Sumanthiran hits out at critics as calls continue for headmistress’ reinstatement

By Dharisha Bastians 

As parents associations continued to push for the reinstatement of retired principal Shiranee Mills at Uduvil Girls’ College (UGC), TNA Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran broke his silence on the controversy surrounding the elite Christian girls’ school in Jaffna last weekend, denying allegations of interference the thorny issue and claiming that the crisis was being exploited by political opponents seeking to discredit him. 

“There has been a lot of political interference in this matter, but not from me. That is the truth. I did not get into matters related to the new principal appointment or the retirement of the old principal,” Sumanthiran asserted during a press conference in Jaffna over the weekend. 

The Jaffna District MP has come in for severe criticism over the UGC crisis, with parent associations, past pupils, academics supportive of Mills and members of his own party accusing him of political interference and abuse of power. Sumanthiran represented the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) which manages UGC in legal action during a major church split in 2005, and subsequently in a case involving Principal Mills in 2008-2009.  The Diocese is now being accused of unfairly retiring Principal Mills at 60 years, when UGC principals have often served well over the age of 65. 

“Not a day went by without my name being mentioned in connection with the controversy,” the TNA Lawmaker told reporters. 

Sumanthiran said he would have been well within his rights to get involved in the issue in his capacity as legal counsel for the Diocese. “I could have done that but even in that capacity, I did not want to get involved,” the TNA MP said. 

In fact political interference had really come from people who were waiting for an opportunity to discredit him, Sumanthiran told reporters in Jaffna The crisis at Uduvil Girls’ College brought the fractured character of TNA politics to the fore, with the party’s hardliners who have little sympathy with the TNA’s moderates strongly supporting the students and the Mills faction, against the Bishop of the JDCSI who is believed to have had Sumanthiran’s sympathies. 

“All those people who are waiting, thinking ‘when will Sumanthiran’s name come up’ went running to the school during the protests to give interviews,” he added. 

The Jaffna District MP said he had been unwilling to speak on the issue because it pertained to the education of young people. 

“For this reason, I didn’t want to open my mouth even to say what I say is right, or that my position was the correct one, because it could affect the future of the students. So I kept silent in spite of the malicious campaign and false allegations against me,” Sumanthiran said during the news conference. 

He explained that he had appeared for the Bishop in 2008-2009 during Mills’ dismissal over alleged disciplinary problems. After the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the school management – in this case the Church – Sumanthiran said then Minister Douglas Devananda had intervened to have Mills’ reinstated. 

“Devananda took a battle tank and parked it in the school’s premises, held meetings there and in the same way stage managed a ‘student protest’. He pressured the school management to reinstate the dismissed principal,” Sumanthiran explained. “He was successful in that, and the success is recorded in EPDP news archives from 2009,” the TNA MP charged. 

Mills’ reinstatement was conditional on her adherence to the directives of the Church and the School Board, Sumanthiran said adding that her retirement age was fixed at 57. “In spite of this, the Church continued to extend her service until she reached the maximum retirement age of 60, over three years,” the MP claimed. 

The crisis appeared to be dying down last week, after Mills formally handed over responsibility to her successor, Suneetha Jebaratnam last Monday (12) after a week of protests by students, past pupils and parents who were demanding a service extension for the retiring headmistress. However Mills continues to occupy the Principal’s Bungalow within the school grounds, after having requested more time to move her personal items and vacate the premises. 

But day before yesterday, the UGC Parents Association released a statement claimed that Bishop of JDCSI Daniel Thiagarajah had given the media a distorted version of the two-hour discussion he had held with the UGC Parents’ Association on 12 September. During the meeting, the Parents Association had demanded that the Church extend the term of Principal Mills for two years, conduct an independent investigation and disciplinary inquiry against those who allegedly attacked the protesting students and ensure students who protested were not persecuted. 

The Bishop had rejected the association’s first demand while accepting the other two, the statement said. However, in his press interviews the next day, Bishop Thiagarajah had not suggested a mechanism to address the demands of the Parents’ Association, the statement said. 

The Parents Association in its statement claimed the persecution of the girls who had protested against the appointment of a new principal had already begun. 

The Association said it would continue to agitate and bring its concerns to politicians at all levels, including the President until “relevant investigations, adequate structural changes, administrative reforms and a safe environment, both physical and psychological, are ensured for the students.”

In its statement, the Parents Association said that Principal Mills had served the school faithfully for 12 years and claimed her departure would be “deeply damaging” for the school and its students. The Association said that the school had functioned well under Principal Mills, in terms of educational and extra-curricular activities. Furthermore the Association said, that it was “remarkable” that under Mills’ leadership, “as women and students, they have gained the courage to question the authoritative mindset of a patriarchal society that tries to suppress women within the family and in the society.”

The Association claimed the Church had acted in a ‘deceitful manner’ with regard to the appointment of a new principal for UGC. “We regret the manner in which the Church of South India forcefully obtained the retirement of Shiranee Mills,” the statement charged. 

The Association said that although the Bishop had asked them to trust him, the past actions of the church and the past actions of those who have been appointed to the school’s leadership did not give them confidence. “If this problem is to be solved, as an interim measure, Mrs. Shiranee Mills must be appointed again as the Principal,” the statement said.