Sudath Gunasekara. President Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara. 24.10.2009.

I have been curiously following some of the latest developments brewing in the political field during the past two weeks. I think first it is pertinent to make few comments firstly on two important statements made by two Tamil politicians last week and secondly on the utterly irresponsible and idiotic behavior of the opposition parties right now.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The first attributed to a relatively young amateur but outwardly militant Mano Ganesan the leader of the so-called Democratic Peoples Front as a threat to Ranil, the leader of the opposition, who is looking fore a rope to hang as he is unable to face the incumbent President at the forthcoming Presidential Election. Mano Ganesan is reported to have said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-DPF will not be a party to the proposed United National Alliance if General Sarath Fonseka is considered and proposed as the common candidate at the forth coming Presidential election. Also he has said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tamil speaking people of this country do not have anything in common with General Fonseka for him to be our common candidateƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

The second comes obviously from a more gray haired and communal minded veteran but fossilized politician Sampanthan, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I quote the relevant statement he made in Parliament below.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ leader R. Sampanthan cautioned the govt. on state assisted illegal colonization in Tamil Muslim areasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of the Eastern province in an adjournment debate in Parliament today. He demanded to freeze all these illegal Sinhala settlements as soon as possible. If not the TNA would be reluctantly compelled to take alternative steps, he announced. He explained in details the places where such illegal Sinhala settlements are taking place with full security from the armed forces.

Speaking further in the debate Mr. Sampanthan charged the govt. thinks that it can intimidate Tamils and Muslims in the East withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ help of armed forces and do what ever that it can. That’s why such illegal Sinhala settlements and encroachments of Tamil Muslim lands are taking place from the day the east was freed.

“Trincomalee district Tamil Muslim DS divisional areas have been the worst affected areas by these high handed state aided illegal Sinhala settlements. If this injustice is not stopped immediately, the rule of law will be lost in this province and this would lead to unforeseen circumstances“, added the TNA leader.

Speaking on the debate, JVP group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake also condemned the manner in which the lands are acquired in the east. If the govt. wants to do any project in Trincomalee district it should first consult the elected MPs and MPCs of the district. Firstly, allow the displaced people to resettle in their lands. Thereafter consider other priorities in a just and equitable way without affecting the demography. (I do not want to comment on Anura Dissanayaka as it is only cheap rhetoric that has no substance)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Both these statements (Mano Ganesan & Sampanthan) clearly show the inborn hatred, these Tamil politicians harbour towards the Sinhala people in this country. You will also recall that these two men were ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ signatories to a communiquƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚© issued few days ago alleging human rights violations by the government and demanding the release of all IDPs under the signatures of five communal fanatics including Rauff Hakeem and two others which I have dealt with in details on 3^rd Oct 2009 in the Lankaweb.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I would like to first deal with Mano Ganesan. Does this man who has bagged just a few communal Tamil votes from the Colombo district under the UNP list at the 2004 elections, thanks to the prevailing clumsy and corrupt proportional representation system, to secure a slot in the Parliament to represent what he calls the Democratic PeopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Front (DPF) knows that it was this Fonseka who was mainly responsible for liberating all the living Tamils all over the Island including other communities as well. Then how can he say that Tamil speaking people have nothing in common with him. Not having anything in common with the Sinhalese as he says is their real tragedy, which communal politicians like Mano Ganesan has never been able to understand. If any one has nothing in common with the Sinhalese then he or she should never dream of living in this country. Had he contested under the so-called DPF (which is only a fake political party) he would have been never entered the Parliament. Instead of thanking the UNP for giving him a place in their list, today he is challenging the UNP leadership. This reminds me of the proverbial verbosity of the mouse who made a similar pronouncement until it saw a cat. Although these are good lessons for our national political parties they never learn from their blunders.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What Sampanthan has said is much more dangerous and serious. Not only he flares the communal hatred but he also challenges the Constitution of the Republic by questioning the governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s legitimate right to decide on matters of governance. If you carefully go through his statement in Parliament you will notice that he has described the Eastern province as a Tamil and Muslim homeland. This is blatant violation of the provisions of the 6^th amendment to the Constitution. How can he call the governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s settlement programme in the east illegal? When and by whom and under what law the Eastern Province or any other area of the country has been declared as a nindagam of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ any particular ethnic group? Earlier they said the east and the north are the Tamil Homelands. Look at their change of music now. They also have now developed a sudden love to the Muslims some of whom were massacred and others chased out by them when the LTTE was controlling the area. Settling Sinhala people in the eastern area he says is illegal and according to them it is encroachment of Tamil and Muslim land. If that is so how come nearly 65% of the Sri Lankan Tamils live in the other areas where the Sinhala people constitute the majority. What has he got to say about Wellawatta and the rest of the Colombo district? Is he prepared to take them to the east and the north? Has there been any evidence where a single Sinhala MP or a man ever protested like this man against their being in those areas? Why canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t this old owl understand that this country belongs to every body and no one has given any portion of it by a deed to any particular ethnic group whether it is Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese? The government has the legitimate right to settle any one in place it likes, provided it is required for a public purpose. These are the very grand fathers and fathers of the LTTE movement who still maintain the communal mindset and set the country on communal fire like the legendary Monkey Hanuman. The only difference here is that they do by their venomous mouths what the Monkey did by its tail. Even the vociferous JVP pandits who want the Executive Presidency scrapped as priority number one seam to be deaf, dumb and blind on this type of treacherous statement made in Parliament. It is a tragedy that there isnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t a single MP in the Parliament who has the guts to protest or stand up against such lose talk by these separatists communal politicians.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The whole country knows the ultimate dream of both Sampanthan and Mano Ganesan and ilk would have been to make Pirapaharan the President of this country. This naked attempt on their part to differentiate the Tamil people from the Sinhala people is a calculated effort to drive the wedge of communal hatred between the Sinhalese and the Tamils just for their political survival as a MPP. I think it would have been more appropriate if Mano GanesanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s party was called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Dravida Puma FrontƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ rather than trying to show a disguised democratic face with a camouflaged name to deceive the world. In fact this was exactly the same strategy Chelvanayagam adopted in 1947 when he named his ultra-communal ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Ilankai Tamil ArasukachchiƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (Lanka Tamil State Party) as the Federal Party. With this statement once again Mano Ganesan has given a clear message to the country that is, that Tamils in this country are not prepared to accept Sinhala leadership and their legitimate right to rule this country and are never satisfied until the Tamils have their own government with a Tamil as the President and another Tamil as the Prime Minister. The irony is these are the very vociferous and foul mouthed people who talk of discrimination by Sinhalese against the Tamils. I really do not know why the average civilized Tamils get this type of mad men elected as their representatives. These are the most dangerous elements, rather the sheep in wolfs clothes, the government must take serious note of who forms a stumbling block against the communal harmony it is trying to build up in the postwar period. These are the selfish politicians who sow the seeds of communal hatred for their political survival. It is this intractable attitude of the Tamil politicians which had been mainly responsible for the communal disharmony and ethnic conflicts ever since early 1920s. I can think of only two ways for them to get out of this problem. That is either they must accept that this is the Land of the Sinhala people for the past 2500 years, which is the reality, and learn to live with them or find some other land where they can have their illusory Tamil EELAM. This is not a call for suppressing minority rights and under Sinhala supremacy as people like Tisaranee Gunasekara is labouring day and night to establish but it is a call for restoring the lost rights of the Sinhala people which had been the political reality that was there for the past 2500 years in this country.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Talking about Mano Ganesans protest first I must say if not for this much envied Sinhala Fonseka who commanded his cadre with the help of other forces for the historic defeat of the LTTE, even Mano Ganesan would not have been alive today, going by what has happened to all other Colombo based Tamil politicians. This is what Mano Ganesan has said in the above statement. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sampanthan in any case would not have any problem from Pirapaharan as he and his entire communal click had been right through their sworn proxies.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Regarding resettlement in the North and the East the government should never give in to these communal pressures. After all, all this land was inhabited by the Sinhala Buddhist from at least 6^th century BC to 1200 AD. It was the Magha invaders who destroyed that great civilization and chased the Sinhalese to the South West. The present re-settlement programme is therefore only a natural return to their once traditional Homeland. In this process the government must re-settle all those Sinhalese and Muslim who were chased out by these communal Tamils from the North and the East in 1983. Their land must be restored to them or their descendants. Thereafter all vacant land in the North and the East should be distributed among all ethnic groups and all new settlement should be mixed. No area should be demarcated for any particular ethnic group. Because mixed settlements are the key to ethnic harmony and integration.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Meanwhile at least now the government should seriously consider banning of all political parties based on ethnicity, language, religion or regional identity. If we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t take immediate action to arrest these trends we will be soon found back in the square number one. Not only what we have won will be lost but our inaction and disunity will soon give way for the regrouping of communal and separatist forces once again in this country.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As a responsible citizen of this country I earnestly request all political parties both in the government and the opposition to unite on these lines and work on a common programme of nation building without engaging in mad fracases like the abolition of Executive presidency and quarrelling over utterly irrelevant and untimely issues like democracy, human rights, so-called press freedom, devolution of power and political solution.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The responsibility of all politicians whether you are in the government or the opposition right now is to bring back political stability and communal harmony without back biting and trying to strangulate each others necks because that will only take all of us down the Gadarene slope turmoil and eternal doom. A peculiar feature with almost all our politicians is that they always mix up priorities and put self before the country. For example look at how the UNP and the JVP behave now. Their first priority is the scraping of the Executive Presidency and sending MR home. My question is, are they the most burning issues the country faces today? Is that the best way to be grateful to a man who commanded the Armed forces and mobilized the nation to decimate the LTTE curse? Will the abolition of the Executive Presidency and sending MR home solve all the problems? Why canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t these people frankly accept that MR and his government has at least partially solved the most burning crisis of LTTE menace that was tormenting this Island nation for the past 30 years? Why canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t they give the credit for the government for this historic achievement which no government was able to do for the past 30 years.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On the other hand if these opposition politicians are sincerely concerned about the people and the welfare of the country donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t they have other more important issues to talk about or agitate? For example is there a single politician who has ever demanded the abolition of the Provincial Councils and strengthening the districts for better governance, reducing the mega Cabinet, reducing the privileges of politicians, reducing unnecessary security on politicians that play havoc on the roads even after the LTTE threat is over, de-politicization of the public service, reducing the salaries and remunerations of politicians as some other countries like Singapore and UK have already done at a difficult time like this and called for a period of austerity, curtailing unnecessary state tamashas ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and unnecessary meetings (like those held to give away letters of appointments to various appointees to the public and corporate sector), reducing the jumbo Parliament of 225 MPP, abolition of the clumsy and mad proportional representation system, banning of all political parties based on ethnicity, language, religion or regional factor, abolition of the Provincial system that has been invented by theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  British to divide and rule, discouraging ethnic segregation to foster ethnic harmony, tendencies by minority ethnic groups for regional and socio-cultural segregation, or at least demandƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  a better system of peoples representation at the electorate level without bringing in parachutists imposed from outside by the party leadership, or a method of bringing better and decent men and women to parliament and other political bodies who can and will do a better service to people or called for a joint effort by all political parties in parliament and even other citizens of standing to take the country out of the present crisis situation or made a joint effort to defend the country against baseless allegations leveled against the country by the Western conspirators either in Parliament or a Provincial council or outside them. The answer is an emphatic no.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is the chronic tragedy with our politicians. Either they have no idea about the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s real problems or they are least concerned about them as their only motive is self interest. Every body wants to chase out those who are in power and come to power to make money and enjoy the perks and privileges in office. To achieve this goal and having come to power and to remain in power as long as possible they will do anything and everything under the sun following the Machiavellian theory to the very letter.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So much so today representative democracy in this country has become a big joke. Politicians have ceased to represent people. They only represent themselves and their self interest. Sectarian and ethnic feuds, party rivalries, family power, amazing wealth through illicit deals and enjoying life at the expense of every body and self interest have come to stay as the rule rather than the exception in the entire political machinery. There may be one or two exceptions. But that does not change the general pattern. Everyone is playing Dr Jekyll and Hide and every one is engaged in a marathon game of deceiving the other not knowing that they also get deceived in the process at the end and will be the object of curse by the posterity. Shame on the so-called 2500 year old civilization. Where are those cherished values and morals gone? Where are those guardian gods on of this thrice blessedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Island gone?