By Vickramabahu Karunaratne
(March 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is a serious erosion of democracy in the country. This is accepted by all opposition forces including the conservative bourgeoisie.The protest of the Mahanayke theros of all chapters of the Maha Sangha was unprecedented. Mahinda had to forget his Janaranjana title, bestowed on him by the Sangha Sabha and had to take sharp underhand steps to control the sangha protest. It will remain a black mark on him for some time to come. However, the rural Sinhala masses is still content to follow him without raising questions. Not only the rural masses but even the urban Sinhala working class is still not prepared to come out in protest for democracy.
Mahinda while claiming that he has eliminated the most dangerous terrorist movement in the world, is on the other hand organizing protests against the western powers for raising human rights issues. Wimal Weerawansa, the unofficial deputy president or better still the additional president, led a pseudo peasant demonstration outside the British high commission, condemning both Brown and Miliband. Mahinda has developed a new variety of anti imperialist nationalism and it is put into practice by Wimal and others. A few years back, Mahinda entered Tony Blair’s house, hugged him and pleaded support for his fight against terrorism. At that stage he was eager to explain to the world powers the necessity of fighting terrorism in Sri Lanka. He insisted that it should be considered as part of the international war against terrorism launched by the Bush- Blair duo.
Unique method
After killing the LTTE leadership he announced to the global masters that he has now found the unique method of eliminating terrorism. In fact he would have gained a knighthood and been Sir Mahinda, if not for the decision taken by that great populist leader Bandaranaike, to reject such honours.
But the fact is, that the Tamil insurrection was just another insurrection based on the rural masses, who were marginalized and discriminated against by the powers that be. In the modern context such rebels are equipped with modern weapons and are able to cause terrible destruction. In Sri Lanka both the LTTE and the JVP provided the leadership to rural youth in despair, consequent to the hazards brought by the global capitalist system. The plunder of their land, neglect of their language and general discrimination were the immediate causes of the insurrection. In fact the world over, in America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, we witness such insurrections. The world powers are quick to treat all of them as terrorism caused by some outside power. While giving blanket support to all who stand for eliminating insurrection, the western powers get excited whenever human rights issues are raised affecting their own working people. Brown and Miliband are excited today because of the agitation by the Tamil diaspora backed by solidarity trade unions. As long as displaced Tamils are agitating both locally and internationally we could see the crocodile tears of the western leaders.
Fighting for autonomy
After doing the servile duty by the global powers, Mahinda has suddenly turned out to be the nationalist unmoved by the pressures of the western masters. Now we are told that Brown and Miliband were the real culprits behind Tamil terrorism. No foreign power can create terrorism unless there are conditions ripe for it on our soil. The Tamils were fighting for autonomy since independence. The Federal party was formed some time back. The insurrection was the culmination of the sad struggle of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The peasants in Sri Lanka struggled against the colonial powers since 1848 or even prior to that. Puranappu, Gongalegodabanda should be compared with Vanni Pandaram just as much as we see the similarity between Wijeweera and Prabhakaran. In the classification of world masters, all these were terrorists. Mahinda is using bogus anti west campaigns to cover up his chauvinist regime and his brutal repressions. A man who is completely dependent on the handouts of Americans, Indians and other powers, from time to time, deploys his adjutants to make noises outside western embassies. We have to take the bull by the horns and mobilize the masses against this chauvinist repressive regime, the agent of global plunderers.
Mobilize the forces against chauvinists and repression
