Needed: more visionary leaders among our political parties

| by Shanie

"We have to live up to our immemorial culture and try to win over those who are opposed to us. To compete with each other in hatred and barbarity is to sink below the human level and tarnish the name of our country and our people. One evil deed leads to another. Thus evil grows. That is not the way to stop these inhuman deeds. If we can behave with tolerance and friendship to each other, that surely will have its effect elsewhere. If not, the vicious cycle will go on bringing sorrow and disaster to all of us and to others."

( May 12, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) This is a quote from a broadcast to the nation made by the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru following the outbreak of some communal disturbances in his country. India and her leaders never compromised with linguistic and religious extremists even within their own ranks. They cracked down hard on bigots who created terror and violence on account of such differences. Even Mahatma Gandhi paid with his own life on account of that commitment to religious pluralism. India remains a secular state in the sense that no one religion is given any special place over the others. The people of India as a whole have accepted this position and even Hindu nationalist parties like the BJP dare not change this. This secular pluralist position came about in India on account of the outstanding leadership provided by leaders like Gandhi and Nehru, who ensured that people of all religions, or even no religion, were respected as equals and were not made to feel that they were second-class.

Last week, we referred to the imperative need in Sri Lanka for national unity and reconciliation. We referred to the veteran Samasamajist from Kandy Lal Wijenayake commending the action of the UNP leadership in holding the May Day rally in Jaffna and the need for the southern political leadership to take the lead role in integrating the politics of the North and South. For far too long, the southern political leadership has been lecturing to the the people of the North from a lofty majoritarian position. No attempt was made to talk to them as equal partners pursuing a common goal.

The creative activism of the youth

While the political leadership has failed so far, it was heartening this week to read two reports from non-governmental sources. One was a statement issued by an organization of young people called Sri Lanka Unites. Sri Lanka Unites refer to themselves as a youth reconciliation movement led by a core team of young professionals drawn from all ethnicities working in various fields. They have been involved in various initiatives to promote reconciliation among youth from differing ethnic, religious, caste and class groups, for the past six years. This means they have been active in pursuing their objectives both before as well as after the war. They want to build a nation based on true meritocracy that promotes equality and celebrates diversity. As youth born and raised during war-time, they say that they have witnessed the wretchedness of war and prejudice and seek to pave the way towards authentic youth-led reconciliation and transformation.

Many organizations have such lofty objectives but fail to deliver on the ground. Last month there were two incidents where extremists tried to stir up communal tensions. One was the burning down of seven houses belonging to the Tamil community at Elpitiya. The other was the intimidation and violence by a mob seeking to destroy a mosque at Dambulla. Sri Lanka Unites seems to have taken very practical steps to diffuse tensions. Students from Sri Lanka Unites chapters in Kurunagala have initiated a series of visits to Dambulla to dialogue and empathize with the Muslim community and show that they as Sinhala Buddhists do not stand for the violence that has been perpetrated against the Muslim community. Similarly, the students from Sri Lanka Unites chapters in Galle have also initiated a series of visits to the Tamil families whose homes were torched in Elpitiya. The statement further adds that the Sri Lanka Unites is collaborating with Sarvodaya’s ‘’Learning to Live Together’ programme at Dambulla. This program is aimed at student leaders and addresses the issues that led to the incident and the resulting animosity. It is programmes like this involving young people at the grassroots level and free from political propaganda that can bring about a real change in Sri Lanka. These young people state that their dialogue in the respective areas has enabled them to understand the deep hurt and anxieties of the affected fellow citizens. They are also dismayed at the misinformation, miscommunication and manipulation by various extremist groups to further fuel tensions. When non-partisan group of young people report like this, we can only say that all is not lost and there is hope for a brighter future for Sri Lanka.

The joint May Day Rally in Jaffna

The other heart-warming report was the speech made by Nimalka Fernando at the May Day rally in Jaffna. She was representing the Platform for Freedom and he speech at the rally was published in the Island earlier this week. Fernando called the rally a historic moment for peace and unity in the country and made possible by the political vision of two political leaders – Ranil Wickremesinghe and R Sampanthan. Activists from the civil society had long been fighting for real unity among all classes of people in this country. They needed to bravely continue to fight for that unity, even at the cost of their losing their lives or at least their limbs, if one were to mistakenly take seriously the empty boast of an empty mind.

In a clear reference to the cemeteries built by the LTTE for the dead among the young Tamils who lost their lives during the war and which were thoughtlessly bulldozed by the Army after the war, Fernando said: ‘Mothers of the disappeared, families of detainees, families, brothers and sisters of Tamil youth who are dead and whose memories have been destroyed are surely joining us to pay this tribute to all of you. Even their tombs are no more. We have to rekindle the memories of those tombs. Without this memory, we will not be able to build our civilization and work towards the unity of this country.

Freedom for all

After stating that political transformation has to take cognizance of establishing the dignity and equality of all communities and that freedom for all should be the driving force of our vision for the future, Fernando went on to address the women present: ‘Dear Tamil sisters and mothers, the tears you shed and the painful sighs you heave is relieved by our presence amidst you. Let that be a hope that sweeps through the land of Lanka for the future.’ She concluded with this clarion call;’ Tamil brethren, if this unity contributes to break the suspicion within you, let us join hands to walk towards unity, claiming this land as ours and declare that it is us who will unite this country. With this hope, let us march forward.’

Fernando’s speech was no doubt a political one made on a political occasion. But her sentiments in reaching out to the Tamil brothers and sisters in peace, unity and reconciliation is in the spirit of that May Day rally in Jaffna; the same sentiments that Nehru expressed in that broadcast to the people of India fifty years ago. Those were the sentiments that made the group under the leadership of the UNP and TNA hold this year’s May Day rally in Jaffna. It speaks volumes for their vision and courage that they went ahead with that Rally despite the threats and racist insults that came from the south. It also speaks well for the vision of those leaders to have hoisted the national flag on the occasion. It is not without significance that the back-handed complimentary comments about Sampanthan waving the national flag should come from the very forces that object to the singing of the national anthem in Tamil. The mindset of these elements occupying key positions in the government seems to be that Tamils can wave the national flag but if they want to sing the national anthem they have to do it only in Sinhala. The minorities will have to give up what they have been doing for the past sixty years, even if the LLRC encourages them to continue singing the national anthem in Tamil.

Not politicians alone

It is clear that building up of national unity and reconciliation in our country cannot be left to politicians. Their agenda is different. Their mindset has to be changed and that can only be done by bold initiatives from a courageous civil society. By civil society, we include religious leaders and journalists. They are the key elements in creating public opinion on national issues and fostering inter-communal tolerance. The civil society must take a stand and fight against extremist forces who seek to destroy national harmony. Most seem happy to speak out against the extremism of the ‘other’ but choose to remain silent in the face of extremism within our own camp. Therein lies the tragedy of Sri Lanka.