Sinha le: Pulling a chauvinistic fast one
by Shyamon Jayasinghe
Writing to The Colombo Telegraph, Sharmini Serasinghe, well-known
journalist, has this to say:
"It is indeed ironic and tragically hilarious, that while Sri Lanka
boasts of a 2500 year-old culture and one of the highest literacy rates
in Asia (the ability to read and write), those claiming relationship to
a four-legged beast (lion) today; its Sinhale tribe, is unable to
separate allegory and myth, from fact. After all, the ability to read
and write doesn't guarantee intelligence, common sense or wisdom, does
it?
What is most hilarious is that, by claiming bloodline to a beast,
they are also admitting to being subhuman, the qualities of which, they
have no qualms about displaying unashamedly, in the public arena. Is
this what our 2500 year-old culture has produce?"
Sharmini picks the latest searing slogan in Sri Lanka: Sinhale.
(blood of the Sinha or lion). It is not really the latest. It is, rather
an old war cry of the fundamentalist mindset.
To a people who have restricted economic opportunities around to
seize and grow personally this kind of war cry does appeal from time to
time. In wealthy countries like Australia individuals are too busy
working in profitable ventures and seeking chances to enrich themselves
and their families and trying to enjoy the good life that comes in its
wake.
On the other hand, most Sri Lankans have plenty of time to waste and
hang around. As prosperity grows in a country its people find their
horizons widen and they tend to realise that even in a finite world
there is room for everyone to practice the common social life-sustaining
philosophy of 'live and let live'.
On the other hand, there are 'opportunities' of a different sort for
leaders who stir the primordial clannish passions of their followers.
Such leaders come from typically lower middle class persons who have the
ambition to move up the class ladder by seeking political power and the
uplifting social levers that such power brings. Once reaching their
political positions such persons who are devoid of talent to make wealth
by their own business acumen, take the option of eking income from the
successful business classes.They become parasites on those who have
genuinely made it to the top. These politicians when ensconced in power
utilise their positions of power in order to rip off commissions and
bribes from suppliers in business. The political elite become a new
class of parasites preying on businesses.
This state of affairs has been developing for some decades in Sri
Lanka but under the regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa the new parasitic class
grew exponentially given the fact that Mahinda Rajapakse and his family
looked the other way when corruption allegations surfaced. Now that he
is out of power there are scandalous allegations about Mahinda and his
family. How much of such charges would be proved is yet to be seen but
the mere conduct of the regime during its ten year rule left much
suspicion and conjecture. For instance, the agencies responsible for
ensuring accountability of government were brought under the President's
control by the 18th Amendment and that tragic act dismantled checks and
balances on executive power. Under the umbrella of executive power even
politicians in rural areas shared spoils and abused power.
With the single most dominant party,the United National Party,
sticking to its original ideology of a multicultural united nation the
parasitic political class seeks more and more to lean on the narrow
ideology of fundamentalist Sinhala Buddhism as its line of strategy to
garner votes.
The silence of Mahinda Rajapaksa in power and out over the antics of
the BBS and its rowdy saffron leader, Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara, is
indicative of where his ideological stand is and where his strategy
lies.
There is little doubt that the Sinhle moment is tailored to gather
votes for another Mahinda comeback effort. BBS and the broader Sinhale
campaign will march separately and come together. Slogans are on the
walls in public places with Sinhale cries. Hired and fooled media
personnel work day and night to try and create an avalanche out of these
sectarian sentiments. Similarly hired and fooled "intellectuals," have
come to the dance of the devils. Prime Minister,Ranil Wickremesinghe, in
a public speech named these accompanying orchestra.
Such violence-prone forces aren't interested in what happens to the
future of the island. They try , as was done in the past to fan fear
among the Tamil population. Such fear and anxiety can only generate
Tamil extremism and Tamil militancy thereby setting the stage for
another civil war. Back to square one.And what of the ordinary people
who are being canvassed like this? As Sharmini Serasinghe points out,
our possession of a high literacy rate does not guarantee a common sense
or a critical perspective among the people.
Our people have many times in the past failed to pick the fake from
the real. The Sinhale people rely on the gullibility of its mass
audiences. As the quoted passage at the start says Sinhale is not real
but phoney. It is meant to dupe and win.
Will they succeed in this new prank?
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