Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Too many subjects spoil the soup

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Labels: language learning, teaching

During the past decade many educationists, researchers, academics, and journalists have written reams on shortcomings of English language teaching in schools in Sri Lanka. Hence I do not intend to discuss them in this brief article. Instead I wish to focus the attention of the reader on some proposals that I have been pondering on during the past few months.

To begin with, it is necessary to write here that the government has taken two important steps, which are indeed laudable, to promote the usage of English in schools, i.e. introducing the bilingual education system and retraining of all the English teachers on how to make the students speak English.

Yet there are some obstacles that prevent us from reaping the full harvest of the above initiatives.
The omnipresent school time table allocates only 40 minutes a day for English language, a practice that has been in operation since time immemorial. Can the teacher pay attention to every child in a class of 40 students during this 40 minute period? Can the teacher communicate with every student during this limited period of time? Is it possible for every child to ask at least one question from the teacher on something that is incomprehensible? Is it possible for the teacher to mark the exercises of all of them during a period of 40 minutes? Without communicating with every child, can a language, which is not used at home at all, be taught successfully? The answer is obvious.

My first proposal is on the urgency and great importance in increasing the time allocation for English at least to one hour a day. One may wonder how that can be implemented when so many subjects have to be taught from 7.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. Should a student from Grade 6 to Grade 11 learn so many subjects? How much useful are they for their day to day life or for a secure future? My conviction is that learning five subjects a day will be more fruitful rather than forcing a child to learn eight subjects a day . According to media, a panel of medical doctors, appointed by the present Minister of Education, has said that too many subjects, too many facts, and too large syllabi and voluminous text books have not only nullified the objectives but also made some children ill. Are these children learning happily in our schools? Why do they sing and dance on the days that schools are closed for vacations? Why are they so happy on the days that schools are closed early? These are some questions one must consider seriously.

My second proposal is that a pass in English language at the G.C.E. (O.L) Examination be made compulsory for receiving education in Grade 12 & 13 in a government school. Yet it must not be an obstacle for him or for her to sit the G.C.E. (A.L.) Examination as a private candidate. A child will not learn if he or she does not see the usefulness and necessity of what he or she is expected to learn by decision makers of education. When the child knows that a pass in English is compulsory for Advanced Level education he or she will make an extra effort to pass English.

My third proposal is with regard to the General English subject for A.L students. Millions of Rupees have been spent for printing the English text book for AL students. Is it not an utter waste of money as these valuable texts books are gathering dust in schools or at students’ homes? Even the lukewarm interest in learning English that one witnesses in Grade 12 students no longer exists when they go to Grade 13. The pass percentage of students in General English at the A.L Examination is negligible to say the least. One could say that this is due to the pressure of other factors. These students still do not know that they cannot survive without a sufficient English knowledge in a globalised society. Hence my proposal is to make a pass in General English compulsory to be qualified for university education. If this proposal is implemented we will be able to witness an unprecedented interest in learning this hitherto abandoned subject among them.

My next proposal is in respect of the English text books supposed to be learnt by the students from Grade 5 to Grade 11. My proposition is that some of these text books have made learning English bitter to say the least. A comparison of Grade 4 and Grade 5 text books will show the vast gap between these two. A child who learns English enthusiastically up to Grade 4 loses interest in English when she or he studies in Grade 5 as the text book has made English difficult and bitter for the child . Without giving a text book that creates an interest in the child in learning English, improving English knowledge of him or her is nothing but a futile exercise. As such urgent steps should be taken for writing, rewriting and revising some of these English text books.

My last proposal in this brief article is on the need of creating a dedicated English teacher. Without a teacher dedicated to the cause, no amount of innovative reforms will bear fruit. It is true that most of the English teachers are dedicated and they do their best in schools to teach English to their students. Some do even extra lessons after school free of charge. Yet there are some who give priority for their family matters. It is inevitable that some female teachers go on maternity leave for fairly long periods. A few in every education Zone are purposely on no pay leave as their priority is elsewhere. If no steps are taken to arrest this tragic situation it will be copied by others exacerbating the present unsatisfactory situation. As such it is necessary to send the teachers who are not dedicated, who pay scant attention to teaching to his school’s students, who neglect their work, and who show no results, for compulsory residential training during school vacations. I have no doubt that most of them will turn into good English teachers within a short period of time when they know that they will have to go for residential training courses during school vacations many miles away from their spouses and their own children.

Premalal B.Ranaweerage.

Director-English
Matugama Education Zone

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going

Monday, December 5, 2011

Labels: activities, bilingual education, english, Matugama

As the year of 2011 is drawing to a close it is appropriate to write a note on what the English Department of the Matugama Education Zone has been doing in order to advance the standard of English of the student population of the Zone and the personality development and professional build up of the English teachers during the course of this year. Annual School English Development ProgrammeIt has been the practice since 2008 to send an annual English programme to every school to be implemented in order to raise the level of English in schools. On January 01st itself 2011 programme which included holding an English week, formation of school clubs, holding an awards day etc. was posted to every school in the zone. We are happy to note that it was implemented to a large extent by almost all the schools.
Results ImprovementIn the month of February the English teachers were summoned to the Zonal Education Office and emphasized the need of improving English language results by 10% in 2011. The teachers were given necessary guidelines and asked to work harder to achieve the target.
On October 05th, 06th and 12th three support seminars were conducted for grade 11 students in 21 centres to help them get more marks for English language question papers at the O/L examination. 59 English teachers and the ISAs - English conducted the seminars for which over 2000 students attended.
In addition to the above programme four model question papers were sent to schools to prepare the students for the examination.
Zonal Language Training Center (ZLTC)Opening of the ZLTC on February 11th was yet another achievement of the English Department of the zone. The centre, equipped with the state of the art facilities was opened by the Zonal Director of Education, Additional Zonal Director of Education and the other Directors of Education. This facility was used to conduct for teachers and students upto the sudden closure of the centre.
Website of the Zonal English DepartmentZonal English Department launched its blog on the same day the ZLTC was declared open. It was ceremonially launched by Mr. Keerthi Kariyawasam, Member of Western Provincial Council. The blog was maintained throughout the year disseminating information to teachers handling traffic of around 4000 page views. The aim of this endeavour was to broaden the horizons of the English language teaching learning process of the zone through the use of information and communication technology.
Bilingual Education Programme In order to accelerate the bilingual education programme, three workshops were conducted for the teachers on February 28, April 29th and 30th. While the February programme was conducted at Ananda Sastralaya National School, the next two day workshop was held at the ZLTC, in order to train the teachers to teach science, mathematics and citizenship education to grade 6 students. Seventeen schools of the Zone are now conducting lessons to Grade 6 students. Two more schools will follow suit from 2012.
English Language WeekAlmost every school in the Zone held the English language week from February 21 to 25. Adhering to the instructions given by us the morning assembly was conducted in English on all five days of the week. Language competitions were held for the students from Grade 3 to Grade 13. In addition to that, literary associations, English speaking clubs were formed during the week.
It was heartening to hear from all the authorities who had visited the schools during this week that the English week had been successfully held .
90-hour English Course for Bilingual TeachersThe 90-hour English course for Bilingual Teachers for which 25 teachers participated, held at St. Mary’s College on Thursdays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. commenced on May 05th and was successfully completed on November 21st. The focus of the course was mainly to develop the English speaking skills of the participants.
Basic English Course for Slow Learners in Grade 9A five day basic English course was conducted at the ZLTC for the Grade 9 slow learners from February to October 2011 for which 210 students from 15 schools participated in the course enthusiastically. The course was popular among the participants as state of the art facilities were used as teaching aids. The aim of the project was to make English an easy subject for the students who had received less than 40 marks in English at the school term tests. Mr. L.A.P. Jayasinghe conducted the programme.
Singing Workshop All the teachers in the Zone were at a loss when they had to prepare the students for the Zonal group singing competition as there were not a single western music teacher to help them. As a measure to meet this urgent demand we invited Mrs. Kanthi Priyadarshani, the Western Music Drector of the Colombo Education Zone to conduct a one day workshop for the English teachers of the Zone. She conducted a workshop on singing on June 3rd at Ananda Sastralaya national school, which immensely helped the teachers in training their students for the Zonal group singing competition.
Zonal English Language, Drama and Group Singing CompetitionsOn May 21st, 28th and June 11th the language competitions were held at St. Mary’s College while drama and group singing competitions were held at Ananda Satralaya on July 09th. More than 5000 students participated in all the competitions. It was due to the support given by the teachers that we were able to conduct the competitions successfully.
Workshop for A/L studentsUnsatisfactory results of General English subject was a major concern for all those in the English department of the Zone. It was known to many that A.L students’ priority is not General English, but the main subjects they learn in schools and elsewhere. However, we believed that it was our responsibility to encourage them to get higher marks for the subject. We organized a one day workshop for them at the public auditorium on July 08th for which more than 300 students including several Buddhist priests participated. Three foreign university students also took part as resource persons in the workshop
English Camps for English Teachers
There were requests from the teachers themselves to conduct subject knowledge enhancement programme for the teachers of English. To meet their request, we organized two, 2-day English camps at Panthiya Maha Vidyalaya during the August vacation. The first camp was held on August 8th and 9th and on August 15th and 16th the second English camp was held there. The areas encompassed in the programme were singing, English language, English literature, writing project proposals, how to use internet to improve English and how to conduct interviews. The following foreign university students who had arrived in Sri Lanka through AEISEC, an organization of university students in 112 countries, were interviewed by the teachers. They were Ms. Fan Sitting (Bess) from China, Ms. Xu Si (Maxxie) from China, Mr. Thalhar Waheed from Pakistan, Ms. Han Trinh from Vietnam, Ms. Hana Zemkova from Slovakia, Ms. Tina Herzbach from Germany and Julia Svandova from Slovakia.
The singing session was conducted by the Western Music Director of the Colombo Education Zone while the other resource persons were Mr. L.A.P. Jayasighe, the English ISAs and myself.
Here is one of the comments made by a participant in one of the camps.
"The tradititional way of conducting seminars and workshops has been revolutionary changed by this new innovatively organized camps. I am sure teachers will participate in this kind of workshops/ camps with delight and enthusiasm in future, The teachers must be enlightened on the use of new technology, as language teaching and learning must go hand in hand with the advancement of science. "M.D. Upali Thilakarathna – C.W.W. Kannangara M.M.V.
Spoken English TestWell Before the ‘English as a Life Skill’ programme came into operation, we had initiated a road map to improve the English speaking skills of the students in the Zone. The very first step was taken in 2008 by allowing students from Grade 3 to 5 to participate in the Zonal prepared speech competition which was limited to the students from Grade 6 upwards until then. The second step was adding picture description, announcing and news reading as Zonal competitions from 2009.
The third step was conducting a Spoken English test for Grade 10 students and the first Spoken English Test was held in 2010 and certificates were awarded to the deserved. The Spoken English Test in 2011 was held at eight centers on October 30th. We understand that the only education zone in the country which has held a spoken English test is Matugama.
Evaluation of English TeachersWe were well aware that teachers should be evaluated, appreciated and rewarded n order to motivate them to enhance productivity of the teaching leaning process. To achieve this objective, we launched a two pronged project in this regard and our ISAs visited all the schools in the Zone and evaluated their performance in classroom teaching and involvement in co-curricular activities by means of 20 criteria. The teachers who scored high marks in the evaluation process will be awarded Certificates of Appreciation on the Zonal Awards Day.
Foreign Volunteer TeachersAnother innovative project initiated by us was receiving the service of foreign university students to teach English in some schools in the Zone. We believe that one of the best ways to teach spoken English is creating an environment where the use of English language is esential. The students of Saranathissa K.V, Ananda Sastralaya national school, St. Mary’s College, Kamburawala M.V., Bopitiya K.V., Hedigalla K.V and Udugama K.V. were able to improve their speaking skills rapidly thanks to the services provided by these foreign students. The university students from China, Taiwan, Germany and Pakistan taught English in schools for two and half months from time to time. We understand some students are still in touch with them over Skype, telephone and through email.
Educational DVDs to SchoolAt present, steps are being taken to provide educational DVDs with funds provided by Mr. Chandrabanu Adikaram, honourable Member of Western Provincial Council. These DVDs, I have no dout, will serve the recipient schools as a catalyst for creating interest in English.
State of the Art Technology for 14 SchoolsFourteeen schools nominated by us will be provided with the state of the art facilities under the Presidential Intiative ‘English as a Life Skill’ programme to develop activity rooms. Ten other schools will share these facilities with neighbouring schools to teach English in a creative way. The Zonal English Department also will be equipped with the state of the art facilities under the same programme.
Zonal English Awards DayThe Zonal English Awards Day which is to be held on December 06th itself was a challenge to us as everybody was engaged in other urgent activities. Writing more than 1000 certificates for the students and teachers was an enormous task. However, we are sure that we will be able to overcome all these difficulties and hold the awards day successfully.
ConclusionIndeed the year 2011 has been such a challenging year to us that we had to run against the time in order to complete the projects in due time. Yet we were able to surmount all the challenges thanks to the unity, solidarity, corporation and above all the unfettered enthusiasm of everybody in the English Department who were yearning for a paradigm shift in the education of the Zone and indeed due to the overwhelming support given to us by the majority of the English teachers.
P.B. RanaweerageADE -English

Common candidate competition

It seems that somebody has organized an essay writing competition on the topic of ‘common candidate’. Dr. Dayan Jayathilake has proposed Mr. Anura Kumara Disanayake, the leader of the JVP as the best common candidate while Mr. Kusal Perera , a journalist, proposed Mr. Wigneshwaran, the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council. A few months ago Dr. Kumar David said Venarable Maduluwave Sobhitha Thera was the best common candidate. In the mean time quite a large number of CT readers, in their comments , had proposed Ms. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga as the most suitable person to challenge Mahinda and a few had proposed Mr. Ranil Wicramasinghe, the Leader of the Opposition . I too wish to join this competition though I do not hope to win a prize.

Nobody knows whether the Presidential election will be held at the end of his tenure or before that. In case the President and his close advisers feel that waiting till the end of the tenure will be disadvantageous it will probably be held on an auspicious day for the President within the next 18 months . It is safer to expect it in 2015 .

There is no doubt that Dr. Dayan Jayathilake is looking forward to the victory of the incumbent President at the next election. What his many articles reveals is that he appreciates the way the President rules the country . Dr. Dayan Jayathilake is probably not much worried about militarization, erosion of democracy, deterioration of rule of law and incessant violations of human rights. As such , I am compelled to believe that there is no significant difference on how both of them look at many a issue. So who says ‘No’ if I say that his wish is nothing but to see the incumbent President at Temple Trees for the third time.

Why do I say so?

He knows very well that Mr.Anura Kumara Didanayake whom he proposed as the common candidate is a lame horse in a Presidential election race. But he proposes him not because he loves him or the JVP but because he wants to bloat the ego of A.K.D. and the JVP and through it to prevent the possible support of the JVP for the common candidate that has the ability to defeat the incumbent President at the next election. My view is he wants the JVP to contest alone at the presidential election if it fails to get support from other parties for its candidate. It is not illogical if some believe that Dr. Dayan Jayathilake plays the role of an agent provocateur whose objective is to sow seeds of confusion, suspicion, divisions and infightings in the Opposition camp .

Now let us turn to Mr. Kusal Perera who made an attempt to promote Mr.. Vigneshwaran , the Chief Minister of the NPC as the common Presidential candidate. He had written so many things why ‘Wiggie’ should be the ‘’ national common candidate’ But Mr. Wigneshwan knows

better. He is matured enough to understand the hidden scheme behind the proposal. Hence he immediately rejected the proposal knowing that his candidature would guarantee the victory of Mahinda.

A former National Organizing Secretary of Ceylon Teachers Union once said to me that Kusal had served as a member of MP Mahinda Rajapaksha’s staff when he was the MP for the Beliatta electorate in 70 s and 80 s. While he seems to be some sort of leftist and a friend of the Tamil community , apparently he still has a soft spot for the President . He knows in the event that Mr. Wigneshwaran comes to the stage as the common candidate it will be a cake walk back to the Presidential House for the incumbent President.

Now let us turn to Dr. kumar David who wrote a number of articles why Venerable Sobhitha Thera was the best bet to defeat Mahinda. It is apparent that he honestly believes that the Thera can defeat the incumbent President at the forthcoming presidential election. I wonder why he cannot see that Rev. Thera’s candidature will be a free ticket to Mahinda to the President’s House (or Temple Trees) as the Thera will not be able to win the votes of the Tamils let alone the Muslims. In a contest between the Thera and the President, it is very doubtful that the Thera will be able to get more Sinhala votes than the President will . It is quite obvious that the common candidate has to be a personality who can garner the votes of the Tamils and the Muslims in addition to the votes of the Sinhalese as the President’s campaign will mainly focus on the Sinhalese votes. .Weerawansa, JHU, and all the Sinhala extremist groups such as the BBS will campaign for the President to the hilt and will not hesitate to tell the Sinhalese that Wigneshwaran will form an Eelam government in the North in case the Venerable Thera wins.

I am further bewildered why he believes in One Issue Campaign. Though executive presidential system is an elephantine issue to the politically enlightened people it is not such a big issue for the common voter. Their biggest concern is how to find the next meal. That is why Dudley who promised a free measure of rice to every person was able to come to power in 1965. That is why Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike who promised people two measures of rice was able to come to power in 1970. And that is why JR who promised 8 pounds of grains won comfortably in 1977. At the elections that followed it was not food but the war that decided the victory or the defeat at national elections. Now again the major concern of the people is food as there is no war. Perhaps Venerable Sobhitha Thera and Dr. Kumar David are unable to fathom the struggle people wage daily to find some food for them and their children . One who is surrounded by delicacies is ignorant of the fangs of hunger of the person in the street.

As such it is naïve to believe that the President can be defeated on the sole pledge of abolishing the executive presidency . At the next election the President would not hesitate to promise voters food at subsidized rates ,new welfare measures, and many more things as he knows more than anybody else that the way to the heart begins from the stomach.

If the Opposition wants to defeat the incumbent President, first of all ,it has to find a candidate who can garner votes from all the ethnic communities in Sri Lanka. Second, the common candidate has to be a person who can attract one million votes from the SLFP bank. The votes of the SLFPers are decisive and indispensable for the victory of the common candidate because one vote for the common candidate is one vote less for the incumbent President. The third condition is, the opposition and the common candidate should say how they expect to attend to voters’ burning issues such as food , shelter and security within a brief period .The forth condition is a road map to restore democracy, rule of law, ethnic reconciliation human rights and media freedom by means of new constitution prepared by a national provisional government together with the newly elected President who will go home once the new constitution is adopted.

Therefore my strong conviction is that only Ms.Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga possesses qualifications that are necessary to defeat President Mahinda Rajapaksha .She is the only candidate who can open the SLFP vote bank and empty at least one quarter of it into her bag. The Tamils and the Muslims as well as non Buddhists in the country would be happier to vote her into power as she is neither a chauvinist nor a person who tolerates religious extremism.

Will she accept the challenge if the Opposition extends an invitation to her to contest as the common candidate against Mahinda who represents the political party which was founded by her father and Mahinda’s father?

And she knows that the President is a resolute personality who will fight to the bitter or sweet end no matter whatever the challenges.

It may well be the most difficult decision for madam Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumarathunga.

But I am positive of one thing. If she sees no guarantee of her victory she will be happier to remain at home rather than spend the rest of her life as a defeated candidate.

P. Bertie Ranaweerage

(Former president of Ceylon Teachers’ Union)

Will Sri Lanka Become A Killing Field Again?

June 23, 2014 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

By P. Bertie Ranaweerage -

According to Karuna Amman there had been only 80 LTTE armed cadres by July 1983. JR who did almost nothing to protect the Tamils and their properties during the Black July Days in 1983 had no alternative but to send those who managed to save their lives to the Northern and Eastern provinces. It is in the public domain that a large number of Tamil youths who were sent to the North and East willingly joined the LTTE either to get revenge on the Sinhalese or on the belief that Eelam was the only remaining panacea for all the problems the Tamils. Karuna further said that the number of armed cadres of the LTTE had gone up to 40000 by the time he left the LTTE.
The Sinhala extremists and their leaders such as Elle Gunawansa, and Cyril Mathew who plotted and launched the Tamil pogrom in 1983 never in their wildest dreams did think that the terror they unleashed on the Tamils would result in a 26 year disastrous internal war. Hence we have to ask ourselves now whether the terrorism of the blood thirsty BBS would push the Moor /Muslims to extremism which may result in more destruction more violence and more bloodbaths .
Nobody never ever thought that this government would do what JR and Premadasa did during the Black July days in 1983. We do remember that JR did not utter a single word against massacring of Tamils until the thugs and murderers had finished their job. Like wise the MR government took no meaningful measures to stop the Aluthgama mayhem and the President waited from June 15 to June 21 to make an appeal to the public to desist from attacking the others on the grounds of religion or ethnicity.

The recent brutal attack on Watareka Vijitha Thera, after kidnapping him at night allegedly by the BBS thugs, has once again proved that the BBS is a fascist organization which does not tolerate those who speak for inter ethnic harmony. It incidentally reminds us of the cruelty of the ‘ Patriotic Army ‘ of the JVP that killed those stood for the 13th amendment from 1987 to 1990. Unless the BBS is stopped immediately by proscribing it and incarcerating its junta for years there is no doubt that it will continue its terror against minorities. We can expect more attacks on Muslims’ property and more Muslim deaths. Not only they will attack the minorities but also the Sinhalese who are against them.
As the rulers continue its mollycoddling of the BBS it is continuing its attack on Muslims. The latest news is that they had attacked ‘NOLIMIT‘ textile shop in Panadura owned by Muslims. And it will not be the last attack against Muslims and nobody will be amazed if they hear of another attack tomorrow morning.
It is tragic for the entire nation because the government has not understood the gravity of BBS’ fascism and its consequences. When Muslims are continually attacked it may push the Muslim youths to take up arms for the protection of its community. Muslim extremism which has turned Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Nigeria to a living hell will definitely extend its tentacles to Sri Lanka taking the advantage of the present situation here. Though killing others or committing suicide is a sin that opens the path to the hell for Buddhists, it is said that killing in the name of Islam is a sure path to the heaven where beautiful virgins, delicious foods ,drinks and mansions are in abundance .It may well could be one of the incentives that drives Muslims to kill enemies and ‘heretics’. Hence pushing Muslims to arm themselves will culminate in unimaginable tragedies for Sri Lanka. Not only it will be disastrous for both the Sinhalese and the Muslims but also for the economy of the country. In the event that the Middle East countries decide to limit the recruitment of workers from Sri Lanka the impact on the economy will be catastrophic.
Yet it is only a day dream if we expect the government to ban the BBS as it is an invisible ally of it. The President has already said that the BBS would not be proscribed in response to the requests made by Ministers Hakeem and Rishard Bathiudeen. In future elections the BBS probably field a few candidates under the UPFA and will do whatever possible to bring the UPFA and the incumbent President back to power as its future depends on the generosity of the Rajapaksa government.
The UNP has not so far understood that the BBS will be a major threat to it during future election campaigns. My belief is that the BBS will be used by some leaders of the government to attack the UNP election rallies and disrupt them. They will not hesitate to use petrol bombs and guns to attack the UNP rallies. Without understanding the gravity of the threat they are living in a utopian world dreaming that Ranil or Karu would be elected or would be allowed to be elected for the office of the Presidency next year.
As fascist BBS’ popularity is increasing among the extremist Sinhala Buddhists who are ready to kill in the name of Buddhism, it has posed a threat to the future of the Jathika Hela Urumaya and Wimal Weerawansa’s National Freedom Front. That is why Wimal Weerawansa threatens the government that he would resign unless his 12 resolutions are implemented. They have already been forced to resort to various politrics in order to prevent their voters from deserting them and turning to BBS in case the BBS contest. Hence we can expect blood curdling ’patriotic ‘ speeches from both groups in future as Parliamentary elections and the Presidential election are to be held in 2015.
Mr. Hakeem, Minister of Justice and senior Minister Mr. Dew Gunasekara have asked why the government failed to stop the mayhem in Dharga Town, Beruwala, Welipenna and Aluthgama. It is pity that they have forgotten that they themselves area part of the government. They surely must know that the Rajapaksa government did not want to prevent it as its power is based on Sinhala Buddhists and it has to please its voter base to remain in power and regain power.
The violence against the Muslims could have been prevented not only by the government but also the parties of the Opposition , particularly the UNP and the JVP. They could have launched an effective propaganda campaign against the BBS’ fascism to convince the public its destructive agenda and rally people against the BBS’ madness. But the UNP failed to do so as it has become a confused and stranded political party in the political wilderness sans a road map .With regard to the JVP it was not interested in launching a campaign against its erstwhile comrades as it feared that it would erode its Sinhala Buddhist vote base.
The Muslim Congress and the Muslim Ministers too could have prevented the onslaught against the Muslims to a certain extent had it acted decisively at the right time. it is not wrong to assume that they hesitated to act decisively simply because Muslim Ministers did not want to say good bye to the privileges they have been enjoying being a part of the Rajapaksa government.
Now Sri Lanka has arrived at a critical juncture. Another civil war is being prepared by the BBS, Sinhala Ravaya and Rawana balaya By not condemning this extremists, Chief Priests of Malwatta and Asgiriya and prominent Buddhist priests such as Maduluwawe Sobhtha Thera are contributing to a future civil war here. Unless the government understand that the BBS’ non-stop attacks on Muslims will force Muslims to arm themselves and retaliate, nobody will be able to prevent this land becoming a killing field once again.