Time for Sri Lanka to stop search for external enemies and turn the searchlight inwards
by Dayan Jayatilleka
The Sri Lankan discourse on war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in general, divide into two camps, both of which demonise the other. One holds that the entire matter is a campaign by imperialism and its agents; human rights is itself a suspicious Western usage if not a concept invented millennia ago by us Asians (perhaps even the Sinhala Buddhists) which we need no lectures on— and the only response we need give is to "just say no", which we can with a little help from our (Asian or Third World) friends.
[United Nations Human Rights Council special session on Sri Lanka, in Geneva on May 26, 2009.-pic: Getty images]
The opposing school of thought is that Sri Lanka is a human rights hellhole and either became so during whichever the administration the critic is not in sympathy with at this moment, or has been so for most of its existence— and can be redeemed only with more than a little help from our (Western) friends.
What, however, are the facts? Given the nature of the Tigers and the repeated experience of successive Sri Lankan administrations, there was no negotiated solution possible or desirable at any stage of the final conflict. Any such attempt would have provided an exit for the Tigers.
Given that the Tigers were an army or armed militia with a small navy and a fledgling air-force, the state had to fight a full-on war to its logical conclusion, with the aim of the military destruction of the enemy. While political multi-polarity is healthy, military bipolarity is not permissible within a state; certainly on a small island-state.
Given that the Tigers had fielded more suicide bombers than any and all other terrorist groups put together, and that the stated Tiger strategy involved (what ‘Taraki’ called) ‘asymmetric deterrence’, i.e. deep, destructive terror strikes into the ‘Sinhala heartland’, it was necessary to uproot and eliminate the LTTE suicide cells and extensive clandestine network.
No war takes place in a vacuum. The assertion that with the Tigers encircled, it would have been possible to have a less bloody outcome, and therefore the endgame that actually took place needs be investigated as a war crime or violation of international humanitarian law, is sheer nonsense, for three reasons:
Firstly, the lesson of twentieth century history is that a ‘textbook fascist’ force as The Economist (London) admits the Tigers were, has to be utterly decimated.
Secondly, the Sri Lankan forces had to operate according to a tightening time table not of their own choosing, as regional and sub-regional politics as well as mounting international pressure, gave the State a narrowing window of opportunity. It was a neck-and-neck race between the historic chance of finishing off the Tigers and concerted international pressure interrupting the offensive as once before, or retarding its momentum. If not for these external factors acting as accelerants, the war could/would probably have taken another month to finish, with greater circumspection.
Thirdly, at no time were civilians wittingly targeted as a matter of policy, nor were civilians boxed in and deprived of an exit by the state, as was not the case in a war that took place around the same time and is being rightly investigated by a probe initiated by the self-same UN Human Rights Council which gave Sri Lanka a 29-12 majority vote. It is the Tiger terrorists who were keeping the civilians hostage while the Sri Lankan military was trying to help them escape.
This having been said, it is also necessary to draw attention to the fact that in no civilised democracy is the allegation of war crimes or human rights violations made by an ex-military officer or even a serving one, treated as treason and cause for prosecution! After the recent Gaza war, several serving members of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) told the press that a certain Rabbi had been giving them ‘spiritual instructions’ that it was ok to kill Palestinian civilians. Others testified that certain orders were given which were at best, ambiguous, in relation to civilians and could have led to incidents of killings.
Years before, a group of helicopter pilots of the Israeli Air Force signed a public petition refusing to engage in ground attack operations in built up civilian areas. In none of these incidents were any of the servicemen prosecuted for revealing military secrets. When there was an outcry over the massacres at Sabra and Shatila in the aftermath of Israel’s Lebanon War of 1982, Israel held a much publicised inquiry in which General Ariel Sharon, war hero, was named as one of those responsible.
In the United States, servicemen have confessed about civilian killings even on prime time TV. Far from being locked up, they have been questioned, those allegedly responsible investigated, taken into custody and prosecuted (though the allegation is that sentences have been light and there is a virtual revolving back door). Some incidents involving civilian deaths, such as the infamous killings during Baghdad traffic jam by Blackwater ‘security contractors’ (i.e. mercenaries) have led to hearings before the US legislature.
Therefore, today’s Sri Lanka has a grotesque uniqueness in its response to Ret General Fonseka’s sporadic statements about war crimes. Those statements are as ironic as they are reprehensible —ironic because he was responsible for the toughest policies and practices during the war and would permit no softening – there is no reason to behave like a lynch mob and call for his burning at the stake.
This official response only marks us out as having failed to be aware of and catch up with modern norms of conduct on matters of accountability, and damages our image in the eyes of the world. As I had warned earlier, it is not so much Gen Fonseka’s allegations but the deafeningly loud trumpeting of those allegations as a betrayal of national military secrets, followed by prosecution on the same grounds, that has escalated the international push on the issue (this time at the level of the UN Sec Gen).
The issues of accountability will be dealt with by each society at its own pace, and in accordance with its own imperatives. The UK has still to conclude its second inquiry into the killing of unarmed civilians in broad daylight, on Bloody Sunday 1972! Many societies find organic ways of catharsis and conciliation.
In order to get the war crimes/human rights pressure off Sri Lanka, it is imperative to realise that such pressures are a symptom and by-product of something having gone wrong in our external relations and our ability to communicate with the world. There is a growing deficit of Sri Lanka’s ‘soft power’ and conspicuous failure in the realm of ‘the New Public Diplomacy’ (both phrases of Harvard’s Prof Joseph Nye).
Learning from our experience in Geneva, I propose a third position, which consists of five propositions and proposals as solution.
1. There must be a substantive difference between our wartime and post war policies, though two factors must remain, namely, no polarising rake-up of the past and no intrusion into national sovereignty.
2. It is not necessary however, to stonewall, as we did and had to, during the war. There has to be an authentic, manifest, unilateral liberalisation in our attitudes and policies on human rights.
3. Just saying ‘No’, and giving not merely the West but the UN the finger, is not a solution. Many of our friends and allies will not want to get into a squabble with the UN and its Secy Gen on our behalf. Those who fought alongside us diplomatically during the war may not do so during peacetime, especially if that peace drags on without reconciliation and normalcy. Furthermore, as Sudan realised, sometimes even one’s friends do not wish to get into a punch up with the West on one’s behalf if they have bigger fish to fry.
4. The only real antidote against external pressures on accountability and human rights is to have strong, credible national institutions and mechanisms. Sri Lanka does not have a national human rights body which fits this description, though arguably there was once an approximation. The country needs a strong, independent Commission on Human Rights, Equality and Elimination of Discrimination headed by a person with international credentials and of acknowledged international stature, or the appointment of such a personage as a powerful National Ombudsman on Human Rights.
5. Cooperate with the Asian region and the global South on matters of human rights. It is not enough to countervail Western pressure; it is necessary to adhere to evolving consensual norms in Asia and the global South. ASEAN already has a human rights charter, and the African Union has a mechanism which was one of the examples for the Universal Periodic Review adopted by the UN Human Rights Council. Build up South-South linkages and learn "best practices" from the democracies of the global South such as Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Philippines etc.
Those ‘nationalists’ who propose a ‘national’ solution for everything, have failed to call for the strengthening of the national human rights institutions, and mechanisms; a strengthening that is possible only by the appointment of an independent body with ‘teeth’, consisting of distinguished nationals who have brought honour to their country of origin by performance and recognition in the global arena.
What stands between Sri Lanka and the full reintegration as a normal and successful member of the international system, is not only the prejudice of the West but the perniciousness of our own dominant ideology; our own mindset. John Stockwell, a dissenting former CIA employee, blew the whistle on America’s tacit support for apartheid South Africa in Angola, in a book he entitled ‘In Search of Enemies’. He was referring to the mindset in the White House.
It is time to for Sri Lanka to stop the search for enemies and ‘turn the searchlight inwards’. I believe what ails us is already best defined in a comparative analysis (which makes no reference to Sri Lanka) by Professor Fred Halliday, renowned radical scholar of international relations at the LSE, writing in Open Democracy on ‘The Miscalculations of Small Nations’. He describes the phenomenon as ‘the puff of ideology... self-inflating’ and a ‘delusion’, arguing that:
‘...the responsibility devolves onto the self-inflating nationalist ideology ...with its heady mix of vanity, presumption and miscalculation...If the supreme responsibility of democratic leaders is indeed to protect their own peoples, then the briefest of comparative overview can show just how pernicious the impact of the kind of nationalist delusion...The chief agent of destruction is not to be found in "culture" (in the guise of religion or some other vague source of identity) but in the arrogance, recklessness and ignorance born of nationalist excess - which, to be sure, often uses religion and associated "cultural" offerings as part of its packaging.........
True, such miscalculations about the capabilities of one’s own forces and the reactions of others are not confined to small nations. Most major nations have many and larger blunders to their name...The difference is that except in the most extreme of cases - notably Nazi Germany - these large states have been able to recuperate their losses and in large measure continue to inhabit their illusions of grandeur. Smaller peoples pay a higher price... [Sakaashvili’s] entrapment in nationalist delusion was always going to backfire.’
Human Rights are not a Western invention or booby-trap, to be decried and shunned like the devil. Though there is a constant attempt to use human rights as an instrument to undermine national sovereignty, the answer is not to shun human rights or to pretend that these are intrinsically inscribed in our culture and therefore automatically observed, but to protect them ourselves and to maintain verifiably high standards of human rights observance nationally.
While it is true that the West uses human rights in a duplicitous manner, the answer is not merely to content ourselves with exposing and denouncing that duplicity as we must (and I did, in my turn) but to observe and protect those rights in a manner that is other than duplicitous and hypocritical.
The answer to duplicity and hypocrisy is not counter-duplicity but sincerity and truth. The great African liberation fighter Amilcar Cabral said that ‘tell no lies, claim no easy victories — the best propaganda is the truth’. He had a resonance which catalysed a revolution in the colonial country, Portugal, which was oppressing his own.
The vital lesson is to hold the moral high ground. During the war Sri Lanka held that ground, not because of some innate moral virtue deriving from intrinsic cultural superiority but because of the demonstrably fascist character of our enemy, the Tigers.
Today that moral high ground must be recaptured and can be done so only by our own positive efforts, not by reference to the negative attributes of a defeated enemy, nor attributing the same qualities to whoever comes along to criticise us. Human rights are not the preserve of West or East, North or South; they are universal and derive from the universality of the human condition.
Human beings are possessed of certain inalienable rights. What is most important is not that we are ‘Sri Lankan’ (a ‘karmic’ circumstance, surely) but that we are human, and even more basically, sentient beings.
[The writer was Sri Lanka’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Geneva during the Special Session of May 2009, and was a Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council].
38 Comments
The Srilankan politicians are letting a good opportunity slip away. The word "imperialism" is used to cover their own misgivings. In the past US politicians used "911" to get re-elected. In Srilanka it is "LTTE". From everything that happened so far it is clear reconciliation and justice means looking at things their way. It is not clear whether there were any crimes against humanity towards the conclusion of the war. If there were none then let their be an open investigation to clear Srilanka's image.
Excellent article, food for thought for our Deshapremis and Leaders. Will we heed the voice of wisdom or follow the howls of people like Pachauda.
The only thing I can see as a nation, Sri Lankan people are very foolish. They do not know how to use their own resources. Most of them look for the prestige and popularity. Dishonesty is everywhere. Even though educated experienced people, once they come out / retired from their executive position, they forget, the mistakes they did during their services. But they pretend the honesty, still trying to advice others with great mistakes. It is a shame.
How can anyone accuse us of violating Human Rights? Looking at people like Pawnseka and the JVP people say we are not even Humans so why talk about Human Rights?
Dear Dayan;
You are a master strategist and you used your skills to great effect in Geneva. The "red herring" of the external threat is what keeps the politicians in power. You know it and you helped in it. Now that the promised "New York" where you can use your "skills with multilateral agencies" is not being offered to you as promised you are complaining about the "evil regime" for which you prostituted yourself.
“Today that moral high ground must be recaptured and can be done so only by our own positive efforts …” – Author
The key to this is for the government’s top officials to overcome their incredible paranoia about war crimes consequences. Can they do it?
Admittedly Dayan.J is of excellent intellectual calibre but as a humanbeing I could understand his hurt at present and his writings cannot hide those sentiments which is understandable.
Perception is not just what one sees but also how one sees it. The perception of the West is that it sees Sri Lanka as a all-purpose villain that could be brought in line towards Western thinking when we are on our knees., and to this end punitive sanctions by powerful bodies like the EU,IMF and the UN are the 'sticks' employed which may be counter productive and make Sri Lanka even more stubborn as we see. Unless we are able to face head-on the historic facts behind the Anglo-Celtic demise, including understanding the elements of colonialism that still dominate world economic authority, we won't grasp the underlying problem.
With the World economic engine now firing on the two cylinders India and China, Sri Lanka has emerged as the Fulcrum that the west percieve that these emerging powers specially China will use as leverage to gain dominance over the West as a result of Geopolitical/Geoeconomic centre of gravity shift into the Pacific Ocean. Sri Lanka prefers not to be meat in the sandwich but cannot avoid it due to our enviable Janus like geography in the Indian Ocean.
Fortunately Sri Lanka has a 'Grand Master' Politician in Dr.MR who has the nous to perform the task of balancing these forces with equanimity.
The West can have the assurance that our foreign policy ethos of 'Non-Alignment' won't permit us to cross that line, and the international sea lane is not like the 'Suez Canal' to shut off Maritime traffic that feeds all our frieds in the Asia-Pacific Region. In fact we can also be an invaluable asset to those powers like Australia struggling to put-to-gether an 'Asia Pacific Community' with the existing and overlapping regional architecture such as ARF,ASEAN + 6, and APEC to name a few, because Dr.MR who is the present Chair of SAARC will surely like the idea of joining with APEC to form an economic entity of about 4 Bln.people including the USA,Russia,China,,Japan,S.Korea,and India.
Sri Lanka is an under-valued and mis-understood country, and if the West could change tact and give Sri Lanka the 'Carrot' ( a cut-and polish ) the resplendent Gem will 'Rise and Shine'.
Copying 'Dilmah' Boss who advertises his World famous tea , may I say to the West ' Try it'.
Just letting everyone know that People waorking for United Nations are not a Significant people. they are more curapted than politicians. they are unnatural people.The person named Nihal Rambukwella, Matiwalawalawwa, Kandy was served in Botswana as a UN Coordinator for World Food Program, He raped school girls, Steal poor peoples food and sold to rich people.cheated immigration system in Botswana and did people smuggling, distroyed Sri Lankans Families who was living in Botswana and Sri Lanka by adultary.he was trying to make a big civil war in Botswana joining with A.N.C, Finally he was jailed and Deported from Botswana. now he is living in Sri Lanka and doing the same activities. cheating Sri Lankan laws. he shows to the world, United Nations are distroy the countries. Never believe those people.
[The writer was Sri Lanka’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Geneva during the Special Session of May 2009, and was a Vice President of the UN Human Rights Council].
This former unwise president of human rights council helped Srilanka to bury human right abuses against humanity under the earth. And he has omited he and Srilanka was was removed from the post because of protest.
Is he begining to get enlightened under bothi tree?? or trying to confuse the reades of his tarnished image?
We the TAMIL NATION had allways been asking for TRUTH AND JUSTICE which you have buried in the UN.
"demonstrably fascist character of our enemy,"
What about the umpteen times demonstrated fascist,chuvinistic, majoritarian,discriminatory,and violent character,of Sinhala supremacist successive governments with had driven the Tamils youth to get dislusined and abandant parliamentary democracy which let to this state of affair? Where is the Justice? Don't just play with words at your will comrade.
Big boys can get away doing and saying anything. What Fonseka did to SL during his election campaign is unpardonable considering the odds against which SL is operating in the world to bring peace and prosperity and retain the sovereignty of SL. It is still a matter of survival or death to SL as a unitary state where the powerful western organisations are considered. So please don't compare SL situation with Israel and Us army personals and their doings and utterences at certain times.
DJ you did not hesitate to call Blackwater employees involved in the Baghdad incident as mercenaries. But then you also say " at no time were civilians wittingly targeted as a matter of policy " in SL.
How do you explain the civilian deaths in the thousands in the final phase of the war?
Did the armed forces unwittingly carried out the slaughter of such magnitude as a matter of necessity, if policy was not involved as you claim ? Can the civilian casualty that is estimated to be anywhere between 6000 - 20,000 be attributed to the innocent action of some rogue elements in the army. Or did this happen as a result of the sheer stupidity of both the battlefield commanders and the soldiers who manned the trigger? Going by the civilian casualty numbers, the killing does not seem to be a random occurrence.
There is something elusive in the narrative.
it is high time that sri lanka should decide on what to choose whatever the way it is termed as "human right violationS' by the western powers.either they have to hold on to the the local citizen who are highly critical of the west about the statements made regarding the human right
violation by the present administration or they have to undermine the pressure from the locals and go hand in hands with west in fullfilling their demand .
Wel Retr General Sarath Fonseka s Arrest was a Revenge its open Secret. The Government could have taken him when he was in the Service. The Government of Sri Lanka became FAMILY MEMBERS GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA. Brothers, Sisters,Sons,Uncle,Etc. This is a joke infact. Journist hands are tight and threaten. Generals supported have been penalized Etc. Where is the Democrazy in Sri Lanka, Making Enemies with the Donor Countries.
Cogent and couldn't agree more. There will always be naysayers but at its basic level this argument is actually "nationalistic" in the sense that the Buddhism many politicians prattle on about as being central to the Sri Lankan character will advocate the same - Ahimsa, my friends, covers it all.
Government of sri lanka should give full freedom to the media. Because sri lanka is a democratic country and to be follow rules and regulation of.
Motives of West coming to our country in seeking human rights issues are not very clear.They do not move a finger to ask USA why they detained prisnors in Guantanamo for 5 years without letting even a lawyer to see them!When it was very clear as millions of people saw in TV s around the world that Israel was using white Phospharous in bombs attacking civilians and also usage of depleted Uranium in Fallujah (Iraq)by USA in tanker buster bombs and UNO did not bother in sending any team we have to make our voices clear and loud against them.Isn't it? If we show a soft touch then all these Westerners will use our country to be their backyard. Dayan Jayatileka never learned it and will never learn it.
According to his article the poor countries should not take into account the threats of powerful countries and we have to shrug off the threats. Patrice Lumumba had been assasinated while the UNO was there.
Americans threat Vietnam after the French lost it and for years carried on carpet bombing of that country killing millions of people(4 million) using Napalm and also Dioxin(defoliating carcinogen)with the blessings of UNO.So we have to take seriously the threats by West as they never want to help Tamils or Singhalese but want we are their slaves forever.
Hi The problems of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are no different to problems in Fiji, kenya, Uganda or any other place where colonial parasites of the British-Indian empire live. The problems will drag on until the locals die and the parasites take over.
The subjects of the parasites should wake up!
The idea that the West would appreciate and help us to be stable and prosperous nation simply because of our humanitarian rights credentials, or our solid occupation of the morals grounds, is just one fine dream! The nations have interests!
The US and Saudi Arabian, or the US and Chinese friendships do not depend on their human rights credentials! In Cuba, where there is to a certain extend some degree of social justice in relation to education and healthcare is no friend of the US!
If it is in the interest of the West to see Sri Lanka as an instable country, they will find candidates to pursue the agenda internally. Mr Fonseka, unfortunately for them, has just failed to deliver for them.
The only way that Sri Lanka can win its game of interests in the international arena is by playing conflicting interests of other nations well.
However, I agree that working towards a Just society with highest regards to rights is necessary, if we were to fulfill our commitment to evolve as a nation.
Nice article. Could't help notising that the proposal for national human rights tzar read more like a job application for Dayan himself.
DJ
You are a legend in your own mind! Ha,ha you say your fore-fathers discovered human rights and practiced it before the pale faces of the west. Imagine the Sinhala Buddhist Barbarians who cannot look beyond the pali fiction of Mahavansa written by a criminal monk called Mahanama with the cut and paste and alteration technic from Maha Bharatha etc existed then. Rev. Mahanama must be having an orgasm in his grave that his ploys of barbarism devised thousands of years ago now paying dividends, perhaps for the last time.
"According to Buddhism, a person ordained as a Bikkhu should practice Ahimsa, Karuna, Metta, and Maithriya towards fellow humans, (irrespective of race or religion), not only by words but also in his thoughts and action. Unfortunately in Sri Lanka, due to the influence of the Mahavamsa, a Buddhist Bikkhu is at liberty to engage in racist politics and promote Sinhala-Buddhist chauvinism and hatred, as we see today."
When Hindu/Brahmanical influence posed a serious challenge to Buddhism and when Buddhism started to lose popular support and the patronage from the rulers, the Buddhist institutions in India came under attack. The Mahavihara monks including Ven. Mahanama, the author of the Mahavamsa, witnessed the decline and disorientation of Buddhism in India during the fifth century AD. The events that took place in India against Buddhism prompted the Mahavihara monks in Sri Lanka to come up with a plan/strategy to protect Buddhism. Due to their strong devotion to Buddhism and desire to consolidate and protect this religion in Sri Lanka they decided to write the Pali chronicles Deepavamsa/Mahavamsa making Sri Lanka a Dammadeepa (chosen land of Buddha where Buddhism will prevail for 5000 years) and creating the Sinhala race by assimilating all the Buddhists from different tribes/ethnic groups into one race and making them the sustainers of Buddhism (Gouthama Buddha’s chosen people) to protect Buddhism in Sri Lanka for 5000 years until the next Maithriya Buddha arrive. It is the mahavihara monks who assimilated all the Buddhists from many different tribes together and called them Sihala (followers of Mythical Vijaya). There is NO historical evidence what so ever to prove Vijaya’s arrival with 700 men or to say there were Sinhalese during the Early Historic period. The term 'Sihala' itself first appeared ONLY in the 5th Century AD Pali chronicles Deepavamsa/Mahavamsa and that also ONLY twice in the beginning chapters. To date, no archaeological evidence has been found to prove 'Sihala' existed before that or anything about Vijaya’s arrival. The terms 'Sinhale', 'Hela', 'Sinhaladvipa, etc appeared much later only in the 13th Century AD Chulavamsa and NOT in Deepavamsa/Mahavamsa.
It is said in MAHAVAMSA CHAPTER VII - THE CONSECRATING OF VIJAYA,
**But the king Sihabahu, since he had slain the lion (was called) Sihala and, by reason of the ties between him and them, all those (followers of VIJAYA) were also (called) Sihala.**
If Sihabahu whose father had slain the lion was called Sihala and his eldest son Vijaya and his followers were also called Sihala, then what about Vijaya s twin brother Sumitta and his followers in Sinhapura, India? Why they were not called Sihala? That itself proves that Vijaya and the Sinhala race was a creation of Ven. Mahanama and the Mahavihara monks.
Just around ten lines/verses in the Pali chronicle Deepavamsa about the Elara/Dutugemunu episode was blown up into 11 chapters in the Mahavamsa just to glorify Buddhism and the Buddhist kings against the Hindus. The Mahavamsa author being a Buddhist monk and justifying the killing of around sixty thousand Tamils/Hindus by Dutugemunu is one reason why others think that Sinhala-Buddhism is somewhat of a violent barbaric form of Buddhism where killing Tamils is justified. The killing of Tamils in Sri Lanka by the Sinhala-Buddhists even today is due to this uncivilized and Barbaric ehhno-religion known as Sinhala-Buddhism (or Mahavamsa-Buddhism).
There is a clear record of all the main events of Buddha, the places he visited, with whom he was, where and what he preached and to whom he preached, in the Buddhist scriptures, Tripitika. In order to protect Buddhism in Sri Lanka from those powerful South Indian Hindu kingdoms, Ven. Mahanama wrote the Mahavamsa, in which he has added his own imaginations and myths. He has introduced many events concerning Buddha which never took place, things that Buddha has never said or done, events which are not mentioned in any of the Buddhist scriptures (Theravada and Mahayana).
For example, according to the Mahavamsa, Buddha made three magical trips to Sri Lanka, each time colonizing another area of the island, in preparation for the formal introduction of Buddhism two centuries after his death. One of these trips was to settle a dispute between the Yakkhas and Nagas at Naga Divipa (Ninathivu) where the Buddha tamed the Yakkhas, the non-human inhabitants of the island.
There is no evidence whatsoever to support this claim, other than the three chaithiyas built in the recent past by the Sinhalese Buddhists at 3 different locations to say, 'This is where Buddha came.' Even the footprint of Buddha at Sri Pada (Adam's peak) is only a myth.
According to the Mahavamsa, just before passing away, Buddha has called the Sakka (King of Gods) and told him,
'My doctrine, O Sakka, will eventually be established in the Island of Lanka, and on this day, Vijay the eldest son of Singha Bahu king of sinhapura in the lata country lands there with 700 followers and will assume sovereignty there. Do thou, therefore guard well the prince and his train and the Island of Lanka. On receiving the blessed one's command, Sakka summoned God Vishnu and said, 'Do thou. O lotus-hued one, protect with zeal prince Vijay and his followers and the doctrine that is to endure in Lanka for a full five thousand years'.
It should be noted that in Buddhist scriptures, Buddha has never mentioned about any Hindu Gods, he only talks about Devas and Bramahas from different worlds who have no connection with any Hindu Gods.
Here, Ven. Mahanama has created an imaginary link between the three elements, Country-Race-Religion and made it into one unit similar to the Holy Trinity, whereby Sri Lanka (Dhamma Deepa), Buddha's chosen people (Sinhalese), and Buddhism (Buddha Sasana) should be protected for 5000 years. This is known as the Jathika chintanaya or the Mahavamsa mindset and one of its outcomes is the unitary state. Therefore, for the next 2500 years, a Sinhala Buddhist will never allow a federal state in Sri Lanka.
From a very young age, the innocent Sinhala Buddhist children who attend the Daham Paasela (Sunday school) in the Buddhist temples are brainwashed by engraving the Mahavamsa Buddhism and Sinhala Buddhist racism into their sub-conscious minds.
They are taught to believe that the non-Sinhala Buddhists (Tamils) are invaders who do not belong to Sri Lanka. All the Tamils should be chased away to Tamil Nadu just the way their ancient Kings Dutugemunu did. The country (Sri Lanka), Sinhala race and Buddhism should be protected from the Tamils. Now, from recently, they have also included the Christians in those needing to be thrown out. Due to the above conditioning, the Sinhala-Buddhist majority believes that the entire Sri Lanka belongs to them and the minorities are aliens.
We cannot blame the Mahavamsa author Ven. Mahanama, because he had a genuine reason for the above mythology but unfortunately today due to ignorance and lack of rational thinking, the Sinhala Buddhists still believe the Mahavamsa as the gospel truth." DJ Devananda
So... there we are Dr. DJ
What Srilanka did was worse than what LTTE did.
If LTTE was a bunch of terrorist, Yes, I agree that Srilankan Government and Military beat LTTE in terrorism.
Did you get it?
:-)
Excellent article. You are really a patriotic diplomat. I admire your previous article regarding the arrest of Sarth Fonseka & your speech made in the UN debate on Sri Lanka during the last stage of war agains LTTE.
trying to jump off a sinking ship?
Night mares about attending ICCt?
Hi DJ, Keep up the good work.
If many Sri Lankans are open to debate and new sort of take of politics than clinging to their 'oleder' ideads - (like DJ has shown) peace will arise sooner than latter..
Dayan's search for solutions within contradicts his outpourings during his tenure as ambassador at the UN.
He univocally endorsed Mahinda's strategy in vanquising the LTTE thereby rendering innocent Tamil civilians murdered and detained in camps unfit for human habitat.
I will forgive Rajiva since he lives in cloud cuckoo land and who has only the Arts Council and in his recent times a pseudo VC post in obscure Sabaragamuwa University.
Dayan on the other hand had dabbled in Che Guevara politics, well versed in Marxism and Trotsky and joined PLOTE, a Tamil paramilitary group to prove he believed parity of all ethnic groups.
Alas, he seems a sadly confused human being not knowing where he belongs.
Does he belong to the majority Sinhala or is he a just Sri Lankan citizen who would champion for the rights of all Sri Lankans.
Suffice to say he neither covets diplomatic posts nor does he want to curry favour with this govt. which has proved beyond all reasonable doubt that it holds the minority at ransom over majority Sinhala supremacy.
Dayan, take stand and tell it as it is.
"It is not necessary however, to stonewall, as we did and had to, during the war."
Mr. "Stonewall" Jayatilleka,
"There has to be an authentic, manifest, unilateral liberalisation in our attitudes and policies on human rights."
Hilarious, expecting "mercenary intellectuals" and thugs of the literate, semi-literate and illiterate variety to fundamentally change their nature!.
Any real change will come via externally induced pain --war crimes investigations, incarceration (of yourself as well), sanctions. The TNA is saying civil disobedience will come up again. We will see what your thugs will do then and how the world reacts to that.
Kingsley,
You start like a thunderbolt and ends like a wimper.You say that there is no evidence to say that Sinhalese existed before 5th century A.D. But in the latter part of your article you mention that Sinhalese king Dutugemunu killed king Elara and 60,000 Tamils.King Dutugemunu reined during 1st century B.C. didn't he?May be you were under the influence of some substance when you wrote your comment!
Fascism! How else do you define the Sri Lanka’s conduct in pre, post and during the final assault on the LTTE? You were definitely assisted in the murders, tortures, rape and the enforced disappearances of innocent Tamils. How about the targeted killings of journalists? Some of them were your drinking buddies… Isn’t that the classic nature of the fascists – Justifying the killings of friends and innocents in the name of achieving a political objective.
You lied to and deceived the international community. Dayan you are fully aware of the consequences of assisting a regime that committed war crime. After all you have some sort of PHD and proud to call your self as social scientist. We know it will take years, perhaps decades, but we will not forget the victims whose rights you helped to bury at the sands of Mullaitivu and beyond.
Sanjaya has it wrong: my job description for a Human Rights Czar fits CG Weeramantry, Tony Anghie or Rohan Perera.
Dear Pandaravanian and Rahini,
Please try to conveince anyone who is not Tamil, that the Sri Lankan state is fascist. On the other hand, plenty of non-Sinhalese sources ( The Economist being the latest) have described the Tigers as ' fascist' and ' Pol Potist'.
Dear Expatriate,
There was an immediate difference between the wartime and post war policies of the Allies : from the firebombing of Dresden to the Marshall Plan. So it is perfectly possible, and that is what I advocated for the last year.
Dear Pearl,
EPRLF, not PLOTE. And the EPRLF's leader and central committee were slaughtered , while unarmed, in Chennai, by the Tigers. For years I hoped for payback, for them, for Neelan, for Premadasa, for Rajini, for Kethesh...and payback finally came, in 2009 May.
Hi! Dayan.
I understand your Logic what I do not understand is your thinking.
Its more of a stick in the mud.
Why do I say this?.
I have been a reader of your every write-up and promoter of your high intellect up until you came up with that infamous RUPAVAHINI interview with the government stooge and claimed that Mahinda Rajapaksha is the MAN who did pretty much everything to see an end to the WAR.!!!
That was BRUTAL to begin with and a white LIE to be succinct.These kinds of blunders by people of your calibre can ruin the progress of a whole nation.One might call it a destiny to describe the un-enviable situation Sri Lanka faceing today.
If you just see the recent history Winston Churchil was booted out after steam rolling England to VICTORY against the NAZI Germany.
If the Intellectuals of your Calibre DID speak the truth and had some forthright vision and came out speaking what you do right now the Sri Lanka's desitny might have been different.
Though you did so well in Geneva its all being the bath water thrown away with the baby now, isn't it?.This country is right now run by bunch of thugs blackmailing oponents and strong arm tactics used at every corner to silence oposition.The Gonibillas of Foreign intervention and 'PA(N)CHAUDA' patriots claiming FULL rights to the victory aginst Terrorism while the TRUE
Hero behind the bars.
Is this what you intellectuals endorsed not so long ago?
So I am SORRY I do re-think about your intellect, sincererity and Vision.
I deeply regret I had to see this coming to pass.But life is like that, the enlightement is never ending untill the achievement of Nirvana isn't it?
But there is this eternal phenomenon of 'EIGHT UNIVERSAL Phenomena( ASHTA LOKA DHARMA)' in that we all can find SOLACE.
regards,
-ajith
Dr.Dayan Jayatilleka,
Althought I don't fully agree with all your views on power sharing, after reading the virulant and downrightly biased comments by the disgruntled sympathizers of the LTTE, now I understant how much they hate you,for speaking for your country.And I also understand that however much you give them they will not be satisfied.Evan if you give them the whole country, you will still find some "Tamil grievances"!True their national pride is hurt,but you are not responsible for that.Their own misguided expectations are to be blamed.What about the Sinhalese blood that was shed on the roads,inside trains,busses,and at their workplaces for 30years?What about Tamil blood shed by the LTTE maniacs?You can establish your Eelam somewhere in Toronto now!
"Given that the Tigers had fielded more suicide bombers than any and all other terrorist groups put together....................."
Accounts of 'suicide bombings'in Iraq & Afghanistan have been, and are being reported almost daily for past many years. Such bombings have been occurring in other countries too - like Russia,Lebanon,Israel,Palestine, Gaza, Chechnya etc.
From where did the writer obtain his statistics?
We all know about Human Rights. There are many human rights organisations reporting on sri lanka - the latest being USA.
Mahinda Rajapakse himself was a champion of human rights in his early days as a legislater.Today he and his coterie of 'advisers'are engaged in 'whitewashing' his regime.
There are daily reports of repression of tamils especially in the north & east,and many other ongoing human rights violations in other areas.
What the country needs is enforcement of the Rule of Law,discipline in the Police & armed forces, integrity in state enterprises,enforcement of 'meritocracy' in the public service,a rejuvenated Bribery Commission with sufficient funds and its own investigating staff,
implementation of all three languages as 'official'languages,absolute equality of all citizens in education,employment opportunities & use of state resources, repeal of the PTA and the emergency,release of persons from detention held without indictment, public declarationof assets of aspirants for elective office (as in many other countries)and a bar to MPs crossing over after election (by legislation).
These measures will bring real democracy.The writer's long diatribe avoids mentionig these measures.
Dayan Jayatilleka, |
"Please try to conveince anyone who is not Tamil, that the Sri Lankan state is fascist. On the other hand, plenty of non-Sinhalese sources ( The Economist being the latest) have described the Tigers as ' fascist' and ' Pol Potist'." There were lot of parrets and fly in journalistes od different caliber who had no knowledge of Srilanka, Sinhalees language ,or Tamil language knowledge came spend som time in the son and sea in srilanka seen few people like you in colombo grape wines and written lots of inaccurate reports which most of us are aware donn't depends on these reportsto give certificate to Srilanka.You know how economist earns its money D J YOU VERY WELL KNOW THIS
Hi longus,
you have a point there. In fact Ven. Mahanama never had regard for time or facts. What, in fact happened was that Elara the great King of justice decided to confront the young Dushtagamini (named thus by his own father) in spite of his old age and his old elephant only to sacrifice himself to save his citizens in the war, that made even the so called Dutugemunu respected him and his grave. The sixty thousand soldiers killed wantonly by DG's clans made the re-named Dutugemunu to think twice and made amends. But that is not the case today.
Obviously there are no eye witnesses today, Elara who run his chariot over his sons body in justice to his son's crime of doing a similar thing to a calf! Compare that with the present Elaras and Gemunus you will realize how far we have advanced.
Of course I was under the influence of democratic thoughts, if you would call that a substance!!
Hi,Kingsley,I'd like to add that Mahanama Thero was not the only contributor to Mahavansa.He is the one who started writing it and many more chroniclers in a period of two thousand years contributed to it with their accounts.Nobody says that those accounts are not biased or exaggerated.There are exaggrations on certain kings and some kings are confined to one or two sentances only.For example King Kashapa's account is a brief one and the account on Duttagamini goes on and on.But it doesn't mean that these kings didn't exist,because the archiological findings and the stone inscriptions match the chronicle.But I won't be surprised if Kingsley or any other 'Tiger elitist' say that the stone inscriptions are the work of the 'Rajapakse government' or work or "Sinhalese extremists"! If anybody says the whole of Mahawansa is a lie or a myth as the late LTTE leader used to do, then he should also concede that all the histories of all the other nations are lies as well because most of the hitories that we know and study today are based on thoeries and hypotheses.There is no other history that is continiously recorded like Mahawansa.
Another example is none of the contemporary historians have recorded a person called Jesus existed at the time he is believed to have existed.Does it mean that we should not believe that he did not exist or he is a myth?
The title of the article is pretty apt. It has been ostrich-attitude for a while - and, that will not bring the regime any good. This is the best advise any true son of the country - on the side of the regime - can give. But what good is sound advise if, in biblical terms, it finds itself broadcast on rocks during sowing.
The reported plans to de-link the country from the UN, if true at all, is the final farewell to sanity. All Sri Lankans for years will suffer if the "wisemen" -said to be voted by the larger number of the people - carry out
this "threat" But history, as we all know, records millions of good people subject to extreme suffering for extended periods of time for the unchecked but foolish acts of a few.
ISS