When the curtain fell on the GATT Uruguay round of talks that were dominated by the us and EEC, there ended an agricultural trade war fought by diplomatic means. The agreement for the first time in history established far-reaching multilateral rules which includes limits on national governments in the exercise of policy sovereignty in agriculture.

Thus, unmistakably it will have widespread and profound implications for rural people and consumers through-out the world, more especially for those in the developing countries — the south, where to a far greater extent than in the north, agriculture occupies a central position in the economic performance and human welfare.

For reasons that will be presented later in this note it would also seem to mark the begining of a prolonged struggle by the south to meet the new developments that could spell ruin to domestic food security.

The third world countries will be called upon to work unitedly and resolutely in mobilising the full strength of their intellectual resources to avert from being dragged under this agreement to a status which is designated-remote control neo-colonial status. (RCN-status)

On a conservative estimate, agriculture in most third world countries account for more than 20% of the GDP, two third of employment, and in many cases the bulk of their foreign exchange earnings. More over, these countries have a large proportion of the population engaged in agriculture that is known to be amongst the world's poorest and vulnerable social groups. Yet, paradoxically these countries did not, or could not have the desired impact on the agreement although it was patently clear that it would damage their trade interests and food security.

In our own country a sizeable proportion of the people are engaged in agriculture and are bound to be affected sooner or later. Sooner, when once the euphoria of the change in government wears off and the IMF and World Bank revive the call for the withdrawal of the fertiliser and price support subsidies, this time armed with the new GATT requirements. In this situation the Sri Lanka government along with other Third World countries would have to take serious cognizance and look ahead and beyond, and prepare to take appropriate action, if the GATT settlement in practice does not end the problem of structural over-production in agriculture in the US and EEC, does not stop export dumping, and above all, does not recognise policy sovereignty of these countries.

Over production of food commodities in the US and EEC which is openly aided by huge export and other subsidies seriously damaged the economic and trade interests of developing countries for almost two decades forcing labour intensive, ecologically sustainable, and efficient agricultural producers in Third World countries out of the market. Naturally, when production outstrips demand and the mounting surpluses are transmitted, they depress and destabilise world market prices. In the process, the developing countries lose their share of the world market for major food commodities, excepting oil seed.

Commissioner's report
According to the 1986 report of the EEC Commissioner for Agriculture, ware houses and cold stores held over 15 million tons of cereals, one million tons of butter, 450,000 tons of milk powder and 750,000 tons of beef. If the wine lake of 3,500 million litres is also included, the total value of the surplus was estimated to add up to $ US 9,000 million, with an added storage cost of US$ 1,200 million. In fact, the EEC spent almost two-thirds of its budget or US$ 18,000 million in 1985 to keep their farmers in business.

On the other hand, the IMF-World Bank-GATT-complex, which is dominated by the industrialised countries pressurises the poor countries to remove in put subsidies and price supports given to their farmers, denying the poor countries the right to be self sufficient in food and, depriving their farmers the only means of livelihood. Perhaps, the logic is that those who preach free market economics have the prerogative of not practising what they preach to others.

Overproduction, which is at the heart of the agricultural trade crisis of the 1980s, began in 1958 when the Treaty of Rome, the legal foundation of the EEC set out a number of agricultural policy objectives.

They included the supports for farm incomes and improvements in the standard of living of the farm population (not recommended for farmers in third Third World who must even commit suicide because imported inputs increase in price, while the market prices of their produce decline!!); promoting technical efficiency and productivity (it is good for Third World farmers to always remain the hevers of wood and the drawers of water!); ensuring stable food supplies at reasonable prices to consumers (it is in the interest of the west for poor countries to depend on food surpluses on a ship to mouth basis!!).

It was in the late 1960s however, that the common Agricultural policy, as it was known, was further consolidated on three broad principles. Firstly, the EEC was treated as a single market for agricultural produce. Secondly, the EEC farmers were given preference over outside suppliers, and thirdly, the cost of implementing these principles was to be met by EEC governments. The main plank of the whole protective system was the guaranteed minimum prices farmers were to receive for their produce, fixed annually, after negotiations between EEC Agriculture Ministers.

By protecting European farmers from international competition and then disposing such subsidised food supplies on the market, it fundamentally alters the EEC's position in the international trading system to the detriment of gainfully employed food producers in debt stricken Third World countries.

According to reports the central strategy in the Uruguay proposals for tackling the problem of overproduction in the industrialised countries farm systems has been the assumption that farm subsidies and hence farm gate prices should be cut. Cuts ranging from 3% — 7% per annum, so the argument goes, will restore an equilibrium between supply and demand and raise world prices thus benefiting Third World food producers. True, but will not cuts in farmgate prices resulting from the bargaining process between the EEC and the US drive a very large number of their own small farmers to bankruptcy.

Land ownership
According to Sir James Goldsmith two billion people would lose their jobs and lands if governments ratify the new global free trade agreement. If this happens, it is likely to result in a concentration of land ownership which will lead to farm production on more capital intensive scales. This would mean that there will be big productivity gains and surpluses that can depress price levels and damage Third World trade interests. If, the industrialised countries are honest in their endeavours to re-structure international trade for the benefits of all countries, then, all that is required, as far as agricultural trade is concerned, is to withdraw all guaranteed price supports for any volume of production in excess of domestic demand instead of imposing a blanket free market regime. There are many concerned groups that have proposed this as a good option.

Coming to export dumping of food commodities — This is a direct consequence of farm policies that encourage over production. The most obvious victims of such dumping practices are the developing countries that export food and their farmers. During the 1980s for example both the EEC and US disposed of their domestic surpluses on the world market well bellow their domestic cost of production. In West Africa they were selling wheat at US$ 60 per ton when the domestic guaranteed price was around US$ 160 per ton.

Perhaps, the most serious impact of food dumping has been on the farmers producing food in Third World countries who get shut out from the expanding urban markets and their incomes drop in the wake of cheaper food imports. This is now visible in Sri Lanka in respect of rice etc. and it may become worse in the years to come as GATT proposals become toughly imposed. Investments in food staples inevitably suffer and so will all plans to become food self-reliant.

It brings into sharp focus the attitudes of the western industrialised governments that in public recognise the need to encourage higher levels of self-reliance in food in their proclamations at international meetings and in some of their aid programs, yet, adopt agricultural policies that destroy national self-reliance but foster dependency on food.

While it is true that the industrialised countries cannot be held solely responsible and that a good part of the blame must be taken by the Third World governments themselves, there is strong evidence of an interaction between their policies and other allied forces represented by Aid agencies and NGOs that are directed towards the marginalisation of small scale farmers (food producers) by denying them access to productive resources.

The whole problem of growing dependence upon food imports is firstly, that they divert foreign exchange which could be spent on imports of materials and goods needed for development; and secondly, that increased dependence upon imported foods gives the supplying nations an important source of political influence and leverage over Third World governments. Increased reliance on food imports may be appropriate in a context of economic growth and rapid development in which those displaced from agriculture are able to find other sources of income. But for the overwhelming countries of the Third World development means nothing unless it means the development of agriculture and mobilisation of people in rural areas where 90% of the world poor and most malnourished live.

Traditionally developing countries have enjoyed especial and differential treatment (S & D) in GATT, an arrangement which means they do not have to reciprocate developed countries liberalisation measures. While these will disappear, the dispensation offered in agriculture are limited concessions with the developing countries allowed longer time frames for adjusting liberalisation according to "proven needs".

Sovereignty
Additionally, severe constraints will also be placed over the policy sovereignty of developing countries with regard to forms of market intervention, border controls, food imports, price supports, buffer stocks and guaranteed price systems. In short, the thinking underlining "the reforms" is that developing countries should not attempt to maintain domestic producer prices higher than the world market levels and should not implement measures which will reduce imports substantially. Ironically, this the very policy instrument that was much used by the powerful framers of the agreement. It was the ban of imported eggs, chillies, and onions that made Sri Lanka almost self sufficient in these commodities.

More recently, it was the price support systems and wide infrastructural support that played an important part in enabling Zimbabwe to achieve self-sufficiency in maize and is now a regional supplier to its food deficit neighbours. Still more recently guaranteed prices given by the governments of Zambia and Tanzania to peasant producers have enabled these countries to produce a surplus in maize, their staple food. If the trade barriers were removed and guaranteed prices were not given these countries would not have been able to preserve their fragile food systems from ruin.

There are ecological, employment, food security, social, political and economic reasons for rejecting the sweeping liberalisation GATT imposes on developing countries food system and denying them food policy sovereignty. A good option that came off a Jamaican Think-Tank is that a distinction should be drawn between subsidies designed to increase self-reliance and meet legitimate social objectives in the south, and subsidies causing over-production and world market distortions.

This seems to be a just and fair compromise because while the latter are proper subjects for GATT, the former relate to the duty and responsibility of national governments to provide their citizens with adequate and guaranteed food supplies. This is not an area where GATT should be permitted to arrogate authority. If it is allowed then, many Third World countries may assume RCN — status (remote Control Neo-Colonial Status).

The GATT agreements are seen by many as a recipe for mass hunger. Perhaps, it is intended to open up developing country's food market to grant US based grain corporation such as Cargill, which dictates terms to even the US government. This is in fact a grotesque violation of policy sovereignty which seems preposterous in the background of famine in many parts of Africa and hunger in many other parts of the globe.

What seems to portend in the not too distant future is a situation where the livelihood of Third World farmers including Sri Lanka's will be sacrificed upon the altar of what renowned economist J. K. Galbraith called "the agricultural free trade theology holding no hope for the future of two-thirds of humankind".

The implications of GATT that have been touched on are only a fraction of the gamut of implications perceived. It is up to the government to identify all and take appropriate action before ratifying it. There are other serious matters that should be highlighted. For instance there could be widespread environmental destruction, lower consumer health, and lower safety standards. Why do we say this?

Exports
According to the agreement governments will not have the right to restrict exports of their own raw material in order to develop their own resources on a sustainable basis. For example, this could nullify all attempts to slow the destruction of rain forests in Indonesia. In fact the Indonesian government which banned the export of raw logs in 1985 is already being warned by the EEC and Japan that it is contravening the spirit of GATT by depriving foreign logging companies of raw material!!

Under the new agreement Indonesia is likely to face the simple choice of returning to an ecologically most devastating free trade in timber or, bear the brunt of comprehensive GATT backed trade sanctions. This is the sword of democles that hangs over third world countries.

Take another example, one of the key words in the lexicon of the negotiators is the word "harmonising". For the sake of "harmonising" it speaks of a proposal to replace national safety standards with a single international standard and the chosen instrument of this grand design is a body called Codex Alimentarius, which draws up health standards and safety guidelines under the auspices of FAO, Rome.

According to reliable reports Codex like GATT itself is a profoundly undemocratic body and meets behind closed doors, has no institutional consumer representatives, and is dominated by corporate executives of the giant drugs and food companies. Thus, because of corporate bias codex standards are exceptionally weak. And the consequences of this arrangement is that interested parties have seen to it, for instance, that the maximum residue levels of DDT is 50 times higher than that permitted by the US food and drugs administration. If "harmonising" plans go ahead codex's weaker standards will supersede national legislation, whitling down health and safety regulations to their lowest denominator, in the process, undermining the gains made in the past.

Thus, domestic restrictions on dangerous pesticides, drugs, hormones etc will be open to challenge as "non-tariff barrier to trade", a deadly weapon in GATT's arsenal. In fact, the USA has already warned that it will use a "harmonised”. Gatt to overturn an EEC ban on the genetically engineered cattle growth hormone, and Californian legislation banning foodstuffs containing carcinogenetic residues.

What is the lesson? Firstly, man Third World countries, particularly in Sri Lanka the top positions in ministries dealing with highly and complex technical subjects are held by administrators. By their very educational background they cannot be expected to even be aware of the clever and subtle developments taking place at international level in regard to the core disciplines involved. Therefore, one of the first steps these governments should take is to man their ministries with competent scientists & technocrats who will not only understand the gravity of issues that crop up, but will be equipped to assimilate changes, monitor and keep their minister apprised.

If we don't, by default this country too will sink sooner or later to RNC-status, while still dreaming of NIC-status.

Philosopher Karl Popper once said, “Science progresses through a problem solving mechanism.” So does engineering. Investigate the present problems and find solutions to improve the future.

Today, there are several problems and issues reigning the concrete industry in Sri Lanka:—

(1) Achieving enough concrete strength

(2) Specifying concrete durability by its strength

(3) Variability in cement supply.

(4) Concreting in hot weather

Achieving enough concrete strength
Several years ago the results of a survey conducted among local batching plants were compared with the results of a similar British survey. It revealed that, for the same cement content, our concrete strength was low. Why?

When it comes to the sand content or the setting time of cement, the difference is small. However, in local cements, the tri-calcium-silicate content is somewhat low. Moreover, the aggregate used for local concrete is not well graded. Therefore, increasing the tri calcium silicate content in cement and use of well graded aggregate, especially with sufficient fines below 0.15mm, will result in improvement.

However, increasing the cement content in concrete would make matters worse. Firstly, cement is more expensive than the other ingradients of concrete: coarse and fine aggregate (i.e. crushed stone and sand respectively). Secondly, the higher the cement content, the higher the heat of hydration. As a result, the higher the amount of cracking.

Adopt a higher value for the ratio of course to fine aggregate. That is, the voids that could be filled with crushed stone should not be filled with sand. However, it may not always be possible. For example, to pump concrete, the sand content should be higher than normal.

To increase the workability of concrete, local batching plants often use air-entrainers instead of water-reducers. The latter is more expensive but would enhance concrete strength.

Specifying concrete durability by its strength
Durability of concrete can be indicated using one of these: water-cement ratio (i.e. weight of water per unit weight of cement), cement content (i.e weight of cement per unit volume of concrete), or grade of concrete (i.e. strength of concrete). Measuring the first two is rather difficult, so the last one is often used.

For durability of concrete, the British Code of Practice BS 8110 cannot be directly used. Our environment is different from that of Britain. And the available materials differ too. For example, even for mild environments, the BS code recommends grade 30 concrete. The quality of locally available cement is such that, to achieve this, cement content should be increased. Then, due to increased heat of hydration, more cracking would occur. So the attempt to enhance durability would result in chaos.

Unlike in Britain, frost attack is not a problem here. Research work shows that, for local mild environments, grade 20 would be adequate. Grade 25 concrete can be used for water retaining structures and for wetting and drying environments. However, for exposed structures in coastal zones (i.e. upto 1km from the shore line), at least grade 30 is required.

Variability in cement supply
The properties of cement may vary from one stock to another, sometimes even from the same supplier. As a result, the mix designer would be in trouble. Such variability would affect not only the strength development of concrete, but also admixture performance.

Concreting in hot weather

Firstly, in a hot weather like ours, loss of water from fresh concrete during transport and placing is high. As a result, the workability of the mix would go down. However, water should not be added indiscriminately as it may drastically reduce the strength of concrete.

Secondly, before setting, the surface of placed concrete would try to contract when the evaporation rate is greater than the bleeding rate (Bleeding is the rising of the mixing water to the concrete surface). However, the inner concrete would resist contraction of surface layers. Consequently, the surface layers would crack. These cracks are called “plastic shrinkage cracks.” They would have negligible effect on strength and stiffness of concrete; however, they may promote durability problems such as corrosion of the embedded steel.

Saturate the formwork with water before placing concrete. Shade aggregate heaps from the sun, or sprinkle them with water to maintain a low temperature at the time of mixing. As much as possible, reduce the time between placing and finishing of concrete. After bleed water has disappeared, apply fog spray. Start curing early. If the wind is rough, provide wind breaks; if the sun shines bright, provide sun shades. If possible, do concreting at night. If cracks still appear, retrowel the concrete in the plastic state, or brush cement grout into the cracks.

Thirdly, when concrete hydrates (i.e gains strength), the heat generated will raise its temperature. The result is the expansion of the concrete. However, in a day or two, as the hydration rate falls, the concrete would gradually achieve the ambient temperature. Such initial expansion and subsequent contraction would bring about cracking. In hot weather, this problem is very significant.

It is cement that actually hydrates. So keep it to a minimum provided the water-cement ratio can be kept low as well. Or use low heat cements, which would generate less heat during hydration. For massive structures like dams, low heat cement is essential.

A hot climate is somewhat bad for the long term strength of concrete. The higher the temperature of concrete, the more rapid the hydration process. Consequently, the strength gain would speed up, resulting in hydration products with a lower long term strength.

Nearly 1.3 billion people in the world live below poverty level. Of this amount, around 520 million live in South Asia, and despite commendable achievements in social indicators such as high rates of life expectancy and low rate of infant mortality, the incidence of poverty is high in Sri Lanka.

According to a Report of the Independent South Asian Commission on Poverty Alleviation of SAARC, about 40 percent of the total households in Sri Lanka live below poverty line. The income of around 1.8 million families is below Rs. 1500 per month. Most of the poor are from the rural sector. In some rural areas the income of around 75% households is less than Rs. 1500 per month and receive samurdhi benefits. For example, out of the 18548 families in the Akuressa Divisional Secretary Division in Matara District, 12,052 families are considered to be poor and receive Samurdhi benefits. It is more or less similar in other rural areas.

Unemployment:
High rates of unemployment and underemployment are major causal factors of poverty. Presently, around 650,000 people of a labour force of 6.2 million are estimated to be unemployed. As nearly two third of the total population live in rural areas, the absolute number of unemployment in the rural sector is high. Unemployment is also heavily concentrated among the young.

The present high level of unemployment is attributed mainly to low level of education and/or lack of skills. However, nearly 45% of the unemployed have an education standard of G.C.E. (O.L) or above, and around 3% of the unemployed are graduates. About 25% of the unemployed have undergone some form of vocational training, and have an employable skill/s. Around 50% of those trained in computer and data entry operation remain unemployed. Even graduates in professions such as agriculture, architecture, engineering and medicine have to wait for sometime, perhaps one or two years or even more, before suitably employed. Hence, unemployment cannot be attributed to insufficient employment opportunities.

The main source of income of nearly 90% of the rural population is agriculture. According to Central Bank annual report of 1997, the contribution of this sector towards the Gross National Product (GNP) has decreased during the last decade from 23.6% in 1987 to 17.8% in 1997. The high incidence of poverty and unemployment in the rural sector may be attributed to stagnation/decrease in the level of agricultural production in the country.

Poverty Alleviation:
Since independence, a number of programmes have been implemented to assist the poor. The main objective of the Janasaviya programme, and the Samurdhi programme implemented in 1989 and 1995 respectively was poverty alleviation.

Samurdhi Programme while providing financial assistance to nearly 1.8 million families involving around Rs. 8000 million, attempts to alleviate poverty by implementing numerous development activities. Among these are promotion of income generating activities such as animal husbandry, small industries, agro-industries, promotion of savings, provision of credit to the poor at very low rates of interest, increasing skills, increase productivity of home gardens etc.

Employment Opportunities:
Increasing employment opportunities is sine qua non in poverty alleviation. Annually, around 150,000 youths enter the labour market, and hence, unless there are realistic sustainable development programmes, the unemployment is bound to increase.

Development of the agricultural sector utilizing the local resources would provide food security, reduce trade imbalance, and create more employment opportunities leading to sustainable development. In the case of garments and other such industries almost all the inputs except labour are imported, and are not sustainable in the long-run due to a number of factors. In fact, already some of the more important factories which provided employment to thousands have already closed down or are in the process of closing down due to competition from overseas manufacturers. It is possible that with the implementation of SAPTA and SAFTA, some more factories will face the same plight.

Sri Lanka has a wide variation in soil and climate making it posssible the cultivation of different types of crops. Around 2 million hectares of land, especially in the dry zone remain uncultivated. A large sum of money is spent annually to import food (rice, sugar, milk etc.) most of which can be produced locally. In 1997, nearly Rs. 40 billion worth of food has been imported. With about 2.0 million hectares of uncultivated/partly cultivated land and food imports at Rs. 40 billion there is an immense potential for employment generation in the agriculture sector.

Sugar cane:
Sugar cane crop is one of the most feasible crop for cultivation in most areas of the dry zone. Although large extent of land is available in the dry zone, only about 15,000 hectares are presently under sugar cane production. Around 2,000 hectares of irrigable land at Hingurana, hitherto cultivated with sugar cane, remain unproductive. As in most other crops, local sugar production has remained stagnant/decreased during the last few years. Per hectare yields of sugar cane has stagnated at around 70 mt/ha and a sugar conversion at 8%, for want of better varieties, improved agronomic and processing practices. The total amount of sugar consumed in 1997 was in the region of 550,000 m. tons of which almost 90% was imported, involving nearly rupees 10,000 million in foreign exchange. It is estimated that by the turn of the century the sugar requirement of the country will be in the region of 600,000 metric tons. Hence, there is an urgent need to expand this industry to meet the local requirement of sugar. Expansion of this industry will create ample employment opportunities in the rural areas.

Animal husbandry:
The total production of milk in Sri Lanka is around 250 million litres of milk which according to Central Bank reports, is only 20% of the country's requirement of milk and milk products. At present, around 50,000 mt of milk powder equivalent to 400 million litres of liquid milk are imported annually costing around Rs. 7.5 billion. As in the case of crops, milk production in Sri Lanka has remained stagnant during the last two decades.

One of the more effective land use practice for the large extent of uncultivated lands in the dry zone and the degraded lands in the wet zone is dairy husbandry. Kiriya Milk Industries of Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., (KMI) was established in April 1997 as a joint venture with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to increase milk production in Sri Lanka. According to recent press reports KMI is planning to implement the following projects.

1. A milk factory to process 300,000 litres of milk per day

2. A dairy feed factory to produce 100 tons per day

3. Renovate milk storage facilities in 89 stores, and to

4. Promote consumption of liquid milk in and around Colombo by establishing 300 milk booths.

However, these projects will not increase milk production in Sri Lanka, as there are no plans to increase the population of high yielding dairy cattle breeds in Sri Lanka, and to increase the production of pasture grass to feed the cattle, which are basic requirements in any programme to increase milk production. Perhaps KMI is planning to import milk from India. Hence, without waiting for KIRIYA, a programme need to be implemented to increase milk production in the country. Such a programme will create immense employment opportunities specially in the up country and the dry zone.

Agro-based Industries:
A large number of crops cultivated in Sri Lanka have considerable potential in various agro-industries. Most of our coconut and rubber products are used only to a limited extent in agro industries and are exported without value-addition. The industrial potential of many other crops such as cassava, horticultural and floricultural crops, medicinal herbs, cane, bamboo, sunflower and other oil crops, kitul, castor etc. remain unexploited for want of improve varieties, technological know-how, relevant market information etc. Except for coconut fibre, fibre from other crops such as banana, pineapple, jute etc. are not used to any appreciable extent. By-products of a number of crops can be used as inputs in many agro-industries. For example, sugar industry by products can be used as animal feeds, a source of electricity and also to manufacture a number of industrial products such as alcohol, vinegar, fibre boards etc.

There is an urgent need to take a concerted effort to develop agro-industries in Sri Lanka as it will have a tremendous impact on unemployment and reducing rural poverty. However, the Ministry of Industries appear to have no proper long-term plan to develop agro-industries except for some ad-hoc projects.

Promoting investments and exports in the Agricultural Sector

In the implementation of the various agricultural development projects indicated above, the involvement of the private sector is essential. However, in spite of the tremendous opportunities, the Board of Investment's (BOI) publication entitled “Investment Policy and Incentives” describe the investment opportunities in the agriculture sector only by three sentences.

The BOI need to pursue a rigorous and a more effective programme to promote investment in sustainable agricultural enterprises, which will provide more employment opportunities in the rural sector and also promote growth. The potential investors need to be made aware of the relevant details of specific agricultural enterprises in which they could invest, and project reports of viable agro-industries need to be made available to them.

The Export Development Board (EDB) also has an extremely important role in promoting the development of agro-industries. EDB attempts to promote exports but appear to have no effective programme to promote the production of exports, which has to be implemented in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, the Dept. of Export Agriculture and the numerous research institutes. The EDB regional offices which have a very important role to play in the production of exports have only a handful of staff. Hence, EDB need to develop an effective programme to promote agro-industries.

About the author
E.C.T. Candappa was one of Sri Lanka's been feature writers in the mid-fifties till the seventies. He was an outstanding journalist at Lake House and distinguished himself as a reporter and feature writer. He is now domiciled in Australia but still very much interested in his country of origin. He visited Sri Lanka last year and interviewed many of the personalities featured in this book.

Continued from yesterday

‘Remember in Bonn, Paris, London, New York, there will be press conferences and the press corps will try and pick the brains of local reporters as well for some gossip, some background.

‘Keep to the record, stick to the facts. Don’t get involved in commenting on sensational matters. Remember Mr Bandaranaike has enemies. Powerful enemies. Among the defeated regime. But even more among the present regime. And, of course, there’s the Tamil lobby, notorious for spreading misinformation.’

This was too much for Veeraswamy. ‘Of course, the poor foreign press has not heard anything about the racial riots, the atrocities committed against the Tamils; they have not seen any TV footage, not read Tarzie Vittachi’s ëEmergency ë58’ ...’

Drahman smiled indulgently. What could he say? He had a brief and he had a witness. Veeraswamy had his own views but he would never lie. He could always be depended upon to corroborate what was said here. And he was credible because he was...well, himself. Drahman gave some background to Bandaranaike’s attitude towards Britain, towards the British Commonwealth, towards trade with the West, widening diplomatic relations, his great admiration for and dedication to parliamentary democracy, his desire to make Ceylon’s freedom complete by the withdrawal of British troops from Ceylon, the return of the air base, Katunayake, by the British, the abolishing of imperial honours and the cessation of appeals to the Privy Council.

‘Are there any questions that you wish to ask?’

Veeraswamy put up his hand.

‘I’ll deal with you later. Yes?’

‘This is enough for one bite,’ Raj said. ‘Can I call you if I need any clarification.’

‘Any time.’

Raj walked out and the contrast was striking. The air-conditioning still clung to his clothes and face, and the air outside fell on him like a heated cloak.

He wore his dark glasses to shield his eyes from the blinding glare. As he stepped out of the quiet corridors of the Senate building the sounds of traffic assailed him. Strident horns, screeching of brakes, revving of engines.

Nothing affected him. He was supremely elated.

Paris, Bonn, London, New York, the names sang in his ears. It would be great to revisit London and see the old haunts, visit Mrs Simpson, the landlady. Mr Simpson, alas, had passed on. Drink Brown Ale if he had time. He had been in Paris briefly and seen the gracious city as a penny-pinching tourist. Now, he would go as a member of the Prime Minister’s entourage.

He wished everything would go well.

All the preparations, the surgery in time...oh, and Tony Miguel.

At that precise moment the sun went behind a cloud. And the crows were carving a cacophony in the crown of the peltoforum blossoms.

Chapter 20
As each evening wore on, the myriads lights of the Clarion’s multi-storeyed building would go out one by one, as stars at the onset of dawn. Only the lights in the editorial offices of the morning newspapers and those in related rooms - the readers, the typesetters, and the brightest lights in the press rooms, remained.

Even in the three morning newspapers many lights would be doused leaving islands of relative darkness while elsewhere fluorescent tubes shed some garish light.

In the subs room, two or three subs would be at work at their stations, visors shading their eyes against the glare and the heat of their bright table lamps.

In the long, broad editorial room which served two of the morning papers only two men were at work. One was the night-sub of the Sinhala paper and the other was Tony Miguel. The time on the large circular clock at the end of the room proclaimed a quarter past eleven.

It was two and a half hours after Tony had officially knocked off. The night reporter had gone down to the canteen for a cup of black coffee and Tony had offered to mind the telephone. He would not leave until the final edition was off the press at two in the morning.

Then, almost reluctantly, he would depart, not go home in any real sense. It was a matter of common jest that he had no home to which to return. Which was not very far from the truth.

Tony hated his home, and especially his father.

Mr Miguel, Senior, was a literary giant in Colombo. He had been an editor of the popular Christian Sentinel a generation earlier. And now well into his sixties he contributed learned articles to a wide range of newspapers and magazines. He was often invited by journals in England and America to write on music and the arts.

He was physically a giant as well. Though only five feet nine in height his enormous girth gave him an appearance of much substance. He also wore his hair, a pure silver in shade, in long, unruly locks over his shoulder. He was always completely clad with tie and jacket. His pockets were stuffed with books and papers. To cap it all, as it were, he wore a Trilby hat, battered and misshapen and greasy along the silken band. His pudgy fingers were stained brown from smoking, some even bearing the scars of burns by butts in absent-minded bouts of intense smoking.

He was rollicking company and had a ready wit. He was welcome in many homes where he was invited for the sheer pleasure of his sparkling conversation. But the moment he took off his shoes at home a striking metamorphosis occurred. He changed into a tyrant and a most intolerable man. He terrorised his wife, a slip of a waif, and his seven children. He stabbed them with sharp words and crushed them with the rolling cadences of his eloquence. He did not let a day pass without bemoaning the circumstances of his offspring, without whom he felt no doubt he would have cut an international figure. He seemed to hold his wife primarily, and quite irrationally, totally responsible for the situation. Tony was the only son, and the youngest. His sisters were all married and gladly away from their father. They did visit their mother, but strove to do so in the daylight hours. Whenever they met their father they invariably encountered the two-edged sword of his tongue.

From as far back as he could remember, Tony had been heaped with scorn by his father. There was nothing that he could achieve, according to the old man, and whatever he did achieve was worthless in his eyes. He had kept telling him that he would amount to nothing. When he had joined a newspaper and had his articles and news items published over his name, Mr Miguel surpassed himself in humiliating the young journalist. He picked grammatical errors that had escaped the sub-editor’s eye or heavily criticised his style which he contrasted with his own classical and even bombastic style.

It did not matter that a generation separated their writing. Mr Miguel had written, and still affected the stilted prose favoured by his generation, while his son used a crisp and functional language suited to contemporary journalism.

The young Miguel did not seek to do better to get the approbation of his father. He did so to spite his father.

One thing he knew would silence the old tyrant was to work in Fleet Street. The old man, like thousands of other journalists, worshipped at that shrine but in his case only vicariously. He knew every nook of the famous street from reading. He knew of all of the famous scribes who had graced, or disgraced it. He would have done anything to spend some time there but the opportunity had never come to him and he knew would never come to him in the future.

Whenever he met anyone who had visited it he deferred to them, whatever their other literary failings might have been.

This was the dream of the younger Miguel: to set foot there, possibly work there.

Now unexpectedly the possibility had arisen of attending the United Nations General Assembly meeting in the company of the Ceylonese delegation with the added bonus of visiting Fleet Street and even working there for a while. That would shut his arrogant father’s mouth. That would show him.

But then Raj Indra had intervened.

Miguel knew it was not the parliamentary correspondent’s fault. But that did not reduce his mortification. He knew such an opportunity came only once in a lifetime, such a combination of circumstances. And he would do everything possible to make it a reality for him.

It was his by every right.

He stood up and walked over to the row of windows overlooking a part of the city. Lights glimmered in the night. Nothing stirred. Everything lay wrapped in peace.

But inside him was a seething cauldron of hatred and bitterness and anger. A cool breeze played on his long hair and wide brow and handsome features. It had an effect on him.

Involuntarily he stood erect, and his nearly six-foot frame unfolded and he drew back his shoulders and sighed.

Then he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit it with a Ronson lighter and inhaled deeply. He was working out a battle plan.

Many prizes had eluded him when they were almost within his grasp. He wanted to excel in sports. He trained relentlessly to find a berth in the school Under-16 cricket team. But although everyone in the team knew that he was a talented pace bowler the coach had dropped him for no apparent reason. But the real reason was that he did not attend the coach’s private training classes for a consideration. It was an immoral arrangement, but no one, not even the Principal, a priest, stood up against it.

Then he wanted very much to run the mile at sports. He trained again with a passion. On the eve of the Sports Meet he came down with rheumatic fever which incapacitated him from any strenuous activity for many years.

He had wanted very much to serve at the altar. He studied the Latin prayers with an assiduousness that startled his family. He also had to weather the withering sarcasm of his father which did not deter him one whit because he had expected nothing less.

But what shattered him had been the cruelty of the Brother in charge who had, for a minor peccadillo, declared him unworthy of the privilege of serving at Mass.

Like a flogged dog he had accepted a bad name as his right. And thus the one opportunity of mending the harm done to him by his father had been taken from him. He now feared that failure stalked him.

A vagrant breeze that lingered round the Clarion battled with the foetid vapours of the stagnant lake and the stench of the festering marsh. Miguel shivered and turned away.

Continued on tomorrow

Continued from Midweek Review yesterday

Sri Lanka has been in the fortunate position of absorbing influences from various parts of the Indian subcontinent. It has been argued that western India was the home of the first North Indian immigrants to Sri Lanka. Vijaya’s ancestors hailed from Bengal, but his father subsequently established himself in Gujarat, from where the adventurers were put out to sea. Before arriving in Sri Lanka, their ship called at Supara on the west coast of India. Their landing in Sri Lanka at Tambapanni near Puttalam, would indicate their arrival from western India. Some early tribal names occurring in Sri Lanka also suggest connection with northwestern India and the Indus region. It seems probably that a subsequent wave arrives from the east around Bengal and Orissa. One band of settlers landed in Sri Lanka at the east-coast port of Gokanna, a natural port of disembarkation for vessels arriving from the Bay of Bengal. Linguistic affinities between the early Sinhala and Prakrit speaking people of eastern India strengthen the hypothesis of a migration from this area. Indo-Aryan settlements grew in different parts of the island from about the 5 BC. The settlers came in numerous clans or tribes. (Encyclopaediaa Britannic. 15 ed. Vol. 28 p. 173. author: “S. Ara.“)

The link with the North of India continued with the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka during the time of King Dharmasoka in India. It is also interesting to note that there are other lesser known connections as well. During the Polonnaruwa period, there were Rajput mercenaries in the kings army. Viajayabahu IV (1267-1270) it is recorded, has Rajput mercenaries in his army. There have also been trade relations with the principality of Ayodya, in North India (presently Uttar Pradesh). ‘Dambadeni-asna‘ a literary work of the 14th century, refers to swords made in Ayodya. There is also some evidence to indicate that Rajputs from India had settled in Sri Lanka in the mid-14 century. This limited contact with the Rajput clans of Northwestern India, seems to have left a lasting legacy. If you compare the names used by Rajputs with those used in Sri Lanka, it could be argued that names that start with the following, are of Rajput origin: Suba, Amara, Rupa, Jaya, Mona, Vira. P. E. E. Fernando suggests that names like Vijayatunga, Jayapala, Rajakaruna, Devaraja, and Vimalasena may be of Rajput origin. He points out that some of our names are peculiar to Rajputs, giving the example of “Satarasimha”. (P. E. E. Fernando, Rajputs in Sri Lanka. Published in “Don Peter Felicitation Volume” 1983 p. 65-80).

The link with South India is well known and does not need discussion. We have been influenced by Tamilnadu and Kerala. In addition linguists have informed us that there is a dialetct of Telegu spoken by our gypsies, who live by snake charming and sooth saying. (W. S. Karunatileke. “Nominal inflections in Sri Lanka gypsy Telegu.” in “Don Peter Felicitation Volume” 1983. p. 143-149)

What is interesting about Sri Lanka however, is that, even with the close proximity to India, it has been able to develop a civilization which was independent of India. In India, Buddhism gave place to Hinduism and Islam. Despite the proximity to South India, Sri Lanka did not succumb. It developed and nurtured not one, but two Indo-Aryan languages, namely Sinhala and Pali. In its oral tradition, it developed the Vijaya myth, though this is not found in India. On the other hand, it has not paid much attention to the Ramayana, and has not incorporated it into our traditions,despite the fact that Sita was said to have been hidden in Sri Lanka. The Ramayana is a vital part of the oral tradition of North India. In addition to all this, Sri Lanka has managed to export its religion and language to the neighbouring Maldive islands.

It is not necessary to describe Buddhism or Sinhala, but a word regarding the Pali language may be useful. Here is Ven. Walpola Rahula's introductory remarks on Pali. “It is curious that the language which we call Pali — the language of Theravada Buddhist literature, is not found anywhere in India either in ancient inscriptions or in any literary work. The language of some of the edicts of Asoka, though similar to it, is not Pali. Pali was first found in Sri Lanka and from there it spread over to other Theravada countries, with the Tripitaka and the Commentaries. Although found originally in Sri Lanka, nobody believes that Pali originated in Sri Lanka. (“Buddhist studies in honour of Ven. Hammalawa Saddhatissa” 1984 p 10 quoted by Wimal Wickremasinghe in his review of Walpola Rahula's “Humour in Pali literature and other essays”).

Even during the period of British occupation, there has been an active interest in Pali, Wilhelm Geiger, writing in 1930 refers to the Rev. Vidurupola Piyatissa of Nuwara Eliya, who had written a Pali poem. Geiger found in Aluvihare a very young novice, a Samanera, who answered a question put to him in Pali, in the same language. (Heinz Bechert, “Wilhelm Geiger” p 89).

Let us now look at the links between Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Sri Lanka was at the centre of the various trade routes between Europe and East Asia, therefore it would have been exposed to a variety of foreign influences. There is now sufficient evidence to show that there were pre-historic links between Indonesia and Madagascar. It is generally agreed, at present, that it was impossible for the sailing ships of the types used by the early Indonesians to find their way to Madagascar without stopping in Sri Lanka or South India, on the way.

However, at present there is evidence to indicate that Sri Lanka had political relations with Burma and Cambodia in the 11th and 12 centuries, during the time of Vijayabahu I and Parakrama bahu I. This resulted in religious links as well. There were movements of monks from Burma to Sri Lanka and from Sri Lanka to Burma during time of political turmoil in either country. Vijayabahu I who liberated Sri Lanka from the Cola yoke, thereafter set about reviving Buddhism. He obtained monks from Burma to provide the upsampada necessary to purify the priesthood. It has been suggested that these monks were in fact Sinhalese monks who had fled to Burma. (W. I. Siriweera. “Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia: political, religious and cultural relations from 1000 to 1500.” 1978. p. 58-66)

Thereafter a number of new religious centres sprang up. The monastery at Dimbulagala had about 500 monks. Parakramabahu I, further purified the Sangha, expelled undesirable elements, and forced all the other fraternities such as Abhayagiri and Jetavana to receive fresh ordination from the Mahavihara. After the unification of the three fraternities, a code of disciplinary rules was drawn up for the monks and this was inscribed on a rock at Galvihare. “A high standard of conduct among the members of the Sangha increased its prestige among the Buddhists of Burma and other Theravada Buddhist countries and the fame of the island as the fountain head of Theravada Buddhism spread far and wide.” (Siriweera p 66). One of the important features of the priesthood in Sri Lanka was that they had initially received ordination from Mahinda. Thereafter the Burmese monks began to regard the Sinhala ordination to be higher and more valid than that of Burma. One Burmese priest, Chappata stayed on in Sri Lanka for 10 years, and studied the Tripitaka and the commentaries under the Sinhalese monks. He returned to Burma and there set up a new Buddhist sect called the “Sihalasangha.” This is considered a land mark in the history of Buddhism in Burma. It had a great impact on a number of Burmese provinces such as Pagan and Taton. Thereafter there was continuous contact between the monasteries of the two countries, and there were several visits by Burmese monks to Sri Lanka, usually to worship at the shrines in Sri Lanka and receive higher ordination.

Thus it will be seen that from the 11th to the 15 century there was close religious contact between Burma and Sri Lanka. Initially, it was Sri Lanka that had turned to Burma for help, thereafter it was Burma which looked to Sri Lanka. Siriweera concludes that Sri Lanka's contribution to Burma was by far greater. Sri Lanka was considered the great centre of Theravada Buddhism, which preserved the religion in what was believed to be its original form. (Siriweera. p. 59-62, 68, 72, 73, 77, 81).

At this point it may be helpful to provide some idea of the sources available to study the cultural lines between Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

There are not many sources. Also there is little corroboration. Events recorded in one country because it is important for that country are ignored by the other. The local sources for the period after the 11th century are well known. They include the Pujavaliya, Rajavaliya, Aththanagaluvihara vamsa, and the Dambadeni asna.

Among the sources from Burma is the Pali work the ‘Sasanavamsa”. There is also a Pali work written in Thailand in 1516, the ‘Jinakalamali”. Of the few inscriptions available, the Kalyani inscription of Burma is important. This contains the history of Buddhism in Burma and was completed in 1479. It is in Pali.

Historical records indicate that there was political and religious contact between present day Thailand and Sri Lanka. Professor Mendis Rohanadeera has traced the original birthplace of Nissanka Malla to modern Singaburi in Thailand. In the 12th century this part would have been part of the Khmer empire, which included parts of Thailand and Cambodia. One of the earliest known kingdoms in Thailand is the Dvaravati kingdom of the 5th to 10th century. (Fernando ‘Island’ 20. 6. 98 p13).

Prof. Mendis Rohanadeera suggests, on the basis of the new inscriptions found in Thailand, that the Anuradhapura culture reached Dvaravati at least as far back as 8th century AD. After the Dvaravati period, the next evidence of Sri Lankan influence is the Sukhodaya period. (13th to 15 century). Siriweera has argued that Theravada Buddhism reached the Sukhodaya kingdom from three directions, Burma, Dvaravati and Nakon Sri Tamarat. “All three waves were suffused with Sinhalese influence and brought knowledge of Sinhalese Buddhism to the Sukhodaya rulers.” (p 87). From the account given in “Jinakalamali” it appears that King Indraditya of Sukhodaya had contact with Parakramabahu II in Sri Lanka. (p89). There is also available and inscription which states that there were Sinhalese laymen living in five villages in Sukhodaya. The inscription is dated to about 1344. (p92). There is another inscription dated 1357, found at a Thai temple called Wat Sri Jum, which states that a shoot from the sacred Bo tree in Sri Lanka was brought and planted in that temple. (p 96).

The Sinhalese form of Upasampada was introduced into Thailand in the 15 century by Thai monks who returned from Sri Lanka, after having received higher ordination. It appears that they were accompanied by two senior Sinhalese monks named Vikramabahu and Uttampanna. These senior monks were needed for the ordination ceremony back in Thailand. (p 100, 102). Another feature of Sri Lankan influence was the stupa found in the early Thai temple complexes. This is considered to resemble the Sri Lankan stupa rather than the Indian one. Examples are Wat Chang Lom and Wat Sra Sri. (p 117).

Another interesting aspect of the cultural inter change is the importation of Buddha images from Sri Lanka. In the Thai chronicles there is reference to a Buddha image made in Sri Lanka and imported to Sukhodya, during Indraditya's reign, where it was highly venerated by all. There are at present three statues in Thailand, which claim to be the original, ‘Sinhala Buddharupa. They are at Chiangmai, Nakhon Sri Tammarat and Bangkok. (p 157-158).

The references to religious contact between Sri Lanka and Cambodia is very minimal. There is evidence that Thai, Cambodian and Burmese monks visited Sri Lanka during the reign of Parakramabahu VI (1412-1467). Eight Cambodian monks received the higher ordination in Sri Lanka in 1426. (p103, 105). Siriweera however, suggests that we can assume that as early as the 13 century, Sinhalese Buddhist influence reached Cambodia through Burma and Thailand. (p 109).

Sarala Fernando comments on one link with Laos. “The gold statue Prabang, considered the chief source of spiritual protection for the nation of Laos, is said to have been a gift from the King of Lanka to the King of Cambodia and its arrival in Laos in the 14th century recalls some aspects of Dutugemunu's legend.” (“Island” 20. 6. 98 p 13). Fernando concludes her account by pointing out that the Rambuttan, Mangosteen and Durian fruits grow only in Sri Lanka and not in the Indian subcontinent. They also grow in Southeast Asia.

(Concluded)