Tamil resurgence and Sinhala intransigence:
The Grand Deception
By: Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
Sri Lankan politicians, whether Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim; civilian, militant or monk,
seem to be afflicted, as are most politicians the world over, with a malady – inability to
say what they mean and mean what they say- which enters an acute phase with every
pre-election season or national crisis. The only difference between us and other
nations of stature is that we do not have even a few among the multitude of our
politicians who are capable of leveling with the people and being absolutely honest
with them. Every politician is deliberately vague on every issue of concern to the
nation. This deprives people the opportunity to study in depth any issue and vote
intelligently. This also permits anyone or any party winning an election claim the
mandate to do what ever they want, in the name of the people. Ultimately what gets
done in the name of the people is what the people probably would never have wanted.
In other nations that have functional mature democracies, at least what is generally
called ‘the national interest’ frequently places a cap on dangerous political
shenanigans and protects the people from long lasting damage. In Sri Lanka, where
there is nothing called a ‘national interest’, but plenty of ‘sectarian and vested
interests’, every thing becomes fair in politics if it serves to grab power, hold on to it
and benefit from it. I am frequently reminded of the story of the monkey which was
called upon to divide a slice of bread between two feuding cats, and finally ended up
eating all the bread morsel by morsel, with nothing left for the cats; when I see our
politicians operate. Our politicians are no different from the monkey in this story.
Obfuscation on every issue of major concern has become a form of art with our
politicians in Sri Lanka and is our national curse. The impending presidential elections,
the political polarization in the Sinhala south, the unfolding events relating to the
Tamils and the LTTE, and the unraveling compact between the Tamils and the LTTE,
have provided a stage for our politicians to deceive, mesmerize and confuse the
people with renewed vigour.
The LTTE despite its claims to be a liberation movement and while yet bearing arms,
has also mastered the art of deceptive politics, true to its reputation of being single
minded, dedicated and ruthless in pursuit of its goals. The LTTE has surpassed the
conventional Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim politicians in deception, subterfuge, double
talk and obfuscation. The classic example are the ‘Pongu Thamil’ events being
currently held in various parts of the north and east in Sri Lanka and around various
countries in the west, sponsored by the LTTE. ‘Pongu Thamil’ if correctly translated in
to English would be ‘Resurgent Tamil’, where the word Tamil refers to the language
and not the people. If the title was meant to refer to the Tamils as a people and their
feelings, it should have been ‘Pongum Thamillar (Erupting/ rebellious/ furious Tamils)’.
The fact that the problems that need to be resolved in Sri Lanka currently have
nothing to do with the Tamil language, but everything to do with the democratic,
political, economic and human rights of the Tamil people, the title ‘Pongu Thamil’ for
these events is a definite and deliberate misnomer. It is an attempt to retrieve a
historical, but currently irrelevant linguistic dimension to elicit an emotional response
among the Tamils, which will camouflage our problems with the LTTE, and its
misdeeds and failures. The title ‘Pongum Thamillar’ would have been more apt as the
Tamils in general are frustrated and angry at the inability of the Sinhala polity to offer
a fair and durable solution, and the high handed, undemocratic, violent, uncivilized
and disgraceful behaviour of the LTTE. As eloquently said in Tamil the ‘Pongu Thamil’
events are an attempt to bury a whole pumpkin within a plate of rice (‘Mulu
Poosanikaayay soetril maraika paarpathu’ –Tamil), by the LTTE.
The current ‘Pongu Thamil’ events are a sequel to similar events staged in the
immediate post-ceasefire agreement period. According to Sittambalam (Sangam. org ,
3rd Oct’05), these ‘Tamil Resurgence celebrations’ are to seek legitimacy for the
LTTE, while emphasizing the inalienable right of the Tamil people for self-
determination. These two issues are purported to be the cornerstones of the ‘Pongu
Thamil’ demands. The Tamil net (20th Feb’01) had reported that an effigy of foreign
minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was hung near the campus entrance, at the ‘Pongu
Thamil’ events held in Batticaloa in 2001. This was in itself an immature and shameful
act, but which was a fore -warning of more disgraceful events yet to unfold. When the
LTTE stands accused today of assassinating Kadirgamar and has been subject to
European Union strictures, it would make sense to question whether the LTTE has
achieved any legitimacy and whether the Tamil cause has advanced in any way,
through such events. Seeking legitimacy for an organization that is hell bent on
transgressing universally accepted norms for legitimate human, social and political
conduct, nationally and internationally, is the height of cheek, to say the least. If these
are celebrations (Sittambalam, Sangam. org, 3rd Oct’05), I wonder what we are
celebrating! Are we celebrating the criminalization and the loss of values in our
society? Are we celebrating the eroding sympathy internationally and nationally for
our struggle, because of the senseless violence practiced by the LTTE? Are we
celebrating the ruthless dictatorship imposed on the Tamils by the LTTE? Are we
celebrating the general feeling of frustration that has enveloped the Tamils at being let
down by the LTTE? Are we celebrating the widening gulf between the Tamils and the
LTTE? Are we celebrating the accelerating erosion of the moral right of the LTTE to
represent the Tamils? Are we celebrating the current murder spree in the north and
east? What we should be doing instead is commemorate the dreams (now fading)
that were cherished by most Tamils of being able to live in their land of birth with
freedom, dignity, human rights and prosperity, and without fear of thuggery,
dispossession, displacement, arson, violent death, rape and mutilation.
Mylvaganam (Sangam.org, 3rd March’05) has spoken of his pleasure and pride at
witnessing the recent ‘Pongu Thamil’ events in Jaffna, and waxed eloquent on the
details. I wish what he witnessed was genuine and a true reflection of what the Tamils
of Jaffna feel. Unfortunately, all reports indicate that this is one more illusion created
by the LTTE to delude Tamil people and the world. These are efficiently organized
events, stage managed by the LTTE using its military, thug and financial muscle.
Shops and schools are forced to close with ominous threats and the public coerced to
attend. There of course are the idle and the entertainment seekers who will gather
for any spectacle where there is no admission fee. How long are we going to be
deluded and deceived by such spectacles when the facts speak otherwise? Marches
and protest meetings were held in the 1980s in Tamil Nadu, India, in support of the
Tamils of Sri Lanka and these received wide publicity internationally. I was convinced
that these were indeed genuine expressions of popular sentiments in Tamil Nadu, until
I had the opportunity to witness one such event in Madras and speak to the people
there. Most marchers were street boys and the unemployed who had been lured with
the promise of a cup of tea and food (a vadai)! A majority of the people whom I spoke
to did not even have an inkling of the cause of the problems in Sri Lanka for the
Tamils and some even felt that being unwanted migrants from India we have to know
our place! This episode reminded me of what I was taught as a child - Kannaal
Kaanpathum poi; Kaathaal kertpathum poi; Theera visaarithu aaraainthu arrivathey
mei – Tamil (What you see with your eye is a lie; what you hear with your ears is also a
lie; what you thoroughly investigate, research and learn is the truth).
The on-going presidential election season is also revealing the deception being
foisted on the public from the Sinhala side of the political spectrum. The recently
released UNP manifesto states, “We will bring about a permanent resolution to the
ethnic problem through a political solution based on a United Sri Lanka. A consensus
reached between the UNP and the UPFA on the ethnic problem, the agreement
arrived at between the Government and the LTTE and the Oslo and Tokyo
declaration, which guarantees the unity, democratic character and territorial integrity
of Sri Lanka, has created the framework of a solution acceptable to all communities of
the country”. Even at this stage of our history, a major political party in Sri Lanka is
unable to explicitly state in its manifesto that it will seek to establish a federal
framework for the governance of Sri Lanka, which will ensure her unity and territorial
integrity. Why did the UNP not explicitly use the word ‘Federal’ in its manifesto? Is it a
dirty word in Sinhala politics that cannot be openly alluded to in a manifesto? After
fifty seven years of independence, an equal period of communal strife and almost
twenty five years of civil war and consequent suffering, why cannot the UNP ask the
Sinhala people to support a federal solution to the ethnic problem, if it is convinced
that it is only way out of the present crisis? It is an insult to the ordinary Sinhala
people that their politicians cannot trust their decency, common sense, political
acumen and intelligence. If the people are trusted, they will reciprocate in greater
measure.
While Chandrika Kumaratunge, the outgoing president has been consistent and
tenacious in her advocacy of a federal solution she has been a singular failure in
taking it forward during her long tenure. Short-term political goals and shortsighted
tactics have cost her a memorable place in history. While her heart and mind were in
the right place, her combative nature has worked to her detriment. Her years in power
will be remembered as years of lost opportunities. She had the attributes and
blessings to have become an admirable figure in Sri Lankan history, but failed,
because of her inability to transcend cheap tactics and propensity for political
deception. However, her political successor and the SLFP presidential candidate is
Mahendra Percy Rajapakse alias Mahinda Rajapakse, who is yet largely an unknown
quantity and a discernible political lightweight. In the hope of garnering a larger
proportion of the Sinhala-Buddhist vote, Mahinda Rajapakse has entered in to
agreements with the JVP and JHU to ensure the unitary status of Sri Lanka and its
unity. According to the latest report, he will be contesting under the UPFA banner and
its symbol- the betel leaf. What are the UNP and its presidential candidate, Ranil
Wickremasinghe, going to discuss with the UPFA, which is against a federal solution
and is for the current status quo? While both candidates and their respective political
formations are for a united Sri Lanka, the difference is that the UPFA wants to achieve
it through the current (& of course failed) unitary system of governance and the UNP
without explicitly stating it, through a federal frame work. Chandrika Kumaratunge, the
current president and leader of the SLFP is for a federal solution while her party’s
official candidate is against it. Both the president and Mahinda Rajapakse are
however united in their stand for a united Sri Lanka. If the Oslo declarations are yet
accepted as valid, even the LTTE is for a united Sri Lanka! Who is fooling whom? Isn’
t it obvious that we are playing with words that lack any substance? Isn’t the issue of
contention a federal system of governance? Should this not be the focus of the
presidential election debate? Why are we running away from such a debate and
engaging the public in it? Why this grand deception?
Malinda Seneviratne (The Lanka Academic, 30th Sept’05) has questioned whether a
unitary state is necessarily disunited and whether a federal set-up is necessarily
uniting. He has answered in the negative to both. He implies that a unitary state can
be united and a federal state can be disunited. No one can dispute his theoretical
argument, which is the basis of the so-called ‘Sinhala intransigence’- a theoretical
concept by itself that has been never honestly put to the electoral test. The
intransigence (or is it stupidity?) of Sinhala politicians is often blamed on the Sinhala
public in the name of democracy. The Sinhala public has rarely been told the truth
about the prevailing state of affairs and their response honestly sought in independent
Sri Lanka. The unitary system of governance in Sri Lanka, with embedded checks
and balances as in the original Soulbury constitution, would have been uniting, if it
were adhered to sincerely both in letter and spirit. Unfortunately, this was not done
and it was subsequently discarded in favour of constitutions that lacked the features
needed for the unitary state to be uniting. In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country
such as Sri Lanka, where there is a predominance of a distinctive group (Sinhala-
Buddhist) and where sectarian interests and politics rule the roost, highly centralized
governance based on a majority vote, though theoretically democratic, is functionally
undemocratic and disuniting. What is good for the majority group (Sinhala- Buddhists)
need not be necessarily good for the minorities (Tamils and Muslims), who are also
citizens of Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, it was assumed that what is good for the Sinhala-
Buddhists was the prime concern of the government and this will be good for the
country. Sri Lanka has unfortunately and quite miserably failed to provide democratic
and fair governance to all citizens of Sri Lanka, irrespective of their sectarian identities
under the prevailing unitary system of governance. This is a historical fact that cannot
be overlooked or denied. What has miserably failed because of human foibles,
leaving in its wake much bitterness, misery, blood shed and gore, and at much cost to
the nation, cannot be clung on to anymore on the basis of theoretical considerations
and hypothetical fears. The only way the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka can
be assured at this stage is through a federal system of governance that will ensure
extensive devolution of power to the periphery. There should of course be sufficient
constitutional safeguards to prevent fissiparous tendencies in the periphery and
arbitrariness at the center. Most importantly the concept that every individual-
Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or other, who is a legitimate citizens of Sri Lanka, is equal in
the eyes of the state and is provided equal opportunities, facilities and protection
should be accepted without reservations. If this cardinal principle is not strictly
adhered to, no constitutional arrangement will provide an answer to our problems.
India should be our example in this matter. It has survived and developed as a
democracy and safeguarded its territorial integrity, by permitting the different regional
linguistic and racial groupings a high degree of self-governance through a federal
system of governance. The Indians are today proud of their nationality, while at the
same time preserving and being proud of their parochial identities. Federalism in India
continues to grow and mature, paving the way for equitable regional development and
prosperity. The state of Madras at independence comprised the present Tamil Nadu,
Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh states. However, flexibility of the Indian
constitution and enlightened politics permitted the multi-lingual Madras state to be
divided in to several smaller states on a linguistic basis and the predominately Tamil
speaking part renamed Tamil Nadu. This process is continuing in large states such as
Uttara Pradesh to this day. Fissiparous tendencies in the predominantly Tamil, Madras
state was arrested by naming it Tamil Nadu and providing the regional Dravidian
parties (DMK and ADMK) the opportunity to get elected and govern with minimum
central government interference. It is worth mentioning that Pondichery is a distinct
political entity within India, despite its limited land area, small Tamil speaking
population and proximity to Tamil Nadu. Pondicherry is distinctive because of its
colonial French connections and has been permitted to keep its identity within India.
Why should the federal system of governance, not withstanding the fact that it will be a
new chapter and experiment in the political life of our nation become a failure, a
disuniting factor or a prelude to territorial disintegration in Sri Lanka?
What a federal constitution and system of governance would mean and its implications
should be presented to the public, especially the Sinhalese, in clear unambiguous
terms, at the impending presidential elections. The media- newspapers, magazines,
television and radio, should present facts (not fiction) to the public on the federal
system and how it is operative in various countries. This will educate the public on the
pros and cons of the system and open the way for a sensible debate. Not
withstanding the fear the UNP apparently harbours about openly advocating the
federal system, it should do so and encourage a healthy debate. This election should
not be a replay of 1977, when J.R. Jayawardene despite laying down in clear terms the
problems of the Tamils in the UNP manifesto for the first time in the history of Sri
Lanka, did everything demonically possible to make things worse for the Tamils during
his tenure. The outgoing president, Chandrika Kumaratunga, should also advocate
what she apparently believes in strongly, not withstanding Mahinda Rajapakse’s
stance. This is an opportunity for her to redeem her position in history and become a
stateswoman while ceasing to be a cheap politician. She should keep away from the
electoral fray, while advocating her position, based on her experience and beliefs
without fear or favour. This will provide the Sinhala public the opportunity to erase the
myth of Sinhala intransigence from our national political life once and for all. We
should all desist from deceiving the public with untruths and half-truths at least with
regard to this issue at this election, to enable the people to forestall Sri Lanka falling
into the abyss she is being pushed by our short sighted and visionless politicians. I
am sure the people will prove most of our political pundits and politicians wrong, if
given the opportunity to express an opinion based on sound facts.