Comments on: Are We Going to Make the Same Mistake After 35 Years? https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years Journalism for Citizens Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:24:37 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 By: sumane https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1162 Wed, 19 Sep 2007 03:24:37 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1162 The logic behind my article is essentially a pragmatic one. i may agree with the argument that APRC is a delaying tactic by MR regime. I will also agree that Mahinda Rajapakse represents the chuvinistic elements in the SLFP. My objective was to salvage if possible the APRC process. There are signs that the APRC will come up with sugestions that the unit of devolution is province but the nature of the state is unitary in spite of the fact some power-sharing features are included. in many comments on my aticle I found usual colombo civil society approach that any process initiated by a government led by the SLFP would be a flop. When constitional debate began in 1994, colombo civil society took very lukewarm attitude and did not come forward to support it fully posing the argument that only the GoSL-LTTE talks could resolve conflict. I will not subscribe that view. So branding APRC process as flop and not trying get someting positive out of it is not acceptable to me. as a reformist-marxist i would like use all the existing mechanisms to get some positive results.

Finally the argument what we are doing will not produce any results because people will listen to JVP and JHU is are defeatist one. If we cannot convince people with continuous engagement with them, then we refuse to do ‘politics’. why spend so much money and fuel? I may fail but I will remain as an optimist.

]]> By: Suren Raghavan https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1161 Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:49:52 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1161 in constitutional debates to seek how not to share any meaningful political powers to the minority nations within SL. Is it not the spirit, not the letter that will eventually lead us to crawl out of this bloody abyss? Indo-Lanka accord (whatever validity) after paying such political and human price did not bring any satisfying ‘power-sharing’ that you refer to. Because JRJ (may he attain Nibbana!) while delivering on paper, bereft every single unit of ‘shared’ power. Provincial education is a case well known to you. In that respect not just 35 years over 70 years (when the Kandy National Assembly demanded federalism) the Sinhalese political elites and their technocrats have deliberately and systematically derailed any shared sovereignty with the other indigenous nations. MR could have written anything on his Chinthana Mantra, but are you saying that southern voters elected him after careful studies of his (or his writers’) printed words? You know well the historicization of elections and their manifestos in SL. Mahinda presented himself as the last champion of the Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and espoused JHU and JVP on that promise. For us (you) to interpret that he was otherwise will be to scoff the epistemology of contemporary SL politics. Was he not the ‘thick signifier’ to reconstruct a new war agenda? I am rather narcoleptic to witness a methodological divorce of the academic intellect and the empirical evidence in your interpretation. I agree on your advice to the LSSP and CP friends. they (who in the history fought for the rights of the minority nations) should have resigned long ago. Respectfully, Suren]]> Dear (Prof) Sumane,

Thank you for taking time to comment on issues that seems so mundane in mainstream SL political discourse. But I am bewildered. As a resolute and engaged social scientist / peace activist (for which you have my respect) your style of interpretation has no difference to those using the ‘golden rule’ in constitutional debates to seek how not to share any meaningful political powers to the minority nations within SL. Is it not the spirit, not the letter that will eventually lead us to crawl out of this bloody abyss?

Indo-Lanka accord (whatever validity) after paying such political and human price did not bring any satisfying ‘power-sharing’ that you refer to. Because JRJ (may he attain Nibbana!) while delivering on paper, bereft every single unit of ‘shared’ power. Provincial education is a case well known to you.

In that respect not just 35 years over 70 years (when the Kandy National Assembly demanded federalism) the Sinhalese political elites and their technocrats have deliberately and systematically derailed any shared sovereignty with the other indigenous nations. MR could have written anything on his Chinthana Mantra, but are you saying that southern voters elected him after careful studies of his (or his writers’) printed words? You know well the historicization of elections and their manifestos in SL.

Mahinda presented himself as the last champion of the Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and espoused JHU and JVP on that promise. For us (you) to interpret that he was otherwise will be to scoff the epistemology of contemporary SL politics. Was he not the ‘thick signifier’ to reconstruct a new war agenda? I am rather narcoleptic to witness a methodological divorce of the academic intellect and the empirical evidence in your interpretation.

I agree on your advice to the LSSP and CP friends. they (who in the history fought for the rights of the minority nations) should have resigned long ago.

Respectfully,
Suren

]]> By: Aliya https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1160 Sun, 16 Sep 2007 11:20:07 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1160 t pin point a group like that. The general mass wants peace and they don’t have any grudge against each other, be it Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims. The problem lies else where, with those who engage in opportunistic politics and one can not generalize that group as the general mass. The majority of the Sinhalese do not want a war. It’s their brothers and sons who get killed and they also suffer equally with Tamils and Muslims. If the Tamils didn’t use their vote in the last election to oppose the current system, I think it’s very ineffective. Whether we believe or not, Sri Lanka is a democratic country and we all get a chance to decide who should govern. Therefore we should make the most of that opportunity given. It’s not the sole responsibility of the Sinhalese to appoint a government which would work for the wellbeing of all ethnic groups. Tamils should fight for that right as well. Weapon is not a substitute for voting.]]> What do you mean, you think elections are only meant for the Sinhalese or Muslims? You think the Sinhalese are to be blamed for the current ethnic divisiveness?
Don’t pin point a group like that. The general mass wants peace and they don’t have any grudge against each other, be it Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims. The problem lies else where, with those who engage in opportunistic politics and one can not generalize that group as the general mass. The majority of the Sinhalese do not want a war. It’s their brothers and sons who get killed and they also suffer equally with Tamils and Muslims.
If the Tamils didn’t use their vote in the last election to oppose the current system, I think it’s very ineffective. Whether we believe or not, Sri Lanka is a democratic country and we all get a chance to decide who should govern. Therefore we should make the most of that opportunity given. It’s not the sole responsibility of the Sinhalese to appoint a government which would work for the wellbeing of all ethnic groups. Tamils should fight for that right as well. Weapon is not a substitute for voting.

]]> By: Mani https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1159 Sun, 16 Sep 2007 02:11:56 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1159 Sinhalese mass has always conviniently blamed the politicians for the current situation and continuing failure of the political system to bring a solution to the ethnic divisiveness. It is the Sinhalese mass who has been electing in parties and politicians, who take an uncompromising stand against minorties. The current government which came to power on a manifesto to go to war was voted in by Sinhalese voters.

It has been said that because most Tamils did not vote, under directive from LTTE, that MR came to power. But, Tamils not voting, has made it clear that majority of the Sinhalese wanted to go to war.

So, the APRC and peace talk were set up on the backdrop of conquest and domination. Nothing else would come out of it.

Until, Sinhalese voters vote in a government that would treat all its citizen equally, minorities (Tamils) have no choice than fight for survival.

]]> By: Aliya https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1158 Sat, 15 Sep 2007 19:31:44 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1158 t believe in all those conspiracy theories?- that the World Bank is behind all the things happening in Sri Lanka [same as the CIA claiming every criminal on earth is supported by Bin Laden]… etc. Are so sure that the God knows what our politicians are up to? Well, I don’t. I think only the politicians know what they are up to and they will be born again in Sri Lanka to have the experience of living in the hell they created. I also think that the Sri Lankan identity is weker in some parts of the country as well as among the diaspora. Unfortunately, this feeling of ‘not at ease with the Sri Lankan identity’ is more common among the educated. Their collective identity disappears when it comes to different nationalities.]]> Human, how can you sound so inhuman? Surely you don’t believe in all those conspiracy theories?- that the World Bank is behind all the things happening in Sri Lanka [same as the CIA claiming every criminal on earth is supported by Bin Laden]… etc.
Are so sure that the God knows what our politicians are up to? Well, I don’t. I think only the politicians know what they are up to and they will be born again in Sri Lanka to have the experience of living in the hell they created.

I also think that the Sri Lankan identity is weker in some parts of the country as well as among the diaspora.
Unfortunately, this feeling of ‘not at ease with the Sri Lankan identity’ is more common among the educated. Their collective identity disappears when it comes to different nationalities.

]]> By: Human https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1157 Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:08:07 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1157 Everybody knows all these all party setup is for time passing, just to make sure
the people in power get ample time to multiply their wealth in a forign bank or foreign investment. Kill the poor or the innocent people. Don’t care about others. Only God knows what all these politician are up to…….they will go to Hell for sure….

]]> By: rajeev sreetharan https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1156 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:29:57 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1156 i believe the argument that “all these said nationalisms in Sri Lanka be unsafe under a “unitary” state” — presumes that the Sri Lankan identity is weaker than the Sinhala/Tamil/Muslim identity.

This holds in certain regions of Lanka and its Diaspora, not in others.

]]> By: Aliya https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1155 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 15:12:36 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1155 s unfortunate to hear that the final outcome of the APRC is ineffective. It seems to leave no hope for the future and for a national consensus over this issue. If JVP and JHU agreed to abide by the majority consensus, the outcome of the APRC got to be the consensus of the majority, don’t you think? Prof. Vitharana can’t do much to help it if the majority wants it. In a situation in which the desired process of reaching to a majority consensus as indicated in Mahinda Chinthanaya is failed, and in a situation in which all parties are not included in an “All Party conference”, how can one expect one thing to go right, when all have gone wrong? LSSP and CP lost their honesty and integrity far back in history when they failed to stand up against ruthless strikes against the Tamils in 60s and 80s. Ever since, they are mere politicians- wolfs in sheeps’s clothing. There are no two other political parties as covered as and as not do what they preach or stand for as the LSSP and the CP. Red is not their true colour. Forgive me for asking, it’s just my ignorance, how can all these said nationalisms in Sri Lanka be unsafe under a “unitary” state? Is knowledge of belonging in to a nation so dividing? I read somewhere that nationalism is a mere transitory phenomena.]]> I was very happy when the MR government formed an All Party Conference in order to reach for a solution for the national question and it’s unfortunate to hear that the final outcome of the APRC is ineffective. It seems to leave no hope for the future and for a national consensus over this issue.

If JVP and JHU agreed to abide by the majority consensus, the outcome of the APRC got to be the consensus of the majority, don’t you think? Prof. Vitharana can’t do much to help it if the majority wants it. In a situation in which the desired process of reaching to a majority consensus as indicated in Mahinda Chinthanaya is failed, and in a situation in which all parties are not included in an “All Party conference”, how can one expect one thing to go right, when all have gone wrong?

LSSP and CP lost their honesty and integrity far back in history when they failed to stand up against ruthless strikes against the Tamils in 60s and 80s. Ever since, they are mere politicians- wolfs in sheeps’s clothing. There are no two other political parties as covered as and as not do what they preach or stand for as the LSSP and the CP. Red is not their true colour.

Forgive me for asking, it’s just my ignorance, how can all these said nationalisms in Sri Lanka be unsafe under a “unitary” state? Is knowledge of belonging in to a nation so dividing? I read somewhere that nationalism is a mere transitory phenomena.

]]> By: rajeev sreetharan https://groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1154 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:54:06 +0000 http://www.groundviews.org/2007/09/13/are-we-going-to-make-the-same-mistake-after-35-years/#comment-1154 The inclusion of ‘unitary’ indeed further closes the negotiation space. But with or without ‘unitary’, with or without the ‘APRC’, what negotiation space is open, if any, at present?

The Tigers have lost the East and would be disinclined to negotiate from weakness. It seems both parties are locked into pursuing a military solution, a decision which has not really impacted the south as of yet, outside the inconveniences of inflation.

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