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| Sunday, 2 January 2005 |
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Power politics and political opportunism by Dhanapala Weerasekera Power politics rather than party politics which has dominated out country from the time of independence has been and is still the main stumbling block in our effort to rebuild a united Sri Lankan Nation. The seeds of ethnic dissension were sown from the time we won our independence from the British rule and as one who was fairly close to the leaders of the time holding the post of founder Secretary of the All Ceylon UNP Youth League and founder President of the Ratnapura District Youth League, I feel it may be useful to enlighten some of today's leaders about the historic details and some connected incidents which may even at this later stage, almost at the "point of no return" help them to change course in their attempt to prevent the division of this country and the nation. I use both terms deliberately as in my view, the Sri Lankan nation is not merely the geographical land mass surrounded by our seas but the totality of the people who are entitled to make this country their home with equal rights United Front of leaders During the last stages of the State Council, probably at the request of the British negotiators an important resolution was passed in the State Council which had five clauses granting the main demands of the Tamil speaking people. These covered the right to the use of the Tamil language, in the Tamil speaking areas in education, courts, administration, including the right to receive all correspondence and responses to letters in the same language. This resolution was strongly supported by all the leaders of the time, including S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike with only Bernard Aluvihare abstaining but not opposing it. Most people are aware that the actual negotiations for independence was led by a powerful group of our Nation's leaders of the time, representing all communities, including the Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Malays and Burghers. But few are aware of the fact that the first mistake made at the time was that while I grant that all these leaders and the various organisations they represented were patriotic and genuinely interested in winning freedom for all people of this country, they failed to whip up national feeling and enthusiasm among the people of the country. National feelings Except for a few groups led by some of the area leaders, to the mass of the ordinary people of this country, the change meant little and to them life went on as usual. The vast gap between the ordinary people and the upper class during the colonial period was so strongly embedded in the administrative system and general life and the fact that little effort had been made to involve them in the freedom struggle and failure to educate them in this matter and rouse up some of their national feelings has resulted in today's situation with the people and their leaders not reacting correctly to the dangers we face today. Unlike in India a country which faced enormous problems created primarily by the fact that this vast country was composed of several independent entities using different languages, with varied cultures, ruled by Maharajahs and powerful families, and the great divide between the Muslims and Hindus and the complications created by the British policy of divide and rule, we have been blessed with a situation where leaders of the several religious and ethnic groups could influence their followers and were sincerely bonded together in their effort to win freedom. The seeds of divisive thinking set in at a very early stage of our independence though politicians and ignorant followers conveniently try to cover up the truth by blaming only the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's 'Sinhala only' policy for all our woes, few are aware that even in this matter it was Sir John Kotalawala during his failed election campaign who first promised to make Sinhala the official language and this was countered by Bandaranaike who improved on this by stating that he will do so in 24 hours after coming to power. Race, creed, religion and caste were major considerations in elections and selection of candidates for election. After the promise of Independence, the National Flag became a major issue and rather than sitting together with the same friendly bond during the so called freedom struggle to work out the future of the united nation, the ethnic and religious divide was then accepted and the orange stripe for the Tamils and the green stripe for the Muslims were added to the flag. We must pay some respect to the left leaders the Marxist leaders who stood firm against the new government's policy of discrimination to suit their political plans. I recall a day when there was a party at the residence of Sir Ukwatta Jayasundera the then Secretary of the UNP, where leaders of all parties and Parliamentarians including the main office bearers were present. When the Prime Minister arrived everyone including the party leaders, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Dr. N.M. Perera and others stood up to respect the country's Prime Minister. Almost as soon as the Prime Minister arrived, a Tamil leader present, either C. Sunderalingam or Sittampalam raised an important question by asking: "Sir, a resolution was passed in the State Council in May 1945 agreeing to the demands made by us on behalf of the minority Tamils, so when are you going to implement this?" Senanayake with his usual laugh answered "You have nothing to worry because as long as I live the minorities will be looked after and not discriminated against." To which the prompt answer came, "Sir, but what will happen to us when you are no more?" When elections drew near the UNP realised that the support of the trade unions and especially the estate workers who were almost entirely controlled by the LSSP could give Dr. N.M. Perera a majority in the first Parliament and probably make him the Prime Minister as the common opposition candidate. The UNP to ensure their victory disenfranchised the estate workers and created a group of stateless persons in this country. This grave error is never referred to now by the present Tamil leaders because at that time in order to save their political power they too did not oppose this move and to them the estate Tamils were a lower class of people while the Jaffna Tamils, though also classified into classes and castes were superior to the Tamils of Indian origin. This is where the late Thondaman came into the picture and gave them the desired leadership and finally eroded the hold of the LSSP on the estate worker organisations. In almost all colonies that won independence from the British and other colonial powers the common policy was to accept all the citizens of the colony at the time as equal citizens of the freed country irrespective of race or religion. In this country wealth, position and influence came into play, while the poorer Tamils who had been here for several generations were made stateless, some of the richer people of foreign descent could even officially buy their citizenship. The Tamils of the North proudly identifying themselves as the Jaffna Tamils and the Tamil elite in other areas including the political leaders allowed this situation to develop and were not concerned though they now claim to represent all Tamil speaking people. The Muslim community in particular was happy about this then and even now. Independence The lack of national feelings and the ever deepening rift between races and religions in this country continued from the time of independence until today and now at this time of crisis we see political parties and leaders risking the worsening of this situation and going beyond the point of no return in order to gain political power. They are no fools and to give them credit I am sure they know that proceeding as they are doing now rousing up hatred and division, there is a grave risk of an explosive situation developing and unfortunately there are those who do not seem to mind the splintering of this nation in the hope that they will be able to pick up some of the bigger pieces and come into power whether it be in a single undivided country or a portion of it. Political leaders keep preaching about a unitary state and seem to refer to the geographical entity as the entity they want to protect whole or to divide but the Sri Lankan Nation is the collective entity of the people of all races and religions who have got the citizenship in this country and today thanks to the efforts of the late Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike the estate Tamils are also citizens of Sri Lanka in addition to Muslims, Burghers, Malays and even some others. And as far as I believe, the Sri Lankan undivided nation must include the total landmass, its national marine waters as an undivided geographical entity including the majority Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Malays and others who have gained citizenship irrespective of whether they live in the North, East, South or West. Unfortunately leaders who profess to be socialists have forgotten their basic policy of racial equality, some who claim to represent religion have forgotten the preaching of their revered leaders and leaders who claim to be genuine democrats have subjugated democratic norms all for political power prepared to gamble with not only the present but the interests of this nation and generations to follow. The writer is a former Member of Parliament |
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