No change in imperialist tactics even today - Minister Tissa Vitarana

By Uditha Kumarasinghe

A medical expert by profession who ventured into politics at a late stage in life, perhaps to carry forward the vision of his illustrious, kinsman Dr. N.M. Perera, Senior Minister for Scientific Affairs Prof. Tissa Vitarana is no doctrinaire politician. He would certainly evaluate the merits and demerits of each case and then make his final decision according to his conscience. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said the policy of “divide and rule” is a part of imperialist strategy not only in the colonial time, but even today. It is unfortunate that we are giving them the chance to exploit the divisions in our society. We have racial, religious and cast differences. If we promote those divisions and make them into confrontations or conflicts, the imperialists would exploit them just like during the colonial times for their own advantage.

The Minister said one of the objectives of the imperialists is to get rid of any regime which is not prepared to toe their political line. No doubt that they are trying their best even to get rid of this Government. The best way is to cause internal conflicts of race or religion and make use of it to topple the government.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: There is a school of thought which advocates closer ties with Chennai to avoid misunderstandings and defuse tension and hostile attitudes rather than operating through New Delhi. Your comments?

A: Yes, I think it’s a very good thing if we can have direct contact with Chennai. There should have been some exchange of politicians for instance, both from the Government and the Opposition to visit Sri Lanka and see what is going on. We should certainly have direct contact with them and that would be a very good thing so that they could get a proper idea of what is going on here. In the same way, I think we need to have a mechanism to convey information on what is happening in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately there is a great deal of misinformation. We have to make sure that correct news and views are transmitted to Chennai. So I welcome any move to establish closer links with Chennai.

Q: India had recognised Sri Lanka’s sovereignty over Kachchativu by the 1974 Agreement. Is there any basis for the South Indian politicians to advance their claims to Kachchativu?

A: I think the arguments which they are bringing up are rather weak. They say that they were not properly consulted. It is really a matter for the Indian Government and they should have taken it up at that time. What they say now when an agreement has been reached, I think, is not justifiable.

Q: Communal hostility is harmful to national development and unity. Are not the periodic communal eruptions due to” divide and rule” legacy of the colonial masters?

A: Yes, I would agree with you. Colonialists, particularly the British were experts in this area of divide and rule and they did it effectively in most of their colonies including Sri Lanka. It appears that they are still continuing this practice together with America. Today they are fomenting internal conflicts which will eventually end up in military conflicts so that the arms they produce can get a market to help revive their economy. Consequently the policy of “divide and rule” is a part of imperialist strategy not only during the colonial times but even at present.

It is unfortunate that we are giving them the opportunity to exploit the divisions in our society. We have racial, religious and cast differences. If we ourselves promote these divisions and make them into confrontations or conflicts, the imperialists will exploit them as in colonial times to their own advantage. If there is a regime that is not prepared to toe their political line, then they will try to get rid of it. I have no doubt that they are trying their best even to get rid of this Government. Perhaps the best way for that is to stir up internal conflicts of race or religion and make use of them to topple the Government.

Q: The British travel advisory has been issued on account of the upsurge of nationalistic sentiments in the country. Is there any truth in this? Do the prevailing conditions warrant such a drastic step?

A: Certainly it doesn't . I think this is also a part of their strategy to pressurize the Sri Lankan Government. It is not based on any factual assessment of the situation but rather they are trying to portray the situation as a far graver one. Issuing a travel advisory such as this will promote that course.

Q: India’s Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project has been found to be detrimental to the maritime and environmental life of Sri Lanka according to the findings of an expert committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Would you explain this?

A: I would certainly agree with it. When I was the Science and Technology Minister, we had several meetings summoned by the External Affairs Ministry where we expressed the views that the proposed canal would disrupt the eco-system and also interfere with the fauna and flora some of which is indigenous to that region. Having a canal and then periodically dredging it to keep it open will be a continuous process of disrupting the environment and it will reflect its impact on the aquatic life not only in that area alone but also in the surrounding areas of Sri Lanka.

Q: There are worst offenders of human rights violations who are even involved in brutal killings. What makes the Western world to ignore all these and concentrate only on Sri Lanka?

A: The Western world has developed a fine art of using the human rights issue to exert pressure on countries so that they can get various Governments to follow their agenda or else to change Governments. This is a practice which they have been following for a long time. The biggest violators of the human rights are the imperialist countries such as America and other European colonialist powers. They had done this not only during the overt colonialism but even thereafter. So they have no moral right to point the finger at anybody. Human rights are being violated by a number of dictatorial Governments which they support.

They ignore them completely. If there is any Government which refuses to bow down to their policies, then they raise these issues of human rights. The Agent Orange, a defoliant and a herbicide which is banned in warfare internationally was used by America when they attacked Vietnam. It is estimated that nearly 5 million Vietnamese had suffered various congenital deformities such as cancer and different other illnesses as a result. So far they have not paid even one cent as compensation or had apologized.

No one has raised any human rights issues or anything against them in the International Court of Criminal Justice. To make matters worse, when Vietnam was not agreeable to follow their dictates, they raised human rights issues against them on trivial matters involving religious groops such as Catholics and Buddhists. This is a good example of hypocrisy on the part of the Western powers.

Q: Wide publicity is given to Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) which purchases the Maha paddy harvest of the farmers. The farmers, however complain that the PMB does not buy their harvest and also their harvest has to be transported to distance centres with great difficulties. What is the remedy?

A: The remedy is that we have to ensure the revival of the PMB to what it was earlier when it had an adequate storage base and go downs. The Government had in fact set-aside a sufficient amount of money to buy a major part of the harvest, and thereafter ensure that the harvest was sold and monies were recovered. That was a very effective mechanism during the tenure of the 1970-1975 Government.

At present the storage facilities are inadequate as the UNP Government had sold them. The money allocated for the purchases is also inadequate. The fact that there is no effective program to reach out to the farmers could have been overcome by setting up a Co-operative network of farmer organizations so that they could transport paddy to the purchasing point. This is not in practice today. So the burden of transporting falls on the individual farmer. Even after transporting it to the stores quite often officials say that paddy is either wet or raise some minor issue and refuse to buy it.

The net result is that the farmers who had to bear the transport cost are forced to sell their harvest to private dealers well below the market price. So the farmers lose out and they are unable to repay their loans and they get into deeper financial problems. This is the unfortunate situation they face. I think a more effective system should be introduced to give the farmers a fair deal.

Q: Could you say whether the Scientific Affairs Ministry has successfully completed any technological or scientific research to benefit the country?

A: The Scientific Affairs Ministry of which I am the Minister was set up a little over a year ago. We have been given entirely a new mandate which is to coordinate the scientific and science-related activities of all the Line Ministries that have a scientific content and also the organisations under those Ministries. At the same time we have to interact with the private sector and produce tangible benefits to the economy so that we can ensure a rapid economic development. Now it has taken me this whole year to set up a viable mechanism to do this. This is not an easy task. This involves setting up a computer platform where we can get up-to-date data on what is going on in every Ministry and institution.

At the same time, we should have a mechanism to collect information on various sectors of the economy and explore what the products that are being marketed and whether such products have a low value addition and as to how we can add value to such products. This means that we should identify the value chain in the international market and conduct a Market surveys and studies to find out what are the products that we could develop in our country through technology infusion into value addition process, specially the advanced technology.

We have now received the approval and the financial provision to introduce this mechanism. We have started recruiting the staff and we will set up it soon. Once the office is properly established, we can set up various committees and councils to carry out the mandate of the Scientific Affairs Ministry.

Q: What is the current role of the Institute of Fundamental Studies in the context of scientific research. Could you explain what research help produce satisfactory results?

A: The Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS) was set up to conduct basic or fundamental research in areas such as physics, chemistry, biological sciences, mathematics and so on. It has been largely left to the individual scientists to work out what their research projects are. The whole idea of an institute such as this is that there will be full freedom for the scientists to do research on any area that they are interested in. The idea is to provide equipment, funds and personnel to enable a scientist to carry out high quality and possibly world class research in any area that they are interested in.

The idea that some of the basic research should be related to applied research that will be carried out in various institutions and universities has always been there. There had been efforts to link institutions such as IFS with scientists and scientific roots in other research institutions so that they can do what is called “Mission-Oriented Research”. This has been limited to a few areas. I think this is beneficial to the country.

I would say we have to conduct a certain amount of basic research if we are going to come up with an innovative research outcome which will lead to potential economic benefit to the country. That is something you can’t plan but you have to leave it to the scientists and the people who are directing the activities of the Institute. I think it’s good to have even one institute in the country which enables scientists to do this. But I prefer to make basic research much more mission-oriented so that it would support applied research.

Q: What made you to embrace Trotskyism when it had not been the political creed of any ruler so far?

A: I am afraid you are mistaken. Trotsky along with Lenin were the two great people who led the Russian revolution and they became the accepted Leaders of Russia after the revolution. It was only subsequently that Stalin fought against Trotsky and got rid of him. Ultimately Trotsky was assassinated. So the whole process started with the person who led the Government of Russia. The other point is that in the recent history Hugo Chavez was the President of Venezuela for 14 years and he himself had said that he was a Trotskyite as he believed in Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution. Trotsky profounded his ideology, “Trotskyism”. Right up to now in Venezuela there have been Leaders who were either directly or indirectly following some of Trotsky’s views and ideas.

Q: You are a medical specialist who took to politics at a later stage in life apparently to fill the gap left by your illustrious kinsman Dr. N.M. Perera. How far you have progressed in politics and what political image you have created to ensure the family political line?

A: I don’t believe in family political lines. I have my own political views. I have been convinced myself of socialism and scientific socialism - the Marxism which provides the theoretical framework for bringing about the type of society which is free from exploitation - a rational society that would get rid of poverty and make the fullest use of the resources in a sustainable manner. It was only after I was convinced of this that I joined the LSSP.

When I was a scientist and a doctor even and in my university days, I had an interest in politics. It was only by chance when my uncle, Dr. N.M. Perera was ill, that the LSSP General Secretary Leslie Gunawardene asked me to become the organiser of the party in my uncle’s electorate, Yatiyantota. My aim is to take LSSP politics and socialism forward through a progressive Government. My uncle too tried to do likewise. The question of how successful or not would be, only time will tell.