Fwd: ARTICLE OF BAHU
Dr Vickramabahu
From: Dr Vickramabahu <vama...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 12:44 PM
Subject: ARTICLE OF BAHU
To: <editor.d...@lakehouse.lk>, samangie cdn <saman...@gmail.com>
Cc: Champa Perera <champa...@gmail.com>, Sachitra Mahendra <sach...@gmail.com>
We must accept the result; because that is parliamentary democracy at work. Sometimes it gives one not just what is unbearable but also what is dangerous. The risk is inherent in the system, said MARX. Understand the result. By fascistic campaign country is divided. By that ‘Sinhala only’ have a monopoly on what passes for patriotism. A majority of Sinhala-Buddhist have accepted this politics freely, as their sole representative. That bond can be broken, only by exposing Rajapaksas, through their past and future crimes, and also mistakes. They will. Mahinda Rajapaksa did it between 2010 and 2015. Gotabaya will continue. Think of the next struggle. The parliamentary election is of critical importance. It can be won. Surely SLPP’s victory can be reduced to a marginal one. Voting and encouraging others to vote would do, if nothing else. The Rajapaksas won a near two-thirds majority at the 2010 parliamentary election even after losing votes because oppositional supporters stayed away. The same disaster mustn’t happen this time.
Avoid internal fights and hidden battles. If we fight over small thing, democracy will be the first casualty. Everything depends on the UNP not fragmenting and the non-SLPP forces not turning against each other. We must include JVP ALSO IN THE FRONT. Face the challenges as Sri Lankans. The only positive outcome of the election was to prove that include substantial segment of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities did not succumb to racist and religious extremism and opt for moderate path. We must not divert from that path for short term gains. Anti-racism and moderation must be the two boundary lines that form the way forward.
Finally, don’t give in either to impatience or to despair. Don’t expect fast victories and don’t despair when defeats happen. Marx advised, both adventurism and pessimism will cause burnout. Be patient, resist the flow and stay safe. The new Rajapaksa government will displease the human rights campaigners while Sinhala only fascistic campaigners rejoice expecting tough stand in UNHR discussions and end to this ‘anti terrorism left backs’. The families of Tamil and Sinhala civilians who are the victims of enforced disappearances and who remain missing during and after the war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Lankan government have been holding awareness rally in public now for 1000 consecutive days. Eknaligoda remains the most famous Sinhala person and his family is in the forefront in this campaign. They have received no new information about the fate of their loved ones and no action has taken against the perpetrators in all that time. Since the start of the campaign, 50 or more mothers and fathers of the disappeared have passed away, without knowing the fate of their sons and daughters. However they believe in the words ex soldier that promise hard rule of justice, to prove it by giving the minimum justice to the parents of disappeared.
HR campaigners claim Sri Lanka has the 2nd highest number of unresolved cases of enforced disappearance held by the UN’s Working Group on Enforced Disappearance, with 65,000 cases officially recorded by the government itself and many unrecorded. The organizations of families of the disappeared are demanding a special independent investigation of the circumstances of the disappearances and the fate of those who went missing because the Sri Lankan government has made no progress in the ten years since the end of the war. They have already place this demand before the new Rajapaksa government. After co-sponsoring UN Human Rights Council resolution 30/1 in 2re 015 which committed the state to a transitional justice process, Sri Lanka’s government finally set up an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) in September 2017. This Office has made little progress since incorporation and, significantly, has produced fewer results so far than the previous Paranagama Commission set up under President Rajapaksa under international pressure to investigate the same tragedies. The OMP has no mandate to refer its findings to judicial proceedings and little authority to call on international funds or expertise.
Since co-sponsoring the HRC resolution, both the president and prime minister, along with numerous other high officials have publicly stated that no war heroes will be prosecuted for the war crimes and crimes against humanity detailed in 2015 report of the Office of the High Commissioner’s Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL). It is credibly believed that the vast majority of the enforced disappearances were committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces and their associated paramilitaries. Lankan government take the stand that armed forces were fighting most cruel terrorist organization in an unusual background hence wide margin should be given for mistakes. The appointment in August of Shavendra Silva, who is named in the OISL report as being in command of forces which are credibly suspected of serious international crimes, as Commander of the Armed Forces is an indication of the government’s reluctance to take concrete action toward its commitments on post-war transitional justice. The vast majorities of other suspects named in the OISL report continues in their careers, receive medals and are promoted to high posts with complete impunity. A candidate for presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was Defense Secretary during and after the war, has committed to withdrawing from the HRC resolution if elected, already the President of Lanka. This means the argument of dealing with most unethical ferocious terrorism has been accepted unconditionally by the Lankan regime.
The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC), The British Tamils Forum (BTF), the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and the United States Tamil Action Group (USTAG) express their solidarity with the relatives of the missing and forcibly disappeared, both Tamil and Sinhala in Lanka, in their long campaign for truth, justice and reparation. In the face of total inaction by Sri Lanka’s authorities, they call on the international community to honor the urgent demands by the families of disappeared for justice in the form of a special court, the exercise of universal jurisdiction.
Dr Vickramabahu Karunarathne, BARRACKS LANE, COLOMBO 2
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Dr Vickramabahu Karunarathne, BARRACKS LANE, COLOMBO 2
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Dr Vickramabahu
Dr Vickramabahu
From: Dr Vickramabahu <vama...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 8:55 PM
Subject: ARTICLE OF BAHU
To: <srini...@gmail.com>
Election results prove what Sama samajists suggested is true. They campaigned for a fighting front against pro Gota camp and it is correct. Pro Gota forces barely got 52 %of total vote.S Divided democracy camp was dispersed. 42% of vote went for New Democratic Front, 3 % for JVP for and 3% for small socialist and Tamil Muslim Radical parties. If they formed a unity by joining within the NEW DEMOCRATIC FRONT and common candidate Sajith they could have, with hard work defeat pro Gota forces and as they say bring peace and unity among all communities in Lanka. Now suspicion and communal threat is lingering in many part of the country. Looming clashes within the NDF are reported, as some groups, may be influenced by racist pressure are asking for a new leadership removing pro devolution leadership of Ranil Wickremesinghe. Anti Ranil campaign is, though based on dissatisfaction of the defeat, is negatively influenced by the rise of ‘Sinhala only’ slogan after many years. It was raised in 1956 lead into make Sinhala only state language pushing Sinhala above other communities. It also made English an anathma removing it from the ordinary people. English language was ridiculed out of main streams of education and cultural activities. The result of this historic crime is felt today by Lanka dragging back behind Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore as a place for investments with modern technology.
Samsamajists now demand unity of democratic forces before the parliamentary elections scheduled to come shortly. If strong anti racist organization is put together, then they say it could unite all social democratic forces to fight together in elections combined with mass action campaign against communal brutality. Also there will be space to demand the full implementation of power sharing and human rights, as given in UN resolutions. This could mobilize democratic forces thorough out the country.
All Sinhala are burdened with the resurgent ‘Sinhala only’ of Bandaranayake era and on that basis accused of racism. On the other hand Tamils vigorously fought against this national repression are classified as Tigers. Muslims are classified as apart of Palestinian struggle and grouped under jihads. All these classifications start first as friendly identifications. Tamil friends say jokingly of course. ‘Scratch a Sinhala you find a racist,’ Sinhala man expected to retaliate in jest of course. ‘Scratch a Muslim and you find a Jihadists.’ I’ve heard people say; in jest of course. Now it is a laughing matter. However rivers have sources, trees have roots and perceptions have histories or rather are produced by a healthy complement of history, myth and legend. It is often framed by political selectivity which of course is a product of expedience, let us not forget. Broad brush strokes, that’s what is common. And we’ve seen these in various analyses of the presidential election results. The country has been carved, so to speak, and it is being consumed in parts without a drop of tear, as they please.
So we have an election marked by ‘racism’. On the one hand we have the provinces that voted overwhelmingly for Sajith (North and East, to the tune of over 80%) where the population is predominantly Tamil and Muslim. The rest of the country, predominantly Sinhala, voted overwhelmingly for Gotabaya Rajapaksa. That’s cutting the result along nationality lines.
Various explanations have been offered. Perhaps the Tamils went along with the claim of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) — ‘Sajith will deliver’. Deliver what? Well, if we go by the conditions for support articulated by the TNA, then it is essentially a full implementation of the 13th amendment, road map to Indian type ‘federalism’. Of course it is argued by racists that the Sinhala were irked by the taunts of Tamil and Muslim communalist parties — ‘you can’t win without us,’ and ‘vote for Sajith and teach the Sinhala a lesson’. Others argue, ‘Gota is a Sinhala Buddhist chauvinist and so is the Sri Lanka Podu Jana Peramuna (SLPP) whereas Sajith is not; therefore the minorities voted for Sajith.’
One might also argue that the North and East saw Sarath Fonseka, the Commander of the Army fighting the LTTE (‘The sole representative of the Tamil people,’ according to some Tamils) was less of a threat than Mahinda Rajapaksa (the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces at the time) and therefore the lesser evil, which is why 67% voted for him in 2010. They believed, one can argue, that Maithripala Sirisena (a member of Rajapaksa’s cabinet) was even less an evil than Fonseka, which is he was able to win 75% of the vote in the North and East in 2015. Gotabaya was the Secretary, Ministry of Defence, at the time whereas Sajith played no part in that drama and as such the latter was not seen to have any evil trace whatsoever — hence the massive support in 2019.
Some have argued that the people in the North and East preferred by quite a margin a Sinhala (Sajith) as opposed to Sivajilingam, a close Tamil relation of Praba, and therefore ‘race’ was not a factor. That would be simplistic, though. More logical, it would seem, would be to vote for the candidate who is more likely to deliver demands, which is essentially what the TNA told the people. After all, R. Sambanthan claims, ‘Tamils voted for Sajith to win rights in a united, indivisible Sri Lanka’. ‘United’ and not ‘Unitary’, has always been the word-choice of Tamil nationalists.
On the other hand, almost 50% of Tamils live outside
the North and East. Who did they vote for?
Always UNP has counted the Tamils and Muslims outside the North and East
as part of its vote base. This means that the Tamil and Muslim votes from other
parts of the country. Hence the UNP’s slice of the Sinhala vote has shrunk to
less than 30% or is even hovering around 25%. That’s something the UNP should
worry about as it looks ahead to future elections.
It is clear that Gotabaya won the support of large numbers of Sinhala Buddhists. He has acknowledged this instead of pussy-footing around the fact. A certain segment voted, he named and acknowledged. He also said he won’t leave behind anyone, whether or not he or she voted for him, as he takes the country forward. He is, as he pointed out, President of everyone. Time will tell how he performs and how the people of the North and East assess his performance.
Dr Vickramabahu Karunarathne, BARRACKS LANE, COLOMBO 2
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Dr Vickramabahu
From: Dr Vickramabahu <vama...@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 1, 2019 at 6:10 PM
Subject: ARTICLE OF BAHU
To: <srini...@gmail.com>
This recent presidential election depict that the Lankan people are divided into several nationalities and continues to be aversive to be united as “One Lankan,” signifying further polarization within the voter base and questioning the efforts of nation-building and reconciliation in the recent past. However it is clear that this division is based on corrupt racist campaigns of fascistic political organizations and not based on any significant community claims. Having won the election with a significant majority, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa represents more than the stronger sentiments of the Sinhala nationality majority, the so called Sinhala-Buddhist fascistic ideology. Actually he now he should represent the entire Sri Lankan population. Significantly, the President-elect failed to secure the vote of the minorities in not only the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka but also in the up country region. It means that even after the lapse of a decade since the conclusion of the 30-year civil war, the Rajapaksa politics has repeatedly failed to secure the trust of the minorities since 2010.
This, however, is not a surprise given the fascistic nature of their campaign, which carries horrible problematic political implications for the country in the long run. Gotabaya campaign was founded upon two notions of Mahinda Chinthanaya: the Sinhala-Buddhist nation and strong unitary state. The idea of strengthening national security in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday Attacks re asserted this ideology. Fascism is a form of politics which creates an “us against them” distinction and seeks to mobilize the “general will of the common people” against the “corrupt elite”. Latter was the major agitations in the democratic revolutions in Europe and elsewhere, decades ago. The majority in it became the method of false democracy that created fascistic power beginning in Germany and Italy.
Of course, even to day seeking the general will of the people represents the majority will. This is a necessary democratic feature because democracies function on the will of the majority. However, if population consists of several nationalities the idea of populism breaks down because majority nationality can work as permanent majority and its compatibility with democracy is debatable. In fact, populism after the experience of Hitler and Mussolini was opposed to liberal democratic principles where it erodes respect for reason, liberal institutions, and minority populations. Further, it can be hostile to liberal democracies when accompanied by racism, fascism and authoritarianism, creating the ultimate danger of a “tyranny of the majority”.
A tyranny of the majority generally arises when the majority nationality of a country quest exclusively after its own interests at the expense of those representing the minority (in numbers as well as ideology). This is a problematic implication for Sri Lanka, has already suffered long-standing consequences of the majority-minority divide inherited legacy from ancient period of history, when village and small tank agricultural system clashed with large tanks and centrally organized cultivations system. Sinhala were associated with the large tank agriculture while Tamils were associated with small village tank agriculture. Though Aryan and Dravidian terms used; except the systems of living there is no other difference between these two groups of people; both lived in Lanka over 2500 years. The languages are also ancient but Sinhala is more connected to Sanskrit than Tamil, which is said to be the original language humans. Of course now they do not understand each other and through that divisive racist politics between the majority and minority has created the Tamil national problem.
In a global context where identity politics and its populist frenzy have emerged attractive and successful in various parts of the world such the United States, India and the United Kingdom, it is not a surprise that Sri Lanka is no different. Particularly in countries like Lanka, where nationality, language and religion are at the very heart of nationhood and statehood debate, the legitimacy and acceptance of the State, as well as its political leaders, is woven around these nationality identities.
Populist political will to strengthen Sri Lankan statehood, went against minority nationalities. This results in the fragmentation of the idea of “a nation”, challenging in demarking statehood. What is generally understood as a legitimate state is a territorial entity which is comprised of a distinct population identifying itself as a nation and a government which holds the monopoly over the territory and its people. In such a context, friction on what constitutes the “Sri Lankan nation” fragments the foundation of the “Sri Lankan State.” When the election results were released several distinctions concerning the voters in the North and the South as well as voters belonging to different nationalities were made by the general public. Theoretically, whilst a division of this nature should not exist in a stereotypical western model of a nation-state, in practice it was apparent that so called Sinhala Buddhist majority in the South were challenging the political will expressed by the people who did not belong to their camp.
It was funny to observe how the Tamil group in the North and the East despite having cast their vote for a non-Tamil leader, Sajith Premadasa (as opposed to M.K. Sivajilingam, a prominent member of Parliament representing the Tamil National Alliance- TNA), were still labeled “separatists”, and in certain extreme cases as “terrorists” by Sinhala racist camp residing in the South. The sentiments shared towards the Muslim nationality group were no different, especially given the xenophobia following the national security argument of the aforementioned populist campaign. In light of this observation, even though the minority populations seem to be trying to get involved in national politics in spite of the leaders’ racism, the Sinhala-Buddhist fascists in the South continues to voice against such inclusivity within the national political discourse.
Dr Vickramabahu Karunarathne, BARRACKS LANE, COLOMBO 2
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