Tamil Question and the Global Crisis of Capitalism
Repost This ArticleOne whole year has elapsed since Sri Lanka’s military victory over the Tamil Tiger forces that were fighting for a separate state. Many had high hopes that the triumphant Mahinda-regime would now magnanimously bring out a political solution to settle the long-running ethnic conflict that has been bugging the Sinhala-dominated state in various forms since colonial times. However, still there are no signs of introducing either a substantial devolutionary package or even the so-called unitary solution for which the government has been paying lip service for quite a while.
In view of the Sinhala Buddhist majority’s key national aspiration – that Lord Buddha himself appointed god Saman to protect Sri Lanka, as the only viable land on Earth for authentic Buddhism to thrive – a unitary solution to the Tamil Question may be more prudent than any other model.
However, to attract a highly antagonised Tamil community to a unitary solution will not be easy at all. Perhaps, nothing less than a fully-fledged power-sharing model at the centre may win over the highly motivated Tamil Diaspora away from the rapidly re-emerging separatist ideology among Tamils.
Is there any chance the Mahinda-Regime of invoking far-reaching democratic changes of that scale at the centre? None whatsoever, I should say. Sri Lanka being part of the crisis-ridden global capitalist chain, I argue, powerful political and economic factors virtually rule out any such democratic change in its lopsided state structure. [Most Tamils are unlikely to take seriously the government’s latest ‘ploy’ – the so-called Reconciliation Commission – while so many Tamils rot in prison for years without trial.] In all likelihood, Mahinda administration will keep the existing forms of virtually monocratic rule intact in the face of Sri Lanka’s ‘sovereign-debt bomb’ ticking in the background. [I shall return to this point later; for now, more on the unitary solution.]
In principle, there is nothing wrong in a unitary setup provided the government is willing to go for a substantial transformation of existing state structures that can convincingly attract all three communities; in other words, a ‘democratic revolution’ that institutionally enthrone equality and the rights of individuals and communities. On the contrary, it is becoming increasingly clear that the government wants to hold on to the existing supremacist forms, hoodwink the Tamil speaking Hindu-Muslim communities and encourage the Sinhala Buddhists’ sentiments of racial superiority to thrive.
The relentlessly worsening economic nightmare seems to me to be a major factor that compels the government to do so. Like in Greece, Sri Lanka’s capitalist regime knows that eventually it has to impose the burden of debt on the people, and it knows what that means in terms of social unrest. Thus, the regime is unlikely to discard the present forms of harsh rule, or its ideological cover needed to camouflage the core issues from the public.
Perhaps, as Leon Trotsky pointed out in his Theory of Permanent Revolution, full-blown democracy in underdeveloped countries can only materialise through the socialist revolution. In other words, the democratic changes can only occur as part of the socialist revolution; and, not under national bourgeois governments. In fact, Sri Lanka’s post-independence history is a testimony to that. The unique manner in which Sri Lankan bourgeoisie emerged from an artificially imposed capitalist economy on a thriving feudal society may not be conducive for full-blooded democracy . I shall later explain how Sri Lanka’s present situation confirms Trotsky’s point. First, let me dwell a bit more on the unitary solution.
Considering demographic, geographic and economic factors [e.g. the spread of Tamil speaking people all over the island, the virtually inseparable natural water circulation pattern and the economic advantage of unitary planning, to mention a few] it seems beneficial for all communities to have a unitary setup. However, this may only work if visibly appealing power-sharing institutions establish equality of all communities at the centre itself along with the introduction of power-decentralisation to regional and local levels. [My own unitary model with “two regional parliaments and an equality-based Supreme Parliament at the centre” is one such possibility – for which I have been campaigning for a long time.]
Now, can the Mahinda regime, I repeat, carry out such a radical transformation? It certainly cannot for obvious reasons. Sri Lankan state, being an inseparable unit within the global capitalist network (which is in mortal crisis), will want to widen its fascistic arsenal even more to defend the capitalist system against the radicalising trade unionists, farmers and socialist leaders. It will force the media to support the government’s ‘economic war’ to save capitalism. Anybody who opposes will be branded as ‘traitors’ to be eliminated.
Just like most other capitalist countries, Sri Lanka also has been borrowing billions of dollars to cover massive budget deficits, not just to enhance the war-machine, but also to pacify the Sinhala majority by peddling the illusion of development. [Contrary to what Prof. G.L. Pieris claims , the haphazardly- done infrastructure developments and city-beautification projects - without  wide-ranging social security networks and major improvements in health, education and housing sectors - will invariably be contrary to the real interests of the ordinary masses. Although, corrupt ministers’ whimsical infrastructure projects  could have a temporary ‘trickle-down’ benefit for some layers, in reality such ventures will only benefit the regime-backed profiteers. Pumping ‘paper money’ for them will widen the rich-poor gap even more. They can do more harm than good to the society and the environment in general. Widespread belief is that these projects are primarily cooked up to fulfil the insatiable greed of crafty ministers and businesspersons rather than the real needs of the majority. In any case, I should say, such ‘developments’ have nothing in common with the economic planning of scientific socialism.]
To return to the main point: largely, mountains of debt have been funding both the war and the selective infrastructure projects. The global ‘credit bubble’ remained the ultimate bulwark behind the ‘economic growth’. That bubble has now blown up dragging the nerve centres of global capitalism along with it. It is now taking the form of a ‘sovereign debt-contagion’ that forces the capitalist states to take back the money spent on ordinary masses. Mahinda-Regime also will be compelled to carry out this capitalist necessity in the form of massive cuts in public spending and social services. [The often-used term, ‘austerity measures’ is inadequate to depict the gravity of the ‘economic reversal’ involved.]
The continuing debt-crisis and the resultant mass confrontation on the streets of Greece seem to provide the images waiting to re-occur in many European cities, former colonial countries and eventually the United States itself in the near future. [Sri Lanka is not an exception.]  American nervousness was obvious when it created billions of ‘paper ‘dollars out of thin air –despite its worsening debt-problem at home – and handed over to Europe to stop (read: postpone) the ‘sovereign debt-contagion’ spreading out of control. However, everybody knows that the only meaningful way to save capitalism is to somehow nullify the debt-based ‘prosperity mirage’ and pay the money back to capitalist financiers; also, everybody knows that the states’ attempt to do this will provoke class conflict as never before.
Are the capitalist states ready to tackle the consequences? Not quite; at least not yet. The artificial capitalist booms have also strengthened self-confident working classes all over the world who will not be prepared to sacrifice their hard-won living conditions easily. Therefore, the states will have to first prevent the working classes gaining the political awareness necessary to comprehend the real issues involved – i.e. to prevent the working class from perceiving the economic crisis as a capitalist problem and seeing the need to change the profit system to bring in global socialism. The capitalist states have historically used various ideological weapons to do this before using state-power to crush the struggles. Whipping up nationalism and racism to split the working class has often been a major tactic.
The above discussion’s relevance to Sri Lanka’s case is obvious. Just like many other capitalist states, the biggest problem Sri Lanka is presently facing is the debt-problem; and, keeping the working class split along ethnic lines is crucial. To do that, Sri Lanka has a readymade arsenal of communalist ideology and racist sentiments that can be lit up at short notice. Moreover, Sri Lanka has a readymade arsenal of fascist gangs to mobilize at will along with the Sinhala troops.
As I have pointed out earlier, the Mahinda regime has a stake in maintaining the status quo. Nobody should be naive enough to expect solid democratic changes to solve the Tamil Question or disband its network of gangsters. The Reconciliation Commission will only be a smokescreen to buy time.
In this context, it is sad to see most Tamils, along with their Sinhala counterpart, still failing to transcend the nationalist mindset and comprehend issues in class-terms. The Tamil nationalists’ present effort to revive a separatist struggle will contribute to the ‘Sinhala’ government’s strategy to keep the working class divided along ethnic lines. This has happened in the past, and in the present context, it will happen again with far more disastrous consequences to all communities. The time has come for the Tamil separatists to go beyond narrow-nationalism and understand the most fundamental problems facing Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims as class-issues, and not ethnic issues. Only a far-reaching democratic transformation of the country as a whole will solve the cultural aspirations of all three communities. Such a change will require a paradigm-shift in economic thinking, and is inseparably intertwined with a fully-fledged remodelling of society on the principles of scientific socialism. Remember, this does not prohibit the role of regulated private enterprise within limits.
whatever you people preach we will fight tooth to nail to keep Sri Lanka as a Sinhalese Buddhist capitalist state.Marxists,Tamil terrorists,jihadists and chritian fundamentalist will not have their way in Sri Lanka we will not tolerate them any longer.Do not talk about any devolution because there is going to be no devolution at all look at the government its full of nationalist people President has identified himself with the sinhala nationalists.The Prmi minister is also a nationalist and strongly against tamil terror .Power and energy minister Champika Ranawaka,minister Wimal Weerawansa,minister Kumara Welagama,minister Dallas Allahaperuma and many more will work in order to annihilate tamil self determination
who r these tamils think they r, do they think that the whole world revolves around them and after all the destruction they have coursed that we as a nation should bend down to them to win over!!!!!!!
what they failed to realize is, even if were are to go down as these ultra racist tamil preachers, we will go down as one nation, and that includes the tamils as well!
@Susantha
” will work in order to annihilate tamil self determination”
Which self determination? Is there any rights for the tamils? There is nothing!
Sri Lanka is a failed state! Thank your President! He and his ancestors has brought your land in this trouble! Till now. No one of your president has strong interest in the tamil question! They all had only strong interest in Sinhalisation of the whole Island. Like your Kings and other!
Your President and his family Clan will be the cause, why Sri Lanka will come to the international Court! This is true and not far away! God is there, where justice is! Your land forgotten by God! Don’t bash the name of Buddha! He is a saint! You guys in SL must be punished from Buddha!
Bridgette Dalima
I think you miss the fundamental problem in Sri Lanka since it’s independence, and that is the lack of political choice. You have two main parties, with no difference between the two, and a country made up mostly of one ethnic group. Ethnicization started taking place between the two major parties to outbid each other for the same vote. Tamils, … See MoreMuslims, Burghers took the brunt of this power struggle as they were blamed for every problem facing the dominant majority, and the Tamils chose to fight back. Tamil nationalism is a reaction to Sinhalese chauvinism. Let’s not become revisionist historians, as they are a dime a dozen nowadays.
Until, Sinhalese people fight for institutional and electoral change, everyone in the country will continue to lose out. If they think that waving the Sri Lankan flag and electing the most chauvinistic leader of the moment and killing as many Tamils as they choose, is going to bring progress to their lives, they are sadly mistaken. What’s going to happen when they run out of people to blame their problems on?
Excellent article. The Sinhalese – other than the elite bourgeois – did not benefit from the war. Regardless of how many Lion flags the 100K+ soldiers in the North may wave, they are still going to go home to a mud hut in the South. Five, ten, fifteen years from now, these soldiers will still not be able to afford a martini or margarita at one of the lavish nightclubs in Colombo. The rest of the (civilian) Sinhalese do not have it much better… like the article makes clear, there will be no economic revival, and there will be few benefits for the common man on the street.
On the other hand, the elite Sinhalese bourgeois stands to gain a lot from the end of the war. The three brothers are issuing the contracts to China/India, and reaping the commissions in the name of “developmental work.” Their Swiss Bank accounts must no doubt be full to the brim, if the 500K USD found in Anoma Fonseka’s bank locker is any indication.
Unfortunately, extreme dislike of the LTTE and a desire to display superiority over the Tamils, blinded the vast majority of the Southern Sinhalese from negotiating a peaceful solution with the LTTE. Economic ruin, dictatorship, and Lion flags (notice how practically every Sri Lankan newspaper displays a silly Lion flag!) will surely be the fate of S. Lanka. Not the wish of Lord Buddha, but the curse of Ravana will finally come to take hold of the island.
Unfortunately, extreme dislike of the LTTE and a desire to display superiority over the Tamils, blinded the vast majority of the Southern Sinhalese from negotiating a peaceful solution with the LTTE.
How is it unfortunate when LTTE was a murder machine. Who in their right minds would negotiate with them? Peaceful solution? HA!!! All what LTTE ever wanted was eelam and that is no negotiating or compromise. I can’t believe the stuff you write sometimes. You must think we are some aliens in Sri Lanka.
Economic ruin, dictatorship, and Lion flags (notice how practically every Sri Lankan newspaper displays a silly Lion flag!) will surely be the fate of S. Lanka. Not the wish of Lord Buddha, but the curse of Ravana will finally come to take hold of the island.
We’ll see. If that;s the case all Tamil racists can rest easy for the revenge they seek is already upon us. lol You’re very kind to worry about us Heshan, but seriously, not necessary. We’ve had it rough and it couldn’t get anymore rougher. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger right?
“Unfortunately, extreme dislike of the LTTE and a desire to display superiority over the Tamils, blinded the vast majority of the Southern Sinhalese from negotiating a peaceful solution with the LTTE.”
Although I sometimes I agree with Heshan, this is not one of those occasions. I don’t agree with the way the SL army recklessly killed people up north, but I don’t believe a peaceful solution would have been possible with the LTTE. I believe there has been documentation of how they merely used the ceasefire period to stock up on arms. Also, as they get a huge following from the diaspora, I don’t believe they would merely give up there eelam cause if the SL government struck a ” peaceful agreement” with them.
Let us look at the achievements of our Presidents.
JR brought in the open economic policy and created free trade zones and the working class benefited. For the first time dirt poor, uneducated and underprivileged could set foot on a plane and earn foreign money in the Middle East so that they could raise their heads above abject poverty.
Premadasa and his one million houses gave the poor a chance to have electricity for the first time and concrete houses. I still remember Peliyagoda’s rubbish dump turned almost overnight into dazzling houses. He also gave school children, free nutritious breakfast and milk.
D.B. Wijetunga did not do much and he faded away with hardly anyone noticing.
Chandrika at least ended the fear psychosis which reigned during the Premadasa era and attempted peace talks with the LTTE.
The current President is celebrating the war victory which as Vasantharaja rightfully says got our country in the worst debt it has seen and it will take our next two generations to clear this debt if at all.
In the history of independence and before, the majority Sinhala dominance has never been questioned either by the colonial powers before or even now by the Western powers at whose mercy we are for our sustenance.
In this light Tamils, both in Sri Lanka and the diaspora, need to engage with the government in a positive manner so that we get at least some kind of autonomy. Once we gain the government’s confidence we can gradually persuade it to treat us as equal citizens.
It does nto bode well for the present political representatives of Tamils such as Douglas Devananda, Karuna and Pillayan to hold Tamils at ransom through abductions, intimidation and killings of those who do not support them.
Their thuggish behaviour gives all the Tamils who want to negotiate with the government a bad name and gives ammo that Tamils’ only mode of bargaining is violence.
In this scenario we need to re-think how we elect our political representatives.
Granted the government needs politicians like Douglas so that it can excuse itself from blame for the misery created for Tamils through their intimidation tactics. This is exactly what the government wants. Just like Pontius Pilate it can wash its hands and say, “look, I had nothing to do with this” and at the same time chuckle at its fait accompli.
Observer:
Sri Lanka was better off during the period of the CFA than it is right now. All the results of the CFA – from the Karuna split to rapid economic growth – were achieved in the background of prolonged negotiations with the LTTE. The fact of the matter is, the Three Stooges are incapable of building the country from the ground up. They can seize all the ministries they want, but it will not make a difference. Notice the word I used: “incapable.” It was easy for them to throw all the resources of the nation into the war and blindly extract a favorable solution through brute force. Winning the peace is a different story. Winning the peace is actually a far more arduous task, and takes an altogether different mindset, which, unfortunately, Lion flags, false promises, and white vans from the Ministry of Defense (want to guess which Stooge is in charge?) , will not even begin to do. Believe it or not, modern-day politics is a social “science.” There is a rational method that one follows to get the best results. Those who stray from this path do so at their own risk. Anyway, the point is that the Rajapakse’s are not rational decision makers… they are impulsive gamblers who will gamble away the welfare of the island for their own profit. Do not forget that even Sorbonne educated CBK got carried away by the Executive Presidency… what chance does our friend in the national costume stand? The sooner that S. Lankans wake up and realize the truth, the better it will be (not only for this generation, but the ones to come). If a socialist revolution is what takes to topple them, so be it.
exceptionally foolish. after the government thrashed them in the most absolute manner, why the hell would we bend over to their demands? rather, you should come to us with the begging bowl and take what is given.
many individuals write articles on this subject.some articles are very good and unbiased. my comment:- it is absured to write about the preachings of lord buddha.s.l.ans buddhist (majority)call themself sinhale buddhist,and that means what they try to protect is buddhism according to the sinhale buddhist mindset.
-most of the tamil elite, specially from the north p. ,when they talk about the rights and aspirations of the tamils,they mean the the rights of the elite to discriminate the other tamils who does not belong to their class and caste.for this they(elite) needs a state, atleast the n.p. . they want the whole cake for them in the n.p.,if possible also in the e.p.,and share the cake with the others in other provinces. it is a fact in tamil nadu the quality of life for the majority of the people is not better than in s.l. .the only difference is the state of tamil nadu is governed by tamils.- the quality of life of the majority of the sinhale and muslims is no different than of the majority of the tamils.why? because of the sinhale elite,who governed s.l. from 1948.
-iam for a federal setup in s.l. but i feel for this to happen the mindset of the elites has to change.maybe h.e. m.r. would change this.the tamils specially the t.n.a should also be flexible.ranjit de mel berlin/colombo.
Capitalism is trying in vain to hide its ugly face from the educated ,intelligent people of all parts of the world, capitalism has failed in doing so and it is getting clear than ever before eg: Greece at present.those powerful countires are struggling had to come out from recession even now though they are boasting about them selves .
Considering demographic, geographic and economic factors [e.g. the spread of Tamil speaking people all over the island, the virtually inseparable natural water circulation pattern and the economic advantage of unitary planning, to mention a few] it seems beneficial for all communities to have a unitary setup. However, this may only work if visibly appealing power-sharing institutions establish equality of all communities at the centre itself along with the introduction of power-decentralisation to regional and local levels. [My own unitary model with “two regional parliaments and an equality-based Supreme Parliament at the centre” is one such possibility – for which I have been campaigning for a long time.]
Some suggestions, that might help in finding an answer or lead to find an answer to the questions posed in the above quoted paragraph, is to create a UNIQUE SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE that would ultimately bring in GOOD GOVERNANCE by showing the way out for injustice, discrimination, oppression and corruption born due and bred by the present system of governance that is mistakenly or mischievously termed as democratic by persons who call themselves political scientists.
“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 Center 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 UNIQUE 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/system of governance to address the problems faced by various sections of the Sri Lankan society – particularly the poor, the politically weak and the various categories of “minorities” 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 of governance 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. It is based on the principle that everyone must have similar powers, rights, duties and responsibilities and most importantly everyone should be deemed “equal” and treated “equitably” 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.
In these suggestions the powers of the Parliament have been so separated and distributed among different sets of people’s representatives in different areas so as to dilute the powers of an individual representative or that of a set of representatives in any area. (Dilution is better than Devolution)