Indian voters do not want a mid-term election
From S. Venkat Narayan Our Special CorrespondentNEW DELHI, December 6 — Indian voters are not happy with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s nine-month-old government but want him to continue in office, an opinion poll published today said. More people prefer Vajpayee to Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi when it comes to running the country because they believe the Italian-born widow of late Rajiv Gandhi does not possess the necessary qualities to be the prime minister. The poll, whose results were front paged in The Times of India today, reveals that the voters do not want a midterm parliamentary election so soon because they believe it may not produce a clear majority either for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Congress.
Asked if they are satisfied with the performance of Vajpayee’s 17-party coalition government at the centre, 52 per cent of those quizzed for the poll said no. While 40 per cent responded positively, eight per cent had no particular opinion. Even though Vajpayee claims that the outcome of last fortnight’s assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram does not amount to a referendum on his government, 47 per cent said the results do reflect a loss of confidence in his government. Of the rest, 38 per cent replied in the negative while 15 per cent were not sure. (The BJP suffered a humiliating defeat by losing its strongholds Delhi and Rajasthan to the Congress and failing to oust the Congress from power in Madhya Pradesh.
In Mizoram, where the BJP has no presence, the Congress lost to an alliance of two regional parties). When asked who will make a better prime minister between Vajpayee and Ms Gandhi, 46 per cent voted for the BJP leader while 36 per cent favoured the Congress chief. But 18 per cent could not decide who is better.
The question "Does Sonia Gandhi have the necessary qualities to be Indian prime minister ?" revealed that the voters are still ambivalent about her in their views. A little over a third (36 per cent) of the respondents thought she does possess the necessary qualities, 40 per cent said she does not, and 24 per cent offered no opinion. Will fresh elections to the Lok Sabha produce a stable government or another weak coalition ?
Only 39 per cent thought they will, while nearly as many (38 per cent) felt they will result in yet another weak coalition. However, 23 per cent were not sure what kind of government will spring from a snap midterm poll. Will the Congress be able to provide a better government than the BJP if voted to power at the centre? Forty per cent said yes, 37 per cent no, and 23 per cent could not say anything.
If fresh Lok Sabha polls are held now, 35 per cent said they will vote for the Congress, 32 per cent favoured the BJP, 15 per cent will vote for "others," and 18 per cent are undecided. The poll revealed that 10 per cent of those who wish to vote for the Congress in a fresh election actually voted for the BJP in the general election early this year. But a majority of the voters felt that the BJP can do better than the Congress in tackling problems like corruption (BJP 57 per cent, Congress 43 per cent), law and order (56 per cent to 42 per cent), terrorism (53 per cent to 45 per cent), and national security/defence (58 per cent to 41 per cent). However, the BJP fared better than the Congress in tackling issues like price rise (62 per cent against 35 per cent) and economic growth (56 per cent against 43 per cent).
The poll was conducted in the eight metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna among a representative cross sectional sample of 2,072 registered voters during December 2-3. The poll findings have an error margin of four per cent.
Tea plantations— towards achieving a sustainable future
By Clinton RodrigoI had the pleasant privilege to be invited to address the Nuwara Eliya Planters Association at the Grand Hotel in my capacity as Chief Guest recently. I also had the opportunity to drive through the plantations.
I noted that the standards of agricultural & administrative maintenance varied from one to the other amongst the now available 22 plantation companies, from the two that was evident prior to privatisation, which were the Public Sector Janatha Estate Development Board and the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corp. My contention is that more uniformity one with the other is more advantageous.
My intention in this narration is to pinpoint on certain relevant areas for consideration and compliance by all companies to the improvement of the economic climate which will eventuate in advantageous benefits to the country.
The social oriented attitude of the earlier Public Sector managed JEDB & SLSPC has changed to a profit or commerce orientation in the Private Sector 22 plantation companies. I think what is needed is a socio commerce attitude — and playing centres of the two extremes by virtue of these lands being the main agricultural wealth of the Country for which the Government in power is only the custodians. Hence they must be made to progress & prosper.
My key recommendations are:—
1. Tea in Sri Lanka is grown in highly eroded land with only a few inches of top soil — which little must be selfishly preserved by definite soil conservation methods and by improving the organic matter content of the soil by the establishment of ‘Thatch Banks’ and the incorporation of compost manufactured on the estate wherever and whenever possible, draining once in two years and replacing the drained out soil on the top side of the drain, mulching & depositing of prunings, loppings back to the soil, rock stone contour terraces, are some of those advocated. The yields in India & Kenyan tea lands is over 2000 Kgs/Hectare as against ours at only about 1250 Kgs/Hectare. The earlier mentioned two countries have a wealth of Top Soil at about 10ft — 20ft whilst ours in only a few inches. Hence efforts should be made to correct this great inadequacy.
2. Recruitment & Training — The system & criteria adopted to this subject must be consistent and uniform for all plantation companies where only the best is taken in, on Merit and suitability alone. It is accepted that a good carpenter needs good tools to produce a good end product. Hence the training schedule for these trainee planters selected, should be rigorous and comprehensive and those to be trained put under the wings of the best planters managing the best plantations when only a good and useful Assistant Superintendents will eventuate to be an asset to the company and to the Country in general.
3. Productivity — An important consideration which can only be derived by good man management and motivation where the Head of the division or company indoctrinates by persuasion all working for him to perform & accomplish a little more and a little better for the sake of the country & the company that owns the entity without preferably no extra financial outgoing. Productivity however can also be incentivised by sharing the extra output between both the management and the workers.
4. Reinvestment & Replanting — Sri Lanka’s Tea hectareage presently has the much larger majority in the low yielding Old Seeding Tea (OST) having a yield potential of only about 1500 Kg/Hectare. This has to be transformed by replanting expeditiously to the high yielding Selected Vegetatively Propagated (VP) Tea in the shortest possible time, and at a company or estate annual minimum of 3-4% of the total hectareage if not more. This should be a compulsorily imposed requisite if survival amongst competitors is to be the name of the game. In addition to this requisite, infilling of vacancies in large patches of 10 or more plants after the pruning operation in each instance should also be undertaken to expeditiously transform all old seedling Tea areas to vegetatively propogated tea lands in the shortest possible time — VP tea has a yield potential of over 2500 Kgs/Hect.
5. Worker Staff/Employer relationships — It is necessary that very frequent dialogue and discussions prevail weekly — worker to Asst. Superintendent on the old labour day, labour diary concept to relieve frustration & pressure on estate workers by solving their day to day personal & official problems. In addition the Heads of the companies & the Superintendents of estates should as often as possible have frequent & fruitful discussion to relieve solvable problems between the trade unions & the estate management as regards worker and common industrial estate problems. This will always alleviate the disastrous ultimate eventuality of strikes on plantations which always leaves behind a trail of destruction and animosity amongst the worker — management relationships.
6. Social Development — The theme of this important function should be to upgrade the quality of life of the estate workers — by wherever possible through worker participation in conjunction & discussion to reach consensus on common estate matters. The aspect of estate Creches, Maternity homes & dispensaries, common living quarters, maintenance & upkeep problems should all be resolved by healthy dialogue between management & workers.
A national obligation to all sectors of employment on Private & Public organisations is to work free of religious partiality — free from communal attitudes and fixed political affiliations to eventuate in every one thinking as ‘Sri Lankans’ and supporting the democratically elected government irrespective which ever party it may be, when many a problem could be solved from the divided segments of society we now constitute.
My conclusion is that if these aspects of those I have mentioned are resolved & looked into unselfishly then the plantations and this our Motherland ‘Sri Lanka’ has a future in this eventuating ‘rat race’ for survival and of attaining an adequate sustainable economic feasibility.
(The author was a senior Regional Chairman of the Janatha Estate Development Board about a decade ago )
National joint committee, anthropology and Tamil separatism
By Kamalika PierisLet us begin with first looking at a few more anthropological ventures which are supportive of Tamil separatism. There is Elizabeth Nissan’s essay titled "Sinhalese justifications for the violence" published in James Manor’s "Sri Lanka in change and crisis". (Croom Helm, 1984).
Elizabeth Nissan was in Anuradhapura when the 1983 riots broke out. She admits that there was no violence in Anuradhapura. But she spoke to a Sinhalese labourer on his way home due to the curfew and he blamed the Tamils for disrupting everything and depriving him of his income. (p 175) Nissan comments: "Tamils were being attacked, killed, driven out of their homes in thousands in areas of the island, presumably by mobs of Sinhalese. Yet here was a Sinhalese man instantly blaming Tamils for the problems this curfew could cause him. "Those Tamils" had come to ‘our country’ visitors should know their place". (p 175)
The above quotation sets the tone for the rest of Nissan’s essay. Nowhere in this essay does Nissan critically examine the validity of the Tamil separatist position. She accepts the Tamil separatist claim without question, and as we have seen, is very protective towards the Tamil community. We thus see a clear and open bias towards the Tamil separatist cause.
Nissan writes on ‘Sinhalese justifications’ using data which need not be considered ‘Sinhalese justifications’ at all. She builds her essay almost exclusively on speeches given after the riots by President J. R. Jayewardene, Prime Minister R. Premadasa, Anandatissa de Alwis, Ronnie de Mel, Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali. By her own admission, she is selective in this matter. (p 177) These persons, who were the most knowledgeable ministers of the time, were in a position to know exactly what had happened, and what seemed to be the forces behind it all. They addressed the nation in order to control the situation, not to babble about ethnicity. Judging by the description given by Nissan herself, it is clear that these speakers have tried to get two points across to the public.
They have tried first of all to allay fears as to the partition of the country. Secondly to point out that the riots were not a spontaneous eruption, but a calculated one. Later researchers, notably Newton Gunasinghe, argued that the 1983 ethnic riots were actually commercially motivated. The newly introduced ‘Open Economy’ had displaced certain groups of businessmen. In addition there were personal vendettas, and some degree of state involvement as well. Nissan, writing in 1984, notes that the Sinhalese were also affected by these riots. They had been employed in the factories that had been burned down. She also noted the ‘Gasworks Street incident’ burned down. She also noted the ‘Gasworks Street incident’ where armed forces were said to have been attacked by the Sinhalese. (p 178-179) But she does not follow up these implications. She rejects categorically, what she calls the Master Plan theory put forward by the political leaders. She has her own interpretation. Let us hear it in her own words:
"Justification for the violence was sought by many SinhaleseÉ Implicit in statements was the fundamental premise that Sri Lanka is inherently and rightfully a Sinhalese state: and that this is, and must be accepted as a fact and not a matter of opinion to be debated. For attempting to challenge this premise, Tamils have brought the wrath of the Sinhalese on their own heads: they have themselves to blame." (p 176)
"Sinhalese justification for anti-Tamil violence, then rests on the assertion of a Sinhalese identity which incorporates inherent ‘natural’ rights to political ascendancy in an undivided island. This argument was not just one which was implicit in the explanations that I heard on the street of Anuradhapura, but was one which was also made explicit in various speeches broadcast to the nation by Cabinet MinistersÉ assumptions are made in these speeches about the collective identity of the Sinhalese and their relationship to the island of Sri LankaÉ All speeches of Sinhalese ministers were addressed first and foremost to the Sinhalese public and not to the Tamil victims of the violence. Several committed any reference to the suffering which Tamils had undergone, but pointed instead to the hardship the violence had brought to Sinhalese themselves". (p 177)
It is possible to intervene at this point and make two passing observations. Firstly, Nissan’s limitations as an analyst. She is commenting on a highly charged political issue, where the speakers had to tread carefully. The less they said the better. The speakers realised this. Nissan lacking the competence and the minimal empathy to comment on political issues, misses the point completely. Secondly, in the quotation given above, we clearly hear the voice of Tamil separatists. Nissan is perhaps their mouthpiece. She is lamenting, not analysing.
Nissan continues:
"And as the Master Plan theory was elaborated and conflicted with the objectives of Tamil separatism, the identification of the Sri Lankan state with the Sinhalese people and with Buddhism was spelt out very clearly in ministerial speeches. Since 1956, successive governments have self-consciously asserted that they protect and promote the state of Sri Lanka as a Sinhalese Buddhist state:
Jayewardene’s government, too, has stressed this theme. Jayewardene came into power in 1977 promising to introduce a ‘dharmishta’ society, a state of righteousness and justice based on Buddhist principles. As head of state, he has been extolled in the government press as a man of Bodhisatva virtues, a future Buddha himself. An attack on the state, so represented, is interpreted as an attack on these very principles. These are principles which were the source of Sinhalese nationalist inspiration, and around which nationalists consolidated a sense of Sinhalese-Buddhist identity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This sense of identity was built on a sense of historic, ancient roots, which were recovered in politics when Mr. Bandaranaike was elected in 1956. But whilst governments have spoken of Buddhist revivalism in accordance with the fulfilment of the Sinhalese national destiny, and assert Sinhalese-Buddhist hegemony over the island, they have failed to persuade the Jaffna Tamil leadership that this can be compatible with uni!ted nationhood for all communities. Unless all accede to this assertion, it must remain essentially fragile, the national assertion of a minority in the context of South Asia as a whole. Common but contradictory characterisations of Tamils depict them as barbarians, but with superiority in intelligence, diligence, earning power and cunning. Such images received fullest expression in the panic about Tigers, who would overrun the whole country". (p 178)
Nissan says that Ronnie de Mel’s and Lalith Athulathmudali’s speeches "evoke a host of allusions to key reference points in national representations of the Sinhalese, and touch on the cornerstone of the special Sinhalese claim to the island as a whole. According to Sinhalese tradition as recorded in the chronicles, the island was consecrated by the Buddha himself before Vijaya, founder of the Sinhalese race arrived there. The duty of his descendants, the Sinhalese, is to protect and preserve the island as the island of the Doctrine through the institution of righteous Buddhist kingship" (p 183) Anyone who has read the Mahavamsa knows from where Nissan has borrowed this distorted material. It is possible that she was merely fed this material, for we see Nissan’s incompetence in understanding the ancient society, as well as the contemporary society, in Sri Lanka. There was the concept of the ‘Dharmadveepa’ certainly, in ancient Sri Lanka, but it was more carefully enunciated than the distorted, caricatured version given above.
Ronnie de Mel, according to Nissan "actually reinforced the image in many Sinhalese people’s minds that the separatist threat is a threat against their very lives and their continuation as a people. The Sinhalese race, it would appear from this speech, is to be saved through outlawing Tamil separatism, which if not halted would bring doom and destruction to the Sinhalese Buddhist civilization and the Sinhalese people" (p 183). Nissan cites the relevant section of Ronnie’s speech. Nissan’s opinion can be contested. Ronnie de Mel was simply trying to allay justifiable fears as to the division of the country. Nissan does not point out, anywhere in her article, that by 1983) the Tamil separatist demand for the merger of the North and East, into the independent state of Eelam had been announced. Secondly, de Mel was also trying the argument that Sri Lanka had faced and come through many crises before this, and would weather this one too. (p 182) The tone was pacificatory.
Nissan’s essay is both biased and subjective. It is also admonitory. She preaches. "Such themesÉ have been hard to reconcile with the democratic ideal of the nation-state operating without regard to racial or religious criteria. The ideal of the state has been unable to transcend the divisions of racially or religious defined communities. Government is identified by the Sinhalese majority as a defender, or otherwise of its own rights, and by the Tamil minority as representing sectional interests opposed to its own."
The Sinhala component of this assertion could be contested. The Sinhala majority were never interested in getting a government which would look after culture. They could not care less about culture. They were interested only in securing a government which would look after their economic interests. We see here one of the major tactics of the anthropological approach to Tamil seperatism. To cloak naked political self interest in high flown cultural terms.
Nissan fails to see political issues as political issues. She thus misses obvious aspects. J. R. Jeyewardene’s speech to the nation was a high point in his bungling administration. He announced, to the merriment of his listeners, that Sri Lanka had ‘been a united nation for 2500 years." Nissan lets this pass without comment. (P 178). Nobody took President Jayewardene’s allusions to kingship very seriously. But Nissan does. "The government must be seen to promote Buddhism and the destiny of the Sinhalese in a manner allegedly continuous with that of righteous kingship. Hence Jayewardene’s representation as Boddhisatva" (P 183). This Boddhisatva notion was simply political hype foisted on an electorate who were interested in more worldly matters such as economic advancement.
Nissan’s essay can be criticised on the grounds of method. First of all, she does not say how she decided that these particular speakers were ‘Sinhalese’. Secondly, this is not the way to test Sinhalese justifications for violence. This can only be done by a well conducted opinion survey of a statistically drawn sample. The sample will have to be a stratified sample, not a random one. No other method should be tried for such a sensitive topic. When a set of public speeches by a set of politicians is extended to apply to the majority population of the country, a charge of the abuse of the social sciences can be justifiably made. It is also legitimate thereafter to speculate on the possible motivation.
Further, Nissan gives no quotations to support each imaginative assumption. She merely gives the dates of the newspapers where the speeches were published. (p 185 item 5)
Nissan ends her account by saying ‘’in justifying and explaining the violence in the way that it did, the government of Sri Lanka has laid yet more foundations for increased state repression of all peoples living here’. (p 184)
The modus operandi of the Tamil separatist movement has included the provision of propoganda literature. This literature has taken various forms. Direct propoganda through the mass media, including mis information, lies and distortion. This has been amply discussed in the local newspapers. The Tamil separatist movement has also thought ahead and moved into critical areas of information. Thus, internationally recognised encyclopaedias and dictionaries carry statements which affirm that the North and East of Sri Lanka is predominantly Tamil. They have also reinforced this view by providing maps which indicate that the North and Eastern provinces are ‘Tamil areas’. They have succeeded in getting a mention in practically any book which deals with the subject of ‘ethnic conflict’. I have not come across a single book on this subject, which does not devote a sentence or two to the ‘’Tamil-Sinhala ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka’’. Lastly, they have admirably succeeded in embedding this notion of a North-East Tamil area at all levels in the international sphere. The Emirates Air Line has issued a heavily bound book titled ‘’Concise Earth Facts’. This was probably distributed free to its first class passengers. It selectively lists the minorities of China, America, Australia, the Caucasus, and—Sri Lanka. Here is the text:
‘’Sri Lanka-Southern India. The people of Sri Lanka are divided principally between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. This minority group makes up 18% of the population they live mostly in the northern and eastern parts of the country. From 7th century onwards, the Tamils came in increasing numbers from South India and in later centuries established the Jaffna Kingdom, their own state separate from the Sinhalese kingdoms.’’ There is a map also. This map gives the Tamil sectors in Andhra Pradesh, as well as Tamilnadu. The section upto Trincomalee is given as Tamil areas. The section below as mixed. Tamil areas are also given in the Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa areas, also in Colombo. There is also a Tamil area covering Galle to Matara. (p 94)
Another aspect of the modus operandi of the Tamil separatist movement is to sponsor or otherwise influence a spate of academic monographs supportive of Tamil separatist ideology. These naturally deal with the history and politics of Sri Lanka. These studies deal with Tamil separatist anxieties, in one form or another. They thus cover a limited subject area. There is one group of studies intended to present the Sri Lankan Buddhists as inherently violent and intolerant. This is put forward to counter the general image of Buddhism as an excessively tolerant and non-violent religion. This group of studies repeatedly talk of ‘Sinhala-Buddhists’ attacking ‘’Tamil-Hindus’’. The Tamil Christians are kept out of the limelight.
(Continued tomorrow)
Artists’ Camp 1998
Towards a world art and an openness in making art
By Prof. S. B. DissanayakeLike Goethe’s ‘’Weltliterature’’ the idea behind the Artists’ Camp is the fostering of an agenda among Sri Lankan Painters and Sculptors to-wards a world art and an openness in making art. World art (Art without Frontiers) does not imply the end of National Art, but dialogue among enlightened contemporary artists about their inner nature and the outer world. Artists (painters and sculptors) especially, again to quote Goe-the, are like lovers who ‘’see with a feeling eye and feel with a seeing hand’’, and their works, become for us the filter of our attention.
The work produced at the Habarana camp this year is an unequivocal assertion of what Goethe has said, although there were only a few works of straightforward sculpture of the kind that would make Goethe’s remarks about seeing and feeling most apposite. But Manoranjana Herath’s cement scul-pture and the reliefs in a plastic composite medium by one of the visiting artists of ‘’Geckos’’ on various eviscerated body parts was more than a testimony to Goethe’s dictum about the visual and the tactile.
Chandragupta Thenuwara seems to reiterate this reciprocity of the tactile and visual senses most powerfully in his painting which is a ‘’dans macabre’’ of dismembered and hemicorporectamized human figures in an eerie landscape, probably in the aftermath of one of this centuries wars. It’s meaning for the contemporary world cuts across national frontiers from Sri Lanka to Bosnia and Algeria today, or could it be about the ghosts of this century’s 150 million killed in war and the 100 million in government repressions and the 14 million in genocide? Chandragupta Thenuwara’s painting is a human, not diffuse image of an incident but a document of a response—a poem of horror.
In a less Expres-sionistic and Surreal-istic manner Jagath Ravindra touches on the same subject matter in a work of resonating colour juxtapositions one half of sunny yellows and the other of menacing reds and blacks. I suppose the artist is contrasting the sunny days and black nights of people with the ever present threat of political violence in many contemporary societies where life must go on nevertheless.
Men are either vertical or horizontal but often find themselves in unnatural situations in modern-day societies like being made to stand on ones head by yoga teachers or strung up by the feet in torture chambers. If this is a reading of Kumudu Dias’ painting at this exhibition, his work can certainly become a filter for some of our thoughts and preoccupations about contemporary life. The spectrum of his work spreads from those who practise yoga to overcome stress to those who just take life lying down. His message, if there is one is as restrained as his use of colour. Here we have an artist with a fine sensibility for picture-making.
Close at hand is the black-and-white work of Sophia Schama, an artist who seems to respond spontaneously to Nature in her immediate surroundings in a most unselfconscious manner. To me this meticulous work in-corporating what she probably saw in the Habarana Village garden, is all of a piece with the picture called ‘’Cyber Landscape’’ which was reproduced in the Goethe Institute’s brochure that announced the Habarana Artists’’ Camp.
Thomas Schei-bitz—I had the suspicion that this painter must possess a special feeling for architectural space and a Mondrian—like colour sense when I first saw the cover of the Goethe Institute’s Brochure. This initial encounter with Tho-mas’ art was reconfirmed in what I saw at this exhibition. In his group of five pieces held together horizontally emphasizing his interest in geometry that goes with architecture, he accented the geometry with two plant motifs, one a flower, could have been any flower, placed perhaps to suggest the unity of Architecture and Nature.
The nearby Dham-mika Akmeemana’s formalized trees could be Parasol Pines if she had in mind a Mediterranean provenance. They stood alone, proudly and symbolically as if to say that trees can still grow to such heights in today’s environments.
The world which Kingsley Gunatillake, just across the floor from this picture was depicting, was one that was fast becoming hostile not only to plant life but all life. Kingsley Gunatil-lake’s painting is an uncompromising statement of all our major ecological problems, beginning with the relentless warming and desertification of the planet, and the red skies we no longer see as romantic sun-sets but as warnings to greedy humans who are over exploiting the planet’s resources.
Benjamin Swaim’s monochrome with French Texts was echoed in other works at this exhibition where words and alphabatical motifs have been used most effectively to convey meaning as well as subtleties of picture design and construction.
Balbir Bodh’s ‘’Samaya Hasuna’’ is a monumental statement for our times, resonant like a Canto from the Mahabha-ratha, it is an attempt to emphasize the need for peace and an end to violence in today’s world, even though rather late in the day, at least on the auspicious occasion of this century’s end. In its scale, vision and iconography it is more in the spirit of Picasso’s ‘’Peace’’ in the chapel de la Paix in Vallauris than of Guernica, which was a response to a particular incident. Bodh’s, is an intellectual creation mediated by classical Indian my-thological figures such as flying Ap-saras and Surasun-daries. Bodhi works on these large-scale canvases faster than anyone I know. Picasso is supposed to have, according to Dora Maar, finished his Guerrica in three weeks. But he made, over the preceding weeks, innumerable preliminary studies before he launched on the final work. Bodh’s work is very much a part of the dialogue I referred to at the beginning of this review—it is a dialogue between East and West, which has come to animate Sri Lankan and Indian art today, and will surely shape the art of the next century in this part of the world.
Druvinia’s two works at this exhibition have all the usual strengths and solid virtues we have come to recognise in her work; and her two paintings loom large and solid like granite stone tablets at this exhibition—each a tabula—rasa for our imagination.
Ruvinka too is an amazingly fast worker, and it further confirms me in my view that the art of this centuries end is characterized by its volume and speed of execution. This exhibition alone is proof of this. I have been told that what we saw on the gallery walls at this exhibition was only a selection of what the ten-day Habarana Artists’ Camp produced. Painting today is almost a performance art, where an artist in a single act produces a work of art. Gone are the months and years of work that artists like Degas sometimes put into their work. A Justin Daraniyagala would have been shocked and amazed at, not the facility of these artists, but the speed at which art is being produced today.
Michel Wohlfhart was perhaps the ex-ception, he needed perhaps the ambience and intimacy of his own studio, and time to reflect in order to create. And, having seen his beautiful arresting works for several years now I have a suspicion that he works like a Giacometti, who has also taken a cue from Picasso,—ie, by a process of reduction, whittling down the initial form and accepting also what has been destroyed or lost accidentally or otherwise along the way, and during the various processes of drying firing or casting. In other words, the fortuitous provides this artist with unique opportunities for creating authenticity and truth to his medium. Finally he puts his stamp on the work as it were, with sparingly placed touches of colour that at once instils life and a strange and allegorical quality into his dramatically silent works.
Our vision from Nepal, Ashmina Ran-jit has churned a ‘’Milky Ocean’’ as in the first days of creation, but not to produce in this instance, ‘’Amrita’’, but to create a yoni or feminine principle from the ‘’Drop’’ or ‘’Bindu’’ of Hindu cosmology, which spreads, un-folds, expands and becomes transmuted into the tangible—or could it be that in this instance she has taken a cue from the machines that make candy-floss?—an ubiquitous presence in Australia where she now lives.
Muhanned Cader, as always, attracts my attention. He is a restless innovater, making everything he touches interesting. To me he personifies the spirit of the decade—of the artists who want to ‘’make new’’.
I may have overlooked the work of other interesting artists at this exhibition. The foregoing comments are based on a rather inadequate, hasty, and often interrupted viewing of what was an offer at this exhibition.
Religion
Theri Sanghamitta and reawakening of womankind in Sri Lanka
by Bhikkhu SeelanandaThe Uduvap full moon day commemorates the arrival of the illustrious Arahant Theri Sanghamitta, the daughter of the Emperor Asoka who ruled India righteously from 274-237 B.C.
According to the 18th chapter of the Chronicle Mahavamsa, Minister Arittha was assigned to go to India to invite the Theri Sanghamitta to come to Sri Lanka with a sapling of the sacred Bodhi—tree under whose benign shade the Buddha attained supreme Englightenment.
Arittha took the message of the Thera Arahant Maha Mahinda to the Theri Sanghamitta, the sister of Ven. Maha Mahinda. Reaching the palace of the Emperor Asoka, he presented the message of the Thera to the king and the Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta respectfully.
Having received the message, turning to the Theri Sanghamitta, the king said ‘’Dear one, without seeing you how could I dispel the sorrow arising from the separation with my son and my grandson’’. She replied ‘’Great King weighty is my brother’s word. There are many to be ordained, I should therefore go there.’’ Thus in respecting the word of the Thera Mahinda and also to the prevailing relationship with the then King of Sri Lanka (Devanampiyatissa), the Emperor Asoka giving the southern branch of the sacred Bodhi Tree permitted her to come to Sri Lanka in order to ordain the eagerly devout women of Sri Lanka. So she embarked on the ship together with some eleven other Bhikkhunis (see. Mahavamsa; by Ananda W. P. Guruge, chapter. 18. P597) and set off for Sri Lanka.
By this time the pious and well disciplined queen Anula, the consort of the younger brother of the king, together with five hundred maidens and also five hundred women of the Royal harem, had observed the ten precepts and donning the yellow robe and desiring ordination lived, in a pleasant nunnery, built by the king, waiting the arrival of the Their Sangamitta. (M.V. Chpt. 18.).
Eventually, Arahant Theri Sanghamitta arrived here on the Full Moon day of December (Uduvap), and conferring ordination and higher Ordination to the community of nuns who dwelt in the nunnery, established the Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka.
According to the Mahavamsa she was instrumental in constructing twelve buildings in the nunnery (Upasika Vihara) of which three were prominent. Afterwards Hatthalhaka monastery was built by the King Devanampiyatissa. In like manner, the two famous nunneries, Upasika Vihara and Hatthalhaka nunnery, offered shelter to the newly ordained Bhihhkunis.
Being 59 years in the 9th year of the king Uttiya, the younger brother of King Devanampiyatissa, Ven. Arahant Theri Sanghamitta passed away while she was at Hatthalhaka Nunnery.
Thus her visit to Sri Lanka made the whole Isle holy and opened a new chapter in the Dispensation of the Buddha. The two monumental events, the establishment of the Theravada Bhikkhuni Sasana, and the planting of the sacred sapling of the Bodhi—tree, stimulated and vested in the womankind of the country, chance of spiritual awakening.
The establishment of the Theravada Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka by this illustrious daughter of the Emperor Asoka resulted in thousands of women renouncing the worldly life and donning the resplendent saffron robes. They reached the pinnacle of perfection escaping from the aggregates through wisdom.
The Chronicle, Dipavamsa, bears testimony to five names of renowned scholarly nuns. They even had Mastery in Abhidhamma, the profound teaching of the Buddha, and they showed that they were in no way inferior to men in the dispensation. It was the Buddha who raised the women to this status. The Buddha, once addressing Ven. Ananda, said ‘’Ananda, it is possible for a woman to enter the state of stream winner, once returner, non returner and Arahant, by going forth form home to homelessness.’’ (A.N. iv.).
It was a belief in India, that woman was intellectually inferior to man and therefore had no capacity to reach higher spiritual attainments. The Buddha categorically denied it and said ‘’Virtuous monks, and learned nuns, laymen, and laywomen of great devotion, these indeed are an ornament to the Sangha. They do adorn the Sangha’’. (A.N. iv.ii.8).
Again, on another occasion, the Evil One, Mara, stood before Nun Soma while she was meditating, and said ‘’Arahanthood could only be gained by the wise, and that too with much difficulty, it is beyond the reach of a woman possessed of a two finger-length wisdom’’. Then Arahant Nun Soma said, ‘’What should the woman-state count for me, when with mind well concentrated and see with penetrative wisdom the true nature of all phenomena? To one for whom the thought arises ‘’I am a woman’’ or ‘’I am a man’’ or ‘’I am anything else’’, Mara go find him, mark him well and make the statement you made to me’’ (S.N. Bhikkhuni Samyutta). Thus they adorned the dispensation.
In the galaxy of perfect Ones (Arahants) among Nuns that adorn our sacred books we come across Maha Pajapati Gotami (forster mother of the Buddha), Khema, Uppala Vanna, Patacara, Dhammadinna, Nanda, and many others (see. Anguttara 1). Among the lay women devotees known for their piety and learning are Sujata, Visakha, Uttara, Suppavasa, Mallika, Khujjuttara, Samawati, Nakulamata and host of others.
After the establishment of the Bhikkhuni Order in Sri Lanka, it flourished for more than 1250 years. According to our chronicles, both the Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, about 14,000 and 95,000 Bhikkhunis attained the glorious state of Arahantship and participated in the foundation laying ceremony of the Maha Thupa (Ruwanweliseya) and the Mirisawatiya respectively.
During the first half of the 5th Century A.D. (circa 429) the Theravada Bhikkhuni Order was introduced even to China by a group of Sri Lankan Bhikkhunis led by Nun Devasara. But such a glorious and acclamatory Bhikkhuni Order also came under the power of impermanence and disappeared.
Thereafter, for a long time, we have had no Bhikkhuni Order. But some indefatigable women of the country, little by little, came forward and revived the Bhikkhuni Order. In this regard one cannot forget the name Miss. Catherene de Alwis Gunatilake who was born in a Christian family at Bentota and later on became a Buddhist ten precept devotee (Silamatha) called Sudharmacarini in Burma 1891.
After 11 years she came to Sri Lanka and was received by the then Governor Sir Henry Blake and Mm. Blake. The Governor offered her a block of land at Katukelle, Kandy, where a nunnery was built and the Silamatha movement spread all over the country from that place. At present there are more than 5000 Silamathas in the country. Of them ten were selected and conferred Higher Ordination at Saranath, in India in 1996 by Ven. Dr. Mapalagama Wipulasara Maha Thera in collaboration with Korean monks and Nuns. Afterwards, another group was trained by Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala Nayaka Thera of Dambulla, and taken to Bodhgaya, India, and conferred Higher ordination. Even after that, on several occasions Silamathas were given higher ordination at Dambulla by Ven. Inamaluwe Sumangala Maha Nayaka Thera. Therefore by now there are more than 60 Bhikkhunis in Sri Lanka. Let us remember that the Buddha started spreading Buddhism with 60 monks.
As there are 60 Nuns today they can go from place to place and do their noble service to mankind spreading the word of he Buddha. Their service is needed in many fields in society today. Specially they can assist women in various ways where monks cannot. We know very well that they are doing the people in their respective areas noble service. This year they observed the rainy retreat (vassana) and performed the Kathina ceremony also at their nunneries. But unfortunately, still there are some people who do not accept them as Bhikkhunis.
Nevertheless, we should not forget that they are Buddhist Nuns and they serve the Buddhists in this country. The service that they render to society is tremendous. But on the contrary, we have to accept that there are some things lacking in them such as a full education. Therefore they should be trained and guided well by those who are responsible for the upliftment of the Sasana. Otherwise they will be misled and as a result the deterioraion of the Sasana will be hastened. They also have dedicated their lives to serve the people of this country and to attain Enlightenment.
Though there are some who are reluctant to accept them as Bhikkhunis or religious women leaders, it is apparent and unavoidable fact now, that, little by little, people of this country respectfully receive them as religious women leaders. Now all women of the country can get together for their own rights and emancipation. We see women asking for their rights on Women’s Day.
In the dispensation of the Buddha, women have been given their all rights. They have the capacity to realize the highest knowledge. They are not looked down upon in the dispensation of the Buddha. At a certain time in India they were treated as real devils (Stri Pratyaksha Rakshassi) and the torch light at the gate of the Hell (Naraka Margadvarasya Dipika). But today the whole world respects them and women have reawakened. They know very well that they are capable of achievement in any field. They are not inferior to men anymore. But one thing we must come to term with is that women and men cannot perform the same functions in life, and this we must surely recognize. Women have their own positions in society as men have their own. So each woman must strive to be an awakened one, while playing her own role in society.
May all beings be well and happy!
Can IOR-ARC promote economic co-operation in the Indian Ocean rim countries ?
By D. L. MendisContinued from yesterday
Non-governmental organizations can also promote the conservation and utilization of marine resources. The Indian Ocean is still the least explored Ocean in the world. NGO’s have already initiated a number of important studies in regard to conservation of resources. Hence it would be necessary for the Secretariat of the Regional Association to collate and disseminate such scientific and technological information to member-states to take appropriate action in regard to conservation of marine resources.
Conclusions
It can be concluded that the demise of the Cold War, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the liberalisation of India and the "Look West" policy of Australia provide the best international setting for promoting economic co-operation in this Regional Association. The disappearance of Super Power rivalry in the Indian Ocean and the adoption of export-led growth policies in the Indian Ocean countries are other factors which make such economic co-operation a viability.Against this background, it is possible to state that IOR-ARC has tremendous potential to promote economic co-operation in a mutually beneficial manner without creating a preferential trading bloc through structures and processes established for this. Purpose. In order to achieve the Fundamental Objectives, the membership of States under the Charter must be quickly resolved by adopting "an inclusive approach" before the next Summit of Foreign Ministers in Maputo, Mozambique (1999) so that important players in the Indian Ocean Rim countries are not left behind.
The Work Program of the Regional Association must proceed on a modest path. It must concentrate in areas that have a comparative advantage. Hence, the Work Program should include co-operation in the conservation and utilization of marine resources. If the economic cooperation does not take into account comparative advantage, regional synergies and complimentarities, it may not produce the right results. In all instances, promoting co-operation must be subject to WTO Principles and Rio Arrangements (1992).
Finally, it is important to inculcate in the people through academic (IORN) and business (IORBN) networks that the IOR-ARC is a concept whose time has come. Unless such a concept is firmly implanted in the people of the Indian Ocean Rim countries at festivals, trade fairs, seminars, it is unlikely that this Regional Association will be able to promote economic cooperation in an effective manner and grow into a Regional Association which can meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
(This is a slightly modified version of a Paper presented at an international seminar on Regional Co-operation among Indian Ocean Countries in Islamabad, Pakistan.)
Concluded
Communalism: The bane of Sri Lankan politics
By Gunaseela Vitanage(Continued from yesterday)
Dr. G. C. Mendis, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Ceylon says in his book Ceylon Today and Yesterday that bellicose communalism is a very recent development in Sri Lanka. He says:
"Communalism of the type we see today is undoubtedly a recent development. European writers such as the Portuguese Jesuit, Fernando de Queroz, and the Englishman, Robert Knox of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and James Cordiner and other Englishmen of nineteenth century left pictures of Ceylon with the various divisions of the society, but in none of their writings does one come across communal conflict of the modern type" (p. 98).
It was mentioned earlier that the Sinhalese Buddhist have not only co-existed with other ethnic and religious groups on friendly terms but also gone to their help whenever they were in trouble or distress.
For example, the Rev. Fr. S. G. Perera, S. J., in his History of Ceylon Portuguese period the story of how King Senerat (1605 - 1635) gave refuge in his kingdom to the Muslims when they were expelled by the Portuguese Governor Constantine de Sa, from the territory under his control:
"the king of Portugal had ordered him (Constantine de Sa) to expel the Muslims from Ceylon, as they were a great hindrance to the propagation of Christianity and a danger to the power of the Portuguese. Many Muslims had settled in Ceylon. There were whole villages of them in the Sabaragamuwa and Matara disevanis, in the districts of Kalutara and Aluthgama and Beruwala. They had been promoted to posts of responsibility in defiance of the decrees of the Council of Goa, and were wielding great influence in the country, Sa therefore decided to carry out the orders and expel the Muslims from Portuguese territory. Many of the expelled Muslims went to the Sinhalese Kingdom and Senerat, who was only too glad to have enemies of the Portuguese in his realms, settled four thousand of them in Batticaloa: (p. 132).
The expelled Muslims were also permitted to settle down in various parts of the Kandyan Kingdom like Kandy, Matale and Gampola. Some of the descendants of these Muslims rose to high positions in the Court itself such as that of Royal Physician.
The Rev. Fr. S. G. Perera, S. J., in another of his books: Historical Sketches (Ceylon Church History) tells his King Rajasinghe II of Kandy gave sanctuary to the Roman Catholics who were being harassed and persecuted by the Dutch:
"When the Dutch entered Colombo, they seized all the churches and began a most heartless persecutions.... The Dutch not only seized the churches and expelled the priests, but forced all the Catholics under severe penalties to attend their religious rites held in old Catholic churches, compelled the children to attend their proselytizing schools and refused to let the Catholics to baptise, marry or bury, save in Protestant churches, where they were made to recant the doctrines of their faith.
"But Rajasingha of Kandy who knew the bitter affliction of the Catholics offered them a refuge in his territories, and many a Catholic family settled down on the Kandyan frontiers, at Sitawaka, Kendagamuwe, Ruwanwella and Ratnapura" (pp 181,182).
Some Roman Catholics of Portuguese decent were permitted to settle down in Wahacotte in Matale district.
The Buddhist Kings of Kandy not only gave the expelled Roman Catholic priests refuge in Kandy, but gave them free grants of land to build churches. They were also given freedom of movement within the Kingdom.
In the same book the Rev. Father tells the story of how King Narendrasinha saved a Catholic priest from the jaws of death.
The Dutch had made it an offence punishable with death for a Catholic priest to enter the Dutch territory. A Catholic priest, Father Francis Gonsalves was caught by the Dutch while he was visiting in stealth the Catholic families in the Dutch territory. Rev. Fr. Perera says:
"In 1734, Narandrasinha came to hear that Father Francis Gonsalvez was seized by the Dutch and was in prison at Galle. He caused letters to be written to the Dutch asking for the release of the Father. But as the Dutch apparently took no notice, he caused representations to be made to the Dutch envoy, and when even that was ineffective, he sent two courtiers to Colombo with orders not to return without the priest. The Dutch Governor at first refused to liberate the Father but when he consulted the Council they were of opinion that the King’s request should be granted. Accordingly, Father Gonsalvez was brought to Colombo and thence to Sitawaka where he was handed over to the ambassadors to be taken to Kandy in triumph."
All those show that we Sri Lankans have an age-old tradition of tolerance and peaceful co-existence and of cultural and spiritual exchanges which together helped for the survival of the nation for 2,500 years. Let us not kid ourselves into the belief either that there was mutual distrust and hostile feelings between the Sinhalese and the Tamils from the time of the Gemunu-Elara war in second century B.C. as some say or from the time Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike made Sinhala the language of the administration in 1956. As a matter of fact, the rift began in 1921 when the Tamils broke away from the Ceylon National Congress and began to go their own separate way. The casus belli then was the question of power sharing between the elites of two communities. The casus belli of the on-going war is the same question. Now in the question of power-sharing is between the politicians of the two communities. The ordinary man is caught in the cross-fire.
It is time that men of intelligence and goodwill on both sides took this problem out of the hands of power-hungry politicians and found a just and fair solution to it.
(Concluded)
Health
The curse of Arthritis
Ephrem FernandoGeorge Bernard Shaw, the liberal Irish wit, believed that the medical profession’s infallibility is imaginary. He is reported to have wearily asked how the medical brethren can claim that with the glance of the tongue or touch on the pulse or feel of the stethoscope, diagnose with certainty a patients illness. I put GBS’s beliefs to one of my medical friends who candidly admitted that the purpose of getting patients to put out their tongues is to stop them-blabbering. Medical brethren are always in a hurry and have no time for patients. An old negro, who upon watching the doctors rush by, is reported to have asked, "Whats your hurry Doc? By rushing that way you passes by much more than you catches up with".
A venerable old lady, a kin of mine, suffers from arthritis. Her reticence discourages her from singing like a canary but her physician continues to give her the anti-blabber treatment, with the usual drugs, injections and pain killers. Despite the therapy her joints are swollen, tender and warm to the touch, the so called "hot joints". Religion comes to her more through Christian nurture than mystical experience and approaches senility without feeling that she has been deprived of anything, except her mobility, which she desperately wishes to regain. Because it is difficult to understand the soul and psyche of geriatrics, spin doctors and armchair experts believe that the kindest thing that could be done to them would be to anticipate God by a few years and knock them on the head. My tutors were skeptics and that fact probably explains my general attitude towards spin doctors and armchair experts. After years spent among them, I finally got my fill of their venality and coarseness. Their life is unbelievably ugly. Indeed it promotes betrayal and everytime a fort is taken from them, there is genuine human progress. The secret of success is to stay one step ahead of spin doctors and armchair experts by treating them the way a matador handles the lunges of a bull. To do that knowledge is a prerequisite.
Many disorders are linked to malfunctions in the local hormones. Among the substances known to act as local hormones are prostaglandins. This was first isolated by the Swedish Nobel laureate Curt Euler in the 1930’s. The body manufacture prostaglandins from fats provided in the diet. They are important contributors to the inflammatory process. Some promote inflammation. Others dampen them. Polyunsaturated fats produce prostaglandins that dampen the inflammatory process. Saturated fats do the reverse. That is why adult humans, specifically those suffering from arthritis, should fear saturated fats, the way the devil fears incense.
Rheumatologists ridicule the possibility that diet has anything to do with arthritis. But recent studies indicate that dietary correction is very important in the control of arthritis. Notwithstanding injections, drugs and pain killers, an incorrect diet will aggravate many aspects of the disease. Foods rich in selenium like garlic help. Studies reveal that selenium has anti- inflammatory properties and is good for painful joints. For external use poultices and oil help. Green clay is ideal for poultices and could be obtained from the Cantassium Company in the UK. Oil can be obtained from the outlets of the Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation. There are many testimonials about the efficacy of this oil. Try it out you have nothing to lose except your wheelchair. Studies reveal that zinc and copper levels are low in patients. This must be corrected. Experiment with the following dietary changes and see what you notice, after persisting for say 6 months.
- Take the breathing exercise outlined in a previous article.
This will encourage the excretion of toxins.
- Take herbal porridge in the morning.
- Take 2-3 cloves (not pods) of sliced garlic daily with red rice.
- Avoid meat and meat products.
- Avoid milk and milk products.
- Avoid nightshade vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes.
- Avoid tin fish. Take fresh tuna at least 3 times a week.
It is rich in omega-3 fatty acid, a polyunsaturated fat.
- Take ginger tea. Grate a piece of ginger and take with plain tea after soaking, for at least an hour.
- Take blackcurrant oil capsules according to supplier
instructions.
- Take feverfew capsules as above.
- Take zinc 50mg per day.
- Wear a copper bracelet. The element dissolves in the sweat and gets absorbed through the skin.
- Avoid alchohol and tobacco.
- Use icepacks on hot joints.
- Experiment with
apitherapy. Bee stings are highly effective. Consult a bee-keeper.
- Take vitamin C 500mg, 3 times a day.
- Take vitamin E 200mg, 2 times a day.
- Take vitamin B6 50mg per day.
- Take vitamin B3 200mg per day.
- Take vitamin B5 25mg per day.
- Take bees honey, 2 teaspoons twice a day.
- Minimize sugar and avoid refined-flour.
- Use olive oil, extra virgin (first pressing)
or virgin (second pressing). Read label.
- Drink plenty of water. Do not get dehydrated.
Get in control by keeping a food journal and discuss with those who are sympathetic and open-minded and do not have bees in their collective bonnets.
Elton John gives donation to WHO to fight Hepatitis B
Rock star Sir Elton John today gave a large donation to the World Health Organization (WHO) to fight Hepatitis B. Proceeds from the Geneva concert and a charity auction will be used to purchase Hepatitis B vaccine for developing countries and raise awareness of this major disease.
At a brief ceremony, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO, thanked Sir Elton "on behalf of the World Health Organization and the children who will benefit from this donation".
"One of the most effective and safe vaccines that has ever been developed could virtually eliminate this disease if children everywhere we immunized", said Dr. Brundtland. "The World Health Organization cannot do this alone. Among the most powerful partnerships we can establish are those with individuals who through their art delight us and inspire us to a better world. There are few artists the equal of Sir Elton John in any regard and even fewer still in the area of their generosity".
In his letter, distributed at the concert, Elton John says: "Hepatitis B is a disease with many similarities to HIV/AIDS. They are both highly infectious, placing us all at risk whether we live in the developing or industrialized world. They are both transmitted by blood, sexual contact, or by contaminated needles. And they both cause death many years after the infection".
Unlike HIV/AIDS, the Hepatitis B virus can spread from child to child in households’ and this is a major way the virus gets transmitted in developing countries.
Out of 2,000 million people worldwide who have been infected, most have recovered but more than more than 350 million are chronic carriers of the virus. It is estimated that more than 70 million of these carriers will die from cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer as a result of this infection.
However, great progress is being made in the control of this disease. Since 1991, WHO has been promoting the use of Hepatitis B vaccine as part of national immunization programmes in all countries, thus making it the seventh universal vaccine used by the WHO Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in its fight against major childhood diseases. EPI’s goal is an 80% reduction of the incidence of Hepatitis B in children by the year 2001. In 1997 alone, vaccination efforts helped to prevent 2.4 million children worldwide contracting the dreaded disease.
Back in 1991, only 20 countries around the world were using Hepatitis B vaccine. This year, 100 countries were reporting to WHO the use of Hepatitis B as routine part of their national immunization efforts. One of the main reasons for the dramatic increase is a sharp fall of the vaccine price for developing countries. When originally introduced, the vaccine cost almost US$20 per dose. Today, it is down to 50-60 US cents per dose for use in developing countries. It still costs more than other EPI vaccines but then it is the first vaccine against a major human cancer (of the liver).
A lot has been achieved in the course of mere seven years but the progress has been uneven.
While there are only five countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region which do not use the vaccine, there are only five in sub-Saharan Africa which do.
"A major stumbling block for the global efforts to control Hepatitis B is the fact that the financing for the poorest countries in Asia and Africa hasn’t materialized," says Dr. Mark Kane of the WHO Expanded Programme on Immunization. "We are very grateful to Elton John in giving us a hand to raise awareness of this unmet need. The poorest countries of the world cannot afford this vaccine and their children are left unprotected. This is medically and morally unacceptable. We do need the help of all of our partners in making the vaccine available to all children in the world, regardless of their socio-economic level".
