Call for a metamorphosis from a 'well frog' to a 'tree frog'
by Kusal Perera
It is time to leave this Sinhala Diasporic purging of "patriotism" that serves no purpose for Sri Lanka , today or tomorrow. For most out there, it’s sort of a past time to lick their "run away guilt". Away from their kith and kin and living in a comfort zone. Away from abductions, torture, extra judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, uncertain detentions, death threats, barricades, high security zones, sham investigations and impotent commissions and shameless limitless corruption, waste, plunder and all things that mercilessly control and erode every aspect of life here. It's for all that in Sri Lanka , there has to be a discussion, a dialogue with intellectual sincerity for which these Diasporic Sinhala outbursts can not lend any worth as most comments to most articles prove.
This therefore is an attempt to have a serious discussion for those who could contribute with sincerity and not for others who should find a different platform for their patriotic itching. This is trying to find a way out of the chaos that Sri Lanka is dumped in right now and was being dragged towards that, for over 60 years.
When 60 years ago, Ceylon was handed over to its citizenry by the Colonial rulers, to be led by its leaders, neither the citizenry nor the leaders had a political vision of how this country should be positioned for its future growth, with its diversity intact and honoured. They in fact did not know what type of a democracy would best suit the diversity the country was destined to live with. Therefore, they did not take upon themselves the responsibility of creating the Constitution for an independent Ceylon, the way the Indians did for India.
India refused to have a Constitution drafted by the British. Instead, the Indians had their own expertise in Dr. Ambedkar to draft their own Constitution that gave all the space for their diversity which was and is complicated and complex than ours, in a Constitution that was far outside a "Unitary" Constitution. The Indian leadership understood the necessity of having both stability and diversity, for their future development and that, diversity can not have political consensus in a "Unitary" Constitution.
This was a basic political tenet the Ceylonese leaders did not understand in any language. Ceylon as an independent country went along with the "Unitary" Constitution on the model of Westminster democracy as drafted by Lord Soulburry and his Commission that most sincerely thought they had answered the issues of their subjects within a "Unitary" Constitution model they were familiar with. As later written by Lord Soulburry in 1963, in a foreword to B.H.Farmer's compilation 'Ceylon - A Divided Nation' (Oxford University Press) [quote]".... A Commission, of which I had the honour to be the Chairman, was appointed by the British Government in 1944, to examine and discuss proposals for the constitutional reform of Ceylon.
It did not take long to discover that the relations of minorities to majorities, and particularly of the Tamil minority in the Northern and Eastern provinces to the Sinhalese majority further South, were in the words of the Commission's report 'the most difficult of the many problems involved'.[unquote] The Commission thus thought they could include provisions for the safety of all minorities in a "Unitary" Constitution in a country where as Lord Soulburry notes further [quote] "…While the Commission was in Ceylon, the speeches of certain Sinhalese politicians calling for the solidarity of the Sinhalese and threatening the suppression of the Tamils emphasised the need for constitutional safeguards on behalf of that and other minorities..."[unquote]
The political legacy that was left with independent Ceylon was therefore the task of establishing a State that would have allowed a secular, pluralistic society, one in which all minorities which includes the Tamil polity, could have played a shared role in decision making within its political process.
It had to be necessarily so in the Lankan society that had evolved over centuries with two modern standard languages, Sinhala and Tamil, each standing for a distinct society of people with its separate cultural identity. These two cultural identities also carry with them conspicuous geographical areas where Sinhala and Tamil societies register their historical presence.
Using one of them (Sinhala) to secure a basis for nationalism in establishing a nation-state over the whole of Sri Lanka, provides for a dialectically opposing (Tamil) nationalism for another state. And the ensuing nationalistic desire to establish a nation state based on one (Sinhala) gives way for political coercion over both societies. One, to achieve its sectarian nationalistic ambition and the other (Tamil), to resist and overcome through its own separate State.
The logic behind the demand for a “ Separate Tamil State ” that gradually took hold within moderate Tamil politics and emerged most brutally is the failure of the Sinhala society to understand this simple, civilised necessity of pluralism in modern day nationalism.
Negation of this political necessity for the future development of Ceylon that was later made into a Sinhala Republic as Sri Lanka, erasing its previous secular Constitutional position, not only showed the Sinhala political leadership was averse to plurality, but also it did not have any serious vision for development of Sri Lanka. All through these 60 plus years, Sri Lanka has not proved it is positively growing, but proved it is declining in every aspect of human life.
Corruption in Sri Lanka which became a topic of daily discussion, especially after the economy was liberalised in 1978, has hit its peak during the past 02 – 03 years. It's now a common occurrence with looting and plunder becoming the order of the day. All big time deals have gone through with private and public sector collaboration receiving political buffers.
Crime in Sri Lanka is on the increase with law enforcement agencies wholly politicised and perceived as one of the most corrupt State agencies. Almost all political killings which are very many have gone without serious investigations and with no suspects being produced in any court of law. The underworld and some ruling party politicians play hand in glove, while enjoying the company of the Head of State, even in official trips.
Social values keep degrading and loosing their worth to be adhered to, while economically too, Sri Lanka has survived through increasing poverty and growing debt. The first, World Bank aid loan to Sri Lanka in 1954 was US$19.1 million for the Laxapana power plant construction and Sri Lanka was one of the first developing countries to receive WB aid. Today Sri Lanka is in dire need of an IMF loan of US $ 1.9 billion, just to service its running foreign debts. Government debt (both external & domestic) has increased from approximately 60% of GDP in the early 1970s to 96% in early 1990s to over 106% by 2003. As far as long term debt is concerned, the government’s responsibility has gone up to about 85% of the total debt commitment.
Corruption, mismanagement, lack of planning and callous disregard for people's needs in the State sector agencies topped by the most miserable of all political leaderships to date, has not been able to manage any development projects into effective conclusion. While the first Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP) was planned in 1974 and carried out in Kurunegala district, by 1989 there had been 19 similar IRDPs in districts outside North-East. There after, IRDPs were refashioned as Rural Economic Advancement Programmes (REAP) the first of it implemented in Matale district in year 2000.
At present another similar project RUEDA is on in the Southern Province. All these projects were foreign funded through different international agencies and implemented through the Ministry of Planning. While most such projects were extended into second phase, none of them ever had any significant impact on rural economies in any of the districts. Worst is, all of them have proved that the present State and its administrators don't have the capacity to utilise even 40% of the committed funds.
So are the mega poverty alleviation projects that were initiated from 1990 April, first as Janasaviya and then as Samurdhi. A case study report on poverty alleviation titled "Beyond the framework; The challenge for rural poverty reduction" (2001) notes, [quote]Sri Lanka’s only experience with a large-scale social investment fund, the Janasaviya Trust Fund, was not as successful as it might have been. The government had majority control and decision-making became politicised. This has also been the experience of government-managed social investment funds in general.[unquote] It is far worse with Samurdhi that has a huge multi layered, extension staff. Almost 19 years after these mega projects were initiated, in Sri Lanka 39% of the families are recorded as below the poverty line. In the Southern Province, it is 38.7%.
This Unitary State with its "representative" democracy has also turned out to be a hoax. The present parliament does not represent the will of the people which elected it in 2004 April. Representation of 37.8% of the voters who voted with the main Opposition which contested as the UNF is no more proportionately represented in parliament.
Their elected representatives have deserted them to sit with the government for purely personal reasons. It was in parliament sessions that it was once told, elected Members are being auctioned for the highest bid. Once elected, these MPs take it as their right to decided where they would sit in parliament, irrespective of the vote received. They are totally irresponsible in every way.
This Unitary system therefore does not provide any development space for any one. Not even for those in the Sinhala South. Hambantota and Moneragala districts could not have been the poorest districts in Sri Lanka , with 98.4% and 95.5% Sinhala populations respectively if it was otherwise. Hambantota for instance have had billions of rupees going waste and disappearing with 07 elected representatives spending Rs. 05 million each every year, totalling Rs.35 million from what is allocated as the "Decentralised Budget".
Apart from that 35 million, the Southern Development Authority (SDA), the Provincial Council, central government ministries, special foreign funded projects together spend billions of rupees annually. Yet the voters in Hambantota don't have the right to ask where their monies go in the name of development.
That is just what happens in every district and that is what this "Unitary" State and the Sinhala hegemony is all about. For the South, if they are serious about living with development at least after 60 plus years of chaos and conflict, then its time to start thinking of leaving this Unitary State and its representative democracy aside and move to a more effective governing system with participatory democracy. A system that would invariably include,
1. legal provisions to make it mandatory for all elected representatives and those holding high public office to declare their assets and liabilities annually.
2. a total prohibition on elected representatives to legislative bodies from deciding on disbursing of public monies, such as the present decentralised budget.
3. reforms that permits plurality for social stability without any form of militarization of the society.
Today, the dilemma therefore is in finding the right ideology that would allow such socially respected plurality in Sri Lanka , to emerge as a single nation state. Plurality cannot be nurtured in a society without an ideology that calls for democratic, accommodating traditions. That rules out “nationalism” based on a single culture in a plural society like Sri Lanka . All of it needs serious social dialogue and thus it is time for those who see the world through the mouths of ancient wells to at least climb a tree and see the larger picture of this changing modern world.
22 Comments
I strongly believe that president Rajapaksa will solve the current problem. But we got to wait till his reelection and the parliamentary election which should give him a 2/3 majority.
You are right Mr.Kusal, I am sory to say sinhalease never elected professional politicians. They all ways select thugs and criminal background. Present president got blood in his hand. When he was young politician, muredered some one and get away with it. Now he is sinhala king. God bless srilanka and sinhala people.
Kusal Perera:
You are not alone in your frustration. Dialogue with the average Sinhalese, whether expatriate or Sri Lankan resident, is next to impossible. The conversation either centers around the "potential" Sri Lanka had in the 1970's before LTTE "imposed", or the great Western conspiracy to destabilize and plunder. Corruption? Corruption provides comic relief at dinner parties. As an expatriate community, we are very successful. Unfortunately, some of that success has closed our eyes to the ground reality in Sri Lanka. Dual citizenship and the amenities afforded by our high-skilled professions have only induced apathy. After all, it is not we who suffer, it is Tamils. We have nothing against Tamils, it just that out here in the West, we learn quickly the meaning of "polite sympathy" and how to "mind your own business." After much failed dialogue with the expatriate Sinhalese community, I have reached one conclusion: any solution to Sri Lanka's problems must come from within. There should be a revolution, of the JVP kind. Only it is should be a revolution of ideas, not arms. People from all strata of society should feel empowered enough to take on the Government. Your articles are a big step in that direction. Many more steps are needed. Good luck.
Dear Kusal,
I am not sure where you live but I have lived in Western countries as a professional for over two decades, but now I am about to relocate to SL. Can you imagine the US giving autonomy to parts of the US to the African Americans based on cultural differences?
Can you imagine having a political party registered as African American party? The there are the 12 million Mexicans, can the state of California be separated as the state for the Mexican origin people who speak a different language and have a totally different culture?
Same story in Australia. Are there aboriginal political parties registered in Australia? So why is it good for SL not to have a unitary status? Why is it good to have Tamil ULF, EPRLF, TELLO, Muslim Congress etc. The South as you say has SLFP, UNP, JVP and even JHU (national heritage party)who is known to be extremists.
Large countries are divided in to regions for administrative purposes not for racial reasons. To put in perspective SL is the size of Tasmania (flight from SIN to Melb takes 7.30 hours, 5.30 hrs over Australia's land mass). Yet Australia has only 5 states and two territories to manage the vast land mass. On the other hand LA (the capital of CA state) alone has a population of 36 million of various origins, almost double that of SL.
In all these cases the so called "more Democratized" people manage to have harmony, within numerous cultures, races, religions, languages etc. etc. So don't talk rubbish with your big words. SL is a small country, can have not 2 but 10 races but the patriots need to learn to live in harmony, learn to respect others and maintain the unitary status. Political opportunism must be banned (even like names of political parties).
Have you never heard the term "unity is strength"? This is what others don't want us to have. We need patriots only as HE MR said.
The problem is that we got too much democrasy too early. Good example is to see how our drivers behave on the road. They want freedon at the expense of others. Untill the people are humanly developed we need tough lows and orders to control them. We do not want to be like India where there is a part of society who are in absolute poverty while the elite group is well developed.
While most of the accute problems that are listed in the article require serious thought by all Sri Lankans, Kusal's deceptive attempt to link all ills to the unitary structure of the state and the so called Sinhala hegamony must be denounced/condemned.
Even in a unitary structure you can achieve,
1. Corruption free governance if there are strong safeguards to ensure proper separation & balance of powers between the executive, legislative & legal institutions.
2. Corruption free governance if there is effective safeguards to ensure independance of the public sector from politicisation.
3. Safeguards for marginalised/minority segments in the society.
4. legal provisions to make it mandatory for all elected representatives and those holding high public office to declare their assets and liabilities annually.
5. A total prohibition on elected representatives to legislative bodies from deciding on disbursing of public monies, such as the present decentralised budget.
6. Prohibition of elected representatives from changing parties without fresh mandate from the electorate.
7. Full implementation of existing legal provisions related to Tamil as a national language.
Even in a devolved or "pluralist" structure one could encounter most of the ills Kusal mentions. If the existing structure provides an advantage to Sinhalese, then in areas where 95% (or more) of the population comprises of Sinhalese, we should have seen tremendous prosperity as opposed to Tamil majority areas. This is not the case as confirmed by Kusal him/her self.
While I am neither for nor against the unitary structure, my argument is that there are pros and cons in whatever methodology/structure one adopts. Therefore no option should be excluded (including the existing structure)if one is genuinely searching for a solution.
Even the wonderful structure in India faces immense problems. There are number of disputes and insurgencies raging in many parts of India resulting in hundreds of deaths each year. India had to bring legislation to ban sessionism due to sessionist activity in Tamil Nadu during the 60's. But Kusal still seems to be happy to consider India as a model.
Kusal seems to be fuelled by an ulterior motive in trying to establish a bogus link between genuine ills/grievances in society and the existing governing structure (though the existing structure may require overhauling which the people may ultimately agree to do).
Therefore kindly request Kusal to leave the hidden agendas behind and make a genuine attempt at contributing towards progressive solutions as Kusal possess capacity to make such valuable contribution.
We as a third world must be proud of our achievements in human devolepment through free education,free health care etc. we are still better off than India or Pakistan for that matter in terms of social mobility, literacy or infant mortality etc. The rich tamil diaspora that shout about discrimination are the products of free education in SL.They would have never achieved that status if they were born in India. Yes, Since 1978 we have been led by a group of politicians that have destroyed our social fabric and the enviorment ably led by the IMF and World Bank. The politicians have lost all credibility more importantly there is no accountability. Look at Ranil W for a starters. Having lost many elections and lost all credibility and electability he still hangs on to the postion of leader of the UNP. What he is doing is taking away from the people an alternative to the present regime. Since 1991 when he took over the UNP the conservative party in the UK has had about 5 different leaders. The problems of SL emenates from the inability of the civil society to demand accountability from the politicians be it RW or MR. The place for the corrupt is not in parliment but in Jail. To vent our anger against the politicians is right but finaly the problem of SL emanates from the faliure of the civil society to which the writer belongs. The blame game must stop . Every person who loves SL must demand accountability from our politicians. We have for too long been led by the corrupt and the unaccountable politicians.
Maya, no offense, but you seem to be out of touch with American affairs. If you think America is run by catering to the majority, you are dead wrong. Have you heard of the Congressional Black Caucus? Do you know what La Raza is? Have you heard about NAACP? Have you heard of the ACLU? Do you know about the American Jewish Congress? Do the words "affirmative action" ring a bell? Do you know why Red Indians are offered so many special privileges? As for unitary state, do you know why federalism works in Canada, India, Germany, Austria, Russia, Spain, UK, Switzerland, etc? Only failed states like China, Sri Lanka, Burma, and North Korea are crazy about unitary. The Westminister Model worked fine during British times. But even the British have realized its limitations since then. One of its former colonies should follow suit.
Patriot Maya, the reason the Tamils have separate political parties is, the mainstream political parties never represented the interests of the Tamils. Remember what former President JRJ said during the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983? He made it clear, he wasn't concerned about the Tamils. Tamil-bashing was a popular past-time for the Sinhala politicians. More they bashed the Tamils, more votes they received from the Sinhalese.
Simplistic comparisons of the situation in Sri Lanka to the US or Australia is ridiculous. No two situations are the same, no two countries have the same history.
The north and the east are traditional Tamil homelands just like the rest of the country is traditional Sinhala homeland. The Tamils want to run their own affairs without the Sinhalese having veto rights over their own affairs and rights.
Whether Tamils want a separate state or want a Federal system is their right.
People want to separate from a union only if they feel it is better to separate than to stay in the union. That is why the Scots and the Welsh are unlikely to separate from the English. The Scots and the Welsh are made to feel welcome. The UK is not an "English" country like Sri Lanka is a Sinhala country.
Let the Tamils run their own affairs. How will that impact a Sinhalese other than diminish their bigoted egos. If they are not bigoted, they will take it in their stride and carry on. They might even think it is in the best interest of everyone.
How many fools does it take to change a light bulb? How many politicians does it take to run a tiny island nation? We have a bloated parliment, Provincial councils, districts, muncipal councils etc, all to run a tiny country, all paid for by the poor taxpayer. Lets not even mention the useless corrupt and overstaffed public sector that is full of political appointments and is costing half taxes collected which could be used for development.
While I agree with most of your comments regarding ideology, bad governance, corruption etc, I dont believe the solution lies in devolution of power based on racial divisions. The power should be devolved right down to the individual.
The individual should have the right to question any injustice from anyone, from the president downwards and not be victimised. That is the real power. That is what western countries have worked towards achiving.
For this to done
(1) the constitution has to be redrafted to protect individual freedom. Individual freedom to free speach, freedom to religion, freedom to basic necessities of life, freedom even to life (which is missing in some parts of Sri Lanka) etc.
The constitution should protect against power being abused by groups or political parties using race or religion to divide society.
(2) The legal system should be fixed. Today the legal system in Sri Lanka is a joke. The appointment of judges is all political. A simple case in court can drag on for years. Only the rich can even seek help from the court. What happens to the poor who make up the majority of Sri Lankans?
(3) The police should be completely independent of political appointments. All the bad eggs should be weeded out and punished.
(4) There should strict laws preventing political interference in most fabrics of life. Where ever there is political interference there is corruption and injustice. Most politicians in Sri Lanka are uneducated local thugs who have no clue how to run or develop the country. They are only there for the money. Panels of educated experts and specialists should be appointed to govern various vital bodies in the country
(5) All politicians should be audited every year and their asserts made public to make sure that there is no stealing of our precious little national wealth left.
(6) Press freedom should is vital. While making sure that it doesnt promote seperatism or extremism, the press should have the freedom to investigate and expose all the ills in society.
(7) Most importantly the mindset of people should change. We are not Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim etc. We are SRI LANKAN. It doesnt matter if the Sinhalese are governed by Sinhalese and Tamils by Tamils and Muslims by Muslims, corrupt politicians will always be corrupt no matter what race they are from and what people they serve.
More dangerously if power is devolved based on race or religion this will only help these corrupt politicians to exploit racial feelings to make a fast buck while ruining the country.
I was once speaking to someone from a rich Sinhalese family regarding the plight of the poor man and the state of corruption in Sri Lanka. He laughed and said life is good the way it is. His family has the money so he can bribe his way out of even murder! He proceeded to boast of examples of bribery he used to get out of several situations with the law.
I only mention this to highlight the example of the mentality of the rich and the powerful in Sri Lanka, who strive to exploit the poor for their own benefit. This is pure greed and selfishness. While many of us may rush to question the patriotism of tamils, who will question the patriotism of the rich and powerful in the country who are ruining it??
Too many people believe too much in political solutions. These have never bought about perfect solutions, as all man made solutions will have loop holes or errors.
Its important to develop human values such as accountability, honesty, compassion, empathy, respect, etc. for a society to be in harmoney.
Economic development ,eleviation of poverty, education, health, housing is part of development but human nature itself should develop.
The leaders are part of the society too. Elected members are part of the society... its a vicious cycle. when the leaders are corrupt the society deteriorate and suffer. A corrupt society will produce corrupt leaders inturn.
Nationalism is an extreme view... because of force this had become a cancer in are society... the minority who supports nationalism to gain political power had mostly used force or arms to realise their dreams/goals and the majority had suffered as a result.
I do agree that the corruption at the govt. has brought our down fall for the last 4 decades and it seems to be growing with no one repsonsible to curb it.
Nothing much can be done with dialog but only change of heart can bring about real posperity and peace and unity.
I personally don't believe that devolution of power will solve tamil/minority grievences... there are many aspects to address to eliviate grievences in our society.
Maya the “patriot”, you are exhibiting your ignorance by taking USA and Australia. Why don’t you take Switzerland ? That has a population 0f 8 million which is less than half of Sri Lanka with an area of 41,285 sq. km, smaller than Sri Lanka. Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Do you know that Siwitzerland has a Con-Federal Constitution since 1848 ? Do you know that Con-federate States are much more loosely federated than even countries like Australia ? Swiss con-federal structure has 26 Cantons. The Constitution outlines basic and political rights of individuals and citizen participation in public affairs, divides the powers between the Confederation and the Cantons and defines federal jurisdiction and authority. Are Swiss people crazy to have a such a federal set up ?
On the other hand do you know that you are only exhibiting your ignorance by taking USA and Australia which are both federal States ? Federal States are not mere administrative set ups. They are politically inclusive and both these countries are secular too. Therefore in those countries they DON’T need political types like Hela Urumayas, Muslim Congresses and Tamil Alliances.
Hmmmm. Wonder who’s talking rubbish
Kusal Perera
I agree with Maya comment #4. As part II of the MR dream of only patriots and Non-Patriots, we need to do away with political parties with racist names. The politics should serve all. Not one community.
Amazing how a Writer like Kusal Perera does not know the difference between GEOGRAPHICAL Federalism (USA & Australia) and ETHNIC Federalism (Sri Lanka).
Kusal I appreciate finally you change your stance of criticising and insulting Singhalese and Buddhism.Now you come to a burning issues like unitary state,corruption etc...Although I'm not agree with your views,it is useful at least to discuss these issues as Srilankans.
We must find a system to govern this country.Federalism not the solution.Multi party system ruining country and unity of people.Provincial council is a white elephant.We must find a system which erase our ethnic differences and create Srilankan attitude.
Mr. Perera,
The point that is coming across you write-up has nothing to do with racial problems in Sri Lanka or majority-vs-minority situation in the country. Also, what you are describing is not unique to Sri Lanka, this is the story of every single developing country in the latter half of the 20th centaury and the first few years of the 21st centaury. What it illustrated again is that government programs, done with all good intentions, can not really solve a country’s economic problems. That has been amply demonstrated everywhere in the world, from the former Soviet Union to the new Asian Tigers like Korea. Government programs just mean ultimately colossal waste of money and resources. A government, certainly has a very strong role to play in managing an economy, but it has to be in a role of watch dog and defender and provide of social services and protector of environmental concerns of the citizens. The task of developing an economy should be left to the private enterprise with the government keeping a strict eye on them to ensure that everything is managed properly and that the country has a social, financial, and a monitory policy that is conducive to economic growth. China and India did not start to boom until the governments of these countries freed up their economies from the hands of the respective governments.
You write about India’s refusal to accept a British imposed constitution and going for a “Indian” one. However, that did not prevent Kashmir problems, that did not prevent Punjabi separatism in mid 80s that was put down by the Indian government using techniques as brutal as those that were used against the LTTE by the present government of Sri Lanka. That has not prevented the periodic Hindu-Muslim clashes. The current harmonious relations between various ethnic groups in India has more to do with economic prosperity and opportunities than to any constitutionally based federal-state political arrangements.
The bottom line is, give people economic opportunities and hope to better their lives. Give them the chance to manage their own lives. If there were enough jobs to go around in the 50s, there would not have been these stupid talk of Tamils are taking Singhalese jobs away or vice versa. If there were enough places for all students who wanted to enter the universities in the 70s to do so, there would not have been a standardization scheme and discrimination based on the language. If the governments of the day did not control every aspect of people lives staring from the medium of instruction in schools to run factories, run trains and busses and manage news media, people on their own would have found ways to deal with these issues. These were the main reasons that the racial harmony broke down in Sri Lanka. There was no hidden conspiracy by the Singhala Buddhists or by any other party to take over the country and run it like a Buddhist republic. For all their bluster, JHU is a marginal political party that can not attract large common support in the country. People need to remember that much maligned republican constitution of 72 was drafted by Dr. Colvin R De Silva, one of the intellectual giants of the Political Left and not by a bunch of Buddhist priests.
As one famous American once said, "It is the economy stupid". Remove the economic pressures on the society and all this other stuff will simply have not much relevance. And that is best done by a free market economy and not by government programms.
GEOGRAPHICAL Federalism (USA - ?
A US a mass geodgrphical area carved into 50 states ?? No political differences..!!
Also what about US practice of Gerrymandering
to elect more minorities when demogrphics changes.
Mr. Perera,
In your response to Maya you talk about Switzerland being a federated country with four different languages. However, the fact remains that 95% of the Swiss speaks German and they use other languages simply out of economic necessity. If you are advocating a Swiss style government for Sri Lanka then would you also recommend that all or most of the Tamils learn to speak Singhalese too?
You other point about America and Australia being federated countries and being secular and inclusive, first, the American states are a geographical necessity. Second, when USA was created more than 200 years ago, the first 13 states were all mono-ethnic English speaking. If they were to be inclusive, New York State would today speak in Dutch and Pennsylvania would be speaking German. And more importantly, there would be a few US States that are governed by Native Americans. So much for their inclusiveness. Take the current situation for instance. Most of the Southern States have huge Spanish speaking populations. Now is Spanish an official language in America today? Not to my knowledge. Or do you question why State of Hawaii is not governed in Hawaiian?
You say that a country like USA don’t need political types like Hela Urumayas, Muslim Congresses and Tamil Alliances. You displaying your ignorance. Have you heard of the Klan, NAACP, or any number of militant Hispanic organizations that exist there? Do you think that there would have been a Black American president in USA if there was a black militant organization fighting for a separate state in some part of US? Havens forbid, Barak Obama had to disown his own pastor simply because that person said something silly about America. As for countries like USA and Australia being secular, that is because they had the luxury of starting fresh from nothing – without the baggage of long histories. To ignore that and think all other countries can be like that is simply wishful thinking. The ethnically federated countries like Soviet Union and Yugoslavia broke apart into their ethnic constituent pieces as soon as the glue that was artificially holding them together disappeared.
So when you accuse Maya of talking rubbish, you are not doing any better either.
Mr. Kusal Perera,
You belong to that diminishing few in the country across the divide free from the malady of the exclusive “they” and “us” syndrome. This finds expression in that motley crowd - the JHU, the JVP, Nalin de Silva/Gunadasa Amerasekera et al lead by those half-wit priests in the clerical heirarchy. This lot fits like a glove into that category someone described as “yellow-robed mullahs” If you are physically in Sri Lanka I fear for your safety and that of your family. Remember J.C. Weliamuna? The grenades that were thrown at his house at midnight were meant to wipe out the entire family. Some say these guys who came in the mobikes were from the same outfit that took care of Kethees, Raviraj and Lasantha. That is the dominant culture and reality in Sri Lanka today. Your frank views expressed here - doubtless for the country’s good, unity and future – places you into that category of “traitor – in the pay of the LTTE” and, therefore, in the interest of the pristine Sinhala motherland must be made to go.
As to your comments of 60yrs ago, surely Jennings cannot be blamed. The visionary he was, he feared for the future relationship between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. You capture this well when you remarkably state it was the Sinhala leadership at that time who frightened the Tamil leaders into a nascent form of polarization with the call “for solidarity of the Sinhalese.” Hoping for good sense from the learned Sinhala leadership then, Jennings introduced the ENTRENCHED Clause 29C. To use your own words, the Sinhala leaders then certainly were averse to plurality. Now you, I our children pay the price for that aberration today. We still have a chance to save our children’s children and theirs from cursing us if only we can get our acts together. It took a man like Colvin – socialist and believed to be anti-Tamil, historian, legal luminary presumably with respect to the sanctity of the law – to circumvent the obstacle of 29C by ”throwing the baby with the bath water.” vide his (his alone, I reiterate) 1972 Republican Constitution. Was he trying to restore his Sinhala nationalistic credentials with Mrs B and her ultra-Sinhala colleagues at that time by surpassing even other Sinhala hawks in the Cabinet? The weak and mendacious defence in recent times of his party colleague - and nephew of NM, Prof Tissa Vitharna and the debonair Nihal Jayawickrema, on this and the other perfidy of imposing “Buddhism to a higher plane” than other religions, is, to say the least, regrettable and from the viewpoint of the national social equilibrium, quite costly. These are two main features that gave birth, teeth and justification to Prabakaran & Co to hijack the political leadership from the moderate Tamil leadership – a seminal move that was to throw this country into confusion, disarray and a blood-bath for over 3 decades with the Sinhala-Tamil friendship virtually doomed for all time.
India did not refuse the British drawing a Constitution for them. Like us, they had the men and the brains to do this and they thought they can. Dr Ambedkar did it for them so admirably. That Constitution stands like a rock in a country much 70+ timeslarger, 50+ times more populous, with many religions and hundreds of races, dozens of languages and other diversities. Yes!There were several amendments since 1947 but that has to be so. After all, a Constitution is a living organism and is expected to with the times and the political landscape as that much admired one in the USA. As to our own leaders of the time, they look like clowns in today's eyes in their top hats, cigars, tails, sherwanis and horses. These horse-riding brown sahibs believed everything good can only come from their mentors –the British. That was the era that had unforgettable lawyers like HV Perera, GGP, George Chitty, Sandrasagara, Weerasooriya's, the Lingam Brothers, the Wickramanayakes, S.Nadesan (who concluded the flag itself starts with a note of national unity) brilliant Burgher judges and men like EFN Gratien - the latter went to adorn the Privy Council with his legal skills. These are only some of the names that come to my mind. There can be many more – much greater and more illustrious.
You say the present Parliament is not representative of the will of the people. In the years I went to Parliament on State work in the post-2000 period, I hardly saw attendance exceeding 10-15% Hansard records in sickening regularity will bear testimony to Opposition front-liners (representing the 38% who voted for them you mention) complaining to the Speaker of the absence of Ministers and Deputies even to answer questions for which the required prior notice has been given. Where are they, you ask? A friend of mine, one of the country's leading industrialists came over to me when I was at lunch at his popular restaurant down Duplication Road. In a friendly way he said “What he hell is wrong with your Govt? Do you know today is Parliament and I have your so-and-so upstairs with eleven (yes. 11 – could be his lucky number) Russian women of easy virtue. He comes here regularly.” In good humour I laughed him off telling him he had more connections in the Govt, Parliament and the country. The Minister in his 60s is a man from the South – one time extreme leftist to boot – and who started poltical life in the manner described by Anura B ”They came in bata slippers and broken bicycles and now emerge out of their Cbo mansions in Mercedes 450s” So that is what becomes of many MPs today from the interior who were once ordinary, simple men. As to the people whom they serve Wilson Guneratne who doubles for JRJ in his popular stage-play “Charitha Hathak” tells the voters who carry him to the stage “Now you have brought me to the stage. You can go back. I stay here in the stage and you stay there” That is the Parliament story today. I agree there may be some exceptions.
The LTTE/VP are not the only reason for the mass Tamil discontent. Of the IRDPs (the 1st one being in 1974) and the 19 since now metamorphosed into REAP – all meant for development of backward and rural areas – nothing went to the North-East and yet the Govt needs US$1.9 “to service foreign debts” you say. But MR’s Govt says the money is required for “Development and Reconstuction Work” But Hilary Clinton, David Miliband and others do not agree. The first basic lesson Bank management folk are taught is you do not give a loan to service another loan. That is bad economics. So that is why the IMF is dragging its feel although Cabral and GLP are singing an altogether different “sad song” – to use a phrase from Elton John? This usually pleasant duo is talking loud and clear so that the Boss can hear – to make sure their cushy jobs and high-profile positions are safe.
So where is the justification for hope - not just for the Tamil people but for the Sinhala people in the rural and backward areas as well. I am, of course, not talking about the 100+ Ministers and that small number who are not. This minority of MPs have reason to feel they are hit by some kind of plague – because everyone else is a Minister or Deputy Minister with those new limousines, SUV’s, security retinue, overseas visits to self/wifey etc But the Sinhala mass knows this game all too well. The old Sinhala saying goes “Henda athey-nam bedaa-ganilla” (If the ladle is in your hands, for pete’s sake, serve yourself). So like in the pre-1917 Soviet Union the peasants and the lowly here will have to be content with the old Tamil saying ‘Yaanaikku oru kaalm; poonaikku veroru kaalam” (If there is a time for the Elephant there is a time for the mouse as well) By the way, the Elephant referred to here is not the UNP. The saying is well over 2,000 years – I believe.
Your description of the kind of stuff we have "most miserable of all political leaderships to date" will be the description of over 19 million people. But then, as I said above, you are placing your neck in the guillotine simply by
excercising your right of free speech - that has no place in an oligarchy ruled by Brothers 3, 4 or more (the choice is yours)and the infallible army.
ISS
Keep up the good work Kusal.
We need more people like you to act, and act now, to change the 'Nawa Gilunath Band choon' mentality of some of the ignorant, so called, Sinhala Patriots .
I think that the author (kusal Perera) understands the principles of federalism well. Switzerland, Canada, Ethiopia and Belgium are not geograpical federations. In my view, he just mentioned Australia and USA as a response only.
Belgium is the recent federal country based on ethnicity. It has a population of 10,517,000. Belgium has seen many constitutional reforms since 1970. Their reforms established executive power sharing and linguistic autonomy firstly under the unitary state but the reforms did not satisfy the aspirations of the communities. This finally drove them to go for a federation. This clearly exhibits that any power sharing deal between diverse groups in a unitary state is always under pressure to go for a federation. In 1993 Belgium has become a federal country. How many reforms Sri Lanka did? Belgium has three levels of government – federal, regional and linguistic community. Belgium is a good example of territorial and non-territorial federalism. The regional councils serve as territorial federation, and the community councils serve as non-territorial federalism since some members are elected to the Flemish and French community councils from Brussels region. Belgium has a coalition government at the centre.
Switzerland has three major communities namely – the Germans, the French and the Italians. The linguistic proportions of the above are about 63.6%, 19.2% and 7.6% respectively. The official languages are German, French, Italian and Romanash. Swiss has twenty-six cantons – twenty full cantons and six half cantons. Switzerland is also run by a coalition government at the centre.
India has separatist tendencies because Indian constitution has too much powers at the centre. With regard to powers between the Centre and the regions, Indian constitution cannot be compared with other federal countries in Europe. Indian constituion is centripetel. A country usually will have separatist problem if she has more powers at the centre. Further, article 356 (dismissal of states) undermines the federal concept of federalim. However, Indian constitution is better among the Asian federal countries and generally works as a federal government.
Good governance will not work for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is a deeply divided society. Autonomy under a unitary state in Sri Lanka will give problems later.
I agree with all the view point of Salman. This is how we should thinks as Sri Lankans, we need to get out of racist mentality, and religious mentality.
Each person should be given opertunities on his /her merit and skill and ability.
Lets thrive as Sri Lankans try to earse the wrongs done by our forefathers and make a better future for our children and children's children.