Seeing it comin’: Reforming the Sri Lankan State
“You never see it comin’ till it’s gone”
– ‘Falling & Flyin’, Jeff Bridges in ‘Crazy Heart’
Seeing it comin’: Will the Tamils silently celebrate and the Sinhalese secretly curse the day that Prabhakaran died? With his secessionist fundamentalism and ghastly terrorism, he was the biggest obstacle to achievable autonomy for Tamils and the best excuse for the Sinhala establishment’s tardiness in devolving power to the Tamil speaking periphery. Now the North is no longer hostage to secessionism and the South is bereft of a human shield against democratic demands for devolution.
There was an old Cold War joke about the thief who broke into the Kremlin and stole, among other things, the complete results of the next election. Well, one of the most important results of Sri Lanka’s upcoming parliamentary election is already in or rather, is predictable: the predominance of the TNA in the Tamil majority areas of the North and East and the resultant political polarization between North and South.
While Ranil Wickremesinghe arguably has the cosmopolitanism necessary to reintegrate the Tamils into the Sri Lankan polity, that very cosmopolitanism (and his track record of appeasement of the Tigers) mean that he cannot carry the Sinhalese with him on this issue even if he becomes President someday. By contrast President Rajapakse is indispensable because he can carry the majority of the (Sinhalese) majority with him into a settlement with the Tamils, but does the consciousness of his close allies permit him to do so, on a basis other than that of unilateral imposition and total Tamil capitulation? The SLFP has reformist nationalists, and UNP, nationalist liberals, who could forge an overarching consensus, but these factions are marginalized to the point that they cannot be factored into any serious current discussion of future prospects.
The incumbent administration seems to think that all problems can be solved through political uni-polarity of a sort that would come with a two thirds majority at or after the parliamentary election (through defections). Serial victories — in the war, in a single diplomatic arena and at the Presidential election–have given rise to a mood and mindset, ideology and project, that we have witnessed before in other more important parts of the world on a much larger scale.
We have seen politically uni-polar moments, with their attendant delusions and tragic denouements. When the USSR lost the Cold War, the US won the first Gulf war and Kosovo conflict, and went onto overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the Bush administration and more precisely its two most influential components, the religious fundamentalists and the neoconservatives, were convinced the moment had come for the USA to re-mould the world unopposed and as it saw fit. Parallels were made with the Roman Empire at its height. A favorite dream theme was that of a New Middle East. It is hardly possible to recall those absurd illusions today, buried up-ended as they have been. Domestically too we have experienced the equivalent of such hubristic delusions: in late 1982, at the moment of JRJ’s triumphant re-election, with a booming economy and a prostrate Opposition.
Today we are experiencing yet another such moment; one in which the Southern hawks, the Sri Lankan equivalent of the neoconservative populists, think that a Sinhala solution can be imposed upon the Tamils; a Southern solution on the North and East; a solution which entails the rollback of the Indo-Lanka accord and the 13th amendment and its substitution by something else amounting to something less. The argument seems to be that having won the war which was itself an outgrowth and logical culmination of Tamil nationalism, that nationalism can be totally rolled back and we can (re)write our own Sri Lanka as if it were a tabula rasa. For these ideologues, ‘Sri Lanka’ and ‘Sri Lankan’ are, (as it perhaps was in the spirit animating the 1972 Constitution), but a synonym and mask for ‘Sinhala Buddhist’—and not a negotiated or evolved synthesis of the identities of all the island’s citizenry, albeit with a natural ‘core’ status and function for the Sinhala Buddhist civilization. One may observe parenthetically that the conversion from ‘Ceylon’ to ‘Sri Lanka’ and ‘Ceylonese’ to ‘Sri Lankan’ didn’t stop at ‘Lanka’ and ‘Lankan’, as in the Lanka Sama Samaja Party or the Lanka Guardian.
Thus the political deadlock in the North-South relationship continues while the war, the armed conflict, has been won. The April 2010 parliamentary election takes place in a context that is postwar, post-victory and post-presidential election, but not post-crisis. If one defines the conflict not as a military one but as a political conflict, then we may be living in a moment that is not yet ‘post-conflict’ and is even describable as ‘pre-conflict’. The upcoming election must be viewed as embedded within this situation. Its real consequences go beyond the arithmetical outcome and reside in how the electoral outcome impacts upon the larger context of the long-running crisis. The commencement of the crisis of Sri Lanka’s political identity was obviously not 1983. The Vadukkodai resolution calling for the establishment of an independent sovereign secular socialist state of Tamil Eelam was in 1976, while JR’s UNP manifesto of 1977 said that “the Tamil people have been driven even to seek a separate state” — and the TULF swept the North on this single issue at the watershed elections of that year.
The TNA has undergone a partial yet welcome reconfiguration; partial because it entails personalities rather than political line and policy platform. Welcome, because the most pro-Tiger elements have been shed and the party looks more like the old TULF, TUF, or Federal party. It is not that the TNA has no radicals or militants in its ranks. Suresh Premachandran is one, but though he was pro-Tiger, he was never a Tiger and is originally from the EPRLF stream of Tamil militancy. The reconfigured TNA is rather like the UPFA would have been without the JHU, but only the NFF. Premachandran is probably best seen as the TNA’s counterpart of the UPFA’s Ranawake or Weerawansa. Gajan Ponnambalam’s breakaway grouping which seems to have the support of the hard-line elements of the Tamil Diaspora and organs such as the TamilNet, are the JHU equivalent, and they are no longer part of the TNA.
Still, there is a major problem which will contribute to the exacerbation of the situation. One part of the problem is that the TNA has not yet officially and formally abandoned the secessionist Vadukkodai resolution. That platform may have had some historical validity or comprehensibility at that time, and after July 1983, but it has been unjustified and obsolescent since Indian mediation commenced, serious negotiations started and the Indo-Lanka Accord produced a reasonable reform as alternative. It would be a wise and legitimate stance were the TNA were to unilaterally renounce secessionism, formally return to a federalist platform, while settling for autonomy within the unitary state of Sri Lanka. The other part and no less troubling aspect of the problem is that the Southern establishment is not staunch in its commitment to authentic provincial autonomy within a unitary state; not even the autonomy contained in the country’s Constitution and derivative of a bilateral agreement with our most indispensable international ally.
After the election, the TNA will put forward demands that dominant Sinhala opinion may think excessive but world opinion and many Governments find unexceptionable. If President Rajapakse contents himself simply with not giving in, rather than keeping the TNA engaged but off balance with a counterproposal at least the rest of Asia will think reasonable, the TNA will go the Chelvanayagam route of peaceful agitation. This will be stimulated by competition from Gajan Ponnamabalam’s grouping and pressure from Suresh and such others within the party.
It is unlikely that there will be a Southern consensus, given the basic two party split in Sinhala society. The Rajapakse administration’s response will also be tangentially affected by the Sarath Fonseka factor: a caged, wounded lion in the basement or dungeon does not make for sociopolitical stability and a generous, consensual response to minority issues.
If the state cracks down on, or elements in the South react violently and with impunity to, peaceful and democratic non-secessionist Tamil demands, the global diplomatic reaction in this YouTube age will not be the same as in 1956, 1983 or 2009. The TNA will be armed with democratic legitimacy in the eyes of the world, from West to East. The Tamil Diaspora and its ex-colonial Western patrons will exploit the gap between MR’s nativist ideological constituency and the globalised world. That’s when the Tamil Diaspora’s serial referenda campaign will have set the stage, and the British connection (not just Labour’s Blair-Brown but the Conservatives’ William Hague) which is a bridge to ‘human rights crusaders’ in Washington DC will kick in. We won the diplomatic battle in Geneva not only because of our friends but also the nature of our enemy: the Tigers and the Tiger-flag bearing Tamil Diaspora demonstrations. The same strategy and tactics will not work against a democratically elected TNA option, unless the latter remains formally and demonstrably secessionist while we for our part have implemented the 13th Amendment. Our Eastern friends helped us against armed Tamil separatism but they regard the Tamil community as a respected, productive component of Asia’s citizenry and will not back us in a confrontation with the democratically elected representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamils of the North and East.
India remains our key ‘buffer state’ internationally, and if we think we can unilaterally rollback the accord and 13A without something more extensive in place; i.e. go below the 13A and continue to have Delhi in our corner, we are deluding ourselves. We don’t have to implement the provision to devolve police powers right now. However, the carefully negotiated arrangements on land cannot be deleted or diluted. The problem arises when our leadership refers to “village level devolution” on an occasion as portentous as the first peacetime Independence Day in decades. It is as if we have learned nothing. If Mr. Sampanthan is not successfully co-opted with adequate power sharing, Gajan Ponnambalam’s splinter group will grow, ironically as Chelvanayagam’s breakaway Federal party did when Colombo undermined Gajan’s grandfather’s political credibility with the citizenship move on the hill country Tamils.
The issue of Sri Lanka’s collective identities is hardly likely to be resolved by integration through economic development. If economic development alone would do the trick, the UPFA would not have lost the East so badly at the Presidential elections. Indeed this formula puts the cart before the horse. A viable option for Sri Lanka would be the Asian model of globalization, but the dominant ideology, mindset and policy framework of the incumbent administration is far from the paradigm of the New Asian modernity. The experience of Asia reveals broadly five formulae or models for handling diversity, though one could also envisage a suitable combination of aspects of these models:
- Meritocratic multiculturalism; a level playing field and a managed market economy (the Singapore model)
- Secular state, constitutional guarantees of equality, and quasi-federalism (the Indian model; the secularity of the state/central govt. is not contradicted by sporadic outbreaks of ethnic or religious violence at the sub-national, local or civic level).
- A secular, unitary/non-federal state with suitable regional/provincial autonomy arrangements (China, Indonesia, Philippines)
- Non secular, federal state (Pakistan)
- Secular unitary state ( Bangladesh)
The relevance of secularism is that it is symbolic of the state’s/central government’s neutrality or non-alignment in relation to the constituent communities/collectivities of that society, irrespective of the sizes of those communities and ratios between them. Thus the state stands above the communities, able to reconcile them. The Soulbury Constitution would have put us closest to model 1. If the existing Sri Lankan Constitution inclusive of the results of the Indo-Lanka accord, i.e. 13th amendment were fully implemented, the Sri Lankan state would arguably be a variant of model 3: non-secular, not a level playing field, but with an offsetting provincial autonomy. However, the 1972 Constitution, the 1978 Constitution without the 1988 amendment, and the ideas of counter-reformation proposed by the ideologues of Sinhala dominance all posit a model which does not fit with any Asian framework. It is/would be the model of a non-secular, linguistically unequal, non-federal polity devoid of even provincial level devolution/autonomy. In a homogenous society, devolution is not an imperative. In a heterogeneous society, strong centralism devoid of devolution is fine if accompanied by meritocratic multiculturalism and secularism, i.e. a neutral state. Conversely, a secular meritocracy – a neutral state — is not necessary, and the dice can be loaded in favor of the majority perceived as historically underprivileged, provided there is a compensatory counterweight at the periphery in the form of federalism or regional/provincial autonomy (Malaysia). Sri Lanka does not have a homogenous society. Its minorities are mixed in with the majority in some areas and preponderate in another. Yet Sri Lanka today neither has a neutral state (secular or meritocratic multiculturalism) nor a federal system nor active devolution within a unitary framework. Thus it does not have the necessary framework for successful globalization along Asian lines and full participation in the Asian economic miracle.
This threefold asymmetry between (A) Southern and Northern political choices; (B) social reality and political structure; and (C) the dominant paradigm and reform imperatives for fulfillment of the country’s potential, constitute the core of the Sri Lankan crisis and the fault-lines which will be exploited by those who do not wish the country well. Meanwhile, we may well reflect with Jeff Bridges (looking like Kris Kristofferson) playing Bad Blake in ‘Crazy Heart’ as he sings:
“Funny how fallin’ feels like flyin’/ For a little while”.
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After reading the seemingly well intended article by Dr.Dayan Jayathilake whom I consider a true Sri Lankan hero,after his heroics in Geneva,I have the following enquiries;
Just because the secessionist Tamil leaders have agreed on a so called Vadukkodei agreement or whatever,and India and the Western bullies want us to give in why should we try to please them?What is right for the country should be done.Take the example of Malaysia.Mahathir in his home-grown model of governance implimented the ‘Bhumiputha’ concept which in the Western eyes could be viewed as a racial segregation.The West cried foul as they always do but Mahathir in the spirit of true statesmanship refused to budge and even today that system works fine in Malaysia.There is no evidance to say that country is boycotted by the West or called a ‘pariah’ state.It’s a booming economy in Asia!There are some protests once in a way,but it is less then what we have in the Northern Ireland after their political solution!Why do we need the solutions to our problems as dictated by the foreigners or their local compradors?The Tamil diasposa can shout as much as they wish.The TNA can do the same ,but it is their own bloody problem.The Mahathir of Sri Lanka,I sincerely hope will teach a lesson to these ‘Paraihs’ and preserve the integrity of our country.
The fundamental question is whether a neo-militaristic imposition of a Constitutional Amendement (13) on Sri Lanka by a regional power India has the power to supersede a globally accepted Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All ethnics within the state of Sri Lanka have the fundamental human right to reside as they wish anywhere. Amendment 13 should not be a cover to impose racial segregation or creation of a racist Dravidian only state. If it is intended to create a monoligual racist enclave it would be a violation of fundamental human rights of the decenedents of those those very areas from which their forefathers had been subject to genocidal horrors and grave Internal Displacements by the invasive Dravidians of those days. Best is to forget about creating a racist state within a multicultural state.
Excellent analysis Dayan. The present regime does not want SL to modernise because if SL does modernise the regime will lose its chief vote base i.e the rural constituency.
There is another reason why the administration is not too keen to modernise SL and that is because there are some semifeudal and leftist elements within its ranks.
Perhaps if the UNP is elected to power in six years time (with or without Ranil W) the asian model of globalisation will be adopted as a policy option in SL.
iam a sinhalese who wished ltte would be succesfull till about 1994the main reason was the pogrome in 1983(I BLAME J.R.).afterwards i realized due to the atrocities of the ltte,ltte is not a liberation movement and the rights and the aspiration of the tamils as well as the tamil speaking community namely the muslims cannot be realized as long as ltte is powerfull.but still i did not want the ltte completly eleminated.from round 2004 i wished ltte would be completly eleminated,because with weapon power ltte became more and more a fascist group,which the majority of the tamils detested.what is the position now?his excellency the president was for maximum possible devolution in 2005.for me it is a federal setup(not because of the homeland theory).where is then the danger a federal setup would lead to the seperation of the country.his excellency believes in the development of the n/e provinces as a solution.he may be correct but the question is would the tamils specially in the north like this development envisaged by the government.as a federl state the tamils specially in the north would develope the north p. according to their mantality.the merger of the n.p. with the e.p. could be hadled later.jvp with fonseka would be a big hindrence.i wish a strong constructive unp opposition in the g.e. in apriel. ranjit de mel berlin/S.l.
Whatever my criticism of DJ, I must admit that he has a good grasp of the abstract.
His closing quote sums up a situation that has been prevalent for a while.
Just to clarify DJ’s view on the concept
“If the state cracks down on, or elements in the South react violently and with impunity to, peaceful and democratic non-secessionist Tamil demands,”
Why specifically non-secessionist? Is there something inherently wrong with that desire, leaving no scope for the TNA to reinvent itself on the lines of the Scottish National Party?
Good article. To hell with the high moral ground of the west and its own hypocracy and its double standards when it come to terrorism. SriLanka should be careful not to allow the LTTE to regroup. Photograph every activist overseas and arrest them as soon as they step into the country. Take a hard line approach towards the sessionists. Adopt the BumiPutra Model as in Malaysia.
@Longus
I think you’ve misunderstood Dayan’s argument. His analysis of the possible negative consequences of not providing an adequate political solution to Tamils is based on the TNA abandoning or retreating from the Vadukkodai Resolution.
Whether or not his analysis of the consequences is accurate, would you not agree that the defeat of the LTTE presents a ideal opportunity to put behind the wasteful past by providing the North with some form of devolved powers? I must confess I’m not entirely conversant with the extent of devolution as proposed in the 13th Amendment but, ignoring it, I’d think that giving some control over economic decision making, taxation and law and order (police but certainly not the other armed forces) would allow the North to prosper and contribute immensely to the country as a whole. In fact, why stop there and why not do the same to the East, Uva, Ruhuna etc? These regions would then be able to directly attract FDI, create sustainable employment, develop their own areas of expertise etc.
The problem is that politicians have made ‘devolution’ and ‘federalism’ dirty words by associating them with ‘secession’ and ‘eelam’. The war is over. Let’s move away from such bogeymen.
Longus,
What comes across in your post is your total ignorance about what has been happening in Malaysia. If the Bumiputra policy was so sensible and right, why did Malays vote in large percentages for the multicultural anti-Bumiputra Opposition alliance at the last election, instead of voting for Barisan Nasional, headed by UMNO, the Malay-based party that introduced and maintains the Bumiputra policy? The opposition came extremely close to taking power. Why were Malays willing to give up on a policy that is supposed to give them extra rights and privileges? I’ll tell you why–because Bumiputra policy is an elitist, corrupt policy that feeds only a small class of wealthy Malays, and leaves the other Malays out of the equation. The Bumiputra policy has failed miserably in helping to rectify Malay underprivilege. It has not helped Malays to progress, has not given them economic skills and competencies, despite the passing of several decades. It merely created an elitist patronage system and provided for political corruption.
Dear Old Man,
The UK’s reaction to Scottish independence cannot be seen apart from the existence of the larger EC safety net. Even so, Spain reacts very differently to pro-Independence Basque parliamentarians. We are way outside of Europe. Recall Nehru’s treatment of Sheikh Abdullah and secular, democratic India’s ongoing response to ‘peaceful’ secessionist politicians/political parties/ demonstrations in Kashmir? You think we can be held to different, vastly more liberal standards, even with 70 million Tamils next door?
Niranjan,
The problem is not only Ranil, it is the UNP’s economic neoliberalism. It would have to return to Premadasa’s more balanced, ‘growth with equity’ model so as to immunise itself from a social backlash. That would be the only safe and sustainable pathway to Asian style globalisation. Karu (with Sajith) could do that, but I do not see that coming about. Cry the beloved country!
that why we need to colonize the north – we need to mix the races as in the east with 33% of each race so that there cant be a racial basis for governance – we need mixed schools -
if the races were mixed, it wouldnt matter if devolution was given china, pakistan or bangala way……….
Since he left the country, I suppose he felt much safer to write about what his genuine view about the prevailing political climate. He acknowledged, indirectly, that his effort in Geneva in Human Right Council was misguided and the consequences are far reaching. Has the HRC passed a resolution to setup an independent commission and Sri Lankan Govt agreed to do so with the help of UN and conducted the investigation and provided the opportunity for many of the victim and the aggressor ( both sides )to come to a closure of those dreadful years, would have avoided the current turmoil and uncertainty, as Dayan called the polarisation, not only among North/East and south, but also within the South.
Human Right violation, law and order, justice and accountability are some of the issues that need to be addressed, if the country is going to develop. Just shouting development and pouring foreign money (load, aids and handout) into roads, airline, harbour and few Hotels along the beach will not bring development to the needy. All these so called development are making few politicians and their cronies make huge windfall for themselves. As a starting point, we need this enquiry to acknowledge the wrong doing and start the reconciliation process and devolution of power to the people. Then, the infrastructure development along with other economic development with social development has meaning and sustainable.
Dayan, at last, you have recognised the need for genuine reconciliation and devolution before we start the development.
Sri Lankans are not much bothered by models of governance – secular, unitary, federal, combinations of these or any other.
What they wish for is Rule of Law, a disciplined police force, armed forces which serve as servants of the people rather than as their masters, an efficient bureaucray of men and women who have an unblemished record, efficient State Enterprises managed by persons qualified in disciplines necessary to manage each one of them, a judiciary which enforces justice and distinguishes between justice and what is just in each and every case, aspirants for elective office who declare their assets and liabilities publicly – as is
done in UK, USA, India and a few other countries, lawmakers who strive for the common man rather than only for themselves and their kith & kin, equality of all citizens in education, employment and lifestyle, elections during which all parties observe election laws like in developed countries, and transparency in all aspects of governance.
These are what all countries strive for and those who achieve them are models of prosperity, whatever their constitutions are – even UK which has no written constitution.
Old Man,
I think there is nothing wrong in secession as long as the two states are able to co-exist peacefully with little effect on the lives of the citizens as is the case with England and Scotland or even France and Germany. It also needs to happen on some basis of equality. Not one where a small proportion of the population ends up with a grossly disproportionate portion of the landmass.
It is refreshing to listen to the academic Dayan Jeyatilleka. A realistic analysis that is as clear as a Google satellite maps on a clear day. The frame shows where we are and the lay of the land, and expect the reader to determine the destination and the path and the consequence of the choice.
We moved from a Pre-armed conflict to armed conflict to Post-war conflict and quickly moving into a Pre-war conflict. Though it sounds like a cyclical event, those who have been part of it for a longtime, like Dayan, know that the expansion of the conflict is a spiral in space and time growing muti dimensionally like a fractal following the principles of Chaos. If the initial conditions are what is happening now, the final outcome cannot be peace. The question is, What are the initial conditions that would lead to the final outcome of peace and not, as Dyan mention, “Pre-Conflict”.
I value your comments on my piece.On the other hand Malaysia achieved great hights thanks to Bumiputra concept in spite of its many short comings as you correctly point out.With Mahathir’s semi autocratic governance that spanned for many many years.I accept the what you say about the recent turn around,yet the opposition didn’t really capture power!
Longus,
If the opposition didn’t capture power, it wasn’t due to success of Bumiputra policy but to effectiveness of UMNO practice of bussing (i.e. transporting people from one place to another–where the UMNO ticket is threatened–to vote).
What heights of power are you talking about? Malaysia is still not classified as a developed country even though it is among the top in the world in terms of natural resources.
At any rate, the Bumiputra-type policy has no place in Sri Lanka, which has more than one group of long-settled people. In Malaysia, the minorities put up with the situation because they only came as immigrants in the colonial era AND because the policy was only supposed to be a temporary measure. However, now, after two centuries of settlement in the country, even these minorities are no longer content to let the situation continue.
In Sri Lanka, every group, including the majority community, is underprivileged. The government would be better advised to pursue good development policies than to play racial politics.
Dayan:
Yes, it has to come somehow, someday but better sooner than later. You see, this tinge of understanding was long overdue. I share the same view that had the Rajapakse regime offered its hands of peace and reconciliation in a dignified way to the Tamils, the quagmire it is in now could have been avoided and Gotabaya need not have reacted as in he is in a corner, now that it looks like he would emulate Slobodan Milosevic’s history. Say what he may, but they will just come and pick him from the “air”, the price the regime has to pay for its overbearing. While your “analysis” comes tardy late, nevertheless it is a welcome understanding. That 20,000 lives (or possibly 40,000) were not lost in vain.
longus:
This myth of racial cohesion a model islamic country that Malaysia has been fondly spoken of has been torn to shreds with the recent church bombings. Five states, particularly their crown jewel of Slangor, went to to the opposition. The flight of foreign capital in the billions, attributable to the largely debated issues of the Bhumiputra policy and political instability had pushed back Malaysia behind other lesser acknowledged economies like Thailand and even Indonesia. And do you know who is being blamed for this sad state of affairs? Yes your hero Mahathir. A report has it that this man has wasted more than 100 billion dollars. What a role model?
To Samutra
Your comments stink of bias that is typical of educated fools who are good at nothing but repeating what their masters in the West utter.If SL allowed the UNHRC to pass the resolution on SL that would have been the start of a process which will culminate in arresting MR,GOTA,SF and all the military officers and air lifting them to Hague to face a war crimes trial.If you wanted that to happen I must say that you are a pathetic boot licker of the ex-colonists.Because the same guardians of human rights in the West vetoed (the USA)the resolution on Israel war crimes in Gaza,and they never thought razing two countries to the ground and killing thousands of civilians (children in schools and patients in hospitals included)amounts to war crimes or killing 60,000 odd civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki amounts to war crimes.But they genuinely think a massacre of Armanian civilians by the Turkish army duing the WORLD WAR 1 is something to be investigated.It shows how badly you have been brain washed by the empire in the West.The little bit of brain that remains in you is at great risk of passing in the morning with your ‘elimination’ process!
Longus,
You are caught in the same trap that you say Samudra is. So Samudra echoes Western thinking. But you too think that what SL government and army did is acceptable because the West has done far worse. What are you doing but imitating Western norms? If you want to be genuinely anti-colonial, go read some Frantz Fanon and what he says about the ex-colonized needing to set their own civilizational norms which are superior to those of the West (which he criticises for its reliance on violence and destruction). I don’t think one can claim that SL has gone that route or that it will do so in the future. By all accounts, it is stuck in its own Dark Ages.
”Sri Lanka’s upcoming parliamentary election is already predictable” with the government machinery working for the incumbent President:
Jaffna Technical College principal compels students to campaign for Mahinda Rajapakse’s party
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 March 2010, 14:27 GMT]
Jaffna Technical College Students Union (JTCSU) raised accusation against Yogarajan, their principal and President Mahinda Rajapakse’s Alliance candidate in the parliamentary election, for compelling them to campaign for Mahinda Rajapakse’s Alliance. Yogarajan had welcomed Namal Rajapakse, President Mahinda Rajapakse’s eldest son and his ‘Blue Warriors’ group accompanying him when they arrived in Jaffna Tuesday to canvas votes for his father’s party, JTCSU said.
Election Commissioner, please note what is in my previous post.
There is no protest in Jaffna even when 100,00 are in the camps of the North alone and getting scarce NGO help and Namal landing there to get votes. If he tells his dadthat they should be settled according to international norms, he’ll get all the votes withut going there or even without asking for votes. In fact he’ll be approached by the voters.
”majority historically underprivileged”, not meritocratic? not mythologised by politicians?
South has been blessed by nature which brought the cocoa, tea and rubber plantations. Many fruits and vegetables can be reaped without much labour.
The geographically/geologically harsh North has been forced to labour day and night to get something out of their land. European colonisers made Colombo a busy commercial city
Weren’t the Tamils forced to do their utmost in education?
When they had standardisation for higher education, Tamils failed to ask for standardisation in Technical Education and government employment !!
That might have arrested the political situation getting into the present mess.
Jansee and Samudra have it wrong I fear: there is nothing self critical or belated in what I am saying. Our stand at the HRC in May 2009 was the right one. No one who invaded another country on bogus grounds, not to mention murdered tens of thousands of our ancestors when it was the colonial power here , has a right to sit in judgement of us. As for ‘belated’, I have been arguing much the same thing on GV for a year before the war ended. 20, 000 did not die and even if they did, Prof Michael Roberts writing in GV at that time straightened out the issues involved. If I am saying something more clearly , strongly and critically, it is because the context has changed, the war is over and won, the LTTE is destroyed as a military force and we must catch up with the Asian economic miracle instead of being bogged down in the wartime mentality and more conflict. If the war were on, I’d have accepted the offer that came my way and stayed on board, representing the country and the state against the common enemy. Now that its over, I prefered to return to my independent role and status.
I’m unsure whether Jansee has heard of Lenin’s NEP, but he was correct when he urged that sharp turn, but would never have done so while the revolution, the war of foreign intervention or the civil war were on.
As for the Malaysia debate, why don’t the protagonists refer the brilliant speech made by Mahathir Mohamed when he addressed the CIMA in Colombo a few years back? I interviewed him on Rupavahini during that visit and he was very clear in his prescription for Sri Lanka. Interestingly, it was identical to that made by Lee Kwan Yew! They both argued for some form of power sharing between the Sinhalese and Tamils.
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda Minister, was doing exactly the same like how the writer of this article is doing. The bigger the lie the harder it is to deny !!! He was Goebbels for SL in the UN and now having been fired is doing for the Sinhala race.
Vaddukoddai resolution of 1976 is real and so is state terror and genocide against Tamils. They are not myths
I observe Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka as an erudite of practical politics and a prolific critic of unfolding, ever-changing and still seamlessly evolving political climate in Lanka. I have been a regular reader of his political dissertations and commentaries for a long time. Extracts from my knowledge and observation made me believing him as what he consistently stood, still stands and will continue to stand for. His unwavering sincere conviction cost him his illustrious still lucrative international diplomatic career at the UN. Dr. DJ representing Lanka at UNHRC mustered support and defeated the resolution on war-crimes & HR violations, by his eloquence, without deviating or compromising his political beliefs and principles, in defense of the manner the war was conducted and ended by GOSL. Apart from his defense of violations his statements on intended post-war political conflict-resolutions were more mesmerizing, received good reception and convincingly garnered support to defeat. Despite my agreement with his defense or not, I find no much difference between this abstract predicament, now after almost seven months, and his concluding statements on conflict-resolutions at the UNHR Commission – he spoke in same wave-length without changing the hues. While appreciating and thanking him, I am sad to feel the strength of such Sinhalese community of genteel elite and visionary of Dr. DJ’s calibre has dwindled and still eroding.
Dayan:
“No one who invaded another country on bogus grounds, not to mention murdered tens of thousands of our ancestors when it was the colonial power here , has a right to sit in judgement of us”
At least they came as colonial powers and maybe committed atrocities as you claim but I am wondering whether bombing and maiming your own citizens is any better or is being justified to protect criminals. It looks like the “airlifting” of MR and GR may become a reality after all. There is enough incriminating evidence to put them in the dock. Prabhakaran is gone and all those who were partners in this heinous crime of murdering 20000 (or probably 40000) innocent civilians/citizens should be made to pay too.
Longus:
“If SL allowed the UNHRC to pass the resolution on SL that would have been the start of a process which will culminate in arresting MR,GOTA,SF and all the military officers and air lifting them to Hague to face a war crimes trial.If you wanted that to happen I must say that you are a pathetic boot licker of the ex-colonists”
So, killing 20000 of your own citizens is ok? Those who have committed such heinous crimes must not only be arrested/airlifted to the Hague, but must be hanged in the same way Saddam was booted off to hell. May be then others may not be as trigger happy. The fun has just started mite. You think the curse of the thousands of civilians is just going to go away?
Dear Belle,
Your argument makes sense if ‘we accused the West’ of their atrocities in some country and called for ‘WAR CEIMES PROBE’.But what we are simply doing is asking them loud and clear “Stay away from us!We can manage our internal affairs!”Isn’t that wrong?Doesn’t any sovereign country have that right?
Dear Dr.Dayan Jayathilake,
May be Mahathir thought that what he did in Malaysia was wrong after all! Even Lee Quan was regretting in his last book about the total loss of the Singaporian identity by overt Westernisation of his country.What I think is not a total copy of the Malaysian solution.What I wanted to highlight was that there are examples in the world where some countries have successfully defied unfair Western pressure or thuggery
“I am sad to feel the strength of such Sinhalese community of genteel elite and visionary of Dr. DJ’s calibre has dwindled and still eroding.”
Sri Lanka, like India, has produced quite a few exceptional engineers and doctors (in the Indian case, one can add business moguls to the list). On the political front, however, it looks as if the entire Asian continent is sorely lacking. Other than Lee Kuan Yew and Gandhi, the names of very few Asian political leaders possessing exceptional leadership/insight , over the past 100 years, come to mind. Even in the case of Japan, the only G10 Asian nation, the Americans had to physically redraw a Constitution, after WWII, in order to downsize the power of the “Emperor.”
I am not a sociologist, by any means (in fact, I work in a technical field), but I question whether there are “cultural” factors at play here. Perhaps the aggressiveness that led Europeans to build giant boats and sail around the world also factors into their quest to maintain political and economic systems that have a solid grounding and that actually function efficiently. Whereas, the more insular Asians (remember the naked Siddhu’s who greeted Alexander the Great?
) are content to sit back and take whatever comes their way.
Perhaps, in the final analysis, genetics will prove history wrong, and this whole myth of “progress” will fall apart. Then we will be able, at last, to give “King” Mahinda his due credit: as a king of fools, content to wallow forever in their own insecurities and gladly gobble up whatever meager breadcrumbs the loyal court jester, of the likes of Dayan J, happen to throw into the street, every now and then.
Dear Democrat;
It is your notion that
“Vaddukoddai resolution of 1976 is real and so is state terror and genocide against Tamils. They are not myths”
Vadukkodai Resolution is the mythical and unfair “official” beginning for all the destruction taken place during the last 30-40 years. Genocides, state terror or whatever happened to Tamils, Vadukkodai resolution is responsible for most of them. Unreasonable aspirations created by this document among Tamils persuaded them to achieve the unreasonable goals with unfair, unjustifiable and inhumane means. Result was the fierce reaction by the Sinhalese and the state. They should have expected such reactions, when they created so called unfair resolution. If they expected unfair advantages to be given to them in a silver tray it is not our folly. The selfish vision of the Tamil leaders barred them from far sight and now the whole Tamil society is suffering. Rudiments of such ignorant Tamil leaders are still trying to do the same mistake.
Dear Democrat (?);
The first statement of your post is applicable to you and many propagandist of the same caliber well. Please keep in mind Gobels’ theory failed and it is equally applicable to all.
“Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda Minister, was doing exactly the same like how the writer of this article is doing. The bigger the lie the harder it is to deny !!! He was Goebbels for SL in the UN and now having been fired is doing for the Sinhala race.”
If you can justify Vadukkodai Resolution, please do so in this forum. I challenge you.
Thanks!
“Even the demand for devolution needs to be reframed as a demand for democratization that brings government closer to all the people, not just minorities, apart from being made far stronger than the 13th Amendment, which has loopholes allowing the Centre to take back the devolved powers. Along with the demand for abolition of the Executive Presidency, and further devolution to smaller units, it would give all the people of Sri Lanka more control over their lives, instead of having their lives ruled by a remote power in Colombo that knows little and cares less about their needs”.
So, it is high-time we start to RETHINK in terms of a solution that would address the ASPIRATIONS ALL THE PEOPLE in the country, not just the aspirations of the Tamils, in a just and meaningful way rather than continue to criticize other people for their “faults
A new concept that moves towards a meaningful and just power-sharing arrangement (not devolution) based on true democracy – a large number of people participating in the governance of the country based on equality, equity – is a great deviation from the usual thinking of the meaning of the word “sharing of power” is given below for the perusal and comments of concerned people.
The best political solution to address the problems faced by various sections of the Sri Lankan society – particularly the poor, the politically weak and the “minorities” of various categories’ who do not carry any “political weight” – would be to DILUTE the powers of all elected representatives of the people by separating the various powers of the Parliament and by horizontally empowering different sets of people’s representatives elected on different area basis to administer the different sets of the separated powers at different locations.
It has to be devolution HORIZONTALLY where each and every set of representatives would be in the SAME LEVEL as equals and in par and NOT VERTICALLY, where one set of representatives would be above (more powerful than) the other, which is the normal adopted practice when talking of devolution, in this power-hungry world. It is because “devolution of power” has been evolved “vertically”, we have all the trouble in this power-hungry world. So, for sustainable peace it should not be the present form of “devolution of power” but “dilution of powers” or “meaningful sharing of powers” in such a way that no single person or single set of people’s representatives be “superior” to another.
This system would help to eradicate injustice, discrimination, corruption and oppression – the four pillars of an evil society – and help to establish the “Rule of Law” and “Rule by ALL” for sustainable peace, tranquility and prosperity and a pleasant harmonious living with dignity and respect for all the inhabitants in the country. Everyone must have “equal” powers, rights, duties and responsibilities and most importantly everyone should be deemed “equal” and treated “equally” before the law not only on paper but also practically – be it the Head of State, The Chief Justice or the voiceless poor of the poorest in the country.
Since all political and other powers flow from the sovereignty of the people, it is proposed herein that these powers be not given to any ONE set of representatives but distributed among different sets of people’s representatives (groups) elected on different area basis (village and villages grouped) to perform the different, defined and distinct functions of one and the same institution – the Parliament – like the organs of our body – heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes, nose, ear etc. – performing different and distinct functions to enable us to sustain normal life.
I think a combination of :
A secular, unitary/non-federal state with suitable regional/provincial autonomy arrangements (China, Indonesia, Philippines) —->GOVERNS POLITICS
AND
Meritocratic multiculturalism; a level playing field and a managed market economy (the Singapore model)——>GOVERNS ECONOMY AND EDUCATION.
If we can do this ALL PROBLEMS OR PERCEIVED PROBLEMS WILL BE SOLVED OVER NIGHT
A corollary to the gist of the article:
Replace the heavily loaded word ”sovereignty” with easy-to-understand phrase ”responsibility to protect ALL citizens”.
What was true will remain true for ever. A person who does not know the truth will live in darkness.
Therefore, the search for truth must take people to unfound realities and expose to unknown matters, deliberately kept away thus far from them.
In this scientific world, most people realise that the “history” of the arrival of the 801 Sinhalese into the island – Vijaya story – is fabricated nonsense; logically and scientifically unacceptable. And for the past 60 years, all students were lied to the teeth into this untruthful history.
Colonial Britain realised this evil prior to 1948 and filtered the teaching of such nonsense as history to students.
But after 1948, the demon of untruthful “Sinhalised history” raised its ugly head with the intent to subjugate the people of Tamil Eelam(TE).
Recent DNA tests of both the Sinhalese and ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka(SL) show that the DNA of Sinhalese is much more connected to the people of South India than the ethnic Tamils in SL.
Therefore, scientifically, the Sinhalese are later arrivals to the island compared to the thnic Tamils; a truth hidden for long years.
Probably, the ancestors of the Sinhalese were South Indian Buddhists who faced persecution in India and fled to the island; now called SL, but then a Tamil homeland in its entirety.
Sadly, the neglected cancer of untruth and fabricated lies has spread into the bloodstream of the Sinhala nation in the island and corrupted their minds to be “ethnic racists” against the Tamils.
The Sinhalese must therefore genuinely retrace their footprints accurately, without bias or myths, to know the truth and nothing but the truth.
The Sinhalese are also kept away from the recent truthful history that the people of TE resolved in 1976, mandated in 1977, waged an indpendence war, and had their de facto state till 2009.
The most imm,inent next stage will surely be the total independence of TE.
The independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia, East Timor from Indonesia and Kosovo from Serbia are recent historical lessons SL should learn from. But it is not happening.
Bernard Shaw said ” We learn from history, that we learn nothing from history. This is very true with SL.
I believe that the upcoming parliamentary elections to be the last chance the Sinhalese will have to elect a suitable government that can negotiate peacefully to establish TE and SL in the island.
Jansee,
I understand your utter despair in the demise of your “Son God’ in the vellamullavaikkal lagoon.But that took place nearly 10months ago..so enough time for you to recover mite.By the way I think you need some schooling regarding your knowledge in statistics.Well, if the Sri Lankan govt wanted to kill civilians they would have easily ended the war 3months earlier!
Dear Sam Thambi,
Thank you for enlightening the readers to the hither-to-unknown history of Sri Lanka.I guess you have your sources to verify this fantastic version of history.By the way ‘the myth of Mahawansa’ as quoted by your beloved late leader is the only historical chronicle in the world written by a multitude of erudite scholars over a period of two thousand years.There may be exaggerations and favourations in the accounts.But it is undeniable that the events described there match the historical artifacts like stone inscriptions that belong to various era.I won’t be surprised if you say that the stone inscriptions are the work of Rajapkse government or work of Sinhalese extremists!
If the written history of SL is a lie, then all the histories of other nations which are not chronicled and merely based on theories and hypotheses, must be lies to the power of ten!
I also enjoyed your “finding” that the Sinhalese came from south India to a Tamil Eelam which was the entire country,and it is proven by a DNA test.Please let me know the lab where this DNA test was conducted and where this paper was presented.Or are you merely telling we should accept “Prabhakaran’s version” of history and teach it in the schools?
Jansee,
I ask you man,how did murders like Isonhover,Winston Churchill,George w.Bush and George Bush junior got away fom war crimes? “WE REGRET THE HUMAN CASUALTIES THAT TOOK PLACE DUE TO UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTASCES”.
We tooooo.
longus:
Did you see how GR was trembling during the BBC interview? Oh yes, the SL regime’s statistics are always reliable – like when it claimed that those held behind the tiger areas were not the over 300,000 as claimed by others but when the “wall” broke and the flood of refugees was as claimed by other agencies. So, you don’t have to preach me about statistics. If you have washed your brains and dried them under the sun, then may be t may have worked properly rather than sticking your head into the sand. Again, why a war without witnesses? I never had any penchant love the sun god you refer to – he is just another side of the same coin of murderers like MR and GR.
I am not interested in Bush, Churchill, Eisenhower or any others not related to the SL conflict. They have no relevance at all. The perpetrators of crime in SL are the Tigers and the SL regime – and they are the ones who have to be put in the dock. Since the Tigers are no more, then the leftovers have to be dragged to answer war crimes. Let us see who has the last laugh. And mind you, it will be coming from unexpected sources and corners. As it is the pressure is already visible – did you notice how MR and GR have been jumping these days? Brutal oppressors and murderers ultimately will have no place to hide. See whether your small “smart” brain can save these murderers.
Dear Jansee
Thank you for your advice.You declare that you have no interest in other instances in the world where war crimes allegations were swept under the carpet.That’s intriging and raises doubts abouts about your nutrality and the ability for fair judgement.Can you please tell me WHY this bias.I’m repeating my question!
Why one rule for us and another for them?
longus:
“That’s intriguing and raises doubts about about your neutrality and the ability for fair judgement. Can you please tell me WHY this bias.I’m repeating my question!
Why one rule for us and another for them?”
Diversion politics is as old as prostitution itself. Indeed, it is prostituting politics. In short, you are literally arguing that murder is ok because someone else had done it. And, the instant topic is on SL. Again, I assume you are not blind to the fact that my issue on, say, Somalia would be in the appropriate forum dealing with issues on Somalia. Better still, get the front pages of mainstream newsmedia to write primarily on Churchill or Somalia. Get real friend.
“Recent DNA tests of both the Sinhalese and ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka(SL) show that the DNA of Sinhalese is much more connected to the people of South India than the ethnic Tamils in SL.”
Haha nice try Sammy boy. Sinhala DNA is closest to Sri Lankan Tamils and 2nd closest to S. Indian Tamils. What a laugh to see you crying about “untruth” and “fabricated lies.” lol
Dear Dayan Jayatilleka,
I watched your defense of your country on UN video.
Any Sri Lankan with patriotism towards his/her country would have been absolutely proud of your performance. The Challenge you threw by offering an International inquiry on SL provided that such inquiries begin from the beginning without excluding the criminal actions of the sponsors of the resolution on Sri Lanka had all of them stumped and speechless.
You threw down the gauntlet but no one was brave enough or willing to pick it up.
I congratulate you and wish you more strength in the future.
Dear Sam Thambipillai,
“Therefore, scientifically, the Sinhalese are later arrivals to the island compared to the thnic Tamils; a truth hidden for long years.”
You are groping in the dark to fit history to your own agenda.
The pattern of domicile of the two communities shows that the Tamil concentration is closer to the Northern tip of SL and the Sinhalese towards the South. Hence it can also be argued that the original inhabitants, who ever they may be, got pushed away from the North due to invaders from the larger land mass which is today India.
The first thing a civilization needs is water. The living monuments of irrigation existing in Sri Lanka today are not attributed to the Tamils.
The population growth rates of Tamils and Sinhalese are almost equal at 3%. What Historical event explains the over 90% Sinhalese preponderance where the purported original inhabitants became a minority of about 6%?
Dear Longus,
“how did murders like Isonhover,Winston Churchill,George w.Bush and George Bush junior got away fom war crimes? “WE REGRET THE HUMAN CASUALTIES THAT TOOK PLACE DUE TO UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTASCES”.”
Here is a video that is further evidence of the Double Talk of the Rich and Powerful
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_5040000/newsid_5042700/5042762.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=2&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2
Dear Jansee,Although I really don’t want to drag this conversation forward what you say in other words is allow the powerful countries to pick and choose the violations of human rights and the rest of us should comply as we don’t have power.But if that’s what you call “waking to reality”, I call it abuse.Let the weak countries too pick and choose….
Thank you ‘off the cuff’!
Dear Longus,
What most people forget when they advocate these International inquiries are the Bloodied hands of the Prime Movers of such inquiries. They do not want a just International system of accountability. But selective accountability. Another tool by which the rich and powerful can control the rest.
No country was able to accede to the very just offer placed on the table at the UN by Dayan J on behalf of Sri Lanka. That offer is still on the table without any takers.
“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” said Jesus.
Longus:
“Although I really don’t want to drag this conversation forward what you say in other words is allow the powerful countries to pick and choose the violations of human rights and the rest of us should comply as we don’t have power.But if that’s what you call “waking to reality”, I call it abuse.Let the weak countries too pick and choose….”
Ah, isn’t this a replication of what goes on SL – the powerful Sinhalese majority trampling on the weak minority Tamils? And that this abuse has gone on for almost 60 years. Would you apply the same rationality – that the weak too pick and choose?