Law Breakers vie to become Law Makers !

By Nalin Swaris

(March 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The above title is from one of several comments I made during a panel discussion on Rupavahini’s ‘Kathiraya’ programme one evening in April 1999. The polling for provincial councils had closed and vote counting had begun. After the shocking violence unleashed on opposition supporters by PA goondas with some ministers egging them on - an opposition supporter, a woman school teacher, was stripped and forced to walk on a main street - it had been decided to have the other provincial council elections on the same day.

Ignore-ant Lawbreakers : 1999

I was one of four participants of the panel discussion. The Chair, a hand-picked government appointee, started the ball rolling by asking me a leading question, “Acharaya thuma, relative to - sapekshava - Wayamba, these elections were less violent, no?” I said “Samavende, Pardon I think this is a strange question. Not relatively, but absolutely, there should not have been any violence at all”. I then continued, “Relative to Wayamba any election would have looked like a birthday party. But there is also a non physical form of violence that politicians inflict on our people. Look at all those posters, not a wall, private or government, not a bus stand, not a lamp post, not even road name boards are spared. Posters were pasted even on municipality signs boards saying “Let’s keep the city-town clean and tidy”! This is environment pollution and visual pollution. It is a violent imposition. People are helpless. There are laws against this but our politicians of every hue could not care less - that’s how dumb or defiant they are”.

“Another thing, I said, “there is a mental aberration called ‘Exhibitionism’ in English that is to say, svayampradarshana rogaya. Politicians do not get one poster with their mug shots pasted, but about ten, twelve are pasted one after the other!” “Probably”, I added, these politicians also think that the “janathava” are “mandha buddhikai” - the people are mentally deficient - and that they would not remember face unless it is hammered in several times”

“But the worst thing is this. These politicians, seem to be unaware even of the most basic principle high school students of civics would know. They do not seem to know where they want to go when they beg for the peoples’ vote. That the National Parliament is the Legislative Branch of the State – viyavasthhadayakaya – where peoples’ representatives are sent to make laws for the country’s good.” These jokerla are asking to be elected ‘to make laws for the people by breaking the law’ – “Nithi kadanno nithi hadanno vende janathavage chandhey illanawa”!

I will bet my last cent - they will break any laws that get in their monetary way. For politicians, all laws are like papadams, always meant to be broken.

The seed of corruption is sown to harvest a hundredfold. The money spent on posters cut outs, hoarding, on paying the catchers who paste and erect and if necessary to crack a few skulls, must be regained by hook or by crook.

When Thilangas punt and Susies run.
Who will be the lucky one?
Geetha’s smile or Ranil’s wile?
The One Shot boy or fav’rite Son?
A villain can also smile and smile

Idem Ditto 2010

That was 1999, eleven years ago. Has anything changed? Some faces have changed. The French have a saying, "Le plus ca change, le plus c'est la meme chose," - "The more it changes, the more it stays the same”. If there has been a change at all, it’s been a change for the worse. Now the country is littered not only with posters but public spaces are uglified with life size cut outs and huge hoardings with inanely grinning exhibitionists. The people want to go about their everyday business in peace without being buffeted by bofoonery at every nook and corner by buffoons.

The other day I turned into Church Road from the Moratuwa-Piliyandala Road. Right there on the very first wall, were posters of the minister of who was dedicated to urban (Un?) development spreading town and city pollution. With so many macho boys and glamour girls, in the race, I suppose he too had to be eye-catching. The photo must have been taken about two decades ago! I drove past thinking, surely, with such an illustrious father and what he has been exposed to, he must have picked up a thing or two about how things are done in more politically mature countries. He did his first studies in the Netherlands in the prestigious international school ‘Nijenrode’, run by the Jesuit fathers. Surely he must have at least heard that in the country of his old alma mater such vulgar display is banned and that politicians must respect election laws. If not, the police will make them. Here, politicians compel the police to break laws!

I drove on looking for the road sign to my destination. I managed to find it with difficulty. Smack in the middle of the 3x4 ft large name board was a poster with a (s)mug shot of the local politician - ‘large as a house’. Not very sporting, I thought. So there you are, these are the guys and the dolls who will be making laws which the citizens will have to obey.

All sorts of slogans are printed together with the mugs, saying how much they are dying to serve the people. Some decades ago a minister who was making a fortune illegally felling and selling timber had this slogan under his benevolent face “Sadahatama mama obage” – ‘I am for you always”. When he went to canvass in his home district some wiseacre had nailed hand written posters on the trees along the route the minister took with this slogan: “Apith sadahatama amathige” - We too are always the minister’s.” This time around the one with serial foreign affairs has a mug shot of his distinguished self with the slogan, ‘Won the World for the Country’! The World? Somey, give him the Cup.

The poor Election Commissioner still suffers post-election trauma stress. Looks like he has given up trying to enforce election laws. He tried though, at the last elections. He appointed a Competent Authority (CA) to prevent media abuse. The CA ruled that ITN stop its after-news propaganda piece. No problem. The programme name was changed, The text writer’s name was changed. The harangue continued. The CA also asked Rupavahini to stop serializing an old documentary on Hitler and the Nazis during the 8 o’clock news. No problem. It was stopped and replaced by an after-the-news Docu-drama on Idi Amin. There were many horribly lurid scenes: savagely machete chopped and slashed, blood drenched corpses piled up in prison yards; hacked off heads kept in deep freezers. The Docu-drama was also shown on day time TV, which little children also watch. There was no warning that some scenes may be very disturbing to the young. How could those sensitive little minds understand such cruelty? Will they not gradually be morally de-sensitised? Or is that what the jokers who select TV features really want? The other Idi Amin film, also repeatedly shown, was ‘The Last King of Scotland’. It was a less revolting Hollywoodised version of the dictator’s violent life and loves.

No Business like Politics

Politics, a Bandaranaieke sibling once said, is the family business. This family business has run down. But politics as a lucrative family business is spreading like AIDS – Assured Impunity Driven System. Want to make easy money? Do politics.

Several years ago, during a summer holiday visit, a friend took me for lunch to a club in Colombo which is named after an Italian island. It was on this Isle that I met him, standing at the bar. He looked prosperous in a gaudy way. He was holding a gold cigarette case and a packet of Dunhill. The top three buttons of his shirt were open revealing a hairy barrel chest and a thick gold chain round his thick neck. He wore gem-studded rings on the ring and forefingers of each hand. The stone on the right hand middle finger ring was a rock. Must serve as a knuckle duster, I thought. He wore a very thick gold bracelet and a thick pirith nuul band, on his left hand. My friend introduced me to the shortish thick set bejeweled man and said that I was now a university lecturer in Holland. Dunhill reacted with surprise:

“Nalin Swaris! How? How, man? You may not remember because I was a primary school tot when you were in advanced level. Kind of hero to us then, cadet sergeant, college hockey team. Remember the Good Shepherd cuties ? All lovely grannies now, machan.” I asked what he was doing. After that I could not get a word in. With mock modesty, he said, “Bit of politics last few years.” Drawing closer. Lowered voice. Knowing look. “Started small. You know buying and selling smuggled hootch. Swaris, you were among the brainy chaps in College. But I was smart, bought for fifty, sold for hundred and made my two percent”. Then I got into auto sales. Made good money, became important in my area. When buggers don’t pay their lease, must have the right men to seize the cars, no? Party noticed. Got nominations. Won. Slowly, slowly, became juniour minister.

Remember how you guys carried away prize after prize on the annual Prize Giving Day? Teachers thought I was a dud and would not make it in the world. How many degrees do you have, machang? “Three”, I said. “So with all those degrees, how much do you make now? Glad I did not waste time studying. Now buddy, big bungalow, marble floors - swimming pool at the back. Before you go, must show you my BMW, latest model - parked outside – chauffer and all.” Sad to say, a few years later, Dunhill’s life was tragically snubbed out.

Humour and Authoritarianism

It is said that authoritarian regimes don’t take kindly to political jokes. But judging by the political cartoons in the daily news papers, things don’t seem to be too bad.
But it would be salubrious if rulers have the capacity to laugh at themselves. Mikhail Gorbachev was one such. He was ousted by Boris Yeltsin in a colour revolution of sorts. Gorbachev became a seniour world statesman and especially American culture vultures loved to invite him for highly paid lectures about his Communist days. He was guest of a Larry King on CNN. Gorbachev was in nostalgic mood, but funny. One thing he tried hard to do, he said, during his Perestroika days was to curtail the rampant alcoholism among Russians. He had passed a law by which purchase of hard liquor was rationed. This led to long queues of people waiting to buy their quota. One man had been standing in the bitter cold for nearly two hours. Exasperated, he told the man behind him “Hold my place I want to go shoot that bastard Gorbachev. The man was back within half an hour. “So soon?”, asked the man in the queue. “Did you shoot the bugger?”. ”No, moaned the would be assassin, “That queue is even longer than this one!”

Thanks to the broadminded JHU, there are no long queues outside liquor stores anywhere in the country or outside JHU headquarters. At a press conference a seniour JHU monk was asked a small question about liquor being served at Temple Trees dansalas. The understanding monk replied,”Ithin, Raja Gedera adiyak dekak dunnate prasnayak nevei ne?” - If a tot or two is served in the King’s Palace it is not a big question, no?”

In Russia, with capitalism came the twin evils, rampant corruption and that export product even to Lanka, prostitution. In Lanka corruption was petty retail rupee business before 1977. Thereafter it became a wholesale trade in dollars. How much would a 10% commission on a multi million dollar mega project deliver? How to catch? The commission is transferred directly to a secret foreign bank account. In Karl Marx’ words, what has overwhelmed national life since 1977, is “a general state of whoredom”.

The Haggling Will Begin

A multi millionaire American business tycoon in his mid fifties made an interesting proposal to a 24yr old gorgeous with very visible assets. “Will you be my mistress for two weeks for a million dollars?” She thought for a while and said “Why not?” Then, the millionaire asked, “How about 500 for tonight?” The young thing shot back indignantly, “What do you think I am, a whore?” Replied the millionaire, “Well, we’ve settled that. We are now haggling about the price”

The nature of Lankan politics has been settled. Now that a new smaller cabinet is expected, the haggling will begin for the most lucrative posts and perks. The people lose their sovereignty the moment they cast their vote. They become beggars with little left to choose till the next elections. In between the foreign junkets. Where to catch? Hasta la Vista, baby, Au Revoir, Arrivederci, Aufwiederschen, Tot Ziens, Yanne Enne, Kanne Bonne, Nalla Savari.

PS. ‘Minister’ is a Latin word meaning ‘servant’. ‘Service’ is also derived from the Latin ‘servus’ and means ‘slave’ Considering the number of ministers maintained at public expense the ordinary citizen is suffering from a ’servant problem’. Sending the poor to slave abroad enriches the Servant in charge, not the people.

(The writer can be reached at jnswaris@gmail.com ) Read more...

On the need to take on the ‘who are we?’ question

By Malinda Seneviratne

(March 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I’ve been following the recent exchange between Dayan Jayatilleka and Nalin Swaris following Dayan calling the arrest of Sarath Fonseka ‘a perfect blunder’ and making other dire pronouncements about the overall political situation in Sri Lanka, which he confesses caused him grief. Swaris responded and Dayan responded the following day. Swaris has responded once again in a website called ‘Transcurrents’.

I think everyone has a right to feel aggrieved if things are not going the way he/she wants them to go. People are free to be despondent, to suffer ‘heavy hearts’ and any number of other ailments. People are free to elevate someone like Douglas Devananda to the position of ‘The Tamil Representative that Mahinda Rajapaksa Should Talk To’ never mind the fact that he, Douglas, is a thug and does not have any sway among the Tamil voters, not even the majority in the Jaffna Peninsula.

People are free to say ‘we should remain non-aligned’ and free to genuflect before Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi the next moment. People are free to pick on Israel for the horrendous crimes committed in Gaza and free to rant and rave about Zionist expansionism. They are also free to look the other way when a ‘Gaza’ happens in ‘Kashmir’. People are free to say ‘look, the Indian constitution grants religious freedom’ and they are free to pretend that periodic pogroms do not happen in Gujarat with Hindus killing tens of thousands of Muslims.

People are free, also, to champion the cause of democracy and democratizing; they are also free to worship the thrusting of a piece of law down a nation’s throat and to thank the person who did it, even though there was nothing democratic or good about it, never mind the complete violation of ethics in the manner the relevant document was presented and passed into law. People are free to ignore demography, geography, history, archaeological record and sustainability when singing the praises of a particular political or institutional arrangement.

Dayan Jayatilleka has stated that he will not debate with me. Fine. He has that right too. While watching with amusement the exchange with Swaris, and noticing that true to form Dayan is resorting to issue-dodging and name-dropping, I must say that he, Dayan, has in conclusion raised a very important issue. I do not see eye to eye with Dayan on a number of things, but I think Dayan makes a very important point about the state of affairs in our political discourse in his rejoined to Swaris in The Island of March 5, 2010:

It is an abiding failure of Sri Lankan political discourse to identify liberal democracy with the West and to use our necessary Non Aligned identification either as evidence of deviation from liberal democracy or as warrant for it. What we have failed to do is learn from the examples of say, Brazil, India, South Africa and many Latin American states such as Uruguay and Ecuador, which do not play the Western game and build countervailing international coalitions, while at the same time, adhering to the rule of law and functioning as exemplary pluralist liberal democracies. Do we or do we not share those values of non alignment, sovereignty, progressivism and rights based-liberal democracy? Who are we and what kind of state are we evolving into? That is the question before Sri Lanka: one of political practice, ethos and identity.

What is important is to be Sri Lankans. We don’t have to take anything from anyone believing that it is necessarily good (refer the Kalama Sutra on this), but neither should we refuse to borrow idea or concept from someone just because that person or entity is an international bad boy or has had bad relations with us or has harmed us in some way or is simply bad news. A good example is Prabhakaran. There are a million reasons to reject him and to treat with utmost contempt the things he did and the way he did them. One would be a hypocrite indeed, however, if one did not acknowledge the fact that there is something positive about a man who succeeded in building an organization that was capable of challenging the Sri Lankan state in the way it did, the commitment he obtained from the men and women un him etc.

What is necessary is to figure out who we are for that is the operational bedrock in the exercise of picking and choosing what we want from the world out there. Liberal democracy should not be rejected because it is usually associated with ‘the west’. Nor should it be embraced for that reason. The decision has to be informed by who we are, what we want, what works for us and what does not.

Dayan is right when he implies that things like non-alignment, sovereignty, progressivism and rights-based liberal democracy are not anybody’s preserve. He does imply that there is something inherently good in such things and that argument can be made to look good, I have no doubt. Dayan often qualifies such flowery ideas with a heavy dose of ‘political-realitying’ to suit the particular positions he’s picked at the particular moment and the overarching preferences he’s fond of alluded to above. Let that not take away however from the key line in this otherwise Dayan-as-usual venting: Who are we and what kind of state are we evolving into?

In this necessarily national exercise of exploration, let the time span flowing both into the future and into the past be long. The question ‘who are we?’ for example is not a simple matter of a demographic breakdown along various identity lines. There are claims and counter-claims, there are territories that are references. There is selective articulation of example, a convenient allusion to certain systems and a manifest refusal to acknowledge guilt and culpability in things that are horrible whichever way one looks at them. There is a manifest absence of humility and a tendency for reason to be ‘irrelevanced’ by passion. These are the landmines that exist and should be tiptoed around.

The kind of state we are evolving into should not be extrapolated looking at the past four years or the past three weeks. It should not flow from a consideration of personalities currently in the news. It should be a logical extrapolation from the answer to Dayan’s first question ‘Who are we?’ That extrapolation must factor in today’s realities. Today’s ‘our-realities’. Throughout this process there is one thing we have to keep in mind. It is something that Peter Gouerevitch said writing about Rwanda: ‘power lies in the ability to make someone inhabit your version of their reality’. In short, the entire exercise should be an ‘our’ thing. It should be done because we want it and not because it is the current pet fascination of some ill-informed idiot who is suffering from post-empire angst (someone like David Miliband for example) or is quick-sanded in the agonies that were undergone under various tyrannies (I am thinking of Navi Pillai)

Dayan has set the ball rolling again. I mean, it’s an old ball and one that’s been rolled before, but it is a ball that will nevertheless (and happily) remain new as each generation engages in self-worth, questions past and looks to the future. It is a ball that we haven’t touched in a while as a nation or done so with fingers moved around in a Gouerevitchian sense. It is time we did things ourselves. Any takers? I know that Nalin de Silva has addressed this question in many ways and in many forums for many years. Any others? Read more...

A Failed Colour Revolution?

By Nalin Swaris

"It’s not the NGOs driving the government’s agenda; it’s the US government driving the NGO agenda." - Julie Mertus

(March 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) When a presidential election was prematurely called, many citizens were united by a single resolve: to defeat Mahinda Rajapaksa than to make Sarath Fonseka win and let the devil take the hindmost. But not all may have been aware of the external ramifications of a Fonseka victory. Is there reason to suspect that the stage had been set for what has come to be known as ‘Colour Revolutions’? If so, the attempt may have been foiled by loyalist soldiers and commandos encircling Cinnamon Lakeside. In other precautionary measures: a) army units, strategically located by the former Army Chief, before he was dispatched upstairs to a harmless CDS function, were replaced by soldiers loyal to new Army Chief, Jagath Jayasuriya. b) By early morning of the 27th, along a wide perimeter all access points to the city were guarded by police and armed forces units under officers whose loyalty was beyond doubt. They were instructed to stop any mass insurge to the city to avoid any ‘civil disturbance’.

Somawansa Amerasinghe vowed JVP-ers will surround (and eventually taken over?) ITN studios. It did not happen. Ranil Wickremesinghe threatened that if elections were rigged to defeat Sarath Fonseka, - dahas ganang – ‘thousands’ of opposition supporters would crowd the city centre, demanding that Mahinda Rajapaksa step down and give way to real winner, Sarath Fonseka. That threat too evaporated.

I suspect that by early morning of the 27th, Ranil Wickremesinghe must have sensed that the JVP might use him and the UNP as a front for its anti-Rajapaksa agitation, just as it attempted in 1987, when it tried to use Prime Minister Premadasa and opposition leader Mrs. Bandaranaike as fronts for its violent anti-Indo Lanka Accord insurrection. Later that day, the politically astute Wickremesinghe foreclosed possible JVP agitation against elections results by declaring that the elections were "on the whole fair". "In every election, we must accept that there are winners and losers", he told reporters.

Colour Revolutions

In the seventies, the United States (CIA) engineered military coups against democratically elected left wing governments, were the order of the day, especially in Latin America. (Agents have been/are, handpicked ‘fixer’ ambassadors, CIA agents working as local embassy attaches, expert World Bank consultants, etc. (See John Perkins, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 2004, and its sequel, The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption, 2007).

Sustained popular resistance ended the era of military dictatorships. Most of the Latin American countries, which suffered under military regimes now have left wing or centre-left governments. From the mid eighties of the last century fearing a democratic drift towards the Left, the US government, World Bank and ‘Washington Consensus’ Institutes shifted gear. They adopted the, "If you can’t beat them join them" tactic, and began to advocate the more ‘respectable’ ‘return to democracy’ policy. Building up ‘civil society’ became a sine qua non for granting loans or aid to developing countries. Seemingly, non State agencies became a strategic tool. Local ‘builders’, foreign funded NGOs with liberal agendas, mushroomed epidemy-like, throughout developing countries. Many of the INGOs (International NGOS functioning locally, like Transparency International, have their headquarters in Washington. INGOS, like Frederick Neumann Stiftung, Frederick Ebert Stiftung, Berghof Foundation are actually ‘QUANGOS’ - quasi government – because they invariably receive state subsidies. They promote liberal policies advocated by their governments, in much the same way as GONGOS ‘government non governmental organizations, like NORAD and USAID. Foreign funded, Colombo based NGOs have made ‘civil society’ – civil samajaya - a household word even in the vernacular. For the new elite fraternity and sorority of ‘Cyberian’ ‘international civil society’, Times of India coined the term netizens. When necessary, politicized netizen networks can be activated to mobilize public opinion world wide.

‘Colour Revolution’

This refers to the strategy of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of citizens to amass in city centres, especially after a closely fought election, alleging fraud and vote rigging to demand the resignation of the government in power. The Bill Clinton administration deployed this strategy to bring down communist regimes in Eastern Europe. George W. Bush added to the trilogy of democracy, good governance and civil rights, the fundamental right to spread Christianity, meaning conversion to the right wing fundamentalist evangelical variety. There is no indication that the Obama administration and the State department headed by Bill’s wife have made a ‘credible change’ with regard to this policy of regime change by ‘democratic’ means.

"Colour Revolutions was used to describe related movements that developed in several societies in the CIS (former USSR) and Balkan states during the early 2000s. Some observers have called the events a ‘revolutionary wave’.

"Participants in the colour revolutions have mostly used nonviolent resistance to protest against governments seen as corrupt and/or authoritarian, and to advocate democracy. These movements all adopted a specific colour or flower as their symbol. The colour revolutions are notable for the important role of NGOs in organising resistance."

"The precursor of colour revolutions was the ‘Velvet’ Revolution in Czechoslovakia in 1989. "Colour Revolutions have been successful in Serbia’s ‘Bulldozer Revolution’ of 2000. Thereafter there was Georgia’s ‘Rose’ Revolution (2003); Ukraine’s ‘Orange’ Revolution (2004). Each time massive street protests followed disputed elections and led to the resignation or overthrow of leaders considered by their opponents to be authoritarian."

The Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan - also sometimes called the ‘Pink Revolution’ - was more violent than its predecessors and followed the disputed Kyrgyz parliamentary election, 2005. Since the protest was led by different political groups, it was more fragmented than previous ‘colour’ revolutions with protesters using the colours pink and yellow"

"Green Revolution was a term widely during the 2009 Iranian election protests. The 2009 Iranian protesters adopted the colour green because it had been the campaign colour of opposition presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. It also came to be known as the "Twitter" and the "Facebook" Revolution, because the websites Twitter and Facebook, were used to organize many of the protests" (Wikpedia).

Other tactics used were dispatching mobile phone videos and massive Email and SMS campaigns. (By comparison, the New Year Subha Anagathayak SMS, was more unethical than conspiratorial, because the SMS was unsolicited and annoyingly obtrusive. Perhaps it was also gratis ‘courtesy Telecom’).

Democratisation, NGOs and ‘Colour Revolutions’

In a research paper with the above title, Sreeram Chaulia, analyses the modern face of global democratic politics. "Samuel Huntington, summarising the mix of primary causes for the "third wave" of democratization, listed a new but not decisive factor that had been absent in the preceding two waves: "Changes in the policies of external actors…a major shift in US policies toward the promotion of human rights and democracy in other countries…. American international NGOs (‘QUANGOS’ and ‘INGOS’) were prominent mechanisms through which this causal link between superpower foreign policy interests and regime change worked out in many transitions from authoritarian rule in the twenty-five-year-long "third wave"." Hence the relevance of quotation from Julie Mertus given at the beginning of this article.

In Learning from Color Revolutions, Stephen Gowans writes, "Western-assisted revolutions have also been aided by the efforts of Western governments to destabilize target countries through economic warfare. The West imposed sanctions, as destabilizing efforts, are accompanied by signals to the besieged population. "Topple your government and the threats and sanctions will end." (The opposition promised that the GSP+ will be restored if the regime changed). "These conditions (blackmail, in straightforward language) embolden an incipient movement to overthrow the government, coalescing around the existing opposition. In addition direct interventions, are grants to establish ‘independent’ media to shape public opinion and further tilt public sentiment away from the local government, the hardships imposed by the West’s economic warfare, the training of activists in techniques of popular insurrection, diplomatic manoevres to isolate the country internationally - these things together establish the conditions for the success of an engineered insurrection. At the same time, they convey the idea that color revolutions are pure, spontaneous, and grass-roots-organized - not contrived, nurtured or facilitated from without."

"But that doesn’t mean," Gowan asks, "we can’t learn from attempted and successful color revolutions? There are four important lessons to be learned:

= "Funding, and the organization that generous funding enormously facilitates, cannot be underestimated in its power to bring about disciplined mass mobilizations guided by clear and specific goals

= Organizers serve the interests of those who provide the funding.

= From this it can be concluded that for a genuine revolution to serve popular interests, its funding, unlike in the case of color revolutions (which have served Western corporate and military interests), must be popularly and locally sourced."

= The conventional political prejudice against unarmed, mass based popular struggle is based upon the assumption that if it is not controlled by a ‘party’, it will be ineffective. But history shows ordinary people can take non violent mass action and qualitatively change society." Think of the early Buddhist movement for the moral transformation of society; the Gandhian struggle and Martin Luther King Jnr’s civil rights movement, both of which were essentially inspired by the Buddha’s precept of ahimsa – non violence. No wonder Hindutva ideologues charge that Gandhi was a Buddhist, not a Hindu.

Towards a Civilised Civil Society

Critical political thinkers today realize that there is a need for a new type of ‘anti-political’ politics –politics of the heart, not of diktats – after the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The political Right and the Left are obsessed with the capture of state power – that is to say - with monopoly control of the instruments of violence. We must remember that the nature of a state depends on the nature of its civil society. The rot begins in the much vaunted ‘civil society’ which throws up its politicians. The so called civil society NGOs are hardly paragons of democracy in their internal relations. These NGOs, like traditional left political parties, are generally dominated by what Latin Americans of the Old Left called - caudillos – flamboyant ‘authoritarian macho leaders’ who determine their organizations’ policy priorities, agendas and depending on the leader’s gender preference male or female favourites.

For society to be civilized, civil society must first be civilised. Qualitative social change cannot be brought about at the level of the state. As Marx argued against Hegel in The German Ideology, "Civil society [not the state] is the true focal point and theatre of all history." Today more than ever what we need are not political or economic vanguards but an ethical vanguard, not interested in capturing power but will give leadership to people-based social movements for the moral reform of society and "the democratization of every day life." Democratisation of political culture and the state apparatus will follow, as day the night.

The ‘convenient’ alliance which obviously was backed by foreign interests targeted gross abuses of power by the Rajapksa regime and little over four million citizens voted for the common opposition candidate. They cannot all be portrayed and penalized as traitors. The election provided a platform to ventilate peoples’ growing concerns about a government that many saw was "corrupt and authoritarian government,". Most genuinely wanted to see "democratic governance" established. Conditions which are invoked, as we saw above to launch colour revolutions – in the Lankan case: Swan White, Elephant and Tree Green, Bell Red, Mangala-CBK Peacock Blue and ITAK-Ganeshan Orange. Independent thinkers supported Rajapaksa, fearing the implications of a foreign backed opposition victory; nonetheless they acknowledge that the opposition charges were not entirely baseless.

Highhanded Governance

Foreign media flashes world-wide images of pro government thugs attacking ‘peaceful’ pro democracy and pro justice demonstrators, while anti-riot police watch indulgently. Such unchecked violence gives credibility to the charge that the government consciously promotes a culture of impunity. But the Rajapaksa regime has been unwilling or unable to keep its terriers on a leash and to learn from what has happened in other countries. The one sided 18x7 pro government, anti-opposition propaganda blitz on state electronic media, especially at election time, is a brazen abuse of public property. Government owned or controlled, state print and electronic media, are after all, maintained from direct and indirect taxes collected from the people, not all of whom are supporters of the ruling coalition. The results of the Presidential elections amply demonstrated that. Social equity demands that opposition voices be given proportionate - 4:6 - if not equal time and space. As things stand, for samabara thorathuru - ‘balanced information’ people are increasingly turning to private print and electronic media.

Ultimately, intolerance betrays a sense of insecurity and fear. On the other hand, tolerance of a plurality of views is a sign of strength and self-confidence. Intimidating private media or clamping down on internet news sites are panic reactions and grist to the rumour mill. If the government is as popular as it claims and, there is no basis for the criticisms, why is it so jittery? This siege mentality will only strengthen the growing belief, even among UPFA supporters, that the government is afraid of any publicity given to embarrassing news and critical views - a stupid attitude because people switch to private channels for alternate information. All it takes is to press a remote control button. Growing public cynicism and dissatisfaction will, in the long term, only swell the ranks of dissidents. Victims of violence win sympathy; martyrs homage. Will a new government reform itself? It’s up to the Sanvedhi Janathavage President to give the lead.

People will get fed up with nightly ‘circuses’, like narcogenic State TV tamashas, with tightly clad cavorting girls and ogling ministers. When they ask for bread but are offered cake sooner than later, they will pick up stones. Use of intoxicants – matha - could be curtailed by law but a peoples’ views - janatha mathaya - cannot be ignored or repressed forever.

(The writer can be reached at jnswaris@gmail.com) Read more...

Who are we? A matter of identity

RESPONSE TO DR. NALIN SWARIS

By Dayan Jayathillake

(February 26, Singapore City , Sri Lanka Guardian) Dr. Nalin Swaris simply must learn to make his political and ideological criticisms without imputing personal motives and thereby descending into the realm of psychological speculation and gossip.He heavily hints that my criticism of the Govt’s handling of the Fonseka affair is a matter of sour grapes, meaning I didn’t get something I expected or asked for from the President or the administration. May I set the record straight? In the middle of last December I was offered an ambassadorial posting to an important country of considerable significance to Sri Lanka—a message conveyed at the residence of a senior minister by a very senior official, which I politely but promptly declined. A month earlier, in November 2009 I had presented a paper by invitation at an international seminar at a respected think tank of highly rated university, been invited to spend two years as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow writing a book on the Sri Lankan crisis, and had accepted the offer. This I might add, took place after my rapprochement with President Rajapakse and my visit with him to Hanoi, so I was hardly bereft of options and was aware of the possibility of playing a diplomatic role once again in the near future. I indicated however that I would be ready to serve my country again in an appropriate posting, at a future date.

I met President Rajapakse once again in mid-January at the height of the election campaign and our relations were warm. I was hardly “out of favour”. However, at this stage of my life, I found the prospect of serious independent intellectual work more compelling, not least because many of my fellow ambassadors in Geneva and heads of UN/multilateral organizations had strongly urged me to write a book on the thirty years conflict in which I have been observer-participant. This is nothing new. In early 2006, when, just prior to the first round of talks with the LTTE in Geneva, newly elected President Rajapakse graciously offered me the post of Secretary General of SCOPP, with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapakse, Secretary Foreign Affairs Palihakkara, and Ministers Nimal Siripala and Bogollagama in the room, I politely declined and went overseas to complete my doctorate and book on Fidel Castro.

Dr Swaris says that he for one would not have accepted a trip to Vietnam after the manner in which I was treated. I shall not reciprocate with examples of Dr Swaris’ conduct which I would not choose to emulate or uphold. Suffice to say I did not initiate contact with the President upon my return to Sri Lanka for two months, precisely for that reason, but I was not churlish enough to refuse a invitation to breakfast, not least because I was able to serve my country at the UN in Geneva at a crucial moment in our current history, because of an invitation to do so by the President. Nor was I ungracious enough to refuse an invitation to join him on the visit to Vietnam, since, as he explained it was the first ever visit by a Sri Lankan head of state to Vietnam, and therefore in its own way, historic. As a student of Vietnam’s history it also gave me the chance to observe its leadership close at hand.

My initial endorsement of President Rajapakse over Gen Fonseka was in an Island article dated Dec 7th. My support for President Rajapakse in the electronic media was after I had been offered and instantly declined a posting, and had already accepted an overseas offer of independent scholarly work at a senior level.

As for Dr Swaris’ criticisms of my ten point critique of the government’s handling of the Fonseka affair, I hope I am wrong, but surely it is still far too early to tell? It took several years for the de-stabilising impact of President JR Jayewardene’s decisions which deployed legality without legitimacy, to make themselves manifest. I would argue that the jury is still very much out on this one.

More substantive is Dr Swaris’ double implication that I have softened my line on tactics and shifted my line on the West. This brings us to the very core of the question. To my mind, that which is appropriate and necessary when dealing with an enemy of the state -- especially an armed enemy of proven intransigence-- is completely inappropriate with dealing with a political foe, especially an unarmed rival and political competitor. Thus the strategy and tactics that I argued for in public and on the record for decades, as concerns the LTTE, is entirely the wrong mindset to have when dealing with General (Retd) Sarath Fonseka.

Dr Swaris likens the use of black masks by the troops outside the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel on Jan 27th, with their use by Indian commandos when storming the Taj hotel in November 2008. It may have escaped his notice that there was a gun battle blazing on the latter occasion with armed terrorists who had infiltrated Mumbai by boat and murdered several civilians were holing up and holding hostages in that Taj – as witnessed the world over by TV viewers. As the same TV viewers worldwide witnessed, there was absolutely no such situation outside the Cinnamon Lakeside after the Lankan elections!

The contradiction between the state and the LTTE, indeed between the people and the LTTE was an antagonistic contradiction with an existential enemy while the contradiction with Sarath Fonseka falls into the Maoist category of “contradictions among the people”; a “non–antagonistic” contradiction. To do otherwise is to elastically extend the category of enemies, and prevent the return to political normalcy and “harmony” (to use a key Chinese term).

In the run-up to the election, the possibility of an Orange Revolution strategy in play had already been signalled, days before Dr Swaris, by “Tania Noctiummes” (writing from Latin America) in Transcurrents, Sri Lanka Guardian and several websites. The point however, is that the Fonseka challenge was defeated by the people, peacefully, at a democratic election and this possibility aborted. In all probability this defeat would have been repeated at the parliamentary election. If there was any conspiratorial illegality on his part (which I do not doubt) this should have been dealt with exclusively by the regular, civilian courts.

I took a hard line on the armed JVP and LTTE, but a soft line on Southern political dissent and Tamil grievances. That is the liberal or more correctly social democratic approach. As for the West, my successful approach in Geneva (which always encompassed a dialogue with the US, especially under the Obama administration), was intended to thwart an attempt by powerful Western elements to prevent our final military offensive and subsequently to punish us for it; in short to prevent a UN resolution/mandate which could have been used for a R2P/Kosovo type intervention or interference. It was a battle in defence of our vital national interests and sovereignty. The issue of the handling of Sarath Fonseka has brought discomfiture even to our non-Western friends. It is one thing to resist the West when we must, and another to brush off constructive advice from all and go it alone, filled with self righteousness. Those who supported us on the issue of the Tigers and Western interventionism do not necessarily do likewise on the use of a heavy hand in domestic politics. If Dr Swaris thinks this is an exclusively Western concern he should access more Asian newspapers and journals on the internet, be it the Frontline, the Economic and Political Weekly or the Straits Times.

What is at stake here is this: do we or do we not belong to the system of representative pluralist democracy? Do we or do we not intend to play by the rules of the game? It was one thing to defend liberal democracy from the armed JVP and the Tigers – which latter the UNP and the SLFP “liberals” failed to – and another, to fail to restore that liberal, pluralist democracy ourselves. It is an abiding failure of Sri Lankan political discourse to identify liberal democracy with the West and to use a necessary Non Aligned identification either as evidence of deviation from liberal democracy or as warrant for it. What we have failed to do is learn from the examples of say, Brazil and India, to name but two, which do not play the Western game and build countervailing international coalitions, while at the same time, adhering to the rule of law and functioning as exemplary pluralist liberal democracies. Do we share those values of non alignment, sovereignty, progressivism and rights based-liberal democracy? That is the choice before Sri Lanka: one of political practice, ethos and identity.

Related Article: Comrade Dayan’s Sour Grapes? by Nalin Swaris Read more...

Comrade Dayan’s Sour Grapes?

By Nalin Swaris

(February 26, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I must disagree with some of Comrade Dayan Jayetileke’s recent writings Arresting Sarath Fonseka, he wrote was a “Perfect Political blunder”. But then nobody is perfect. Otherwise they would not blunder. Perfect blunder seems so oxymoronic. Dayan and I have shared similar positions from the days of the ceasefire agreement. I was lavish in my praise of his stellar performance at the Human Rights Council and deplored his summary dismissal when he had only few more weeks left of this extension period. No reason was given. Though the blame for it was conveniently attributed to the Foreign Minister, it could not have been done without the approval of the President. Remember President Truman's "The buck stops here?”

If I had been similarly treated, I would not have accepted to be part of a State visit. The President tossed DJ a Vietnamese loempia (bread roll). DJ jumped and caught it. He thereby gave MR some redemption for the shabby treatment meted to him. After that rapprochement was he naïve to think he might be offered some position fitting an academic of his calibre?

DJ's position shift adds a rider to the story of the Fox and the Grapes. Mr. Fox not only walks away saying, the grapes are sour, but also, "Funny, I did not like grapes at all!"

DJ resorts to hyberbole when in his opening sentence he declares, "No enemy of Sri Lanka could have matched the damage done to the image of the country and the Presidency by our own Government’s recent events."

The image of this country in whose eyes? If DJ is concerned about the countries that were hell bent on damaging this country’s image. Must we be bothered? DJ valiantly defended us against these image spoilers and we cheered him for that. He did not mince words and confine himself to diplomatic soft speak when dealing with them. Because of that a few retired mandarin diplomats deplored what they called his ‘megaphone diplomacy’. We the plebs loved it.

With his usual flourish DJ does not omit mentioning that at the time of that "clumsy melodrama, outside the Cinnamon Lakeside", he was "right there, being interviewed by Al Jazeera".

Considering DJ's knowledge about Western machinations, had it not occurred to him that there might have been the possibility of a ‘Colour Revolution’ in the making to affect regime change? I suggested this in an article I wrote to the Sri Lanka Guardian, mentioning worrying symptoms and citing previous historic examples. Why did Fonseka rent an entire floor of the Lakeside Cinnamon as an operations centre and how could the man, who, when he announced his candidature said that he had only a Rs. 50,000 a month pension and some Rs.200,000 in savings afford that? That he had much more than that and lots more to spare became public knowledge when the contents of four bank vaults were revealed. US$ 500,000+ in cool crisp cash!

DJ being the anti-terrorism expert should know the black masks were not intended for “melodramatic purpose”, but that these men were from an elite commando unit and that black masks were worn to avoid identification as TV reporters including Al Jazeera’s were covering the event. Commandos of Indian crack units also wore masks when they stormed the Taj Hotel in Nov 2008, with batteries of camera crews relaying it live.

Mrs Bandaranaieke

The 1962 approach of Mrs B is not necessarily the approach to take in the Fonseka case as DJ recommends. The government could follow that example but it is another thing to say it SHOULD. The government and army have every right to decide by which court SF should be tried at this moment in time.

The ‘Arrest’

On the arrest and choice of tribunal I responded to a criticism similar to Dayan’s, but a more vehemently worded onslaught by his once upon a time comrade-in-arms Tisaranee Gunasekere. See also my article in today’s Island (24/02/09), Midweek Review.

As for The Economist’s characterization, "nabbed brutishly" – meaning treated like a brute? - which DJ quoted, Fonseka, roughly brushed aside the charges as he did not recognize the right of the military police to arrest him, a ‘civilian’ and he resisted arrested. In which case the MPs had every right to take him using ’minimum force’ as the law permits. Resisting arrest is an offence. Tisaranee went over the top when she said Fonseka had been “assaulted”. In which case, as I pointed out to her, Fonseka’s seasoned lawyer Wijedasa Rajapakse could have demanded that he be examined by a civilian Judicial Medical Officer and have the latter’s findings recorded. That would have given sufficient grounds for a human rights violation petition. In the event, there no such accusation was made by Fonseka’s wife or Rajapakse. After he was carried out of the office Fonseka had walked on his own and entered the vehicle, but under protest.

Barack Obama

DJ having resisted Western bullying now seems to veer Westwards. The example of Barack Obama is irrelevant as is also Obama’s distinguished legal career. Guantanamo had become an economic liability and political hot potato for the US. The prison set up by George W.Bush created a storm of controversy even among the US’s allies. Men fighting an invading force were drugged, shackled hand and foot and flown to a facility outside the US mainland. They were euphemistically called ‘non lawful combatants’ to evade Geneva conventions on prisoners of war.

Most of them are held without trial for nearly 7 years. And they were to be tried under special laws, by a military court.. Obama’s plans are being resisted by the Conservative Right.

Sarath Fonseka is a Lankan citizen being tried on Lankan soil under Lankan military law.

A ‘regime change’ in the US became imperative because Bush outlived his usefulness to the hidden powers that pull the strings in the real world. The Iraq adventure turned into disaster. The oil rich country refused to become a docile client state. What better way to rebuild the US’s damaged reputation than promote to Presidency an earnest looking young black man with soaring rhetoric, especially when a teleprompter is at hand, was the chosen son. Obama’s foreign policy advisors are hardly bleeding heart liberals (On this, See the startling revelations by British “conspiration theorist” David Icke. Put the separate dots together, he says, and the picture becomes obvious: The new bottle may be black, but it’s the same old moonshine. Sunday Island columnist Selvam Canegaratnam has also been scathing about Obama’s so called new beginning). Fonseka too was promising ‘Change you can believe’ !

Dayan himself warned that if Hilary Conton is elected President it would not bode well for Sri Lanka. Well now, she is Secretary of State. ‘Tamils for Clinton’ Hilary fell flat on her face with that ‘using rape as an instrument of war’ charge. Obama kept Bush nominee Robert O’Blake as ambassador in Colombo and promoted him to Under Secretary of State of State for South Asia. O’Blake is an operator. US State Department spokesman Robert Wood recommended that the LTTE should announce a ceasefire and surrender its arms to a “third party” – Uncle Sam? - at a time when Dayan was advocating the military defeat and decimation of the LTTE

DJ's 10 points.

1.DJ cannot be serious. Those were not mere “utterances” or mere “election propaganda”. They were calculated to discredit and defeat his rival. They were damaging to the reputation of the Defence Secretary and field commanders. Those gross slanders were “uttered” in front of tens of thousands and given wide publicity in the private print and electronic media. People were confused and dismayed. Philip Alston whom Dayan trounced, jumped in to score on the Sunday Leader interview.

Is a government supposed to “laugh” these “utterances” away? People were confused. No wonder the field commanders were asked to go on State TV and set the record straight. It was not just the candidacy of Rajapakse that was at stake but the honour of seniour officers and their men. The US government would not have done less if Norman Schwarzkopf Jnr. went bonkers about Iraq I.

The government has not fallen into a trap. Neither has it “stupidly lent veracity to claims by our detractors overseas”. On the contrary. If the government did not act to clear the air, it would have given credence to Fonseka’s blanket accusations. After all is not silence acquiescence?

Whatever “the world community may conclude” what does DJ himself think about a former army commander “who was supposedly about to blow the whistle on war crimes”? Was it not the threat of Sri Lanka being indicted for war crimes, which DJ so masterfully fended off at Geneva? Will not “whistle bowing” damage his (DF’s) HRC bona fides?

2. Dayan notes, “Public opinion in the South is confused and despondent; the Sinhala people are demoralized,” DJ is overstating. The Mahanayekes in asking that Fonseka be pardoned and unconditionally released were stepping into an area beyond their competence. Metta (love) does not preclude yukthiya (justice). Even the Budhha recognized the right of kings to make laws, judge and punish offenders. He however insisted that laws must be just. He protested to King Pasenadi of Kosala about the lack of equal treatment of accused in the Royal Court of Justice.

DJ’s contends that the dominant "Apeykama" or "ourness" being “fissured” by Anoma Fonseka’s appeal. Even those not sympathetic to Sarath were moved by her first news conference and how she struggled to fight back her tears. It was very moving evoking sympathy for a bereft wife. But her attempts to begin a political campaign with other women fizzled out. The government cleverly parried by bringing other army wives treated harshly by Fonseka on TV. One younger army wife said she knew ‘Anoma Akka’ personally from her work with the Seva Vanitha Unit, but her appeals to ‘akka’ on behalf of her husband and little children had fallen on deaf ears. It is karmic, she said, that Anoma has to experience the same fate.

As for being a lustrous future first family beyond reproach, daughter Apasara’s role in the Sampath Bank has blackened that image.

3. It was a Catch 22 situation. Let SF contest and risk defeat. Or, have SF arrested and appear cowardly to the whole world. If the President was really afraid, he could have refused to accept Fonseka’s resignation because retirement from the post of CDS was not due for another two years. At the time of arrest, the Presidential elections were over. Fonseka had not yet formed a party or submitted his nomination papers.

The Supreme Court has ruled that his arrest is not an obstacle to his being a candidate at the general elections. The Supreme Court has judiciously differed review of the bail refusal till 26th April, 17 days after election result are known.

The Supreme Court has also accepted Fonseka’s appeal against the validity of the Presidential Election results. Let the Court decide.

DJ is bandying too much with ‘impressions’. If, not only governments, but also private individuals have to take ‘impressions’ into account and become weak kneed, there will be no way of getting on with things that matter. The government and army must act to safeguard their interests and not keep looking over their shoulders timorously at what others may think, however powerful. Earlier DJ praised the government for this

The’opacity’ of a Military Court can be dealt with by demanding that the ICJ in accordance with its statutes provides legal advice to the Defence and sends delegates to observe the proceedings.

4. “Gen Fonseka’s profile has never been higher.”

Even after the Sampath Bank revelations?

5. “The Opposition which was in disarray and limping after its last defeat, has been gifted a rallying cry.” As DJ once said of CBK, it is fast becoming a Big Fat Hope.

6. Demonstrations are petering out as the opposition scramble now is to form alliances and win seats in the next parliament.

7.” The hardliners in the Tamil Diaspora …. separate state etc”. Methinks DJ is clinging to every possible straw. He is also beginning to sound like Jehan Perera with his speculative ‘maybe-s”

8.”The administration is potentially on a collision course with the judiciary.” Huh? What about the ruling on Mrs. F’s application to release her husband on bail?

9. “Every institution of the state and ‘cell’ of society will be divided and/or demoralized on this issue.” Dayan’s dire warnings are not borne by ground realities. There is no loser like a loser. People are shuffling into line.

10. The administration is on a potential collision course with the JVP.

DJ: “If the JVP is driven underground, it will link up with disaffected Fonseka loyalists among the rank and file of a large military.’

Disaffected loyalists there maybe but who will rally them now? More worrying is something else. From the 1987-89 JVP adventure DJ must surely know that the JVP cadres signed up as recruits, got weapons training and deserted with their weapons, went underground and waited for a call to strike. DJ was a staunch Premadasa man when the latter’s government responded with overkill to JVP terrorism. He has been advocating that the LTTE be similarly eradicated. He was a resolute opponent of appeasement during the CFA. Does he now recommend appeasing the JVP to avert a possible third youth insurrection? The government is fully on the alert.

It would be harder to fight JVP than LTTE? Get real. It was more difficult to identify and isolate Tamil Tigers because the armed forces were overwhelmingly Sinhalese and the LTTE were fish in a Tamil sea. On the other hand, many Sinhalese were against JVP terror and tipped off the police about safe houses and underground cadres. It would have been more difficult for Tamils to betray LTTE-rs to the Sinhalese army.

Dayan’s slip showed when he wrote “the practice of political cannibalism must cease!” All his admirers felt he was “cannibalized” and that he did not deserve it. Not surprising that on the eve of his departure, he goes public about his discontent.

The thing is, when politicians behave like gods, they give and take back their favours capriciously. For some unknown reason Dayan fell foul of the President. It would have been much better if he left quietly with dignity without going to press so often. Dayan says he is leaving with a heavy heart but many do have the “impression” that a streak of bitterness has made it weigh heavier. That is why the Fox’s last remark about not liking grapes at all, has a point.

When foreign hibernation is too painful to bear and the urge to seek the sunlight of attention too tantalizing, Dayan had better desist and leave this very hurtful place well alone for a goodly period.

Vaya con Dios, companero. Those who applauded your Geneva brilliance wish you well.
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Tisaranee and a Fonsekan Future? -Part Two

By Nalin Swaris

(February 23, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Before dealing with speculative interpretations and insinuations about Citizen Sarath Fonseka’s arrest and incarceration, this upfront. I have expressed serious reservation about the suitability of Fonseka for the office of Executive President (The Island 13/01/09 and 20/01/09). This must not in anyway be misconstrued as uncritical support for President Mahinda Rajapkse and his government. His Presidency has been marked by a rampant culture of impunity; the subversion of the rule of law, possibility for legal redress, abuse of the police and resort to extra judicial punishment of critics. In his first inaugural speech President Mahinda Rajapkse said, “I am not the master but the trustee of the country.” But before during and after the Presidential election the State media were, and are, used as a propaganda tool by his government. Opposition opinion is blacked out even though State media are public property, not the private property of the ruling party Citizens have the right to all shades of information and opinion. No wonder people, even supporters of the government, are turning to private electronic media for fair alternate views and balanced coverage of news.

However, I will not stoop to justify or rationalize these as some well known human rights advocates have rationalised the atrocities committed by JVP terrorists in the 1987- 89 period and by the LTTE fascist terrorists on the grounds that their acts of violence were understandable volcanic eruptions due to the generations of repression of ‘low caste’ Sinhalese and Tamil ‘low castes’ by the ‘high caste’ Goyigama and Vellalahs. Tell that to the relatives of the victims. This is the enjoyment of vicarious satisfaction for unresolved complexes due to one’s own real or perceived experiences of caste discrimination. In my tribute to human rights heroine Rajini Rajaratnam-Thiarangama, I wrote that by her life and death she taught us all that “Terrorism by the State or by anti-State agencies is a Crime Against Humanity. We cannot be ambiguous or ambivalent about this.” (quoted by Rajan Hoole, The Arrogance of Power 2001:xii)


Tisaranee and a Rajapakse

Tisaranee Gunasekere (TG) in ‘Our Rajapakse Future’ (15/02/2010, Sri Lanka Guardian SLG0 begins her diatribe with an insufficiently proven premise in order to draw a parallel conclusion with regard to Mahinda Rajapakse,thereby putting both in the same category: “Vellupillai Pirapaharan offered Tamils an implicit Mephistophelian bargain – [surrender?] their basic democratic and human rights in return for ‘liberation’ from Sinhala dominance via a separate state. A majority of Tamils accepted, however unhappily, because of the Tigers’ proven capacity to take on the Sinhala state. The journey that was premised on that bargain ended on the shores of the Nandikadal lagoon and in the Northern internment camps.” That journey also involved frog marching about 350,000 hapless Tamils across the Vanni using them as human shields.

TG has to say it was an “implicit” bargain because there was no consultation of the “majority” of the Tamils with regard to any bargain. The LTTE achieved its right to claim to be the sole representatives of the Tamil Speaking People by ruthless liquidation all other Tamil militant groups. The sufferance of fascist LTTE rule by the Tamil people cannot be characterized as “implicit” acquiescence.

TG uses the insufficiently proved assumption of a “Mephistophelean bargain” to argue the same with regard to the Sinhalese people. She has to say “Sinhalese’ instead of her favourite bash object the Sinhala Buddhists because the predominantly Roman Catholic areas also went to Rajapakse. “By voting for Mahinda Rajapakse in overwhelming numbers, a majority of the Sinhalese too renewed their consent to a similar deal, trading democratic and human rights for a Sinhala supremacist state, a state which keeps the minorities in their place and tells the Western world to mind its own business. Rajapakse? Or a state headed by Fonseka?

It is one thing to argue that the effect of such a vote might have on the consolidation of a ‘Sinhala supremacist state’ (an ideological assumption) and another to assert that this was a deal, implicit or explicit, as suggested by “renewed consent”. Sadly, TG, daughter of an outstanding Leftist and secretary of Dr.N.M. Perera, denigrates the Sinhalese people for supporting the President’s unflinching stand against Western imperialist attempts to determine the outcome of this nation’s fight against terrorism. For this alone every patriotic Lankan should be grateful to him. The correct political position Left or Right is that when external forces threaten a nation’s sovereignty one closes ranks within. Ultra Left wing (mostly Trotskyite) pseudo radicalism invariably degenerates into Right wing opportunism. The struggle for democracy is an unfinished internal task. Seeking redemption from a ‘strong man’ is the refuge of the desperate and politically impotent.

The majority of the Sinhalese people were not gullibly underwriting a Faustian pact. They are grateful they no longer have to live in daily fear of sudden terrorist attacks that might kill their loved ones, especially their children. To call this Sinhala supremacist triumphalism, is racially jaundiced Machiavelianism.

To suggest that Mahinda Rajapkse wants to establish a Sinhala supremacist State is resorting to alarmist rhetoric. True, Rajapakse flaunts the externals of Lankan Buddhist religiosity at every turn. But given his carefully cultivated Sinhala Buddhist credentials, he more than most, is best positioned to propose a just solution to the grievances of the Tamil people which Buddhists would readily accept, just as only the ‘Commie hater’ Nixon could credibly establish relations with China and only a Christian fundamentalist Reagan could begin talks on nuclear non proliferation with ‘atheistic’ Russia. Though the Rajapakse’s were raised in a remote rural area in the deep South, they have not been prone to parochial religious and caste complexes. Mahinda married a Catholic woman, who while participating in Buddhist religious ceremonies, continues to practise her religion. Mahinda invokes the blessings of Hindu gods. His first cousin Nirupama is married to a Tamil. A friend from the South who knows the family told me that there are several cross ethno-caste marriages in the Rajapakse family circle. Mahinda Rajapkse himself once averred that Alfred Duraiappah, the Mayor of Jaffna assasinated by the LTTE was distantly connected to his extended family. The Rajapakse’s may be power hungry, but they are neither ethno-caste puritans nor Sinhala Supremacists. Judging by what he told the Canaduan National Review (23/09/08), Sarath Fonseka is.

TG: “A Rajapakse constitution is therefore likely to deprive the minorities of even the devolution they have currently, thereby completing the post-2005 paradigmatic shift to the Sinhala supremacist status quo ante (pre-1987)”. Sinhala supremacism again! This is an ideological transfer of a historically loaded term, “White Supremacism”, onto the Sinhalese people. It is an ideologically motivated imputation; theoretically spurious and empirically false.

Motives for the Fonseka Arrest

Sarath Fonseka’s arrest has provoked indignation and wild allegations. In Oart 1 of this article (SLG), I dealt with Tisaranee Gunasekere’ fierce denunciation of the charges leveled against Fonseka as “fantastic” and her explanation as to why he was arrested under the Military and not under Civil law. I pointed out that the reasons given were already in the public domain: Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mangala Samarawickreme and Tilvin Silva blathered that Fonseka while still a serving General had been in touch with them. Now, former UNPers, Johnstone Fernando Gamini Abeyratne and UNP stalwart Lakshman Seneviratne have testified at a pre-trial inquiry, that Fonseka had contacted them about a possible political role he could play in the future, while he was a serving General, holding the post of Chief of Defence Staff. So much for TG’s “fantastic” allegations! Whether it is beyond reasonable doubt that at least some of these contacts were made with the conspiratorial intent of ousting the President, is for a court to decide, Military or Civil. Until then presumption of innocence is just attitude. Critics too must consider whether the allegations could constitute a prima facie case, even if the subjective motive may be revenge.

The Asian Human Rights (whose Executive Director is a Hong Kong based expatriate Lankan.He generally authors statements on Sri Lanka) has stated in this journal that “The target in the present arrest and detention is not Sarath Fonseka himself. The general population is the intended target. The message in this arrest and detention and that message is that Sarath Fonseka is merely a symbol for carrying that message forcefully”.

When I asked a university lecturer friend, (not a Mahinda supporter) whether he had read the statement and what he thought of it, he broke into a guffaw. “This is the problem with ideologically driven human rights advocates fulminating from distant and safe ivory towers. It is not borne out by ground realities.” he said. The news of the lightning arrest perplexed the general population. They remained confused as details of the reasons for the arrest percolated to them. What prevails is an atmosphere of calm, but not a calm before a storm. Only Fonseka supporters reacted with indignation and protests. These protests organized mostly by the JVP are running out of steam. In the scramble for seats in the next Parliament, the Fonseka Front is disintegrating.

TG’s puffy anti Rajapakse rhetoric of “fantastic allegations” and “conspiracy theories” purveyed “as hard evidence” must have been deflated by the news that the CID unearthed a trove of local and foreign currency amounting to more than Rs 75 million which included US$ 500,000, “hard evidence” in the form of crisp new notes with sequential numbers deposited in the vaults (four in all) of a private bank. The nice lady who rented the vaults is the mother of Danuna Tilekeratne, Fonseka’s son-in-law. She told the CID that she had rented the vaults on Sarath Fonseka’s instructions and that the monies were brought to her by Fonseka’s daughter Apsara in a large black bag, from Fonseka’s election office. Let me assure anxious absentee crusaders that ordinary people did not feel “targeted’ by this. But, they must certainly have asked themselves why the ‘God We Trust’ does not shed his ‘green back’ grace on them?

The Revenge Game

Tisaranee Gunasekere decries the arrest of Sarath Fonseka as an act of spiteful vindictiveness on the part of President Rajapakse: “This action, so manifestly anti-democratic, so unmistakeably reeking of phobia, hatred and vengeance, so clearly aimed at teaching a humiliating lesson to a former acolyte who dared to commit the supreme crime of lese majéste”. Fonseka will not like being called an ”acolyte”.

Gunasekere and other revenge theoreticians forget that Sarath Fonseka is the superlative example of spiteful vindictiveness. His resignation letter and especially the Confidential Annexure simmers with resentment about what the President did to him. (i) He was asked to prematurely relinquish his post as Army Chief on the 15 of July 2005, (understandably, after he his bravado at Dharmashoka Vidyalaya Ambalangoda on the 10th of July, which boast would figure prominently in the US State Department’s Report to Congress). (2) Rejecting his proposal to appoint his nominee to succeed him (3) Limiting his power as CDS to coordinating the services and “not that of overall command.”(4) In response to his demand that the size of the army should be increased (reportedly to 400.000), the President had said , “that no further recruitment would be necessary” and that “a strong public opinion is in the making stating that the Country is in possession of a too powerful army.” The president cannot be blamed if he feared that the man was contemplating some outrage.

The simmering resentment boiled over when General Fonseka turned Presidential Candidate and was cocky with certainty of victory. He began to issue dire threats to his enemies. The Rajapakse’s should be ready with ‘mat- pieces’ to be sent to Welikada or Bogambara prisons. In case the Rajapakse’s attempt to flee the country he would shut down Katunayeke Airport. He reportedly pledged that he would have Gotabaya Rajapakse executed by a firing squad on Galle Face Green! The supreme irony is that he threatened to have those field commanders who appeared on national TV stripped of heir decorations and uniforms and court martialled. The crude language he used is what one associates with a Vermin Silva than with one might expect of a future Head of State.

The Ultimate Ratting

The day before his arrest Sarath Fonseka told the BBC’s Tamil Service that he was ready to appear in any war crimes tribunal and ‘tell everything he knows’ about what happened during the war of extermination against the LTTE. Fonseka cannot testify about war crimes without indicting himself. After Neuremberg, no plea by army officers begging to be exonerated on the grounds that they were merely carrying out the of their political rulers – the notorious “Befehl is Befehl”, ‘Orders are Orders’ - will be tolerated by any war crimes tribunal. Fonseka would not have made this threat if he had not had some assurance that he would be given immunity from prosecution if he turned star prosecution witness and ratted against his own, in exchange for immunity and other inducements such as full citizenship, relocation and permanent residency. But, the little ‘white house’ in the prairie has come tumbling down.

Sarath Fonseka was no Great Messiah come to restore the Kingdom of Democracy. His threats made from public platforms rather suggest a spiteful man who would have thrown the niceties of the rule of law and due process into a dust bin to take wreak vengeance on his ‘enemies’.

Never in the history of any army anywhere in the world has an Army Chief been ready to rat on his own Army and his Commander-in-Chief in such a revolting manner. There are certain things that an Officer who is also a Gentleman will never do, certainly not the Indian war hero, Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw of revered memory.

Fonseka was no Messiah come to restore The Kingdom of Democracy. If elected he would thrown the rule of law and due process in to a dust bin and wreaked vengeance on his enemies. We have his own words for that.

Fonseka a General once resplendent in glory, has covered himself with opprobrium in the eyes of those who honour basic decencies and loyalties in personal and professional life. Let those who are driven by ideology or by rankling caste resentment, “crawl through back gates and gutters” to pay homage. I won’t.

Related Link :
Part One
Our Rajapakse Future
Read more...

Tisaranee and the Future

By Nalin Swaris

(February 17, Colombo. Sri Lnaka Guardian) During the period of the notorious Norway Brokered Ceasefire Agreement between Ranil Wickremesinghe and Velupillai Prabhakaran, Dayan Jayetileke Tisaranee Gunasekere and I were among the few left intellectuals (I am not sure if TG regards herself as such) who in our writings took a principled stand against the substance of the Ceasefire Agreement, Agreement, Wickremesinge’s policy of appeasement and Norwegian manipulation of the so called peace process..

Given my personal temperament, (with Oscar Wilde I think one should give adoration to no one but oneself) I find the personality cult that Rajapakse is promoting utterly nauseating. Huge billboards of Rajapakse grinning from ear to ear, always with an inset portrait of the local pandang karaya that put it up, offend the eye. Larger than life cut outs depict the President hailing passers by like a conquering hero. During a recent visit to Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee I was appalled to see the same type of billboards and cut outs pocking the landscape and junctions, inflicting visual pollution on every road user. The Presidents flatterers do not realize how counterproductive this is. Increasingly the popular mood is turning against this imposition. One cannot expect the President’s poorly informed sycophants to have heard of The Law of Diminshing Returns, but they surely know the Sinhala proverb that “The comb of a cock one sees every day looks white.”

A personality cult is the surest sign of authoritarianism and of creeping dictatorship. Consider Iraq under Saddam Hussein, Syria under the Kim’s. The cult of Stalin is a thing of the past. In China the only publicly display of a portrait of Mao ze Dong is on Tien a Men Square, but, a Dutch friend quipped “So is MacDonald’s!”. Rajapakse needs reminding of the basis Buddhist principle of anichcha.

It is ironic that the so called killers of Lasantha Wickramatunga and perpetrators of other killings and abductions are being unearthed only now. Equally ironic is that Ranil Wickremesinghe who charged in Parliament that a hit squad run by Sarath Fonseka was responsible for killing Lasantha, is now Fonseka’s close ally to restore democracy and the rule of law! One cannot fool the people all the time. And there are signs every that they are no longer willing to be fooled.

Tisaranee and the Future

This preamble was necessary to set the record straight about my political stand and to deal with Tisaranee’s recent writing synthetically expressed in Our Rajapakse Future in the Sri Lanka Guardian (15/02/2010)

I will quote Tisaranee directly before commenting on what she writes.

“On the night of February 8th, the military police and the army launched a commando type raid on the office of retired General and former Presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka and arrested him.”

NS: True, there is no gainsaying this

“Such a development cannot but cause the gravest misgivings about the future of Lankan democracy, particularly given its timing - in the run up to a crucial parliamentary election, in which Gen. Fonseka was expected to play a key role.

NS. This is not entirely correct. I must first question the appropriateness of referring to Citizen Sarath Fonseka as ‘General’ after he presented himself as a presidential candidate. One TV Ad showed him marching forward through a wall of fire in the uniform of a decorated general, and morphing himself to person in civilian dress. However across the Island the walls were plastered with posters with a bust of Fonseka in the full regalia of a saluting General. How politically correct was that? Neither Dwight Eisenhouwer nor Charles de Gaulle continued to use the title of General when they contested presidential elections. Both did so after establishing their civilian credentials as suitable candidates after living as ordinary citizens. When Dwight Eisenhouwer was asked by Republicans and Democrats to contest the first presidential elections at the end of World War II he refused to contest his former Commander-in -Chief Harry Truman. Eisenhouwer went through the Republican preliminaries to seek his party’s nomination only in 1952 after Truman’s term of office had expired. There are recognized political decencies and one cannot disregard these or Fonseka’s subjective motive, It was a will for vengeance – to oust Mahinda Rajapkse and remove the Defence Secretary. Simply because one has a visceral antipathy to Mahinda Rajapakse does not mean that one should throw basis decencies to the wind to support anyone no matter what. “Restore democracy by placing the dreadful JR Executive Presidency in the hands of an army chief who was threatening his enemies with fire and brimstone?” He made no reference to the rule of law or due process then. Something Tisaranee’s delicate democratic sensibilities seem to have missed.

TG. “The retired general was arrested under the Military Act, possibly because getting a warrant from a civil court would not be easy, given the fantastic nature of the charges against him.”

NS. One must exercise caution here because the legality of Fonseka’s arrest is the subject of an appeal and is now sub judice. However, Fonseka has not been particularly blessed in his choice of friends. JVP-er Tilvin Silva revealed that Fonseka sought his advice about him being called for an interview by the Dept of Homeland Security. Silva boasted that he advised Fonseka to return to the Island without acceding to that request; that he his advice was more crucial for Fonseka’s return than the Foreign Minister’s strongly worded protest. Ranil Wickremesinghe also revealed that he had a two hour long conversation with Fonseka in the US from Singapore. Most damaging perhaps was Mangala Samaraweera’s revelation that Ranil Wickremesinghe and he, in order to dodge possible trailing by intelligence officers had to switch cars several times to meet Fonseka in secret places while he was still a serving General. Whether contacts with opposition leaders constitutes a breach of army disciplne is for the court to decide.

Tisaranee is not a lawyer but I did a two year course in Roman Catholic canon law as part of my theological studies. It is based on Roman law on which our Roman-Dutch law is based. One cannot convict anyone on intention alone but the gravity of earlier intent could be lawfully deduced by subsequent public action. Thus whether the nature of the charges are”fantastic” or not is not for Tisaranee to judge but for the court to determine.

He may be tried by a military tribunal, a stratagem which would enable his prosecutors to avoid media scrutiny and depict abusive allegations and conspiracy theories as hard evidence

NS. Here Tisaranee is indulging in speculation. Whatever the subjective-personal reason for arraigning Fonseka might be, the objective legal-reasons for doing so have to be proved in a court of law. The appropriate tribunal for a trial will also be determined by the court. Tisaranne is suggesting that the legal process will be manipulated, fits in with her conspiracy theory. Conspiracy or not, with the arrest of Fonseka our legal process more than ever, is in a goldfish bowl.

What is important therefore is ensuring just process. Not media scrutiny, but the imperative is to have independent and legally competent international observers, proposed for example by the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ). Since it is in the interest of equity and fair play, the government will find it difficult to refuse it. This is also what public opinion and people like Tisaranee should demand. Watch the process with hawk eyes. Demand transparency. The strongly worded statement by seniour Buddhist and Christian clergymen is a good start..

Just two weeks after the conclusion of the Presidential election, the man who challenged Candidate Rajapakse (and is the bete noire of his omnipotent brother) was assaulted, handcuffed and dragged away like a common criminal to an undisclosed location.

NS. Tisaranee is getting things in wrong order. It is the piqued Fonseka who turned the Defence Secretary in to his bete noire. He is reported to have said at an election rally that he would have the latter publicly executed by a firing squad on Galle Face Green! Tisaranee is also getting carried away and adding a bit of spice to her narration.

The law makes no distinction between a ‘common’ criminal and an ‘uncommon’ or ‘gentleman’ criminal. All are equal before the law. . A person becomes a ‘criminal’ not during arrest but after being found guilty after due process in a court of law. The term ‘common criminal’ betrays a class prejudice and is manifest in the way the police treat poor people without social or political influence and ‘gentleman’ arrestees. Individuals with financial and political clout can always hire an unscrupulous doctor who for the right price will discover some ailment which enables the’ gentleman’ to be admitted to a five star hospital and avoid being held in remand prison.

To the best of my knowledge none of the opposition politicians who were in conference with Fonseka at the time of arrest stated that he was assaulted. If he was, his lawyer could have demanded that he be examined by a Judicial Medical Officer. This is right which all arrestees have when there is an allegation of assault. To the best of my knowledge no such demand was made.

Even from the testimony of the opposition politicians present we know that Fonseka resisted arrest by the military police saying since he is a civilian he should be arrested by the ordinary police. The military cops had hesitated, awed perhaps by the resistance of their former top Chief. A seniour officer had intervened ordered them to take him by force if necessary. The soldiers merely carried out what they believed was a legal order of a superior officer. If the court determines that the arrest was on legal grounds then resisting arrest is also a delict. The ordinary law requires that in case of resistance, minimum force – avama balaya - may be used.

Having been associated with fundamental rights violation petitions against illegal arrest and torture by the police, Fonseka might consider himself fortunate that he was not arrested by the police who have their own interpretation of ‘avama balaya’.

What Tisaranee and her likes should find out is whether the arresting authorities were required by law or good custom, to inform Fonsekas immediate relatives of his arrest and where he would be incarcerated. Or whether after his incarceration, he was allowed a phone call to inform his family and his lawyers.. If not there has been a grave breach of Fonseka’s family’s rights or of basic principles of fair treatment.

TG “Such a development cannot but cause the gravest misgivings about the future of Lankan democracy, particularly given its timing - in the run up to a crucial parliamentary election, in which Gen. Fonseka was expected to play a key role.

NS. This looks like a Catch 22 situation. If Fonseka was arrested after he declared his intention of wanting to contest the presidential election. The government would have been accused of being afraid of Fonseka’s candidacy. Now Tisaranee is suggesting possible fear of Fonseka contesting at the general elections. But, at the time of arrest Fonseka had not yet formed a party to contest the general elections. And when he did he would still have to decide with which political parties he would sign an electoral pact. The arrest was made during a period of parliamentary inter regnum. Whether the timing was inexpedient or not is also for the Court to decide and not for Tisaranee to speculate.

TG “Vellupillai Pirapaharan offered Tamils an implicit Mephistophelian bargain – their basic democratic and human rights in return for ‘liberation’ from Sinhala dominance via a separate state. A majority of Tamils accepted, however unhappily, because of the Tigers’ proven capacity to take on the Sinhala state. The journey that was premised on that bargain ended on the shores of the Nandikadal lagoon and in the Northern internment camps.”

NS. This must be a born again Tisaranee seeking a triple refuge. That Velupillai offered the Tamil people “their basic democratic and human rights in return for ‘liberation’ from Sinhala dominance via a separate state.” That is a hoot. Does Tisaranee really believe what she writes? What basic human and democratic rights did Prabhakaarn deliver in practice? What are Tamil people to do now? Wait for more such bargains that might end in more Nandikadals and internent camps?. Calling the bargain “Mephistophelian” was essential for Tisaranee to switch gear and indulge in a non sequitur to argue that the Sinhalese (read, Buddhists) have made a similar pact with devil by voting for Rajapakse.

TG “By voting for Mahinda Rajapakse in overwhelming numbers, a majority of the Sinhalese too renewed their consent to a similar deal, trading democratic and human rights for a Sinhala supremacist state, a state which keeps the minorities in their place and tells the Western world to mind its own business. By the time the South realises the consequences of the choice they made on January 26th, irreparable damage would have been done not only to Lankan democracy but also to Lankan national interests (the loss of the GSP+ is just the beginning).

NS Tisaranee is digging her spurs deep and galloping on her hobby horse - Sinhala supremacism.. Its always the politically bankrupt and desperate who turn to a strong man to come as a redeemer. It shows a basic trust in the common folk whom Tisaranee with elitist disdain dismisses as country yokels who have traded their rights for a Sinhalese supremacist state.

The Turning Tide

Given her first name Gunasekere must surely know where the Sinhalese Buddhist find their eventual refuge. Unlike Christians who have submission in blind faith drilled into them. (This was adduced as main cultural reason for the Befehl ist Befehl – “Orders are Orders”, mechanical obedience of German military officers),

A radically secular, nominally Buddhist, Sinhala friend who scoffs at Lankan Buddhism called me after a suicide killer attack and said,” I am glad machang I was born a Buddhist, because none of our boys and girls could have been brainwashed, not even by the JVP, to self destruct like this. They might commit suicide out of personal despair, which is a negative form of self assertion, but not at the behest of a distant solar deity.”

For all the shortcomings of Sinhala Buddhism, the Buddha’s Teaching has built into our Buddhists a strong anti-authoritarian streak, which erupts episodically through seemingly feudal subservience. In the Vinaya Pitaka the Buddha canonized the supreme right to dissent. Unlike the Christian (esp Catholic hierarchy), the Mahanayeke’s may not take unilateral decisions without democratic consultation of the executive committees of their respective sects. It’s a tradition written into Vinaya Pitaka by the non authoritarian Buddha himself. Even as prophets and prophetesses of doom are saying “Damn the bloody Sinhalese supremacists. All is lost”: resistance is coming from the least expected of quarters, the much maligned Sangha.

Popular resistance to Rajapakse despotism is growing. He can, as the devout Buddhist he claims he is, take heed and reform or resort to further repression. The answer will come not in the form of LTTE or JVP type mindless violence, but hopefully, consistent with best in the Buddhist tradition, through mass non violent resistance and civil disobedience.

In Part II, I will examine why many felt that electing Fonseka and ousting Rajapakse would have been, as Sinhala folk wisdom has it, like exchanging chillies for ginger. In this case, it is not exchanging one colonial power for a another, but surrendering our sovereignty to neo-colonialists by a handpicked puppet, who arrogantly danced on a string of assured immunity from prosecution for war crimes is he turned star prosecution witness. If not his threat “to tell all”, would have been a self incriminating boast. Read more...

Fall of an Idol

By Nalin Swaris

(February 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) When the now Citizen Sarath Fonseka announced his insurrection against his former Commander in Chief and his immediate superior, patriotic Lankans experienced it as a deeply painful loss, in the first place for Fonseka himself and the country whose territorial integrity he so valiantly fought to restore.

Fonseka’s electoral defeat called to mind David’s lament when he heard that King David and his bosom friend Jonathan had fallen in battle "How have the mighty fallen!". The Fonseka rebellion is a national tragedy coming so soon after a glorious victory. Never in the annals of warfare has an Army Chief raised the banner of revolt against his political superiors, immediately after a war victory. It did provide those who viewed the defeat of the LTTE with leaden eyes, a great deal of schaden froh – joy in the discomfiture of an adversary for Eelamists: arms dealers and peace pimps dependent on foreign funds for promoting a pro Prabhakaran solution the ethnic conflict.

When it was rumoured that the ex-General might contest the presidential elections, retired senior army officers, retired senior diplomats and academics pleaded with him to let wiser counsel prevail and desist. Such was Fonseka’s determination to avenge what he regarded was the shabby treatment meted to him, that he threw caution to the winds and pressed on regardless. Equally dismaying was the type of people whose support he courted. It was an Unholy Alliance - a coalition of resentment of losers. There was ‘Colombian’ Ranil Wickremesinghe unconcealed resentment that a gamaya from Medamulana was occupying the highest office the land. His contempt for Rajapaksa erupted to the surface when he shouted Poda Mahinda! (Get out Mahinda!). Vada (Come here) Poda (Get out!) was the language used decades ago by estate superintendents (peria dorais), assistant superiors (sinna dorais), and supervisors (kankanis) when addressing plantation workers (coolies). It was also (is?) the language used by Walawwa hamus when addressing their servants and social inferiors – the Sinhala equivalents being mehata vareng, palayang yande. Probably Wickremesinghe has been accustomed to this type language when addressing his social inferiors, Sinhala and Tamil, in this manner from a very young age.

Strange Bedmates

Fonseka’s preference of political bedmates like Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mangala Samaraweera evoked titters in many. The prematurely senile Somawanse Amarasinghe played Andare the royal jester of yore. "We knew the JVP alone could not win. The UNP alone could not win so we looked around and found a winning jokiya (jockey). Kohomade Jokiya? Than dinnenawa dinnewamai! (How’s the jockey? Now we our victory is certain!).

Chandrika played things close to the chest until the last day of the campaign. She symbolically declared her support to Fonseka from the ancestral Bandaranaike Walawwa. She had quietly campaigned for Fonseka in the Horagolla area. But Rajapaksa won Atttanagalle District which includes Horagolla, with a sweeping majority. Chandrika Kumaratunga has yet to come to her senses and cultivate some self awareness. She is a political non-person. Addressing the public she swore to end the corruption, bad governance and disregard of democratic norms by the Rajapaksa brothers. She pledged to restore the pristine purity of her parents’ party together with her loyal lieutenant Mangala Samaraweera after Rajapaksa is defeated by Fonseka.

Corruption and Chandrika became synonymous after the Supreme Court convicted her of corrupt practice and imposed a heavy fine on her. The Chief Justice who presided over that trial is now her ally against Rajapaksa. The public and private low jinks of the Lady and the Judge have been exposed by Victor Ivan in respectively The Rogue Queen and The Unfinished Struggle.

Mangala is another basket case. His democratic credentials and abuse of state funds for self aggrandisement was exposed by the UNP after it returned to power in 2001. As for press freedom, he vowed to teach a lesson to, what he called "the media mafia" – disreputable individuals who "could be bought for a bottle of arrack."

Oust Mahinda at any cost

I had many arguments with close friends and relatives who were Fonseka idoloters. My staunch refusal to back Fonseka provoked strong emotional reactions. The arguments back and forth were as follows. I told them I agreed with much of their criticism of President Rajapaksa’s style of governance. But, trying to topple Mahinda Rajapaksa at this point in time is sending the wrong message to the world. Besides who are the people who are his allies? Who will benefit from regime change? Have you so soon forgotten the sense of insecurity with which we all lived not so long ago? You people who drive around in cars may not have felt it as acutely as the people who were using public transport and it’s the buses, trains, bus and train stations that were deliberately targeted by the terrorists – not private vehicles or car parks." "Yes, yes, but Mahinda has had six months to improve things, Fonseka promises credible change. Wait and see we will win on the 26th." Fat hope I said, "The Sinhalese Buddhists in the rural areas are the salt of this earth, not people like you and I, deracine urbanites." They will vote overwhelmingly for Mahinda" In response to this a Christian friend muttered "Bloody SB majoritarianism". "Hey, hey, I replied, "Its your candidate who said that this is a Sinhalese Buddhist country and that minorities should know their place! "Yes, yes", but he has changed". "Credibly?", I asked tongue in the cheek.

Historical Memories

When the Prabhakaran Wickremesinghe non-peace process began, the director of a peacenik organization attempted to provided an explanation for Norway's’ sympathy for the liberation struggle of the LTTE by recalling Norway’s independence from Swedish rule in 1905. He wrote, "The Norwegian experience of being under colonial domination for some 500 years, and the exploitation and impoverishment suffered at the hands of the imperial powers of Denmark and Sweden, has given them a ‘historical memory’(sic)."
The man presumably believes that Eelam had been colonised by the imperialist Sinhalese.

Moreover, the application of the term "historical memory" to Norway is wholly contrived. It is generally used with reference Asian people’s awareness of the antiquity of the civilisations which go back several millennia. Compared to the ancient civilizations of Asia, Norway, is to use the Hindi expression, a kalka baccha – yesterday’s child. Though the Norwegians hypocritically and their local highly hirelings cynically, tilt at the "foremost place" given to Buddhism in the Constitution, they see no problem with the fact that Lutheranism is still the state religion of Norway and that only a Lutheran can be become its Head of State.

Asian revolutionaries fighting foreign occupation awakened the "historical memories" of their people. Mao ze Dong’s writings are redolent with recollections of ancient Chinese thinkers and war strategists. The Chinese brand of communism developed by Mao was called a Sinisation of Marxism. "We must critically assess our heritage from Confucius to Sun yat Sen and take it forward," he wrote. King Hussein of Jordan in a highly emotional speech in Arabic condemned the barbaric character of Gulf War II, ordered by a Texan cowboy. He evoked the historical memory of the peoples of the region recalling the magnificent millennial Mesopotamian civilization. The deeply Westernised Jawaharlal Nehru began a serious study of his country’s history while in a British jail. He serendipitiously celebrated the wonder of his nation, in The Discovery of India. The Vietnamese revolutionaries declared that their revolt against French Colonialism. Japanese occupation and the American neo-colonial attempt, was the continuation of their 1000 years struggle against Chinese occupation. That is historical memory.

Three Hundred Years of Struggle

Historical memories were kindled when the unity and territorial of this island nation seemed to be in peril during the Presidential election campaign. The Sinhala Buddhist peasantry led by warrior heroes have a glorious history of centuries long resistance to foreign occupation. There were three centuries of unceasing struggle against struggle against Western colonial powers, Portuguese Dutch and British, - the longest struggle against Western colonialism in the region. The last great peasant rebellion against the British was in 1817. The heart of the rebellion was Uva. The British crushed the peasants of Velassa – land of hundred thousand rice fields, with horrifying savagery. The destruction of buffaloes used to plough the fields was calculated to destroy the peasant economy.The milk of buffaloes was used for producing curd. That was the beginning of peasant malnutrition. Sixty one years after independence Uva remains one of the island’s poorest regions.

The Kandyan Kingdom was not defeated militarily it was weakened by factional feudal strife among the Kandyan chiefs. A year after the rebellion, in 1818, the Kandyan Kingdom was ceded to the British after ‘peaceful negotiations’ by the Kandyan Convention. The British realized that as long as the geographic dimensions of the Kandyan Kingdom remained untouched there would always be a threat of rebellion. In the first redrawing of the map of the island in 1832, a Central Province was created as a landlocked region. The new Northern Province extended as far as the Central Province. (History of Ceylon ed., K.M. De Silva, 1973)

Black Skins, White Masks.

The post colonial period left a small Anglicized elite in positions of privilege and for a brief period also of political power. But in recent years we have seen a very disturbing new phenomenon – a very tiny segment of Colombo based opinion makers, funded to the hilt by Western donors promoting alien interests. They fulfil what is called an ‘echo function’. They express what is basically Western views. These are then picked up and quoted by Western diplomats and journalists as ‘authentic’ and informed, indigenous opinions. The vocation in life of these deracine individuals seems to be to denigrate everything related to the majority community in this island. They look with contempt on our rural Buddhist masses as people sunk in "rural idiocy" – and still trapped in an obsolete world view, whereas they project themselves to their Western paymasters and interlocutors as culturally emancipated cosmopolitans. They do the rounds of diplomatic cocktail parties proudly preening: "We may not have your colour, but we have all your respectability."

The Challenge Ahead

For me as for many other patriots going by his public face and function, Sarath Fonseka was a great hero in a long line of heroes inhabiting our "historical memories". After Ranil Wickremesinghe trivialised the capture of Thoppigala, a young woman journalist asked Lakshman Kiriella about Wickremesinghe’s dismissal of Thoppigala as "a mere jungle" Kiriella barked at the young woman, "Don’t come here to ask questions without doing your homework. Have you looked at a map? It IS a jungle!" Then he added that had he learnt from a "very reliable source" that orders had been given "from the very top" for the army to let the LTTE fighters withdraw into the Vanni with their weapons.
I immediately thought, even if such orders came, Sarath Fonseka would have refused to obey them. Such was my esteem for the man. The bitterness of my disappointment is inversely proportional to the great admiration I had for him.

We must not forget that four million electors did not vote for President Rajapaksa. 40%of the electorate is not a number that the President can lightly dismiss. There are not all traitors. Theirs was a largely protest vote against the President’s despotic style of government. The President held the storming barbarians at the gate so that Sarath Fonseka and the other service chiefs could finish their given task. Now the challenge is within. The President must start cleaning his house. For a start he can order the State TV channels to stop their 24x7 eulogising of him as a Great King. Sovereign power resides with the people. It is they who re-elected him to be the Head of a Democratic Republic. In sober reality they did not and they constitutionally CANNOT crown him King. The struggle for democracy is an ‘Unfinished Task’. It is the challenge before all true patriots who love our people. Read more...