by Savimon Urugodawatte
Some of our political leaders are, as it is said, trying to catch the cobra by the tail, based on the presumption that there is no ethnic problem but only a terrorist problem. What they do not realise is that it is suicidal to catch the cobra that way.
Reminiscing of the pre-Independence days, there seems to have been no ethnic issue but only a host of national issues, such as winning full Independence, language problem where the mother tongue is neglected, problem of shedding colonial and imperial vestiges and issues related to development of the motherland. All ethnic entities were represented in the Ceylon National Congress and it was good leadership that was aimed at and not parochial or communal leadership. We all know that all communities - Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burghers - and all religious groups - Buddhists, Hindus, Islamists Christians and others - fought for Independence under one umbrella , i. e.., Ceylon National Congress, although there were few other independent political groups like the L S S P and Labour Party, campaigning for full Independence.
When the 1947 election was fought, all citizens born in this country, irrespective of their origin, were called “British Subjects.” However, due to power politics coming into play the D S Senanayake Government disenfranchised all Indian Tamils who were enjoying their birth right of adult suffrage, by one stroke of the pen, without instituting any just and reasonable alternative system, merely because, they did not exercise their voting rights in favour of the then hurriedly formed U N P.
Then came the Sinhala Only Act in 1956, without the Reasonable Use of Tamil clause, which was annulled by S W R D, bowing down to the pressure of the extremist groups led by F R Jayasuriya and K M P Rajaratne, who commenced a fast unto death at the Parliamentary premises.
Next phase was the annulment of the B - C Pact, agreed to by and between the leaders of the 2 main communities, also due to political gimmicks carried out by J R Jayewardene (infamous Pada Yathra to Kandy) and the extremist elements of the Buddhist clergy. Likewise, Dudley - Chelvanayakam Pact was also abrogated due to vehement opposition of the then opposition, S L F P.
Coming to the period under the Premiership of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who was one of the far - thinking leaders that we had in our recent history, the problem of Indian Tamils who were brought here by the Colonial Government to work in their plantations, was settled once and for all through the Sirima - Shastri Agreement, of course with the tacit concurrence of the then Leader of the Opposition, Dudley Senanayke. Under this Agreement, India undertook to accept 2/3 of the Indian Tamil population and made arrangements to settle them in South India, from where they originally came. Sri Lanka agreed to absorb the balance 1/3 . If this Agreement was fully implemented, our centuries - old problem would have been settled, leading to the economic development of the country.
Then comes the 1977 era under J R Jayewardene, who came to power, having promised the Tamil Community to solve all their problems through a Round Table Conference. However, when he received a 5/6 majority, he just pooh poohed the tacit undertaking he had given the leaders of the Tamil Community, who ultimately lost their confidence in the majority community and began to launch their real struggle, aiming not at not equal opportunities but a separate administrative unit of their own (Ealam). This was aggravated by the passing of the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, which threw out the few Tamil Representatives from Parliament, thereby leading the way to a liberation struggle. Mushroom revolutionary groups who disregarded their traditional leaders, began to organise themselves, and it came to a zenith in 1983 with the blowing up of a military camp in jaffna, killing 13 soldiers. What happened thereafter is recent history, well known to all. The way the anti - Tamil uprising was handled by the J R Government made matters worse, leading to a blood bath affecting innocent Tamils, resulting in the dispatch of ships by India to take the Tamil refugees to India for safety. Terrorism was actually born and bred in the Refugee camps aided by and abetted by India, mainly because the J R Government turned our Non - aligned Foreign Policy upside down and launched a pro - U S and anti - India Foreign Policy.
Ultimately, the all powerful J R Government had to eat humble pie, especially after India dropped dhal parcels into Jaffna to beat J R’s food embargo on Jaffna. Its logical outcome was the pressure brought by India due to which the Government had to agree to Timpu talks and J R - Rajiv Agreement to get the Indian army to crush the rebels. The culmination of this process was the passing of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution devolving power to Provinces. However, this devolution of power was not to be. The Central Government under J R and R P and also under C B K never moved an inch from their stand to devolve power to the peripheral units as envisaged by the 13th Amendment
However, when J R J went for a Presidential Election in October, 1982, Hector Kobbekaduwa who was the respected leader of the S L F P came forward to oppose J R J since Sirimavo’s civic rights had earlier been withdrawn, in preparation to launch a one horse race. This was the only rare occasion when all anti - U N P forces could have allied in full force to defeat a despotic leader. But that was not to be! Although in a country like China, even Mao Zedong came to terms with the arch enemy Chiang Kai-shek to defeat Japanese invaders, here in our country, leftist leaders, Rohana Wijeweera, Colvin R. de Silva and Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Tamil leader, Kumar Ponnamabalam, came forward to contest the Presidency, knowing very well that there was no chance whatsoever. However, the people of Jaffna voted to give 2nd place to Kobbekaduwa while giving first place to their candidate, Kumar Ponnambalam as shown by the results of this election in the Jaffna District ,
Next episode of our blunders makes its appearance in December, 1982, when the term Parliament was extended for a further period of 6 years by a manipulated Referendum, if not for which the electors of the country would have elected a different Government or the same Government with a lesser majority. This was done by J R J on his misconceived perception that the so - called Naxalites are trying to take over the Government through a blood bath. He got all those who opposed the Referendum, led by the Pevidi Handa Sanvidhanaya, consisting of religious leaders belonging to all faiths, arrested and crushed the movement. He used Police lackeys like Premadasa Udugampola to ruthlessly crush these movements and rewarded them with promotions !
Even the Police officer who mercilessly manhandled Vivien Gunawwardene was also promoted. By the way it was Premadasa Udugampola’s brother Kulasiri Udugampola, who was used by Ranil Wickremasinghe to raid the Millenium City and expose the army intelligence contingent and exterminated all of them by exposing them to Prabhakaran. ( We are yet unaware of the findings of the Commission that was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse to probe the Millenium City debacle !). However, it should be noted in this instance that although J R J probed the so-called Naxalite movement, he was not able to prove anything or prosecute anyone. It became a hoax initiated by him to achieve his goal. In this so-called Referendum too, Jaffna voters came out in full force to defeat the Referendum by casting 265,534 votes against, ( for Pot ) with only 25,315 for the Lamp. Wanni and Batticaloa also gave their overwhelming support for the Pot.
Now we come to the 1994 era when C B K contested the Presidential Election. With an amenable background of history of trying to settle the Ethnic problem by meeting the Rebel leaders, both in Jaffna and India, together with her Charismatic husband Vijaya Kumaratunga, the Rebel leader and his group had placed a certain amount of confidence in her leadership as seen from the support she received from the Tamil voters as seen from the following figures indicating the pattern of voting in the Jaffna, Wanni, Trincomalee and Batticaloa Districts for the 2 main candidates, namely, Chandrika Kumaratunga and Srima Dissanayake :
At this Election, C B K received a 62.5 % majority, quite a good mandate for her to solve the main national problem, if she actually had the correct vision and good and wise counsel.
But what happened ? As usual, she was bereft of good counsel, even ignoring her own mother who had steered the country during difficult times, showing her acumen and statesmanship. This fact is well illustrated when you look at the team she had selected to negotiate PEACE with the leaders of the LTTE. The mediators who were sent had no knowledge or experience for such an important undertaking, except perhaps for the former Civil Servant, Lionel Fernando, who was a well respected and accepted administrator in Jaffna and who had commandeered the respect and confidence of the Tamil community, while he was G A, Jaffna. S L F P leaders like Maithripala Senanayke and K. B. Ratnayake who knew their language and felt the pulse of the people and even a person like Lakshman Jayakody who had a balanced mind in dealing with such problems were ignored. Subsequently, even Lionel Fernando withdrew from the Team since he felt that nothing tangible will come out of the talks.
This was the last chance we missed in settling the ethnic problem, which has now spread its tentacles not only all over our country but through the world. Power struggle, politics and poor statesmanship have contributed to the sad state we are compelled to put up with today.
We earnestly hope that at least President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is well aware of the ups and downs we underwent and the political intrigues staged by our past leaders to please the voters, would consider our past failures and learn lessons therefrom and steer this country out of the present mess, taking an apolitical stand on this main national issue.
http://federalidea.com/focus/archives/105
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