer is a first in the industry and heralds a revolutionary change in ca- tering to the sanitary needs of the women in the country. With billions of women and girls around the world of menstrual age, 75% will experience vaginal yeast, bacterial in- fections or period odour during their life- time and these infections and odours can cause multiple health issues. The new Antibacterial Layer in Eva sanitary napkin products utilizes the lat- est in Anti-Microbial treatment technol- ogy to attract and kill microbes like bac- teria and fungi. The Green Tea essence, rich in anti- oxidants, is infused into the Antibacte- rial Layer to help neutralize period odour. Bonded into six layers of highly absorbent protection material with a deep channel liquid lock-in absorption system, a raised & comfortable menstrual experience. The centre and a fast-absorbing top sheet, this Flagship brand of ICL Brands (Pvt) Ltd., new Antibacterial Layer with 100% im- Eva has been catering to the sanitary proved absorbency will provide women needs of Sri Lankan women since 1987 the ultimate comfort and confidence for and is the leading sanitary napkin brand any activity. in Sri Lanka with a market share of over For over 30 years, Eva has gained the 80%. trust of Sri Lankan women having offered ICL uses the best raw materials sourced only the very best of its products to the from leading suppliers across the world, market. state-of-the-art international manufac- Eva is the undisputed market leader turing technology and an experienced and a pioneer of many firsts in the sani- team of professionals & experts to design, tary napkin market of Sri Lanka, includ- manufacture, market, and distribute Eva ing being the first to change the shape to every corner of the country, making it and form of sanitary napkins to fit the available to over 10 million Sri Lankan contours of the female body, the first to women. introduce sanitary pads with protective This success has strengthened Eva’s wings to prevent side leaks and bunching, resolve and mission to continue to strive the first to introduce a six-layered nap- to offer the very best menstrual health & kin for maximum absorption and leakage hygiene solutions to the Sri Lankan wom- protection and now, the first to introduce an to empower her to lead a limitless life an Antibacterial Layer infused with Green with confidence. Tea essence for a safer and more hygienic -ENCL WEEKEND EXPRESS APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 3 GLOCAL

Express Newspapers (Cey) Pvt. Ltd., 185, Grandpass Road, Colombo 14, Sri Lanka Myanmar junta Telephone: 0117 322 705 (Editorial) 0117 322 731 (Advertising) 0117 322 789 (Circulation) attends BIMSTEC Email – [email protected]/[email protected] Epaper - http://epaper.newsexpress.lk meeting chaired by Facebook –News Express Sri Lanka Sri Lanka COLOMBO - The Myanmar junta on Thurs- Chinese nationals in Sri Lanka to receive day (April 1) attended a Bay of Bengal Initia- tive for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting chaired by Sri Lanka, despite calls by rights bodies for Sri Lanka to rescind the invitation it had extended Sinopharm vaccine starting Monday to Wunna Maung Lwin, the junta’s newly ap- pointed foreign minister, to attend the event. COLOMBO – Si Lanka will start ad- stored at the health ministry’s central opharm vaccine, disregarding the re- drive has shown positive results. He The invitation, extended by Foreign Minis- ministering the COVID-19 Sinopharm storage facility. sults of testes in order for it to be ap- noted that antibodies up to around ter Dinesh Gunawardena sparked social media vaccine on Chinese nationals living in Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Sudath proved in Sri Lanka. 93% could be seen in the patients who uproar, with accusations that Colombo was the country, commencing Monday (5). Samaraweera told reporters, the vac- SJB MP Rajitha Senaratne address- received the first jab. tacitly endorsing the military coup. Sri Lanka Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, State cination of the Chinese nationals will ing a media briefing said, the World “However, it is important to get the had justified the invitation stating that the in- Minister Primary Health Care, Epi- commence in Colombo, Puttalam, Health Organization was yet to grant second dose in order to be protected vitation was extended to all member countries demics and COVID-19 Disease Control, Hambantota and Kandy districts start- approval for the use of the Sinopharm from the virus,” he said, stressing that of BIMSTEC. said around 4,500 to 5,000 Chinese ing Monday. vaccine. the second dose should be taken from Union Minister, Ministry of International nationals have been identified for the In a connected development, the Meanwhile, Dr. Chandima Jee- the same brand of vaccine. Cooperation Myanmar, U Ko Ko Hlaing at- initial rollout. Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya wandara, Director Operations and Up to 913,219 have received the tended Thursday’s virtual meeting, the 17th Sri Lanka received a consignment (SJB) on Thursday (April 1) accused Clinical Services, Allergy Immunology first dose from the AstraZeneca COV- BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, which also had of 600,000 doses of the Chinese do- the National Medicines Regulatory Au- and Cell Biology Unit, Sri Jayawarde- ISHIELD vaccine so far. ministerial level participants from Bangladesh, nated Sinopharm vaccine on Wednes- thority (NMRA) of being politicized, napura University, told reporters on -economynext.com/ENCL Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. day (March 30) and is currently being citing the decision to approve the Sin- Wednesday, the country’s vaccination The Myanmar military, which overthrew the country’s elected government on February 1 citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a No- Sri Lanka, Pakistan conclude joint vember election, has been accused of killing at Customs checking for leaks of coconut least 537 people, many of them children, in a brutal crackdown on protests, which has been exercise against terrorism oil with aflatoxin intensifying over the past several weeks. The COLOMBO – Sri Lanka Customs with the shipping companies and they US, UK and the EU have imposed sanctions on has deployed a separate team to check have to get days to ship these consign- the junta calling for the reinstatement of the whether coconut oil with high levels ment,” Major General Ravipriya said, elected government. of aflatoxin (poisonous carcinogen), acknowledging that it would take time. Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, in which have been taken out of the port The Customs decision to deploy a his welcome address called for early conclu- is re-exported in its entirety. Director special team to investigate the con- sion of the Charter of the Association of BIM- General of Customs Vijitha Ravipriya signment comes amidst claims that STEC Speakers and Parliamentarians, noting said officials were also checking stor- some of the coconut oil from the con- the platform would provide space for greater age facilities of the importers to de- taminated consignments had been re- understanding, trust and friendship and to termine whether they have the same leased for consumption. exchange ideas and information on parliamen- quantities released from the customs. Ravipriya said Sri Lanka Customs on tary practices and commitment on democratic Ravipriya, a retired military Major Wednesday (March 31) had seized two principles. General, warned if any of the contami- bowsers belonging to one of the im- Gunawardena was elected as Chair of the nated coconut oil was found to have porters, as they did not have Customs meeting and State Minister for Regional been leaked to the market, the compa- seal. Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya led the Sri nies will be charged according to the Meanwhile, Director General of the Lanka delegation. On Wednesday (March 31), custom rules. Sri Lanka Standards Institute, Sid- Foreign Secretary Admiral Professor Jayanath Sri Lanka Standards Institute had dhika Senaratne, there had been an Colombage led the Sri Lanka delegation at the informed Sri Lanka Customs on March increase in the quantity of coconut oil Special Senior Officials meeting which preced- 4, that six consignments of coconut oil imports since September last year. ed the Ministerial Meeting. Gunawardena also COLOMBO - The militaries of Sri kistan Army and four officers and 40 imported by Ali Brothers Pvt Ltd, Edi- However, she said all the consign- emphasized the need to focus on expediting the Lanka and Pakistan concluded a 15- other ranks from the Sri Lanka Army. risinghe Edible Oil Pvt Ltd and Katana ments are regulated by the SLS, and adoption of the BIMSTEC Transport Connec- day joint exercise aimed at enhancing The Pakistan High Commission Refineries Pvt Ltd, had higher than six were identified to have a high level tivity Master Plan which was finalized by the bilateral defence relations and shar- said in a statement the Gajaba Regi- permitted levels of aflatoxin. of aflatoxin. Third Working Group and the Asian Develop- ing the rich experience of two armies ment (GR)-led the ‘joint Field Train- Ravipriya said the customs had im- Senaratne said SLS regulates 122 ment Bank, stating that transport connectiv- against terrorism on Tuesday (March ing Exercise’ and General Shavendra mediately informed the companies items including 48 food items import- ity which include coastal shipping, waterways, 30). Titled the ‘Ex-Shake Hand,’ the Silva and Commissioner of Pakistan, of the findings and asked to re export ed to the country and that a sample of ports and harbours used over centuries and exercise was conducted in Saliyapura Major General (Retd) Muhammad the containers. “However they have each consignment is tested to ensure today road connections and air cargo capable in North Central Province of Sri Lan- Saad Khattak participated in the the right to ask for a second test,” he standards are maintained. of withstanding future disruptions, is vital for ka, with the participation of six offic- event as distinguished guests. said, explaining that though the con- She said if the tests indicate the sam- the supply chains, people to people contact and ers and 35 other ranks from the Pa- -ENCL signments would be held in the cus- ples are not to the required quality, the development of the region. toms storage during the first test, they customs is informed with instructions He welcomed the newly appointed Secretary would be released to the concerned to ask the importer to send back the General Tenzin Lekphell from Bhutan, and Sri Lanka drops 14 places in Global companies for the second test due to consignment. wished him success in leading the BIMSTEC lack of storage facilities in the custom. If the companies are found to have Secretariat and pledged Sri Lanka’s support to A Corporate Guarantee was taken flouted regulations, they will be pe- all his endeavors. Gender Gap Report 2021 not to use any of the consignments nalized before they re-export the con- The BIMISTEC Ministers reviewed the pro- COLOMBO - Sri Lanka has dropped ond-lowest performer on the index, pending the second results. signment, she said, warning when a gress made since the fourth BIMSTEC Summit 14 places to 116, with a score of 0.670 with 62.3% of its overall gender gap However, Ravipriya said that con- when a consignment fails the test, the held in Kathmandu in 2018, where Sri Lanka in the World Economic Forum’s closed. sequent to the second test results also company will be black listed in SLS, was elected as Chair. Global Gender Gap Report 2021. The In addition, progress has been too showing prevalence of the carcinogen customs and the export import con- State Minister Balasuriya said Sri Lanka report says women remain acutely slow in the recent past, and this year on March 29, the companies had been troller until it gets a certificate from fully focused its energies and worked close- underrepresented in the political has actually reversed. A decline of ap- once again asked to re-export the con- the export import controller to import ly with Member States to finalize the BIM- sphere in South Asia. proximately 3 percentage points has signments to the source of origin. “Re- again. STEC Charter, building on the 1997 Bangkok In no country in South Asia is the resulted in a significant delay in the export is not easy. They have to discuss -economynext.com/ENCL Declaration, which defines the long term vi- share of women in Parliament above projected time needed for this region sion and priorities for cooperation, delineates 33%. In the three most populous to close gender gaps, now estimated roles and responsibilities of different layers of countries, the share lies between 14 at 195.4 years. institutional structure and decision making and 20%, and in some countries, it Because of its large population, In- Bond scam: Ravi K, six others processes. In addition he stated the member is as low as 5.4 (Sri Lanka) and 4.6% dia’s performance has a substantial states also prioritized and rationalized sec- (Maldives). impact on the region’s overall perfor- tors and subsectors of the organization where On a more positive note, women mance. released on bail Sri Lanka agreed to lead the sector on Science, have held head-of-state positions at Home to 0.65 billion women, In- COLOMBO – Former Finance Min- March 31, 2016 bond auction. The Co- Technology and Innovation with sub sectors least once in the past 50 years in five dia has widened its gender gap from ister Ravi Karunanayake and six oth- lombo High Court trial-at-bar ordered Technology, Health and Human Resource De- of the seven countries in this region, almost 66.8% closed one year ago ers who had been remanded over the the release of the accused on Rs 1 mil- velopment. He said the relevant line agencies and in Bangladesh women have held to 62.5% this year. In addition, only alleged March 2016 bond scam were lion cash bail each and two surety bails in Sri Lanka are developing a program of ac- the office of head of state longer than Bhutan and Nepal have demonstrat- released on bail on Thursday (April 1), of Rs 10 million each, while also impos- tion for the sector taking into consideration men. ed small but positive progress to- a spokesman for Karunanayake con- ing a travel ban. the gaps exposed in the relevant areas by the Only Afghanistan, Bhutan and wards gender parity this year, while firmed. The release applies to only one case, pandemic. Maldives have never had a woman all other countries in this region have The Karunanayake and six others however, with a second case pertaining He informed that the current pandemic has head of state in their recent history. registered either slightly reduced or were remanded on March 17 over al- to the same alleged scam was set to be amply demonstrated the importance of tech- Following the Middle East and stagnant performances. leged links to the misappropriation of taken up Thursday afternoon. nology, noting Sri Lanka was also getting North Africa, South Asia is the sec- -CG several billions of rupees through the -economynext.com ready to host the Technology Transfer Facility in Sri Lanka upon conclusion of the Memo- randum of Association at the 5th BIMSTEC Summit. India offers higher education and research scholar- The minister noted with appreciation the extensive measures taken by member States of BIMSTEC in responding and supporting ships to Sri Lankans Member States to face challenges posed by COLOMBO - The India High ‘Information Technology’ leading ance, and annual grant for books the COVID 19 pandemic and urged member Commission in Colombo has in- to a B.E or B.Tech Degree; and the and stationary, the statement said, states to mobilize all relevant sectors and sub vited applications for Indian Coun- Commonwealth Scheme for those adding Selected candidates would sectors to take collective measures to combat the challenges of poverty, natural disasters, cil for Cultural Relations (ICCR) doing PhD Degrees in all subjects also be provided hostel facility climate change, pandemics and other public scholarships for the 2021-2022 except Medical/ Paramedical& inside the campus, air fare to the health emergencies, terrorism and transna- academic sessions, that offer an Fashion Design. nearest destination in India and an tional crimes, and food and energy security opportunity for interested and A statement from the Indian annual grant for educational tours through partnerships and joint actions. qualified students to pursue un- High Commission in Colombo said to various parts of the country, Appreciating the extensive measures taken dergraduate, post graduate studies the selection of candidates would apart from several other auxiliary by Member States of BIMSTEC, Balasuriay and PhD research in India. be done by the Government on benefits. noted that the COVID-19 has devastated ICCR scholarships include the India in consultation with the Sri Prospective applicants are invit- economies of member states in various de- Nehru Memorial and Maulana Lankan Ministry of Education, and ed to visit the website of the Min- grees and the BIMSTEC region no longer enjoys US$3 trillion economy, which accounts Azad schemes covering Engineer- selected candidates would be fa- istry of Education at www.mohe. for 4% of the global GDP and 3.7% of the global ing, Science, Business, Econom- cilitated to pursue undergraduate, gov.lk for necessary details, and trade. Therefore, he urged Member States to ics, Commerce, Humanities and postgraduate and PhD Degrees in advised to approach the ministry continue to share experiences, including suc- Arts and all undergraduate courses some of the topmost universities in or the High Commission of India cess, challenges and lessons learnt in build- (except Medical/Paramedical& India. in Colombo to learn more about ing back better from the COVID-19 pandemic Fashion Design course); the Rajiv All scholarships cover full tuition the eligibility criteria and selection through inclusive, resilient sustainable recov- Gandhi scheme covering under- fees for the entire duration of the procedure. ery strategies and investments. graduate courses in the field of course, monthly sustenance allow- -ENCL -ENCL 4 APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS RIGHTS AND RESOLUTIONS

State minister defends Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab letter requesting top A step towards justice cop’s transfer In March 2021, the UN Human Rights Coun- cil adopted Resolution 46/1 establishing a new COLOMBO – State Minister Arundika accountability process to collect, analyze, and Fernando on Thursday (April 1) de- preserve evidence of international crimes com- fended a controversial letter he wrote mitted in Sri Lanka for use in future prosecu- to the Minister of Pubic Security in tions. The Sri Lankan government opposed the December last year, requesting the resolution. transfer of a senior police officer in the Resolution 46/1 is designed to revive talks Chilaw electorate. about the human rights violations committed The letter, which was leaked to social during the 26 year civil war that came to an end media earlier this week, purportedly by in 2009. A conflict that was marked by “per- former governor Rajith Keerthi Ten- - YouTube sistent and grave human rights violations and nakoon according to some reports, has Former Foreign Minister Managala Samaraweera speaks on the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka abuses by both parties, including extrajudicial caused much controversy, with allega- killing, widespread enforced disappearances, tions of political interference levelled arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence against Fernando. that affected Sri Lankans from all communities. The state minister told reporters Use your intelligence and decide Thousands of children were systematically re- on Wednesday (March 30) that he re- cruited and used as fighters and in other roles by quested an inquiry on the conduct of [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)] and Assistant Superintendent of Police other armed groups, Muslim and Sinhala com- (ASP) Eric Perera to be followed by a who the real traitors are munities were forcibly expelled from the North, transfer out of the Chilaw electorate. and civilians were indiscriminately killed in ter- ASP Perera, who was attached to the Former Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera urges, in his remarks rorist attacks on public places and transport by Wennapuwa police station at the time the LTTE.” the letter was written, is now with the on the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka Among others, Resolution 46/1 calls on the Negombo police as a result of the trans- Office of the High Commissioner for Human fer, it is learnt. During the last few weeks, much autocracies more interested in hid- joint resolution was presented in Rights (OHCHR) “to collect, consolidate, ana- “I requested the officer to be trans- has been talked about the Geneva ing or protecting their atrocities Geneva in September, not one coun- lyze and preserve information and evidence and ferred only after an investigation,” resolution presented on March 23. I than supporting Sri Lanka. try opposed it. to develop possible strategies for future account- the State Minister of Coconut, Kithul felt it as my duty to speak about this So it is in this context that I went This time when an investigation ability processes for gross violations of human and Palmyrah Cultivation Promotion as the Minister of Foreign Affairs at to Geneva as the Minister of For- was initiated in Geneva, Pakistan rights or serious violations of international hu- and Related Industrial Product Manu- that time, when Sri Lanka along with eign Affairs just a couple of weeks and China got up and opposed it. manitarian law in Sri Lanka, to advocate for vic- facturing and Export Diversification the United States, United Kingdom after the election. My first visit was However, all power blocs supported tims and survivors, and to support relevant judi- claimed at the press conference. and 40 other countries co-sponsored to meet my good friend, who I call us in 2015. We had the support of cial and other proceedings, including in Member A copy of the letter that was doing the the 30/1 resolution on Sri Lanka. my sister minister, Sushma Swaraj the USA, the European Union, the States, with competent jurisdiction.” rounds on social media indicated that If we are to go back to the be- Ji. From there, I went to Geneva to UK, Japan, India and most of all This could be the needed step towards jus- Fernando had requested Minister Sar- ginning, it was on May 23, 2009, meet the United Nations High Com- China and Russia. Forgive me for tice as any other attempts from previous year ath Weerasekara to hold an inquiry on just a week after the conclusion of missioner for Human Rights, Prince saying so, but I believe this was one have all failed. Indeed, a 2015 resolution on Sri the conduct of Perera and subsequently the deadly war with the LTTE, the ZeidRa'ad Al Hussein and made a of the golden moments in the his- Lanka (resolution 30/1), supported by Sri Lan- transfer him out of Chilaw, the former’s Secretary-General of the United very special request, asking him to tory of foreign policy in this country. ka, promised to deliver a process which would electorate. Nations, Ban Ki-moon, came to Sri go ahead with the 2014 resolution, Whatever anyone says, I will chal- secure justice, accountability, reform and rec- The transfer proper took place just Lanka on the invitation of President the first report of which was to be ta- lenge them anywhere to argue that onciliation. This was followed by positive steps two or three weeks ago, months after Mahinda Rajapaksa. bled in Geneva in March, 2015. this was actually a golden moment towards strengthening democratic institutions his letter that was sent on December 3, In the joint communiqué issued Fortunately for the country, the where we stuck to our words car- and to open up democratic space, including for Fernando said. at the conclusion of the meeting, government changed on January rying out a balanced foreign policy civil society and the media. However, the situa- “I don’t how that letter was leaked on the two sides agreed to conduct an 8. I was there in February I believe which all countries appreciated. tion has changed over the intervening years and social media. There is a huge problem inquiry into the alleged war crimes and we got them to agree not to ta- That is why we were able to secure in the aftermath of the political events of 2018, with that,” he added. and the alleged human rights vio- ble that report in March and instead the GSP + concession that we had and the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks of April Fernandooo said he has requested lations in the country. Within four we requested time till September lost a couple of years before. With 2019. Later Sri Lanka unilaterally withdrew the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to days of Ban Ki-moon's arrival, the to submit our own resolution that the direct intervention of Prime from resolution 30/1. This is when discussion investigate how the letter was leaked. United Nations Human Rights would cover the question of recon- Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and about justice and accountability stalled. The state minister also called for an Council (UNHRC) in Geneva called ciliation and accountability. In fact, myself in Geneva, we managed to Recent years have seen Sri Lanka’s deteriorat- investigation on allegations that he a special Session on Sri Lanka to dis- I told Prince Zeid quoting from our get the Green Card for the Sri Lanka ing human rights situation and the growing risk claimed are levelled against Perera. cuss the situation here. manifesto of the presidential elec- fishing community to sell their tuna of future violations. In January 2021, the UN re- The officer had put together a five- For this Session, Sri Lanka very tion, that “Since Sri Lanka is not a fish in the European Union, banned ported that “the failure of Sri Lanka to address member team to eradicate the illicit hurriedly presented a resolution to signatory to the Rome Statute re- under the earlier regime. Also, after past violations has significantly heightened the liquor (kasippu) business in the Wen- the UNHRC, the 25/1 resolution of garding international jurisdiction discussions with Samantha Power, risk of human rights violations being repeated.” nappuwa area, locals said. A social March 2014 on promoting recon- with regard to war crimes, ensuring who was the US Ambassador to the It added that: “Nearly 12 years on from the end media campaign has been launched ciliation, accountability and human justice with regard to such matters UN, we requested our army be in- of the war, domestic initiatives for accountability against his sudden transfer at a time rights in Sri Lanka and to undertake will be the business of a national in- cluded peacekeeping matters. We and reconciliation have repeatedly failed to pro- when he was praised for his work in a comprehensive investigation into dependent judicial mechanism." were admitted and I believe even to- duce results, more deeply entrenching impunity, his area, according to residents. Fer- the alleged serious violations and So we said, give us a little more day, there are members of the armed and exacerbating victims’ distrust in the system. nando himself acknowledges Perera’s abuses of human rights and related time until September where we will forces gaining quite high salaries Sri Lanka remains in a state of denial about the popularity in his letter addressed to crimes by both parties. present our resolution for a national working in the peacekeeping forces. past, with truth-seeking efforts aborted and the Minister Weerasekara, and notes that In fact, this resolution, if it had independent judicial mechanism. Sri Lanka was celebrated by all highest State officials refusing to make any ac- Perera was appointed as ASP Wennap- been implemented, would have The prime minister along with a the countries. I know for a fact that knowledgement of past crimes. This has direct puwa during the United National Party been quite good and that is why the group of top level experts drafted during our time, President Obama impact on the present and the future. The failure (UNP)-led Yahapalana government majority of the international com- the resolution and then we invited used to call Sri Lanka the 'good news to implement any vetting or comprehensive re- and won the admiration of locals, reli- munity hoped Sri Lanka would be the US Ambassador and UK High country'. I still remember in 2016 forms in the security sector means that the State gious leaders and politicians in the area bound by their promises. Twenty Commissioner to co-sponsor it. when we attended the G7 summit in apparatus and some of its members credibly im- for his numerous raids on local moon- nine countries supported Sri Lanka, This whole idea that we sponsored Japan, how every leader who walked plicated in the alleged grave crimes and human shine business. which even promised an account- a foreign resolution is an utterly into the room walked up to Presi- rights violations remain in place. Fernando then claims Perera has ability mechanism to look into hu- misleading lie. We managed to get dent Sirisena and shook his hands. The 2015 reforms that offered more checks been detaining a number of these man rights violations, talked about the powerful countries to back us Obama, Cameron, Merkel, Trudeau, and balances on executive power have been moonshiners on trumped up charges improving the human rights situ- and each and every word in that res- Abe and all the leaders of the G7 first rolled back, eroding the independence of the by planting drugs on their persons. The ation here and even talked about olution was approved by President came right up to the Sri Lankan head judiciary and other key institutions further. The state minister also notes that the ASP the 13th Amendment for the first Maithripala Sirisena. For example, of state and shook his hands and beginnings of a more inclusive national dis- does not accommodate any requests time in an international forum like President Sirisena in his February started talking about various issues. course that promised greater recognition and made by local politicians for the benefit the UNHRC. They got 29 countries 4, 2016 speech said: "I clearly state That was the kind of acceptance respect of and reconciliation with minority com- of the public. to support them but unfortunately that we are facing these resolutions we managed to build within such a munities have been reversed. Far from achieving “For decades, people in our elector- from that point onwards, like all to protect the pride and dignity of short time. But unfortunately, we the ‘guarantees of non-recurrence’ promised by ate have been engaging in the illicit liq- other promises of the Rajapaksa our country, our people and our se- have lost it and now those who made resolution 30/1, Sri Lanka’s current trajectory uor trade as a livelihood. What needs to era, they didn't bother to implement curity forces and also to make our Sri Lanka feel loved by the world are sets the scene for the recurrence of the policies be done is to provide these people an many of them. tri forces to be internationally re- being called traitors and those who and practices that gave rise to grave human education and opportunities for self- And that is why the trust within nowned armed forces. We should actually did the treacherous work rights violations.” employment and wean them off this the international community kept face these resolutions with patience, are pretending to be patriots. The UN further identified emerging trends practice,” he noted at the media brief- decreasing and in 2012, the 29 coun- discipline and decorum so that our So finally, all I have to say is that “which have profoundly changed the environ- ing and charged Perera was known by tries supportive of Sri Lanka fell country should be respectfully rec- the people of this country should not ment for reconciliation, accountability and hu- locals for maintaining close ties with to15, and to 13 in 2013. In 2014, the ognized by all international organi- to be fooled by grandstanding, not man rights, as well as achievement of the 2030 drug dealers and underworld members UN Human Rights Council passed sations including the UNO and all be fooled by the same old lie being Agenda.” These include: “i) militarization of ci- in the area. Neither Perera nor police the Sri Lanka resolution by a vote of states in the world." repeated over and over again, but to vilian government functions; ii) reversal of Con- spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana could be 23 to 12, with 12 abstentions. These are the very words of our use your intelligence and to please stitutional safeguards; iii) political obstruction reached for comment. And this time, we saw again that president and as a result, Sri Lanka listen to what others are saying and of accountability for crimes and human rights In his letter, Fernando requests Min- our support base has fallen to 12 got the friendship and the support of then decide who the real traitors are violations; iv) majoritarian and exclusionary ister Weerasekara to investigate these countries with most of them being the whole world. In fact, when our and who the true patriots are. rhetoric; v) surveillance and obstruction of civil allegations levelled against Perea and society and shrinking democratic space; and vi) transfer him out of the electorate. new and exacerbated human rights concerns.” Media reports quoted Minister Human Rights Commission directs TID to submit report on The UN reported “patterns of custodial deaths, Weerasekara as saying on Monday that use of torture and other ill-treatment, and ex- the ASP was transferred due to “various poet Ahnaf Jazeem trajudicial killings by law enforcement officials reasons” and that he is currently posted with impunity (…) abductions, torture and sexu- at the Negombo police station based on COLOMBO – The Human Rights newed its appeal again on Monday ity spearheaded by Hizbullah. YJA Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) (March 29), detailing the condi- said they had examined the book al violence by Sri Lankan security forces.” These a “request submitted by the latter”. reports are concerning and require further in- He said an investigation was under- on Thursday (April 1) directed the tions of Jazeem’s detention. Jazeem and found many of the poems to Terrorism Investigation Division was arrested on May 16 last year. be against extremism and the Is- vestigation and response. way into the various reasons cited for In January 2021, Sri Lanka announced the the transfer. (TID) to investigate and submit His arrest and continued detention lamic State organization, and that a report on a complaint filed by has been criticized by a number of they were works of high literary establishment of a domestic commission of in- Meanwhile, an audio recording re- quiry. However, as Resolution 46/1 emphasized, leased by a privately owned television the Young Journalists Association writers, activists and international value. The letter also noted that it “lacks independence and that its mandate is channel revealed a conversation be- (YJA) about the safety and well-be- rights bodies. YJA in their letter ad- the Criminal Investigation Depart- to review reports of previous commissions and tween ASP Perera and State Minister ing of poet Ahnaf Jazeem. dressed to the Human Rights Com- ment had made a request to courts committees, and does not include a mandate to Fernando at a district development Jazeem is being held by the TID mission of Sri Lanka and released to to call for a report from doctors at pursue accountability for past gross violations of committee meeting, where the latter is under a detention order over a book the media, appealed to the authori- the Lady Ridgeway Children’s hos- human rights or for serious violations of inter- heard requesting the police to go easy of poetry titled ‘Nawarasam’ that ties to ensure Jazeem’s safety. pital whether poetry in this book national humanitarian law.” on small-scale moonshiners and to pri- allegedly promotes extremism. The In its earlier appeals YJA pointed would cause any harms to children’s The deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka is an oritise action against major players. HRCSL directed the TID in writing out Jazeem had been arrested by minds. early warning for all other post-conflict situ- The ASP is heard responding that, on Thursday to investigate claims the Terrorist Investigation Division The Association alleged the poet ations where the issue of justice is neglected. as per government policy, moonshine made by the YJA that the poet is not in connection with the investigation has had no access to his lawyers, Impunity will beget further crimes. Temporary businesses cannot be allowed to op- allowed visits from his lawyers, that into Attorney – at – Law Hejaaz cautioning that arresting and de- peace should not blind the need to pursue justice erate as a form of self-employment. hat he was bitten by a rat while in Hizbullah. YJA attributed the police taining without any reasons youth and accountability. The warning from Sri Lanka Those in the trade cannot be categories detention, and that he is being sub- as saying Jazeem had been arrested like Jazeem who are against extrem- must be taken seriously. as small scale or major, he said, such jected to an investigation that he because his book ‘Navarasam’ con- ism and attracted to literature and -Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab is a human rights classification will be exploited by those was not originally apprehended for. taining poetry penned by him had arts, is to push them towards ex- advocate, author and co-founder of the Coali- in the trade. The YJA first wrote to the HRCSL been found in a location said to be tremism. tion for Genocide Response. This article was -economynext.com on December 9 last year and re- owned by ‘Save the Pearls’, a char- -economynext.com originally featured on forbes.com WEEKEND EXPRESS APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 5 HOT TOPICS

By Emmanuel Parisse By Siddhartha Kumar March of the mummies India steps up vaccine Egypt readies for pharaohs’ drive amid alarming rise parade in COVID-19 cases CAIRO - The mummified remains of 22 an- NEW DELHI - India on Thursday (April 1) cient Egyptian kings and queens will be paraded launched the third phase of its COVID-19 vaccina- through the streets of Cairo Saturday (April 3), tion drive to cover people above 45 years of age, as in an eye-catching royal procession to a new rest- the country faces a second wave of the pandemic. ing place. India began inoculating its 1.3-billion popula- Dubbed the Pharaohs' Golden Parade, the 18 tion in mid-January, in what is the world’s largest kings and four queens will travel in order, oldest vaccination program. first, each aboard a separate float decorated in -ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP Doses were initially limited to front-line work- ancient Egyptian style. Former lawmaker CydHo (L) and pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-yan (C) gesture ers, followed by people over 60 as well as those They are being moved from a decades-long while leaving West Kowloon court in Hong Kong on Thursday (April 1), after being found over 45 with multiple medical conditions from residency at the Egyptian Museum in central guilty of organising an unauthorised assembly on August 18, 2019 March 1, but the drive has faltered with the slow Cairo for display at the National Museum of pace of vaccinations. Television channels showed Egyptian Civilisation. By Austin Ramzy people who registered for the vaccination taking The new museum, in the south of the capital, the jabs at hospitals across India. opened its doors to limited exhibits from 2017 Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assured there and will open fully on Sunday (April 4), before was "no shortage of vaccines" and the government the mummies go on display to the general public Hong Kong court convicts would "continually replenish states’ supplies." from April 18. “In a country as vast and populous as ours, sig- Upon arrival, they will occupy "slightly up- nificant efforts have gone into strengthening end- graded cases," said Salima Ikram, professor of to-end supply chain infra to ensure last-mile de- Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. democracy leaders over livery of COVID-19 vaccine. Priority groups were "The temperature and humidity control will inoculated first, gradually increasing coverage to be even better than it was in the old museum," other sections as well,” he said. added Ikram, a mummification specialist. protest march Amid the slow roll-out, India faces a formidable Emblazoned with the name of their allocated challenge as the explosion in COVID-19 cases has sovereign, each of the gold-coloured carriag- HONG KONG — Seven of democratic aspirations of the Hong Kong for democracy and resulted in the overburdening of the healthcare in- es will be fitted with shock absorbers for the Hong Kong’s veteran pro-de- Hong Kong people. freedom.” frastructure in cities like New Delhi and Mumbai. 40-minute journey through Cairo, to ensure mocracy leaders were found Lee, Lai and Albert Ho, a The protests that summer On Thursday, India reported the biggest daily none of the precious cargos are accidentally dis- guilty on Thursday (April 1) of lawyer and former lawmaker were focused at first on a pro- surge in coronavirus cases since October, with turbed by uneven surfaces. Seqenenre Tao II, unauthorized assembly, a ver- who was also convicted, have posal to allow extraditions to more than 72,300 infections and 459 deaths. ‘the Brave’, who reigned over southern Egypt dict seen by their supporters as been denounced in Chinese mainland China but expanded The surge is due to a new strain, with the situa- some 1,600 years before Christ, will be on the a severe assault on the freedom State media as being part of a to include demands for direct tion exactly like the one in Britain when the virus first chariot, while Ramses IX, who reigned in of speech and other civil liber- ‘Gang of Four’ who stirred un- elections and an investigation underwent a mutation around Christmas, Randeep the 12th century BC, will be at the rear. ties that once were core to the rest in 2019, an accusation at into police use of force. Guleria, a top medical expert, told broadcaster Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut, the most city’s identity. odds with the largely leaderless The prosecution of the city’s NDTV. India, which at over 12.2 million has the powerful female pharaoh, will also make the Martin Lee, an 82-year-old movement in the streets. pro-democracy leaders over third-largest coronavirus caseload after the United journey. Beginning at 6:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) on barrister known as the ‘father Human rights advocates a peaceful protest has drawn States and Brazil, saw a downward trend in infec- Saturday, the procession will take place under of democracy’ in Hong Kong; were sharply critical of the con- an international outcry. David tions from the end of 2020, but the numbers have the watchful eyes of hefty deployments of secu- Jimmy Lai, 73, a media tycoon victions, labelling them as part Perry, a prominent British bar- risen sharply again in recent weeks. rity forces. The parade will be spurred on by mu- and founder of the staunchly of an effort to undermine the rister who was hired to lead the At the same time, the vaccination drive has to sic and performances from Egyptian artists, all pro-democracy Apple Daily long-running campaign for de- prosecution, dropped the case pick up pace since India has administered only 64 broadcast live on state television. newspaper; and Margaret Ng, mocracy in Hong Kong. after coming under sharp criti- million doses so far, still far from the government Discovered near Luxor from 1881 onwards, 73, a respected barrister and “This trial was also about the cism at home. Dominic Raab, target of inoculating 300 million people by the most of the 22 mummies have lain since the early columnist, along with four long history, legacy and contri- the British foreign secretary, end of July. Domestic media reports have said the 1900s in the Egyptian Museum, on the capital's others, were convicted of par- butions of the elder statesmen had said Perry was “pretty poor, particularly in the countryside and remote iconic Tahrir Square. From the 1950s, they were ticipating in and organizing an and women of the movement,” mercenary” and was giving the areas, are also not being covered under the drive. put on display in a small room, one next to the unauthorized march in 2019. said Samuel Chu, the manag- Chinese government a public The Health Ministry has directed states to mini- other, unaccompanied by explanatory blurbs. They each face up to five ing director of the Washington- relations win. mize vaccine wastage to less than 1 per cent. Cur- Ahead of their departure onto Cairo's streets, years in prison, and sentences based Hong Kong Democracy The State Department, in an rently, the average COVID-19 vaccine wastage is the mummies will be placed in special contain- will be handed down April 16. Council. “It is about discredit- annual report on Hong Kong estimated at more than 6%. ers filled with nitrogen, under conditions simi- A severe penalty would be seen ing their lifetime contributions issued Wednesday (March 31), Health experts have also voiced concerns about lar to their regular exhibition boxes. In their by critics of the government as to Hong Kong, to the move- said that the Hong Kong gov- poor adherence to safety norms including were new home, they will be showcased individually, an attempt to muzzle some of ment, to workers, to grass- ernment “did not respect” the contributing to the surge in cases. Earlier this each next to a sarcophagus - and in some cases, the most prominent and inter- roots, to individuals and their right to free assembly provided week, the popular spring festival of Holi was cel- a statue - in an environment redolent of under- nationally recognized figures professions.” The case centred under local law, and that by im- ebrated with large crowds without masks. Millions ground royal tombs. Exhibits will be signposted in Hong Kong’s democracy on a rally on Aug. 18, 2019, posing a national security law of Hindus are to take a ritual dip in a holy river in by a brief biography and, in some cases, copies of movement. It would also send when hundreds of thousands last year, China had “dramati- north India this month during the Kumbh Festival. computerized tomography (CT) scans. a strong message about how of people gathered in an anti- cally undermined rights and Physical distancing rules have also been disre- "The mummies will be shown for the first time the courts may rule in several government protest. freedoms in Hong Kong.” garded at rallies and polling during the ongoing in a beautiful way, for education, not for a thrill," other trials this year on similar That gathering had received The trial took 20 days, twice elections in some populous Indian states. another Egyptologist, Zahi Hawass, told AFP. charges of illegal assembly. police approval. But what fol- as long as had been scheduled. India also considered the world’s pharmacy, In the coming months, the country is due to Before the hearing, some of lowed did not. The defendants The others who were con- has so far exported the same amount of vaccines inaugurate another new facility, the Grand Egyp- the defendants rallied outside were accused of leading pro- victed Thursday were former as have been administered locally. In view of the tian Museum, near the Giza pyramids. the court, holding a banner testers out of Victoria Park on lawmakers CydHo and Leung rapidly increasing cases, exports have now been re- It will also house pharaonic collections, in- that read, “Oppose Political Hong Kong Island, beginning a Kwok-hung. Another former stricted. This also affects the UN initiative Covax, cluding the celebrated treasure of Tutankhamun. Persecution; Protest Political march that led toward the core lawmaker, Au Nok-hin, 33, had which is supposed to supply poor countries with Discovered in 1922, the tomb of the young Suppression.” Inside the court- business district. While there previously pleaded guilty to vaccination doses. ruler, who took the throne briefly in the 14th room, supporters seated in the was no violence and minimal both charges, while Leung Yiu- -dpa century BC, contained treasures including gold gallery cheered them on, shout- disorder, prosecutors argued chung, 67, had pleaded guilty and ivory. ing: “Keep up your spirits!” that the march violated Hong to a single charge of participat- By Ivan Nechepurenko A so-called ‘curse of the pharaoh’ emerged in Hong Kong’s authorities Kong’s public order ordinance. ing in the protest. the wake of Tutankhamun's unearthing in 1922- have overseen an expansive Their lawyers argued that The authorities have also 23. A key funder of the British dig, Lord Car- crackdown on the pro-democ- leading protesters out of the used a sweeping new national Navalny declares hunger narvon, died of blood poisoning months after racy movement since the city park, which had filled with security law to quash protests the tomb was opened, while an early visitor died was engulfed by anti-govern- many more people than it and cripple the opposition abruptly in 1923. ment protests in 2019. More could handle, was necessary movement. Forty-seven pro- strike in prison over With the planned parade coming only days than 2,400 people have been for public safety. They also said democracy politicians and ac- after several disasters struck Egypt, some have charged as the authorities that imprisoning them over a tivists have been charged with medical care inevitably speculated on social media that the sought to quash the movement, peaceful march was a heavy- subversion under that law for MOSCOW — Imprisoned Russian opposition mummies' looming disturbance has provoked which had posed the greatest handed application of the law. participating in an election pri- leader Alexei Navalny declared a hunger strike them into unleashing curses. Recent days have challenge to Beijing’s rule in “Of course we are very dis- mary that prosecutors say was Wednesday (March 31) in protest over what he said seen a deadly rail collision and a building col- decades. appointed with the verdict part of a plan to subvert the was prison officials’ failure to provide him with lapse in Cairo, while global headlines were domi- Beijing has sought to depict because what we have done is government. proper medical care for severe pain in his back and nated by the fate of the giant container ship the several of the opposition fig- only exercising our constitu- Lai, the media tycoon, has his right leg. In a handwritten letter to the prison MV Ever Given that blocked the Suez Canal for ures as subversive elements tional right,” one defendant, been charged in a separate warden, Navalny, President Vladimir Putin's most almost a week. working with hostile foreign the labour leader Lee Cheuk- national security case for al- vocal critic, complained that despite his worsening Both Hawass and Ikram were at pains to dis- forces to undermine Chinese yan, said after the hearing. “But legedly lobbying for American condition, he has not been allowed to see a doctor of pell any notion of a link between the mummies' sovereignty. Critics of this it’s a badge of honour for us sanctions against Hong Kong his choice or receive necessary medication. parade and recent events. view say the ruling Communist that we are convicted for walk- and Chinese officials. Navalny, who suffered a near-fatal poisoning in - Agence France-Presse Party is only deflecting the true ing together with the people of -New York Times August, wrote in the letter, posted online by his supporters, that he needed “to see a doctor very badly” and that he would not end his hunger strike “before it happens”. He also said the prison staff By Bo Han and Carola Frentzen had ordered a campaign of psychological harass- ment against him, including sleep deprivation. Navalny had said in an earlier statement that Myanmar’s underground cabinet rescinds controversial Constitution prison doctors had provided only ibuprofen pills to treat his pain, describing the prison as “a real con- YANGON - Ousted democratic torship, but it still gave the military majority in elections last Novem- sional catastrophe in the heart of centration camp 60 miles away from Moscow”. leaders in Myanmar have said they automatically 25% of parliamentary ber, the military staged a coup, ar- Asia," the Swiss diplomat said. "I The prison service said in a statement Wednesday are rescinding the country's 2008 seats and several important minis- guing the election had been rigged. fear this trend will become bloodier that Navalny has received all of the medical help he Constitution, which gave significant tries. Suu Kyi was arrested and has since as the Commander-in-Chief seems needs and that guards were required to check that power to the armed forces. It was introduced by the military then been imprisoned. determined to solidify his unlawful inmates were present in their beds. The Committee Representing and changes to it are not possible The military has violently cracked grip on power by force ... a blood- Navalny collapsed into a coma on an airplane Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), or without the consent of the armed down on the ensuing protests. Ac- bath is imminent," she added. flight this past August and was medically evacuated Parliament, announced the consti- forces. cording to the Assistance Associa- The violence continues to raise from Russia to Berlin. After extensive tests there, tution would be invalid from March Due to a constitutional clause, tion for Political Prisoners (AAPP), concerns across Asia, with Singa- the German and French governments, as well as 31. Suu Kyi was never able to become a non-profit, at least 536 people pore and China saying on Thursday international chemical weapons specialists, con- It is however unclear whether this president, but de facto led the coun- have been killed by military forces they were alarmed by the "escala- firmed that he had been poisoned with a Soviet-de- move will have any consequences on try as state counsellor. since the coup. tion of violence and use of lethal signed military nerve agent, Novichok. Navalny said the ground, given that the military On Thursday (April 1), many United Nations special envoy force by Myanmar security foces the attempt on his life was ordered by the Kremlin. fully returned to power in Myanmar people in Myanmar celebrated the Christine Schraner Burgener ear- against demonstrators." Putin has argued that if the Russian state had in a coup at the start of February. CRPH announcement, with protest- lier urged the UN Security Council Both sides "called for de-escala- wanted to kill him, it would have succeeded. CRPH is an underground cabinet ers burning the constitution on the to act in the face of ongoing military tion, cessation of violence & con- On Tuesday (March 30), Putin discussed Na- founded by members of the Nation- street. violence in Myanmar. structive dialogue among all sides," valny’s situation with Chancellor Angela Merkel al League for Democracy (NLD), the “We must win and the junta must "I appeal to this Council to con- Singapore's Foreign Minister Viv- of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of party of ousted civilian leader Aung fail. They have pay for what they sider all available tools to take col- ian Balakrishnan said, after meet- France, who demanded that his rights be respected. San Suu Kyi. have done to civilians,” said Kyi lective action and do what is right, ing Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in European Union officials have called for Navalny’s The Constitution brought an end Min, an entrepreneur, in Yangon. what the people of Myanmar de- Fujian. immediate release. to almost 50 years of military dicta- After Suu Kyi's NLD won a clear serve and prevent a multi-dimen- -dpa -New York Times 6 APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS REALITY CHECK

By Claire Gounon By Sameer Yasir Palestinians fathering She told relatives she’d children from inside been raped prison walls They paraded her and the suspect KHAN YUNIS - Cradling her new- born son in a thick white blanket on the The distraught teenager told fam- patio of her Gaza home, Iman al-Qudra ily members that their neighbour had knows it will be years before her baby pushed her to the floor, stuffed a cloth in boy, Mujahid, meets his father. her mouth and raped her. The relatives, Her husband Mohammad al-Qudra with a number of villagers, found the man has been imprisoned in Israel since she had accused and beat him. 2014, and for Iman to get pregnant his Then, declaring that the 16-year-old sperm had to be smuggled out of jail to girl had brought shame to the family, the be used in an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) group tied the girl to the suspect with a program. rope and paraded them through fields Iman is one of several Palestinian and markets in a village in the central women in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Some Strip and occupied West Bank who in spectators kicked, punched and spat on recent years have turned to IVF using her. sperm from an imprisoned husband. Videos of the shaming on Sunday It is a complex endeavour - Israeli (March 28) circulated widely on social prison officials voiced doubt it was - Essa Ahmed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images media, triggering a nationwide outcry even possible - and success is not guar- A 4-year-old child suffering from malnutrition with his mother at a camp for internally displaced people this over one of the most distressing aspects anteed. month in Yemen’s northern Hajjah province of India’s rampant problem with sexual For the Qudras, another Palestinian, violence: victim blaming. who was being freed from the same “Hope the criminals even if they hap- prison in southern Israel where Mo- By Shuaib Almosawa and Ben Hubbard pen to be her own family members, are hammad is held, had to first agree to brought to justice and pay dearly for scar- smuggle out the semen on the day of ring the life of this 16-year-old,” Raveena his release. Tandon, an Indian actress, wrote on Twit- He then had to swiftly get it past the ter. Gaza Strip crossing, tightly controlled Famine stalks Yemen Tilak Ram Bhilela, a farmer from the by Israel. village, told The New York Times that he Next came Iman’s IVF treatment, had been horrified when he saw people and then an anxious wait to see if it had As war drags on and foreign aid wanes laughing and shooting videos on their worked. cellphones as the pair were led through A specialist in reproductive health AL HARF, Yemen — The moth- That number is expected to rise lifeline for many families. An air the market. Crowds lined the streets and at the University Hospital of Toulouse er’s first challenge when her spin- by nearly three million by the end and sea blockade by the Saudi-led some men stepped forward to spit on the (CHU), Louis Bujan, told AFP it was dly eight-month-old son came of June, largely because fund- coalition on Houthi-controlled girl’s face, he said. “plausible” for sperm to remain viable down with a fever, diarrhoea and ing shortfalls have reduced how territory has restricted imports of After coming under public pressure, during such a journey, regardless of re- vomiting was to get from their many people aid agencies can vital goods like fuel. authorities in the village said this week frigeration conditions. poor, isolated village in northern feed. Aid groups warn that spread- they had arrested six people for publicly “It all depends on the quality of the Yemen to the nearest clinic. The United Nations says that ing hunger contributes to health shaming the girl. India law protecting mi- sperm from the start,” said Bujan, add- After three days of failing to 3.6 million Yemenis are already problems that Yemen is not nors prohibits identifying the village by ing semen can be held in a container for find a ride, she set out on foot, in an “emergency” stage of equipped to deal with, especially name. more than 24 hours and remain viable. carrying her sick child for two food shortage, and 16,500 have among children, and that more Among those held are her brother, After three attempts, Iman conceived hours to reach the medics who reached “catastrophe”. It esti- people could end up dying from an uncle and a cousin. The police said in 2020, five years after last being giv- immediately recognized yet an- mates that 400,000 children are illnesses exacerbated by hunger the neighbour she had accused had also en permission to see her husband dur- other case in Yemen’s spiralling at risk of dying of hunger. than from the war itself. been arrested as part of an investigation ing a prison visit. crisis of acute malnutrition. “If we don’t get them on full ra- The clinic where Murshid into the rape. The girl, her family and the “I was afraid of being too old for Even after a week of treatment tions soon, I just don’t imagine brought her son, the HarfSufian neighbour could not be reached for com- another pregnancy by the time my with enriched formula, the boy, we won’t have a full-scale fam- Rural Hospital, about 85 miles ment. husband was released,” she said, sur- SharafShaitah, lay motionless on ine,” Beasley said. north of Sanaa, receives as many Reports of horrific sexual assaults on rounded by her three daughters, all a hospital bed, his bones peek- Yemen has been on a down- as 40 malnutrition cases per women have become familiar in India, conceived before Mohammad’s impris- ing through the skin of his limbs. ward spiral since 2014, when re- month. where by some calculations the average onment. Asked if her family had enough to bels allied with Iran and known Its medics have only six beds number of rapes committed daily works “I wanted a boy” which an IVF treat- eat, his mother, Iman Murshid, as the Houthis seized the coun- for malnourished children and out to one roughly every 15 to 20 minutes. ment allowed her to choose, she told replied, “Sometimes we have try’s northwest, including the treat them with enriched formula But a publicized spate of brazen as- AFP. enough, sometimes we don’t.” capital, Sanaa, sending the gov- and vitamin supplements pro- saults in recent years has mobilized wom- Specialist Abdelkarim al-Hindawi Six years into a war that has ernment into exile. vided by aid organizations. But en’s groups and other activists to raise the performed the procedure in Gaza City, killed hundreds of thousands of In 2015, a coalition of Arab they lack antibiotics to treat as- alarm on deeply entrenched misogyny where he said he has carried out several people, shattered the country and countries led by Saudi Arabia sociated infections and lack iso- that may be fuelling the attacks. fertilizations of prisoners’ wives. battered much of its infrastruc- and backed by the United States lation rooms to prevent children That includes the problem of victim “Usually the sperm arrives hidden ture, Yemen faces rising rates of launched a bombing campaign with measles or respiratory infec- shaming, which is most acute in rural ar- inside a pen or a small bottle, passed hunger that have created pockets aimed at ousting the Houthis, but tions from passing them to other eas, women’s rights activists say, where (secretly) during visits,” or sneaked out of famine that aid groups warn the war settled into a stalemate, patients. a rape survivor is often regarded as a by a freed cellmate, he said. are likely to grow, leaving even with competing administrations The clinic also lacks an inten- shamed woman, unfit for marriage. Many “It has to be here within 12 hours, more malnourished Yemenis vul- in the north and south and at- sive care unit for children who rape victims pay the price for speaking or it will no longer be viable,” he said, nerable to disease and starvation. tacks frequently killing civilians. arrive there in critical condition. out, with their family members disown- adding the semen is then frozen for The war has led to chronic food The growing hunger crisis Many of them do not survive long ing them or pressuring them to stay quiet. preservation at the clinic. shortages in what was already the stems from the wider breakdown enough to reach better-equipped Perpetrators of sexual violence can act Each attempt costs $2,000, a huge Arab world’s poorest country. A of Yemen’s economy during the facilities. with impunity, activists say, because only sum in poverty-ridden Gaza, which has widespread famine was averted war, experts say. “Most cases die due to the lack a handful of rape cases lead to prosecu- been under an Israeli blockade since in 2018 only by a large influx The United Nations estimates of an ICU,” said Muhammad al- tions, out of tens of thousands of cases 2007 when Hamas Islamists took pow- of foreign aid. But the threat is that the war has claimed more Qadhi, a nutritionist, flipping reported a year. In 2019, the last time the er in the territory. greater this time, aid groups say, than 200,000 lives, mostly from through photos of bony children Indian government provided statistics, an Salaheddine and Muhannad Zibn, as the war grinds on, families indirect causes like hunger and with hollow eyes who have died average of 87 rapes were reported daily, who live in the northern West Bank, grow poorer and the coronavirus disease. in the clinic. though the true scope is far worse be- have only met their father once, during pandemic has left donor nations The shattering of the country The number of malnutri- cause most go unreported. a prison visit when one was five years more focused on their own peo- has displaced millions of people, tion cases the clinic handles has In villages the problem is exacerbated old and the other just two weeks, said ple. separating them from their liveli- climbed steadily, said Abdule- because complaints are handled by coun- their mother Dalal. “The famine is on a worsening hoods and leaving them depend- lah Otilah, the director, but its cils of men, who mete out their own pun- She told AFP her children were the trajectory,” said David Beasley, ent on aid. Even people who still services have been jeopardized ishments, said Ranjana Kumari, a wom- first conceived via IVF from a father executive director of the World have jobs have been left destitute. by funding cuts by international en’s rights activist in New Delhi. detained in Israel, a claim supported by Food Program, in an interview The competing governments in aid groups. The clinic has not re- “Victim shaming in this country has the Palestinian doctor who performed after returning recently from the north and south have strug- ceived a fuel shipment since De- become so common,” said Kumari, who the procedure, GhossonBadran. Yemen. “Our biggest problem gled to pay salaries, and a drop cember and is down to its last 60 is also director of the Centre for Social The Israeli Prisons Service (IPS) now is lack of money — and the in the value of Yemen’s currency liters of diesel for the electricity Research, a nonprofit group in New Del- views the stories of sperm-smuggling war. Six years of war has com- has rendered imported products generator that powers incubators hi that supports women’s rights. “If you with scepticism. But the Palestinian pletely devastated the people in unaffordable in a country that for premature babies. commit a crime against women, perpetra- Prisoners’ Club, a West Bank-based every respect.” imports nearly all of its food. Unless more fuel arrives, tors think they can get away with it.” rights group, estimates 96 babies Nearly half of Yemen’s popu- Economic slowdowns in “death then looms large,” Otilah In 2018, a teenager in central India was have been born in this way to jailed lation, 13.5 million people, are wealthy Gulf countries have cut said. “We can’t help but ask God set afire after her parents told a village fathers. struggling to get enough food, into remittances sent home by for support.” council that men in the area had raped -New York Times -Agence France-Presse according to the United Nations. Yemeni expatriates, an economic her. That year, reports that an 11-year-old girl in Chennai had been gang-raped drew an outcry, but in the city, people soon started to blame the child’s mother. Even at the highest levels of the coun- Many of Lebanon’s children ‘may never get back to school’ try’s courts, recent decisions have drawn scrutiny and anger over what rights BEIRUT - Lebanon’s dire econom- the country is even worse at 70 and “And a large number of children “The longer children are out of groups describe as regressive, patriarchal ic crisis faces the risk of turning into 90 percent, respectively. may never get back into a classroom school, the more they will fall be- attitudes toward women. The head of In- an “education catastrophe”, a lead- Poverty affects the ability of fami- either because they have missed so hind.” dia’s Supreme Court recently drew calls ing humanitarian organization has lies to buy learning equipment, such much learning already or because The learning crisis, which began for his resignation after he had asked a warned, with vulnerable children as smartphones and regular inter- their families can’t afford to send to worsen in October 2019 when man accused of raping a minor whether facing the possibility of never re- net connectivity. It further threat- them to school.” protests and civil unrest racked the he would marry the victim as a way to set- turning to school. ens the children’s return to educa- Moorehead underlined because country, has been further expound- tle the case. In a report published on Thurs- tion, as these families are forced to children in Lebanon already have ed by a number of factors, such as Amid this week’s uproar, the Nation- day (April 1), Save the Children said resort to relying on their children lower rates of literacy than the aver- the August 2020 port explosion in al Commission for Protection of Child since the start of the coronavirus to provide an income, resulting in age in countries in the Middle East Beirut, the recent currency collapse Rights, a government body, directed the pandemic, more than 1.2 million Save the Children saying that the region, the effect would ultimately and COVID-19 lockdown meas- police in Madhya Pradesh state to sub- children in Lebanon have been out question for many children in Leba- lead to higher rates of child labour, ures. mit a report within 24 hours on the pa- of school. non is not when, but if they will re- child marriages, and other forms of Save the Children has warned rade incident in the village, where about Over the past year and a half, the turn to school. abuse and exploitation. critical action must be undertaken 1,200 people live. And on Wednesday, pandemic has exacerbated the so- “Education for thousands of chil- “Like with many crises, it is the in order to ensure “an entire gener- the local police said officers were investi- cioeconomic inequality, with more dren in Lebanon is hanging by a poorest children and the country’s ation does not lose the opportunity gating more people suspected of involve- than half of Lebanese families living thread,” said Jennifer Moorehead, large number of refugees who are to get an education”. ment in parading, beating and punching in poverty. The situation for Pales- Save the Children’s Lebanon coun- worst hit by the quickly deteriorat- -Al Jazeera the girl. tinian and Syrian refugee families in try director. ing crisis,” she said. -New York Times WEEKEND EXPRESS APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 7 RETHINKING AMERICA

Cashier who By Miriam Jordan questioned $20 bill ‘No place for a child’ watched Floyd Inside the tent camp housing arrest with ‘disbelief thousands of migrant children Migrant children and families are sleep- and guilt’ ing shoulder-to-shoulder on mats in a Tex- as border facility designed for 250 people MINNEAPOLIS — He chatted with that is now holding more than 4,100, ac- a store clerk about playing football. He cording to some of the first photographs grabbed a banana off a shelf, flipped to emerge from the crowded camp that has through a wad of cash, and hugged become a focal point of the Biden adminis- and exchanged pleasantries with a tration’s struggles to absorb thousands of woman, laughing with his hand on her new arrivals on the southwestern border. back. Young children were being cared for by In surveillance footage played for older siblings in a playpen area in the bor- the first time in a Minneapolis court- der processing facility at Donna, Texas, room on Wednesday (March 31), the where a small group of reporters were al- world got to see George Floyd as it lowed to enter for the first time Tuesday never had before: He was just anoth- (March 30) to observe conditions at the er customer in a corner store that he camp, which US officials admit has been liked to frequent. overwhelmed by the growing numbers in Within half an hour, Floyd would recent weeks. - Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times be handcuffed and face down on the President Joe Biden talks about his infrastructure plan at the Carpenters Pittsburgh Training Centre in “As I have said repeatedly, a Border pavement outside Cup Foods, calling Pittsburgh on Wednesday (March 31) Patrol facility is no place for a child,” Ale- out for his mother as a police officer jandro Mayorkas, the secretary of home- pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck. land security, said in a statement. He said Roughly two hours after he walked By Jim Tankersley border agents were “working around the into the store he was dead. clock” to move migrant children out of On the third day of testimony in the overcrowded border facilities like the one trial of Derek Chauvin, the former po- in Donna and into better-equipped govern- lice officer charged with murdering ment shelters before they were placed with Biden details $2 trillion plan family members or other sponsors. Floyd, a clearer picture emerged of the events preceding Floyd’s death, with Oscar Escamilla, the acting executive witness after witness agonizing over officer of the US Border Patrol in the Rio whether they could have done any- Grande Valley, said “it would be better for thing to stop what would soon unfold. to rebuild infrastructure and everybody” if there were room to move the The 19-year-old clerk who served migrant children into government shelters. Floyd at the corner store that day won- “I’m a Border Patrol agent. I didn’t sign dered whether the death was his fault up for this,” Escamilla said as he looked because he had reported that Floyd reshape the economy at some of the younger children, many of used a fake $20 bill. them under 12, being housed at the facility. Floyd’s death in May left a trail of WASHINGTON — President ing it “the largest American jobs economic foundations has always He said the youngest children were sleep- agony for the people who were part of Joe Biden introduced a $2 trillion investment since World War II”. had bipartisan appeal, the plan ing in playpens, rather than in the large the unfolding tragedy — the weight of plan on Wednesday (March 31) to The spending in the plan would Biden rolled out Wednesday drew pods where older children were stretched what they had witnessed plain to see overhaul and upgrade the nation’s take place over eight years, the quick opposition from the right out on mats. in the form of tears, long pauses and infrastructure, calling it a trans- president said, and the tax in- for its size and its reliance on cor- “It’s so crowded in those pods, that I can’t deep breaths during their testimony. formational effort that could cre- creases would more than offset porate tax increases. possibly put these young kids in those pods It all began casually at the corner ate the “most resilient, innovative that spending in 15 years, lead- Republicans and business because they’re going to get hurt,” he said. store. In the surveillance footage, economy in the world”. ing to an eventual reduction of groups criticized those tax pro- In one case, a 17-year-old migrant was Floyd is seen pacing the aisles, speak- “It is not a plan that tinkers the budget deficit. Unlike the posals, calling them nonstarters caring for a newborn. ing with other customers and workers. around the edges,” Biden said in a economic stimulus passed under for bipartisan negotiations. Biden The tent structure at Donna was erected He goes from one end to the next, ac- speech outside Pittsburgh. “It is a President Barack Obama in 2009, acknowledged the criticism, even to help alleviate pressure on US Border Pa- cidentally knocks over a banana and once-in-a-generation investment when Biden was vice president, as he defended asking companies trol stations, where migrants must be pro- puts it back, and then makes his way in America.” officials will not in every case to pay more in taxes. And he said cessed before being released or transferred to the tobacco section at the front of White House officials said the prioritize so-called shovel-ready he would continue to work on to other facilities. But new photos taken by the store. proposal’s combination of spend- projects that could quickly bolster winning Republican support for Associated Press reporters and a camera At the counter, Floyd can be seen ing and tax credits would trans- growth. his proposal. crew allowed to enter Tuesday, painted a offering the teenage clerk, Christo- late into 20,000 miles of rebuilt But even spread over years, the The spending in the plan cov- grim picture of conditions that were likely pher Martin, a $20 bill in exchange roads, repairs to the 10 most scale of the proposal underscores ers a wide range of physical in- to worsen during a surge that shows no for a pack of cigarettes. Martin said economically important bridges how fully Biden has embraced the frastructure projects, including signs of abating. he quickly realized the bill was coun- in the country, the elimination of opportunity to use federal spend- transportation, broadband, the Children, jammed hundreds to a single terfeit; the blue pigmentation gave it lead pipes from the nation’s water ing to address long-standing so- electric grid and housing; efforts pod intended for fewer than 50, were ly- away, he testified. For a brief moment, supplies and a long list of other cial and economic challenges in a to jump-start advanced manu- ing down shoulder-to-shoulder across the Martin thought to let it go and put it projects intended to create mil- way not seen in a half-century. facturing; and other industries 3,200-square-foot space, crumpled alu- on his own tab — the store’s policy was lions of jobs in the short run and Officials said that, if approved, officials see as key to the United minium blankets covering some of them. that fake money would be deducted strengthen US competitiveness in the spending in the plan would States’ growing economic compe- Many of the pods held more than 500 chil- from the pay cheque of the employee the long run. end decades of stagnation in tition with China. dren. In a playpen area, a 3-year-old girl who accepted it, he said. But then he They said the plan would also federal investment in research It also includes money to train was being tended to by her brother, 11. millions of workers, as well as changed his mind. accelerate the fight against cli- and infrastructure — and would About 3,300 of the migrants being mate change by hastening the return government investment money for initiatives to support He told his manager, who sent him housed at the soft-sided structure are chil- shift to new, cleaner energy sourc- in those areas, as a share of the labour unions and providers of in- dren who have crossed the border with- after Floyd. But after Floyd refused to economy, to its highest levels home care for older and disabled es, and would help promote racial out parents or other guardians in recent come back in, another employee called equality in the economy. The pro- since the 1960s. The proposal Americans, while also increasing months. While most arrive with the name the police. visions would improve wages, in- is the first half of what will be a the pay of the workers who pro- The situation quickly escalated ternet service, drinking water and two-step release of the president’s vide that care. Many of the items and telephone number of a family member when an officer approached Floyd commute times, Biden said. ambitious agenda to overhaul the in the plan carry price tags that whom they hope to join, US authorities with his gun drawn. Floyd was pulled The costs would be offset by economy and remake US capital- would have filled entire, ambi- must process them at the border and then out of his car, as seen in disturbing increased corporate tax revenues ism, which could carry a total cost tious bills in past administrations. send them to a government shelter. body camera footage played in court raised over 15 years, particularly of as much as $4 trillion over a Among them: a total of $180 Transfers from the border are not keep- Wednesday, and police officers strug- from multinationals that earn decade. Biden’s administration billion for research and devel- ing up with the pace of arrivals — children gled to get him to stay in the back of and book profits overseas. The has named it the ‘American Jobs opment, $115 billion for roads have been entering the country at the rate a police car. Chauvin and two other president cast those increases as Plan’, echoing the $1.9 trillion and bridges, $85 billion for pub- of 500 a day — which two shelter operators officers eventually pinned him to the a means to prod companies into pandemic relief bill that Biden lic transit, and $80 billion for this week said was without any recent prec- pavement. investing and producing more in signed into law this month, the Amtrak and freight rail. There edent. Martin became emotional in court the United States. “American Rescue Plan.” is $42 billion for ports and air- In February alone, more than 9,400 mi- when shown surveillance video of him With Republicans already sig- On Wednesday, Biden said the ports, $100 billion for broadband nors, ranging from young children to teen- standing outside the store, clutching nalling scepticism or outright next phase, which he will seek and $111 billion for water infra- agers, arrived without parents, a nearly his head as Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s opposition, Biden appealed for to pay for in part through tax in- structure — including $45 billion threefold increase over the same period neck. support from both parties in Con- creases on wealthy individuals, to ensure no child ever is forced last year. “Disbelief and guilt,” he said of what gress, saying the program would would come in a matter of weeks to drink water from a lead pipe, The Biden administration has estab- he thought at that moment. “If I would be “unlike anything we have seen and be known as the ‘American which can slow children’s devel- lished temporary facilities for the young have just not taken the bill, this could or done since we built the inter- Family Plan’. While spending on opment and lead to behavioural migrants at convention centres in San Die- have been avoided.” state highway system and the roads, bridges and other physi- and other problems. go and Dallas, a coliseum and expo centre -New York Times space race decades ago” and call- cal improvements to the nation’s -New York Times in San Antonio, a former oil camp in Mid- land, Texas, and at Fort Bliss, Texas. But it is still failing to quickly transfer the minors to the shelters, which are supposed By Roni Caryn Rabin to come with education programming and recreational space, unlike the sites man- aged by the Border Patrol. COVID-19 was third leading cause of death in the US in 2020 More than 4,000 minors were stuck in WASHINGTON - COVID-19 was died. In addition to COVID-19, heart pect,” Anderson added. In a second other causes,” Anderson said. “We such detention facilities for more than the the third leading cause of death in disease claimed higher numbers of report issued Wednesday, he and show that’s not the case.” maximum of 72 hours allowed under fed- the United States in 2020, displac- lives than expected last year, as did his colleagues scrutinized 378,000 The researchers’ examination of eral law, according to internal government ing unintentional injuries and trail- Alzheimer’s and diabetes — a phe- death certificates in 2020 that listed accompanying conditions on death documents. ing only heart disease and cancer, nomenon statisticians refer to as ex- COVID-19 as a factor to determine certificates, like pneumonia or res- The US has more than 17,600 beds for federal health researchers reported cess deaths. whether too many deaths had been piratory failure, and contributing the minors in tent camps, emergency facili- Wednesday (March 31). “There’s a substantial number erroneously attributed to the coro- conditions, like high blood pressure ties and shelters, according to the internal The coronavirus was the cause of excess deaths, beyond what we navirus. In the early days of the and diabetes, were consistent with documents. The administration is project- of death for 345,323 Americans in would have expected in a normal pandemic, testing was sporadic and what doctors see in patients who die ing it will need more than 35,500 beds by a year that exacted a steep price in year,” said Robert Anderson, chief patients often died of what initially of COVID-19. COVID-19 death rates the end of May. lives lost. In roughly 30,000 addi- of the mortality statistics branch at seemed unrelated causes, like heart were highest among men; elderly The shelter system, which normally has tional cases, death certificates cited the NCHS and a senior author of two attacks. people ages 85 and over; and Native a 14,000-bed capacity, has been struggling COVID-19 but it was not deemed the reports published by the Centres for But the researchers found that American, Alaska Native and His- to expand after the coronavirus pandemic cause of death, according to the Na- Disease Control and Prevention. the virus was in fact the underlying panic individuals. Overall, the high- limited how many children it could house. tional Centre for Health Statistics. While deaths from heart disease cause of death in the vast majority est age-adjusted death rates for all The administration is releasing roughly Some 3,358,814 Americans died of and other illnesses should have in- of the cases. “Since the beginning of causes were seen among the elderly; 250 minors a day to sponsors, organiza- all causes in 2020, a 15% increase in creased slightly because of the age- the pandemic, people were claiming Black, Native American or Alaska tions and foster homes, according to a doc- the age-adjusted death rate over that ing of the population, “this is way deaths were simply being attributed Native individuals; and men. ument obtained by The New York Times. in 2019, when 2,854,838 Americans up and beyond what we would ex- to COVID when people were dying of -New York Times -New York Times 8 APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS COMMENTARY

By Kassapa Politics is the art of

Sri Lanka could the possible not have tried harder to shoot Will the government throw itself in the foot Sirisena to the wolves? by repress- ing minorities Once more, it is the Easter weekend and two domestically and years on from the deadly terrorist attacks that cost actively alienating more than 250 lives, we are not really any closer to external powers finding who masterminded the tragedy and who was culpable for the incidents. One name keeps coming up repeatedly though: Maithripala Sirisena, the 6th President of Sri Lan-

-LakruwanWanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images ka and the Head of State, Head of Government and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces at By Ahilan Kadirgamar the time of the attack who was unfortunately not in the country when the disaster unfolded. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) ironically appointed by Sirisena himself has found he was at least negligent in discharging his duties Polarization in times of dispossession and responsibilities and recommended instituting The United Nations Human Rights Council were subdued as fear had eclipsed the communities, a plural and democratic path? Or will this initiative criminal charges against him. That was several (UNHRC) in Geneva has passed another resolution and the minority vote was fragmented, with some also end as mere theatrics for consumption in Ge- weeks ago. Sirisena, who had maintained a stoic on Sri Lanka, as war-time accountability continues even supporting coalition partners of the majoritar- neva? silence until now, broke it to tell Parliament he to haunt the state. Sri Lanka’s prospects in Geneva ian regime. The rulers consolidated further power had not received any information related to the swing according to geopolitical interests at any given by passing the 20th Amendment, with a comfort- Tragic history attacks prior to the incidents. He said if he knew time — reflecting a vote this time with 22 in favour, able two-thirds in Parliament, and giving unfettered Sri Lanka’s tragic political history is in many ways about the intelligence information he would have 11 against and 14 abstaining. Yet, Sri Lanka could powers to the executive. a consequence of the failures of its political elite, and enforced a curfew, protected the churches and not have tried harder to shoot itself in the foot by The regime’s show of force soon after was appar- their rank opportunism and nationalist world view. taken appropriate action to arrest the bombers repressing minorities domestically and actively al- ent in blatantly discriminatory measures such as the They could have negotiated a solution long before and prevent the attacks. Stepping up the rhetoric ienating external powers. forced cremation of COVID-19 victims, which was Sri Lanka got embroiled in armed conflict. Inter- a notch further, Sirisena said anyone who says In 2015, a resolution was co-sponsored by Sri a blow to Muslims’ burial rights. However, heaping national engagement and solutions have only ag- he knew the information and disregarded his re- Lanka and unanimously adopted with overwhelm- power has not translated to clear or coherent policy- gravated national crisis from the time of the Indian sponsibilities was ‘mad’. Sirisena’s statement, of ing international support. Indeed, Sri Lanka in the making as evident from the government’s thought- Peace Keeping debacle in the late 1980s to the failed course, was protected by parliamentary privilege. following years was even considered an exception less economic policies, the awful dilly-dallying Norwegian peace process of mid-2000s that eventu- Another who stepped up the rhetoric a notch by some for its attempts at reconciliation when the before permitting burials of pandemic victims and ally led to the cataclysmic end of the war in 2009. higher was the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal world at large was getting increasingly polarized, as more recently with the burqa ban proposal. The all- Moreover, the golden opportunity soon after the Malcolm Ranjith. His Eminence issued a scath- Brexit and the rise of Donald Trump would show us. powerful government may have the numbers in the war to address the ethnic problem was squandered ing statement demanding justice for the victims of However, instead of building on that experience, the Legislature but stands exposed for its instability and by the Rajapaksa regime due to its hubris, and even- the attacks, publicly querying whether there were Rajapaksa government withdrew from that resolu- weakness. tually paid with regime change in 2015. The current other factors at play. The government is faced with tion, soon after rising to power, in a show of unilat- Rajapaksa leadership and its core base are again po- a conundrum. Do they follow the law to the let- eral arrogance. Economic woes larising Sri Lanka, undermining possibilities for a ter, act on the recommendations of the PCoI and Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s increasing economic de- Underneath the heightened rhetoric in Sri Lanka plural and democratic future for the country. prosecute Sirisena? This is what the Cardinal and pendence on China has offended India and many about Geneva in recent weeks is a devastating eco- In this context, India’s vote at the Council was sections of the Catholic community are demand- Western countries, with the latter pushing for great- nomic crisis that has been ravaging the everyday closely watched, given New Delhi’s frustration with ing. Or, do they dilly-dally and let Sirisena ride er scrutiny of the deteriorating human rights situ- lives of the people. Sri Lanka’s woes are a conse- Colombo, particularly after it reneged on the East this wave of public opprobrium, hoping it will go ation. The Tamil and Muslim minorities have also quence of liberalizing trade and capital flows over Container Terminal project at the Colombo Port, away eventually? When the PCoI findings were turned to Geneva as the space to engage the govern- four decades ago. Its dependence on imports, and and the impending Tamil Nadu elections. India ab- made public (to a large extent, though not fully), ment has shrunk with growing authoritarian rule. looming external debt payments, both without ad- staining on the resolution was considered a betrayal the government maintained a straight face and As geopolitical rivalries exacerbate external rela- equate foreign earnings, have pushed the economy by the narrow Tamil nationalist lobby, whose non- told us that the findings have been referred to a tions, what will come of the recent moves in Geneva over the cliff into a depression. sensical campaign seeks to move Sri Lanka’s justice ‘ministerial committee’ to study how they can be for the long-suffering people, and particularly the Keeping Sri Lanka at boiling point, particularly question from Geneva to the International Criminal implemented. That is what prompted the acerbic minority communities under constant attack by the with talk of external and internal enemies, has been Court. comment from the Cardinal as to why those who State and its majoritarian allies? one strategy to deflect the people’s attention from Nevertheless, India in its oral intervention did in- haven’t passed their ‘O’ Levels were dabbling in their economic distress. Those in power forget how sist that Provincial Council elections should be held matters that have already been dealt with by more Mounting Islamophobia the citizenry has time and again galvanized resist- and openly expressed its “support to the Tamils of learned men and women. The tremendous physical destruction, economic ance when bread and butter concerns hit the roof. Sri Lanka for equality, justice, dignity and peace.” That ministerial committee was headed by Cha- setbacks and the abominable loss of human life and Furthermore, time is ticking, where the country is Sadly, India under the Modi regime can neither mal Rajapaksa, ensuring its decision will be what suffering of Tamils during the protracted war have for the first time in danger of defaulting on its ex- claim to be a beacon of devolution as it undermines the brothers collectively want. So, what fate awaits not got the necessary reckoning within the country. ternal debt, even as the grandstanding chauvinist the powers of its own States nor does it have the Maithripala Sirisena? After his successful 2015 Rather, the nationalists across the ethnic divide play ideologues in government are in denial. credibility to call out Sri Lanka on Muslim rights, presidential election campaign against Mahinda with heightened rhetoric of “war heroes” and “war In this context, with escalating attacks on the given its own despicable attacks on Muslims. Rajapaksa, Sirisena confided that had he lost the victims” as sound bites for international consump- land rights of minorities, an unprecedented protest The resolution has been forthright in highlight- election, he feared being ‘six feet under’. tion. Year after year, in the lead up to and during the march from Pottuvil in the South-East to Polihandy ing the ongoing human rights abuses and places the It was perhaps this same fear that prompted sessions in Geneva, the Sinhala and Tamil nation- in the North mobilized sections of the minorities in spotlight on the state of democracy in Sri Lanka. the then President Sirisena, when he realized he alists either claim to save war heroes from interna- early February. The Tamil nationalist mobilization With the economy in free fall, protests by indebted wouldn’t be winning another term of office follow- tional prosecution or find justice for war victims. was joined by Muslim communities in the East, and women, disgruntled farmers, and citizens aghast at ing the disastrous showing of the Sri Lanka Free- Replaying the rhetoric of the war and its legacy drew support from up-country Tamils centred in the government’s destructive environment policy dom Party (SLFP) at the 2018 local government has been paralleled by mounting Islamophobic at- the plantations. This six-day-long march amidst the are beginning to question their rulers. Such resist- election and the ascendancy of the then fledgling tacks over the last decade. The Easter terror attacks COVID-19 situation reflected the desperation of the ance, from both working people and the minorities Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), to try and in April 2019 by an Islamist radical group and the minority communities. whom the regime repeatedly scapegoats, is invalu- cosy up to the Rajapaksas once again by sacking backlash that followed, including violent attacks on The organization of the march and its conclusion able in the face of authoritarian repression pregnant Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister and in- Muslims, culminated in the election of President Go- have triggered questions about its inclusivity and with fascist tendencies. It is democratic struggle stalling Mahinda Rajapaksa instead. tabaya Rajapaksa in November that year. While the the attempts by hard-line Tamil Diaspora groups to within Sri Lanka, rather than advocacy in Geneva, If the Supreme Court hadn’t intervened at the minorities voted overwhelmingly against Rajapaksa, hijack it. But it has also compelled many to reflect that will put an end to this dangerous trajectory of time, Sirisena would have cut a deal with Raja- a tremendous swing in the Sinhala constituencies on how and why minorities should forge an alliance. polarization and dispossession. paksa and they would probably be still sharing the ensured his thumping victory. During the Parlia- Furthermore, can such an alliance include sections -This article was originally featured on Presidency and the Premiership though it is hard mentary Elections in August 2020, the minorities of the Sinhala community to redirect the country on thehindu.com to tell who would be in which position- and Go- tabaya Rajapaksa wouldn’t even be in the picture. However, Sirisena’s best laid plans went awry By Harim Peiris and he now finds himself cornered, the threat of a criminal trial hanging over him. The dilemma for the Rajapaksas is no less challenging. SJB charts a clear alternative national security policy They can appease the Cardinal and the Catholic Church and throw Sirisena to the wolves of crimi- Subsequent to the recent release of the report the resultant weakening of State institutions that and most objectionable aspects of the LTTE, which nal prosecution. That would however almost cer- of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the are required to be independent, together with the we fought for decades to defeat, was its vision and tainly lose the support of the SLFP. This will cost Easter Attacks and after the United Nations Human steady militarization of governance and the erosion desire for a mono ethnic Tamil state; one in which them the near two-thirds majority in Parliament Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva had passed a of democratic space and freedoms, are all policy and even Muslims were excluded. which they now enjoy because Sirisena’s SLFP resolution highly critical of Sri Lanka’s current hu- political failures of the current government. Prema- Surely having defeated the effort to create such a holds one tenth of the SLPP’s seats. Gotabaya Ra- man rights situation, Opposition and SJB Leader dasa forcefully and convincingly argued these devel- state, we should hardly be moving in the direction of japaksa’s aim is not merely to be President for the Sajith Premadasa, speaking in Parliament has, on opments are not in the interests of either the major- creating a mono ethnic Sinhala state in which Mus- next four years. Having strengthened his position behalf of his Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), articu- ity community or for that matter even the minority lims and other ethnic and religious minorities are through the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, lated a clear national security and external affairs communities in our diverse country. excluded. he now wants to do away with the entire Constitu- policy that offers a stinging critique of the ideo- Premadasa was stinging in his critique of the Premadasa was bold in breaking away from the tion, replacing it with one that is more to his liking. logically driven and unsuccessful practices of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter new dogma of the current government that even The grand design for such a new Constitution current administration and lays out a well thought Attacks and its report. Drawing comparisons with the currently constitutionally existing devolution of will strengthen the presidency further, central- out and centrist alternative on this important area the US Commission of Inquiry on the 9/11 attacks, power to the provinces under the 13th Amendment ize power in the Executive, do away with Provin- of national life. The policy is noteworthy in that it he pointed out that despite a period of nearly two is unwise and unnecessary and there is no need for cial Councils as a means of devolving power and is essentially a political counter offensive, taking on years, the Sri Lankan Commission had failed to any accountability with regards to human rights. He establish a system of elections that will skew the the Rajapaksas in an area which they consider their identify who the masterminds were or the key con- committed unequivocally to the implementation of vote in favour of the ‘pohottuwa’ party. To do all strong suit – national security and its counterpart, spirators behind the attack. The informal nature of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. A commit- this though, the government will need every vote of external affairs. the crucial National Security Council (NSC), which ment to constitutional governance which would not the two-thirds majority they generated to see the Premadasa clinically lays out the failures of the is not a statutory body, was also criticized by Pre- be newsworthy or surprising, except that the govern- 20th Amendment through. That is where Sirisena current administration. Firstly, he correctly points madasa who proposed that the NSC be formalized ment has repeatedly disavowed the same. Further, and his fourteen seats from the SLFP will come in out that the UN High Commissioner’s report that through an enabling Act of Parliament and a single in recognition of the international and domestic re- handy. That is also why throwing Sirisena to the created the basis for the UNHRC’s resolution fo- coordinating centre for the diverse security and in- quirement for accountability with regards to human wolves is such a difficult decision. It is said that cuses mostly on the current developments in Sri telligence agencies be created. He promised bipar- rights violations, Premadasa committed to an inter- politics is the art of the possible but the SLPP does Lanka’s human rights situation after the November tisan support for any genuine national endeavours nationally credible domestic process of accountabil- have the services of its ideologue, Basil Rajapaksa, 2019 presidential election and much less on devel- while criticizing the politicizing of security issues ity with foreign observers and the required foreign for whom anything is possible. With Basil on board, opments during war era. The report is not as much through ideologically driven unilateral actions fol- technical assistance as well as the implementation the government could also be exploring another op- about the past as it is about the present. The focus lowed by blaming regime opponents, as opposed to in good faith of the recommendations of both Sri tion: ditching Sirisena but trying to woo and win and concern of the international community and the implementing genuine remedial measures. Lanka’s own LLRC and the Paranagama Commis- the rest of the SLFP parliamentarians, Dayasiri articulation of its responsibility towards conflict pre- Premadasa articulated a truism, widely recognized sion reports. Jayasekara and Mahinda Amaraweera et al. Unfor- vention is based on and focuses on the failure of Sri globally but completely ignored by this government, The significance of this policy, a relatively very tunately, Sirisena is not a leader in the calibre of Lanka to create a just peace, rather than a critique of that national security is multifaceted and not just centrist position, is a platform to create broad do- Sirima Bandaranaike, Mahinda Rajapaksa or even a justified war. based on military or defence policy alone. He argued mestic and international consensus on the issues. Chandrika Kumaratunga- the kind of leader who Looking at the voting pattern in Geneva, where the on the need for economic security. But most impor- On the contrary, as internationally observed and MPs would remain loyal to, even when the leader SLPP government’s position received just 11 votes, it tantly, the SJB leader argued forcefully that internal carefully documented by the UN High Commission- is out of power and thrown out of office. His per- was an all-time low for country specific resolutions divisions, ethnic polarizations and communal strife er for Human Rights, the current Rajapaksa Admin- formance, both as president and as leader of the on Sri Lanka. The lack of support was in large part cause a significant weakening of national security istration has shown zero interest in either post war SLFP was an unmitigated disaster, and it is quite due to the abstentions of Sri Lanka’s traditional by alienating huge swathes of society from affinity reconciliation, accountability, the protection of hu- possible that at least some SLFP MPs are dream- friends in the international community, including to, identification with and loyalty towards, the Sri man rights or the promotion of fundamental rights ing of a life where they would be beholden to a Ra- India and the Muslim nations. The centralization Lankan State. A state that is non inclusive and ex- and freedoms. japaksa, even if it was Namal, rather than Sirisena. of State power through the 20th Amendment and clusionary weakens itself. Surely one of the biggest -groundviews.org -counterpoint.lk WEEKEND EXPRESS APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 9 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

By Mark Landler and Stephen Castle Upbeat official report on race in Britain A copy of the 2008 constitution is burnt draws backlash as protesters take LONDON — British cities echoed last year part in a demon- with the cries of Black Lives Matter protesters, stration against the demanding a racial reckoning in Britain simi- military coup in Yan- lar to that convulsing the United States in the gon’s Kyimyintdine- wake of multiple killings of Black Americans by Township on Thurs- the police. day (April 1) On Wednesday (March 31), Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded by releasing a gov- ernment-commissioned report on the state of racial discrimination in Britain that concluded that the country “should be regarded as a mod- el for other white-majority countries”. The backlash was swift and scathing. Critics accused the Conservative govern- ment of whitewashing racial injustice by ar- guing that discrimination is more a result of socio-economic disparities than skin colour. By discouraging use of the term institutional racism, they said, the report sought to turn back the clock on how Britons talk about race. While the document, compiled by a 10-mem- -STR / AFP ber Commission on Race and Ethnic Dispari- ties, acknowledged the enduring nature of rac- By Clara Ferreira Marques ism — “graffiti on someone’s business, violence in the street or prejudice in the labour market” — it came to an upbeat conclusion about the progress of British society as a whole. “Put simply, we no longer see a Britain where the Defusing Myanmar requires more than system is deliberately rigged against ethnic mi- norities,” the report said. “Too often ‘racism’ is the catch all explanation and can be simply im- plicitly accepted rather than explicitly exam- Western sanctions ined.” Among its most prominent assertions is Myanmar has long been a textbook the way for a compromise and a path- 2017, when an army offensive pushed istence of a military junta, a jailed but that among low-income groups, ethnic minori- example of sanctions failure. Years of way toward democratic transition. All some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to elected government, and the prospect ties — South Asians and Black Africans — con- isolation battered the population but at a time when positions are harden- flee. The regime hoped its coup would of a shadow unity government. Matters sistently outperform working-class white peo- didn’t loosen the grip of the Tatmadaw, ing. Faced with a crisis that could spill leave the economy intact. Grassroots aren’t simple. Individual Southeast ple in school examinations. Only children from as the armed forces are known. When over, Southeast Asia has a role to play domestic boycotts of military-owned Asian countries have their own inter- Black Caribbean families perform worse than they ceded ground a decade ago, they by imposing its own travel and other brands show just how unlikely that is. ests, and most have invoked non-inter- white people. That finding is not new, scholars did so on their own terms — and even restrictions on the elite, as does China, Lee Jones at Queen Mary University ference. Excluding one member state said, but it bolsters the case that race is not the that, as February’s coup proved, was all eager to restore stability as quickly as of London, who studies intervention creates a dangerous precedent that biggest obstacle to educational attainment. too easily reversed. possible. For the West, measures like and sanctions, points out that the years influential outsiders like China could For some critics, the findings seemed calcu- Today, Southeast Asia’s poorest na- direct support for the population, say after an earlier junta took over in 1988 exploit. But inaction pushes ASEAN lated to buttress Johnson’s political agenda, tion is again proving an example of the with humanitarian assistance and by has provided the Tatmadaw with dec- toward further irrelevance, not least in which seeks to “level up” prosperity between limits of outsiders’ ability to influence preserving access to the internet, com- ades of experience of circumventing the eyes of Myanmar’s people. wealthy London and the white, working-class autocratic leaders willing to shoulder bined with efforts to woo younger of- Western sanctions. And unlike most Countries can and should act indi- strongholds in the Midlands and the north. a substantial economic burden — or ficers and split the elite, may get better military regimes, often shaky because vidually, too. Regulators in Singapore, While the commission is independent, and impose it on their own people — and results than just condemnation. forces are riven with factions, Myan- a favored destination for the country’s all but one of its members are ethnic minori- remain indifferent to international ig- It’s creditable that curbs have been mar’s is stable. One option may lie with elite, say they haven’t found evidence ties, critics said they were chosen because their nominy. The army held a dinner and imposed: The US sanctioned offic- the country’s Southeast Asian neigh- of significant funds from Myanmar views generally align with that agenda. drone display last weekend, on the ers involved in the coup and units bours — which have stepped in as trade companies or individuals, but have “The argument is that the real victims of same day soldiers killed dozens of civil- that have repressed demonstrations. partners in the past when other coun- called for vigilance on potential sanc- racism are the white working class,” said Ke- ians and burned one man alive. The measures target junta-controlled tries pulled out — and China, a major tions compliance and money launder- hinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies at That’s no excuse for inaction in a sit- ministries and conglomerates, among investor unhappy over over attacks on ing. Travel bans there would squeeze Birmingham City University. “The reason they uation where brutality against civilians them Myanmar Economic Corp. and Chinese-owned businesses and bearing the junta, as would action from neigh- have asked these Black and brown people to do has dramatically escalated and restive Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd., the no particular loyalty to the junta. bour Thailand, already home to large this report is to legitimize their position.” borderlands are smouldering, with eth- military’s two largest business entities. The credibility of the Association of numbers of Myanmar refugees. The The findings are “so brazen it’s ridiculous”, nic armed groups being drawn back Europe has stepped up with travel bans Southeast Asian Nations as an actor region could push the UN Security Andrews said, adding, “white academics into conflict after coming out against and asset freezes. Those send a strong in regional diplomacy is on the line. Council toward a global arms embargo. couldn’t get away with saying this.” the junta. So far, more than 500 peo- message. But real leverage is limited Much-maligned for its ineffectual bu- China currently opposes more coer- Defenders of the report, however, say it ple, including children as young as five, when security services are insular and reaucracy and an act-only-by-consen- cive measures. Creativity may matter moves the debate over race to more objective have been killed in the military’s effort bent on control, as they are in Myan- sus principle, ASEAN retains some even more. That means finding ways ground, marshalling statistics to puncture to impose control. Many were gunned mar. While state finances are certainly merit for bringing together 10 very dis- to support Myanmar’s extraordinarily what they call popular myths about racial dis- down with high-velocity weapons suit- fraying and growth was battered by the parate countries 1 across a huge region. resilient protesters and strikers, help- crimination in British society. It makes sen- ed only for the battlefield. Some were pandemic, the military has an elabo- But if it fails again to come to a stance ing civil society, and keeping the popu- sible recommendations, like abandoning the murdered in their homes. It’s a human rate financial network that is murky, on Myanmar, something it has strug- lation connected to the outside world. widely used acronym BAME — Black, Asian catastrophe that risks developing into a hard to trace and will likely continue gled with for decades, the organiza- The approach should include an effort and minority ethnic — which it says does not refugee crisis, a civil war and a murky to evade sanctions — as it has for dec- tion’s continued existence will increas- to exploit the generational gap in the account for the divergent experiences of dif- proxy fight that drags in others, all at ades. The prospect of serving some ingly be as a bystander. military, between high-ranking older ferent ethnic groups. Race has been recurring once — a combination no one can af- 55 million new consumers in a nation Aaron Connelly of the International officers and web-savvy younger ones. issue in Britain in the past year. It surfaced re- ford. starved of the basics of 21st century life Institute for Strategic Studies argues Defections have been low-ranking so cently in the interview that Prince Harry and It should, though, prompt a realis- attracted telecoms giants, brewers and there are levers that ASEAN could pull; far, but an internal rift is at least im- his wife, Meghan, gave Oprah Winfrey, when tic assessment of what is achievable, banks after the country began opening for example, discussing a suspension aginable. The alternative is too bleak to Meghan, a biracial American former actress, what will be necessary to rein in the up over the last decade. But the lure for Myanmar. Importantly, it could do consider. claimed that members of the royal family wor- worst excesses and, eventually, to pave faded with the crisis in Rakhine state in so on procedural grounds, given the ex- -Bloomberg ried about the skin colour of her unborn child. Johnson set up the commission after pro- tests in London and other cities inspired by those in the United States following the killing By Mujib Mashal and Hari Kumar of George Floyd by a police officer in Minne- apolis. To chair it, he chose Tony Sewell, an educational consultant and son of Jamaican India’s news upstarts challenged Modi immigrants, who worked for the prime minis- ter when he was mayor of London. The report opposed the tactics of those pro- New rules could tame them testers, including pulling down the statue of a notorious 17th-century slave trader, Edward NEW DELHI — Narendra Modi, veyors of fake news, et cetera. But the with a final stop at a government-ap- law is aimed at silencing them. They Colston, in Bristol. Critics faulted its advoca- India’s prime minister, has cultivated fact is that they are threatened by the pointed body that can order platforms fear they will be overwhelmed with cy of a “new story” about the slave trade, one and cowed large parts of the country’s inability to control the digital media to delete or change content. complaints, leaving them vulnerable to that focused less on the suffering it caused and normally raucous news media in recent narrative.” Emboldened by his land- The new rules also give the govern- trolls and concerted online campaigns. more on how “culturally African people trans- years as part of a broader campaign slide second-term victory two years ment emergency powers to take down An online army of Modi supporters is formed themselves into a remodeled African/ against dissent. ago, Modi has moved swiftly to reshape content immediately if officials believe often quick to pounce on critical con- Britain.” A Labour Party lawmaker, Zarah Sul- One group remains untamed: a rela- India’s traditionally secular republic it threatens public order or the coun- tent. tana, wrote on Twitter that “an attempt to put tively new generation of scrappy, on- to match his vision of a Hindu-centric try’s security or sovereignty. “That’s why I say this is an attempt to positive spin on the slave trade — one of the line-focused news outlets. With names economic powerhouse. The government has said it wants kill digital democracy,” Ashutosh said. most monstrous crimes in human history — is like The Wire, The Print, The Scroll, Still, while his efforts enjoy broad to protect average users from online Varadarajan, the editor of The Wire, sickening.” The report, she said, was a “dis- and NewsLaundry, these publications support in India, critics of his cam- abuse. Officials have cited the spread calls the new rules “a weaponization of graceful sham.” lack big corporate owners that Modi’s paigns — from remaking the country’s of deliberate disinformation, harass- the reader complaints.” He sees them Even worse to critics, the 257-page docu- party can court. They also don’t depend money system overnight to changing ment of women, abusive language and as yet another effort by the government ment is presented as a successor to the highly on government advertising money that citizenship laws to disadvantage Mus- disrespect of religious groups. Modi’s to keep him quiet. Over the past couple influential Macpherson Report, which grew officials can threaten to withhold. lims — have found a home in the robust ministers have said the rules create a of years, he said, his journalists have out of an inquiry into the racially motivated Now, the platforms say, Modi is online space. Their potential audience “soft-touch oversight mechanism” that been slapped with nearly a dozen po- killing of a Black teenager, Stephen Lawrence, working to rein them in, too. is vast: India could have more than 800 would protect India and prevent “inter- lice complaints and defamation cases in 1993. That document found evidence of in- India’s media outlets had until Sat- million smartphone users by next year. net imperialism” by major social media meant to bog them down. stitutional racism in the botched investigation urday (March 27) to comply with new The four-month-old protests by platforms. “In India, the cases are the punish- of the crime, a provocative new concept that government rules that they say will farmers outside the capital of New Del- “Media freedom is absolute,” said ment,” Varadarajan said. “The legal transformed the debate over racism in Britain. force them to change or take down con- hi illustrate that reach and have given Prakash Javadekar, the minister of in- process you get entangled in effectively With hate crimes being reported to the po- tent if online trolls mount a concerted Modi’s government a reason to tighten formation and broadcasting. “But with front-loads the punishment, even if you lice at a greater rate, the new report argues that campaign of complaints against their its hold. The government tried to paint responsible, reasonable, restrictions.” are inevitably found not guilty.” the term institutional racism should no longer coverage. It would also give the govern- the farmers, who are worried about It is not clear whether India’s courts He also said the government has put be used so liberally and without evidence to ment sweeping new powers to quickly laws aimed at remaking the country’s will preserve the rules. Critics argue pressure on The Wire’s donors. When support it — a subtle point that critics say is take down articles or other material. farming, as part of an anti-national that they are an overreach of current The Wire began six years ago, two nonetheless damaging. “Reverting to the idea The rules, they say, will force them movement hijacked by foreign forces. law and that many of their specifics thirds of its costs were covered by phil- that we’re going to focus on racism only as to toe Modi’s line or close their doors In February, it also enacted online are unclear. In a significant victory for anthropic donations, he said. Those overt hostility and hatred takes us back to the as the prime minister pushes his most content rules that empower complain- them, a judge in the southern state of donations have dropped amid the pres- more simplistic ways we talked about racism,” ambitious and controversial initiatives. ers. Online platforms must name a Kerala earlier this month barred the sure, Varadarajan said. Its roughly said Matthew Ryder, a lawyer who worked on “They run us down,” said Siddharth grievance officer who acknowledges government from taking action against 40 journalists now largely depend on racial issues as a deputy mayor of London. “It Varadarajan, editor of The Wire, which complaints within one day and resolves LiveLaw, an online portal that reports reader donations to meet monthly undoes the progress we’ve made in the last 20 like other media outlets is fighting the them within 15. The complaint must be on courts, for noncompliance. India’s costs of about $65,000. years in this country.” new rules in court. “They call us pur- taken swiftly to a three-layer system, small digital news outlets believe the -New York Times -New York Times 10 APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS VIRUS FOCUS

WHO blasts Europe’s By Javier C. Hernández and James Gorman slow vaccine rollout COVID-19 As France heads for new Virus origins remain lockdown unclear in WHO-China COPENHAGEN - The WHO on Thursday (April 1) slammed Europe’s “unacceptably inquiry slow” vaccine rollout and warned of a “wor- For 27 days, they searched for clues in Wuhan, rying” surge in cases, as France became the China, visiting hospitals, live animal markets and latest country to impose new restrictions to government laboratories, conducting interviews combat soaring coronavirus infections. and pressing Chinese officials for data, but an In a sign of the devastation the virus is international team of experts departed the coun- still causing while the world races to roll out try still far from understanding the origins of the vaccines, Brazil reported the country’s death coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 2.8 toll had spiralled last month. million people worldwide. Officials said more than 66,000 people The 124-page report of a joint inquiry by the had died of COVID-19 in Brazil in March World Health Organization (WHO) and China — - more than twice as many fatalities as the - BBC released officially Tuesday (March 30) but leaked country’s second-deadliest month of the to the media Monday (March 29) — contains a pandemic, July 2020. By Ian Sample glut of new detail but no profound new insights. “Never in Brazilian history have we seen And it does little to allay Western concerns about a single event kill so many people” in one the role of the Chinese Communist Party, which month, said doctor Miguel Nicolelis, former is notoriously resistant to outside scrutiny and pandemic response coordinator for Brazil’s has at times sought to hinder any investigation by impoverished northeast. Almost third of UK COVID hospital the WHO. The report is also not clear on whether With the southern hemisphere winter ap- China will permit outside experts to keep digging. proaching and the virus spreading fast, Bra- “The investigation runs the risk of going no- zil is facing “a perfect storm”, he told AFP. patients readmitted within four months where, and we may never find the true origins of The surge in Brazil has overwhelmed hos- the virus,” said Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow pitals and forced doctors to make agonizing for global health at the Council on Foreign Rela- decisions over whom to give life-saving care BMJ analysis of 48,000 records also finds one in eight patients die within tions. - prioritizing those most likely to survive. four months of discharge The report says China still does not have the The virus has killed more than 2.8 million data or research to indicate how or when the vi- people worldwide since it emerged in the rus began spreading. Some sceptics outside the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. LONDON - Nearly a third of ney, liver and metabolic diseases, was greater among patients under people who have been in hospi- such as diabetes. the age of 70 compared with those country say that China may have more informa- And though the world is looking to vac- tion than it admits. cines to end the upheaval the virus has tal suffering from COVID-19 are After an average follow-up time over 70, they found, and the rate readmitted for further treatment of 140 days, nearly a third of the was higher in ethnic minorities The expert team also dismisses as “extremely brought, rollouts are off to a sputtering start unlikely” the possibility that the virus emerged in many countries, notably in Europe. within four months of being dis- COVID patients who had been dis- than in the white population. charged, and one in eight of pa- charged from hospital had been The authors write in the BMJ: accidentally from a Chinese laboratory, even “Vaccines present our best way out of this though some scientists say that is an important pandemic... however, the rollout of these tients dies in the same period, doc- readmitted and about one in eight “The increase in risk was not tors have found. had died, rates considerably high- confined to the elderly and was question to explore. vaccines is unacceptably slow,” the World The Chinese government, while granting some Health Organization’s director for Europe The striking long-term impact er than seen in the control group. not uniform across ethnicities. of the disease has prompted doc- “This is a concern and we need The diagnosis, treatment, and degree of access and cooperation, has repeatedly Hans Kluge said in a statement. tried to bend the investigation to its advantage. “We must speed up the process by ramp- tors to call for ongoing tests and to take it seriously,” said Dr. Ami- prevention of post-COVID syn- monitoring of former coronavirus tava Banerjee, at the Institute of drome requires integrated rather The report was written jointly by a team of 17 ing up manufacturing, reducing barriers to scientists from around the world, chosen by the administering vaccines, and using every sin- patients to detect early signs of or- Health Informatics at University than organ or disease specific ap- gan damage and other complica- College London. “We show con- proaches, and urgent research is WHO, and 17 Chinese scientists, many of whom gle vial we have in stock,” he added. hold official positions or work at government-run The organization said Europe’s virus situ- tions caused by the virus. clusively here that this is very far needed to establish the risk fac- While COVID is widely known from a benign illness. We need to tors. Our findings suggest that the institutions, giving Beijing great influence over ation was “more worrying than we have seen its conclusions. in several months” and that slow rollouts to cause serious respiratory prob- monitor post-COVID patients so long-term burden of COVID-19 lems, the virus can also infect and we can pick up organ impairment related morbidity on hospitals and Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the were “prolonging the pandemic”. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Se- Five weeks ago, the number of weekly new damage other organs such as the early on.” broader healthcare systems might heart, liver and kidneys. Unexplained symptoms that be substantial.” attle, said he was not convinced that a laboratory cases in the region had dipped to under one leak was extremely unlikely, after seeing a copy million. But last week there were 1.6 million Researchers at University Col- persist for more than four months The study revealed that while lege London, the Office for Na- are often described as “long COV- existing conditions such as heart of the report. He said he agreed that it was highly new cases in Europe, the WHO said. plausible that the virus could have evolved natu- In France alone, daily cases have doubled tional Statistics, and the Universi- ID” or “post-COVID syndrome”, disease, diabetes and respiratory ty of Leicester, compared medical but doctors are still working out illnesses put people at greater rally to spread to humans, but he did not see any to around 40,000 and hospitals are over- reasoning in the report to dismiss the possibility flowing in flashpoints such as Paris. records of nearly 48,000 people patterns of long-term organ dam- risk of severe COVID disease, the who had had hospital treatment age that can be caused by the infection itself could cause such of a lab escape. The surge forced President Emmanuel One member of the team of experts, Peter Macron to relent and reimpose nationwide for COVID and had been dis- infection. New diagnoses of res- medical problems. charged by 31 August 2020, with piratory and heart disease and “Until now we tended to think of Daszak, a British disease ecologist who runs Eco- restrictions he rejected in January. Health Alliance, a New York-based pandemic “We gained precious weeks of liberty,” he records from a matched control diabetes were all raised in the heart disease, kidney disease and group of people in the general former COVID patients compared diabetes as risk factors for COVID prevention group, pushed back against the criti- said in a national address late Wednesday cism of the team’s work and of China’s level of (March 31), but the current measures “were population. The records were used with the control group, as were patients, but these are also com- to track rates of readmission, of problems with the function of plications of COVID as well,” said cooperation. He said the lab leak hypothesis was too limited at a time when the epidemic is “political from the start”. Daszak added that the accelerating”. deaths, and of diagnoses for a multiple organs. The rate of multi- Banarjee. range of respiratory, heart, kid- organ dysfunction after discharge -theguardian.com WHO team was not restricted in its interviews The limited lockdown already in place in with scientists who were on the ground at the regions, including Paris, would be extended start of the pandemic. to the whole country from Saturday (April 3) He himself has been accused of having a con- night for the next four weeks, he said. By Livia Albeck Ripka flict of interest because of his past research on Schools will close for three or four weeks coronaviruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virol- depending on age level, he added. ogy, which, he said, was what a disease ecologist The measures were met with a mix of res- should be doing. ignation and anger, despite Macron’s sug- This island nation had zero COVID cases for months, “We were in the right place because we knew gestion that France could begin envisioning that there was a risk of the virus emerging,” a return to normalcy by mid-May. now it’s overwhelmed Daszak said. “We were working there with this “Lockdown, the sequel... and the end?” Le PORT MORESBY - The emer- ing a new phase as they vaccinate to the pandemic. In one of the exact viral group and it happened.” Figaro headlined its front page Thursday. gency rooms are heaving, health growing shares of their popula- field hospitals, Nou said, he and The prevailing theory remains that the virus And Le Parisien said Macron was defend- care workers are falling sick, and tions and reopen schools, restau- others, dressed in full protective originated in bats, jumped to another animal, ing his strategy of “slowing without shutting misinformation about the corona- rants and offices. But the crisis in equipment, often work in humid and then mutated in a way that enabled it to down” even though “the situation has never virus is running rife. It has all left Papua New Guinea is another re- conditions as they struggle to keep transmit to humans, and from human to human. been so dangerous or complicated”. Papua New Guinea, an island na- minder that the global emergency their patients cool and hydrated. But the process of tracing the origins of a virus is As during the first lockdown last spring, tion just north of Australia, in the is far from over — that the virus “As soon as you walk off the floor, notoriously painstaking. To answer numerous re- parents are scrambling to make arrange- grip of a deadly crisis, as a tripling will continue to wreak havoc and you’re drenched in sweat,” he maining questions, the report recommends fur- ments for another round of distance learn- of infections over the past month sow death until the entire world is said. “When we are at maximum, ther retrospective studies of human infections, ing. has swamped an already fragile vaccinated, a prospect that may be our toilet facilities are stretched including the earliest cases, and more virus test- “It was absolutely necessary to close the health care system. years away. to the limit, and waste disposal is ing of livestock and wildlife in China and South- schools, even if it will be complicated for par- The wave of cases, which au- The situation in the island na- stretched to the limit. Every day is east Asia. It also calls for more detailed tracing of ents, and especially young children, to man- thorities have described as a “ma- tion is exactly what public health a challenge.” pathways from farms to markets in Wuhan that age this situation,” said Laure, a 44-year-old jor epidemic,” most likely began in experts have warned of as wealthy Fearing spread of the virus, would require extensive interviews and blood researcher with two young boys in Paris. February. About 70% of sympto- countries buy up the world’s vac- the Australian authorities have tests for farmers, vendors and other workers. In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Draghi ex- matic patients are testing positive cine stockpiles and put the pan- ramped up efforts to vaccinate But it is unclear to what degree China will co- tended restrictions until April 30, including — among the highest rates in the demic largely behind them, while the population of the Torres Strait operate, and the country’s secretive and defen- restaurant and business closures. world. Of the country’s 39 deaths smaller and poorer nations are Islands, an archipelago border- sive behaviour has helped fuel theories that it was German President Frank-Walter Stein- from the virus, 30 have hap- left with cap in hand. After having ing northern Australia and Papua somehow to blame for the start of the pandemic. meier received the first dose of AstraZene- pened in the past six weeks, and largely avoided severe outbreaks New Guinea. Most of the islands Local officials in Wuhan at first tried to conceal ca’s vaccine on Thursday, just two days after the number is expected to swell. for many months, Papua New are part of the Australian state of the outbreak; Beijing has since expelled many authorities there recommended use of the Confirmed infections have passed Guinea is now experiencing har- Queensland. Western journalists and has floated evidence- jab only for people aged 60 and over. 4,100, after having remained at rowing scenes not unlike those in “They’re our family. They’re our free theories about the virus originating else- German officials have been at pains to zero through June, though the ac- Italy early in the pandemic. This friends. They’re our neighbours. where — though the earliest known cases were shore up public confidence in AstraZeneca’s tual number of cases is believed to month, one patient, suffering an They’re our partners,” Scott Mor- all in China, and experts agree it almost certainly vaccine, which has been on a rollercoaster be far higher. asthma attack, died in a hospital rison, Australia’s prime minister, first appeared there. ride in Europe. The toll on health workers has parking lot. said last week. “This is in Aus- “We’ve got real concerns about the methodol- Several other countries, including France, been severe. About 10% of work- “They have challenges accessing tralia’s interests, and it is in our ogy and the process that went into that report, Spain and Canada, have also imposed age ers have tested positive at the health care at the best of times,” region’s interests.” including the fact that the government in Beijing limits on the AstraZeneca shot over the oc- country’s major hospital, in Port said Rob Mitchell, an emergency Covax, a global health initiative apparently helped to write it,” Secretary of State currence of rare but severe blood clots in Moresby, a city of 380,000 people physician specializing in triage in designed to make access to inocu- Antony Blinken said in a CNN interview broad- younger people. that has been hit hardest. In field the Pacific. “I fear that the current lations more equal, began rolling cast Sunday (March 28). The WHO has come un- The European medicines regulator said hospitals, workers, sweating be- case numbers are just the tip of the out doses of vaccines to develop- der pressure to demand more data and research that experts probing links between the vac- neath protective equipment, are iceberg.” ing nations last month, and it has from the Chinese government. But by design, the cine and blood clots have found no specific rushing between beds to tend to As infections flare, doctors are said it will deliver 588,000 to Pap- global health agency is beholden to its member risk factors, though they are investigating the dying. working overtime, trying to keep ua New Guinea by June. countries, which did not grant the WHO team further. In a setback for another vaccine “We fear that we are going to up with a demand that they expect But in some cases, wealthier na- sweeping powers to carry out, for example, foren- maker, about 15 million doses of Johnson & fill all these beds and then we will will only increase in the coming tions have failed to honour con- sic investigations of laboratory mishaps in China. Johnson’s single-shot vaccine were ruined have nowhere else to continue to weeks. In Port Moresby, the capi- tracts, reducing the number of While much of the report was heavy on detail in a factory error, The New York Times re- care for COVID patients,” said tal, stadiums have been converted doses the initiative can buy, Dr. about molecular studies, virus evolution and pos- ported - a blow to the US company’s efforts Mangu Kendino, an emergency into temporary field hospitals, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, sible animal hosts, the section dealing with the to quickly boost production. physician and the chair of the existing hospitals are stretched to the director of the World Health possibility of a lab leak was cursory at best. While Meanwhile, Taiwan and Palau launched COVID-19 committee at Port Mo- capacity. Organization, said in a statement the virus’s animal origin is largely undisputed, a rare holiday travel bubble on Thursday resby General Hospital. “We’re “The COVID centre in Port Mo- last month. some scientists maintain that the virus could as the two diplomatic allies try to kickstart tired, we’re exhausted and we’re resby is full; our field hospital is He warned that the pandemic have been collected and present in the lab of the their battered tourist industries after suc- fatigued.” almost full,” said Gary Nou, an would not end until everyone was Wuhan Institute of Virology, even though Chi- cessfully keeping infections at bay. A year into the pandemic, coun- emergency physician helping to vaccinated. nese scientists say it was not. - Agence France-Presse tries around the world are enter- lead the government’s response -New York Times -New York Times WEEKEND EXPRESS APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 11 CRITICAL EYE

- Reuters/ Stringer Women with children walk near barbed wire at an internally displaced camp set up for Tamils who escaped the war zone, in Vavuniya, on April 4, 2009

By Ambika Satkunanathan Surviving war and victimhood: Women and Tamil Nationalism

A lived realities review of Meena Kandasamy’s The Orders Were to Rape You: Tamil Tigresses in the Tamil Eelam Struggle

Meena Kandasamy’s The Orders Were to Rape mil society. Today, Tamil women lead protests at times have been used as propaganda tools by it, ‘their (Indian Tamils’) appropriative relation- You: Tamil Tigresses in the Tamil Eelam Strug- against military acquisition of land and demands both the Sri Lankan State and Tamil nationalism. ship to, and unthinking claim over, Ilankai Tam- gle contains three narratives; that of the author, for justice for the disappeared. The danger in The dominant narrative in post-war Sri Lanka, ils’. By being unaware, the writer unwittingly re- the story of ‘a Tamil Tiger’s wife’, and that of a linking women’s liberation to militancy is that for a long time, was that of a woman without produces the appropriative relationship. LTTE woman combatant. It concludes with ‘po- it ties liberation largely to violence. Hence, ulti- agency, with the primary focus on her sexuality Kandasamy’s intention to capture and amplify etry by female guerrillas, resistance fighters, and mately, women’s liberation is mediated through and reproductive functions, or as a misguided the voices and experiences of these women seems militants’. a patriarchal structure, the militancy. Relying on and misled terrorist who has to be rescued or genuine. But the absence of acute awareness, at Kandasamy identifies strongly with the cause militancy as a form of liberation validates the pa- shown the ‘correct’ path. It is disappointing that every instance, of the possibility of reproducing of Sri Lankan Tamils, that much is clear. Because triarchal limits of liberation set out by the mili- Kandasamy reproduces this trope. She says of the an appropriative relationship, has led to the eras- of this she wants to express her solidarity with the tant movement. ‘Tamil Tiger’s wife’, ‘I am thrown into disbelief. ure of the complex and contradictory nature of women about whom she writes and amplify their For example, Kandasamy states she was in- I had read her as a victim, as someone who suf- the lived realities of Tamils, Tamil women and voices. I explore how successfully she does this. spired by the courage of women militants and fered’ but once again, Kandasamy does not delve Tamil women combatants. This renders the por- My analysis will be through the lens of my experi- describes her perception of them thus, ‘young into the reasons she viewed her only as a victim. trayal of their experiences one-dimensional. ences as a Tamil woman in Sri Lanka whose life girls like me were carrying AK47s and killing the The most disturbing element in the book is the Kandasamy is aware of the role identity, po- was shaped by the war and who works with those enemy’ and ‘Tamil girls just shot the f&*k out of scant regard and respect given to the ‘Tamil Ti- sitionality and privilege play in gaining space to that grapple with the aftermath of it and the yet anyone who snatched their rights’. Yet, she views ger’s wife’s reluctance and initial refusal to speak share lived experiences. She narrates an incident unresolved causes of the war. the woman who married a LTTE cadre mainly with Kandasamy. Kandasamy says the ‘Tamil Ti- where a ‘senior Tigress, very influential in the through the lens of the woman’s relationship to ger’s wife’ political department, was dying of cancer’ and a Women inside and outside the Tamil her husband. She is referred to throughout the ‘is initially reluctant to share her story, for journalist who ‘felt that her thoughts and experi- nation book as the ‘Tamil Tiger’s wife’. fear of being identified and incriminated…she ences should be recorded on tape, made into a is not obliged to share anything. Her past, her film and shared with the world’ reached out to The narratives of the ‘Tamil Tiger’s wife’ and The ‘ambivalent empowerment’ of the woman combatant are the most powerful trauma is her own. I am torn as I try to make Kandasamy to inquire if she knew any white film part of the book. They are gut wrenching, as the women combatants her speak. Why should one woman ask anoth- makers. Kandasamy says she asked him, ‘Why suffering and pain of the women is palpable. This Kandasamy rightly observes that ‘women er to remember, recollect and narrate the very white?…with trepidation. He replied, “So that it is due not only to the brutality they have survived raped as a weapon of war are potent tools for po- things she barely wants to forget? Those around appears like a balanced account”. That is what but also the sparse and direct manner in which litical mobilization and grandstanding oratory, her intercede, appeal on my behalf. She listens whiteness means. An automatic stamp of neu- Kandasamy presents their voices, which com- but in everyday life, they are viewed with deri- to a man who goes by the name of Master… trality, balance, sound political judgment. The mand and demand the reader’s attention. They sion, suspicion, shame’. The words of the woman Eventually, she agrees to speak.’ whiteness of the artiste enriches the subject’ says create empathy and outrage and thereby make combatant that, ‘corpse in a wake is looked upon Kandasamy is correct. The ‘Tamil Tiger’s wife’ Kandasamy. She does not however apply her the reader naturally call for justice for these with more respect…A corpse is superior, to them, ‘is not obliged to share anything’. Then why does awareness of positionality and privilege vis-à-vis women. to a raped woman like me. That was the cost of Kandasamy ‘try to make her speak’? The two a ‘white’ person, to her relationship with Sri Lan- The book is not only about Tamil women and war, that women were paying’ show that militan- non-negotiable rules that underpin the ethical kan Tamil women. the sexual violence they experienced. It is also cy effected no fundamental change within the Ta- framework that governs working with vulnerable The book does present the voices of two wom- about the author’s relationship with Tamil na- mil community on issues of gender equality. An persons/groups such as victims of violence, are en whose lives were shaped and brutalized by the tionalism, and her experiences documenting interrogation of the gendered nature of Tamil na- respecting their choice and doing no harm. Both war in Sri Lanka, but it adds little to the continu- the women’s stories. Though the title appears to tionalism and the militancy would have revealed these ethical rules have been breached in this in- ing fractious and challenging, but much needed focus on women combatants, at times, the voice that the ‘respect’ shown towards women LTTE stance. discourse within the Tamil community about the and experience of the author take precedence cadres was mainly because they carried weapons In my work with individuals affected by vio- evolving nature of Tamil nationalism, the role over that of the women. Whenever this happens, and were in a position of power. Once they be- lence, war and human rights violations, there of women within it, and the impact of the Tamil the stories of the women are filtered through the came detainees and ‘normal’ citizens their social have been instances when those who have agreed militancy on the community. author’s positive perceptions of Tamil national- status within the community diminished. to speak have then refused. There were those I end with a poem by Sivaramani, which is an ism and militancy, which obliterate the contra- Towards the end of the book Kandasamy does who chose to share only a part of their story. At expression of the emotions experienced dealing dictions and nuance in the women’s stories. For acknowledge that, no point did I try to coax, convince or even re- with the promises, disappointments, contradic- instance, Kandasamy says of women combatants, ‘Meeting a female Tiger in the flesh broke my quest them to reconsider. I did not do so because tions and complexities of the Tamil armed strug- ‘After the war, they were unwelcome in other own naïvecarnivalization of war. When I en- it would have been disrespectful of their choice gle. to be silent. A choice that would have been gov- people’s homes’. Yet, she does not pause to won- countered these women personally, the image I Our Liberation der why. had constructed of female militancy shattered. erned by their fears, insecurities and sometimes The three narratives are presented within the Nothing had prepared me to brace for the real- sheer exhaustion of repeating and re-living their What shall we gain comrades? framework of Tamil nationalism, with no ac- ity that these powerful women would be so vul- pain. Doing no harm is not only about physical What shall we gain? knowledgement that nationalism is a gendered nerable.’ harm. It is also about doing no emotional harm. We stand having lost all joy and youth project. This leads to disconcerting silences and Despite this, she does not explore the reasons Not placing the person under stress. Not bother- We come burdened with absences in the book. It is silent on the creation of for this and thereafter speaks only of human ing them with constant requests to share their trepidation and poverty insiders and outsiders, and patriots and traitors rights violations by the State, as if only those vio- story. Not forcing them to re-live their pain. What shall we gain? by Tamil nationalism. It is silent on the often- lations adversely impact the lives of former wom- From working with the conflict affected, I You called it liberation devastating consequences of this for the Tamil en combatants. The reality is more complex and know these women should not be viewed as pas- You called it independence community, and especially for those who were different; Tamil society too does not always treat sive victims waiting for others to ‘recover’ their You said it was our race placed, sometimes forcibly, outside the Tamil na- women combatants with empathy or respect. stories. I know these women have faced unim- You said it was our soil tion, such as those who were engaged in activi- This in turn sometimes exacerbates the impact of aginable challenges and have a nuanced under- Countries have been liberated ties that challenged the nationalist discourse, in state violations. standing of the truth they have to share and truth and gained independence particular the LTTE’s militant form of national- It cannot be denied that in the Tamil commu- they have to hide in order to navigate their lives, Nevertheless in many countries ism. The most striking absence is the lack of ac- nity the nationalist struggle was instrumental in both within the private and public spheres. We the people have been beggared knowledgment by the author that a space outside bringing women into the public sphere, in some- have to respect that. Comrades will we also be beggared when we achieve our the Tamil nation, to which some were labelled times blurring the boundaries between the public Allyship: Moving beyond the traitors and relegated, and some chose to occupy, and private spheres, and in politicizing the pri- liberation tomorrow? even existed. vate sphere, and thereby mobilizing women to performative We have lost everything Perhaps, due to the somewhat one-dimen- support the nationalist struggle. However, while Allies, such as Kandasamy, are integral to the However, we do not want sional view of Tamil nationalism adopted in the women played an active role in the nationalist success of any struggle for justice and peace. freedom only for a few book, women’s emancipation is equated main- struggle, they were not always successful in ex- However, those who are allies, those who wish to We do not want freedom with ly, if not solely, with their participation in the ercising agency and capturing power to create be allies, and those who claim to be allies should shackles armed struggle. The reality however is that sev- space for their voices to be heard. This is because, be aware that moving beyond performative ally- We shall achieve liberation only after eral historical moments spurred Tamil women’s generally, the space given to women seems to ship means being mindful not to appropriate the we shackle the animals activism and participation in the Tamil struggle. have been determined by the strategic needs of voices of the affected. It means standing by them, amongst ourselves Tamil women’s participation in the struggle for the organisation rather than a commitment to helping them be heard and amplifying their voic- – Sivaramani the rights of the community did not begin nor women’s empowerment. es. end with the militancy. For instance, during the Given the relationship between the Tamils in -Ambika Satkunanathan is a fellow at the 1970s and 1980s, the political activism of young Victims or survivors? India and Tamils in Sri Lanka, perhaps it is not Open Society Foundations and a Commissioner women, which was sometimes, but not always, In Sri Lanka, as in other armed conflicts, wom- surprising that even the most well-meaning In- of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka linked to the militancy, challenged traditional en have often been portrayed only as victims. dian Tamil writer who wants to be an ally can be from 2015-2020. This review was originally understandings of the conservative nature of Ta- This is more so in the case of Tamil women, who unaware of, as Sharanya Mannivannan describes featured on thewire.in 12 APRIL 02 - 04, 2021 WEEKEND EXPRESS SPORTS

COUNTER PUNCH By The Line Judge

Tragi-comedy of SLC From corruption to illegally holding office Sri Lanka earned the dubious distinction vested interests in the hunger for power with official was reported as saying, allaying these the SLC election. Amidst this imbroglio, Moody of being branded as the most corrupt cricket election of office-bearers in the most powerful fears. vowed to end Sri Lanka’s culture of merely nation by the world governing body for the sports body in the country set for May 20. It is However, in another twist to the saga, out "surviving" and shake up the national team sport, the International Cricket Council (ICC), more likely than ever that Sports Minister Namal of the 85 affiliated clubs of the SLC, 57 have ahead of the next World Cup. The 55-year-old two years ago. The ICC feels "Sri Lanka's cricket Rajapaksa will appoint an interim committee or written to the sports ministry showing solidarity two-time World Cup winner observed that Sri administration is corrupt from top to bottom", competent authority to run the sport, though with the Shammi Silva-led administration at Lankan players were "just holding on" without then Sports Minister Harin Fernando said, such appointments are not the panacea for the Maitland Place. making an extra effort and were merely trying adding he had been shown a confidential report ills prevailing in the administration of cricket. “All the 57 clubs have expressed their to "survive". on the matter at a meeting in Dubai. This follows a recommendation from the displeasure over the possible dissolving of "We need to create an environment within "Unfortunately, Sri Lanka is being ranked Attorney General’s Department that SLC be Shammi Silva-led administration and have the playing group... within the community of Sri as one of the worst or the top worst countries placed under a new management committee requested the Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa Lanka cricket that (will make them) feel like they for cricket corruption," Fernando said until its election of office bearers on May 20 to allow the same office-bearers to continue till are thriving in the organization, not surviving," after returning from the meeting with ICC as the current committee’s term expired on the SLC AGM on May 20,” a top SLC official said Moody, who was Sri Lanka's head coach for anti-corruption chief Alex Marshall, who February 20, 2021. said, adding that the normal two-year term in two years until 2007. subsequently set up base in Colombo. Their advice was sought by the sports ministry office finishes on May 31, but because of a court Understandably he is singing for his supper. "They told me the problem was not limited when Colts Cricket Club, which is in the forefront ruling in 2019 the AGM was conducted by the Whether he could set out to achieve what former to bookies, but even the local game's links in the battle against SLC, challenged the legality sports ministry on February 21, 2019 as SLC was head coaches South African Graham Ford and with the underworld," he said, observing that of the current committee headed by Shammi then run under a Competent Authority who was Sri Lanka’s own Chandika Hathurusingha the corruption was more to do with cricket Silva. SLC held its last election on February 21, the then sports minister’s secretary. failed to do before they were fired abruptly, administration than players. 2019 which meant their term had lapsed. But On top of this comes another report that SLC while another South African, Mickey Arthur, Fernando succeeded in presenting a bill in though the SLC constitution allows only a two- had failed to submit audited and approved is himself still ‘surviving’ after a string of poor Parliament to make match-fixing a criminal year term, the Sports Law which supersedes all accounts for the financial ending December results, remains to be seen. offence in Sri Lanka. In a first in South Asia, the regulations allow them to continue for a four- 31, 2019 to the Auditor General’s Department Moody has the backing of the legendary bill entitled ‘Prevention of Offences Related to year period. before their term technically expired on Aravinda de Silva who is head of SLC’s technical Sports’ carries a prison term of up to 10 years, More pertinently there are questions about February 20. Although the account had been advisory committee to restructure the first-class as well as various fines for offences related to the validity of the SLC’s appointment of submitted on February 25, it is being argued system in the country. But more significantly, corruption in sports. Even the ICC commended former Australian Tom Moody as Director of that what has been submitted may not be valid among Moody’s responsibilities, according the efforts of the former sports minister to tackle Cricket, after their term had officially expired. after the ruling given by the Attorney General’s to Aravinda, would be to develop and bring corruption in cricket. “Following the special directive, current office- Department. coaches, physios and officials to a level that But the very existence of Sri Lanka Cricket bearers’ administrative decisions after February SLC was also exposed at a recent COPE would not require foreigners to be hired for (SLC) is now being threatened in what is panning 20, like appointment of cricket director Tom meeting when its officials were unable to answer these positions deflecting the criticism of World out to be a tragi-comedy being played out by Moody, will remain valid,” a sports ministry the questions posed by the parliamentary Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga. watchdog, even as a group of On a positive note, Sri Lanka's fast bowling 12 former Sri Lanka cricketers, coach Chaminda Vaas returned to his job a officials and eminent personalities month after quitting over a pay dispute that was have submitted a petition in "amicably resolved," the cricket board said. the courts seeking an overhaul Irrespective of who holds the reins of power, of Sri Lanka Cricket's "flawed" resurrecting Sri Lanka cricket from the abyss constitution, primarily aimed at should be the main priority. restricting the number of votes at -ENCL

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