Comments on: Responding to Aluthgama

By: James Chance

James Chance — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 12:27:00 +0000

A brilliant deconstruction – political and theoretical – of the mutually-assured destruction that Sri Lankan – and all – ethnic identity politics brings with it. Bravo also for taking on the National Shoora Council, whose statements continue the long history of trying to please the same mafia godfathers (who pose as civil servants) who extort political support by fear even as they fail to offer the protection they promise. If Muslims in Sri Lanka are ever to be safe, this policy of “supplication” must end. But Dr. Qadri is wise to see that the answer isn’t a policy of robust “Muslim” self-assertion. Instead, it has to be one that highlights and exploits the deep interconnections between what appear to be discrete communities and identities. In a wonderfully sad irony, some of the greatest resources for Qadri’s allternative politics of non- and mutually-“touched” identities are in fact that teachings of the Buddha. But translating this into a pragmatic politics will be an enormous challenge, as it is everywhere in the world, and as Vangessa Sumanaskera has suggested already in a prior comment. But the wisdom of Qadri’s analysis is nonetheless a good guide: do everything not to box yourself and your families into a single box of communal identity – this may look like it gives you more protection, but it actually renders you more vulnerable. And this goes for Sinhalese and Tamils as well. And the Americans and Russians, Israelis and Palestinians, Hindus and Muslims, Christians and … and the list goes on…

By: georgethebushpig

georgethebushpig — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 12:56:00 +0000

This an excellent article and it raises some uncomfortable truths that the Muslim community ought to consider very seriously. Acquiescence has unfortunate consequences. When the ACJU decided to sit down with BBS to discuss the halal issue it was a fatal error, just like the decision of the No Limit owner not to press charges on the yellow robed skinheads. Once the forces of repression are unleashed no one can fly under the radar and expect to escape. Sri Lankans regrouping around the basic principles of common decency and sense can be a powerful counter to the racist revival. Exposing the internal contradictions within the diverse Sri Lankan communities is a first step. Well done Qadri Ismail, Kalana Senaratne and Chaminda Weerawardhana.

Regards
GTBP

By: Vangeesa Sumanasekara

Vangeesa Sumanasekara — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 06:54:00 +0000

As always, beautifully written and seductively argued piece by Quadri. But I fear that his general proposal is dangerously close to a politically useless discourse of liberal multiculturalism, where we all recognize the moments of cultural intersections and the influences we have had from other cultures. I do not mean that this is a bad thing but just that I don’t see it as a politically salient concept. Politics, for me, – and I am here following the ideas of many others, most notably the thought of Jacques Ranciere – is something very rare, something that happens only in a handful of moments in an otherwise mundane history dominated by authoritarian states and political oligarchies. In this regard I think the political hope for Sri Lanka remains to be the Tamil nationalist struggle, in spite of its many drawbacks, including the blood-stained horror of the LTTE and its continuing questionable strategies, as Quadri deftly points out – a unified front of Tamils, Muslims and the progressive elements of the the Sinhalese, standing for radical equality. Highly unlikely, yes, but is there any other way?