nky;y nky;y Njh;jy;te;J nkd;ikahd ifiaj; njhl;L ms;sp ms;sp jur;nrhy;YNk …….!

- rjh. [P.

‘vjphp vq;fis Mo;fpwhd; vjphp vq;fis Mf;fpukpf;fpwhd; vjphp vq;fSf;F’ vd;W ‘’ jkpodpd; fhjpYk; g+r;Rw;Wk; g+rhhp gpd;fjthy; Ngha; vjphpAld; Nre;J ‘tp\;fpf;F Nrhlhf fye;J mbr;rhy; ey;ykh? my;yJ I];fl;b Nghl;L mbr;rhy; ey;ykh?’ vd;W fhurhukh tpjhjpj;Jtpl;L tpbNaf;f Ngg;guj; jpwe;jhy; ‘jkpoh;fspd; Rahl;rp> jkpo; gpuNjrq;fspy; jkpoh;fspd; eph;thfk; Mfpatw;iw typAWj;jpaJ $j;jikg;G’ vd;wpUf;Fk;. mq;F cz;ikapy; tapw;Wtypapy; rk;ge;jidah ff;$Rf;f ,Ue;J Kf;Fthh;> ,uT jpd;w #lhd Nfhopahy.

nghJj; Njy;jYf;F $j;jikg;G vd;d $j;jhLk; vd;W ghh;g;gjw;F Kjy;> nfhOk;G kl;Lk; jkpoPo tiuglk; ePz;bUf;fpwJ. mjhtJ tlfpof;fpy; kfpe;jtpd; rpe;jidia epe;jpj;J ruj; nghd;rhfhit Mjhpj;jjpd; %yk; jkpo; kf;fs; njspthd Kbtpid njhptpj;jpUf;fpwhh;fshk;. mNjNghy nfhOk;G cl;gl Rw;Wg;Gwq;fspy; thOk; jkpoh;fSk; kfpe;jtpd; rpe;jidia epe;jpj;J ruj;ij Mjhpj;jjpd; %yk; tlfpof;F kw;Wk; nfhOk;Gj; jkpoh;fs; vy;NyhUk; ,ize;jpUf;fpwhh;fshk;. mjhtJ $j;jikg;gpd; Ntz;LNfhSf;F nrtprha;j;J nfhOk;Gj; jkpoh;fSk; ruj;nghd;Nrfhit Mjhpj;jjhf $j;jikg;G Gfohq;fpjk; nfhs;fpwJ. vkf;fpUf;fpw xNu xU MWjy; $j;jikg;gpd; Ntz;LNfhSf;fpzq;fpj;jhd; njd;gFjp rpq;fs kf;fSk; ruj;Jf;F thf;Ffis Ftpj;jhh;fs; vd;W nrhy;ytpy;iy vd;gJjhd;.

nghJj; Njh;jypy; $j;jikg;G tlf;F fpof;fpy; jdpj;Nj Nghl;bapLk;. [dhjpgjpj; Njh;jypy; ‘mtiu Mjhpf;fpNwhk;’ vd;W nrhy;ypaJ kpfkpf ,yFthdJ. Vnddpy; $j;jikg;G Rl;bf;fhl;bath; ntd;why; jq;fSila ‘gth;’ vd;W khh;jl;bf;nfhs;tJ. Njhw;why; ‘kf;fs; mtiu Vw;Wf;nfhs;stpy;iy’ vd;W jl;bfopj;JtpLtJ.

Mdhy; nghJj; Njh;jy; $j;jikg;Gf;fhuhpd; tho;NthL tpisahLtJ Nghy. mtuth; fsj;jpy; ,wq;fNtz;Lk;. ,dg;gpur;rpidnad;Dk; rpuq;if ahh; ahh; nfl;bj;jdkhf nrhwpe;JtpLfpwhh;fNsh mth;fSf;Nf ghuhSkd;w fjpiu! ,e;j rpuq;if rpwg;ghf nrhwpe;JtpLtjpy; Kjd;ikahdth;fSk; Kd;dpiy tfpg;gth;fSkhd $j;jikg;G jdpj;Jg;Nghl;bapLk; vd;gjpy; vtUf;Fk; ve;j IaKk; voj;Njitapy;iy.

gy goq;fisj; jpd;W nfhl;ilfisg; Nghl;Lf;nfhz;bUf;Fk; rk;ge;jdhfl;Lk; my;yJ ,g;gj;jhd; nfhl;ilia #g;gpf;nfhz;bUf;Fk; RNu]; gpNukr;re;jpud;> Fjpiu – fjpiu nghd;dk;gyq;fs; tiu nrhwpe;JtpLtjpy; nfl;bf;fhuh;fs;. thapy; thzPh; Cw nrhwptpd; Rfj;ij mDgtpf;Fk; jkpod; nrhwptpd; vhpitAk; NtjidiaAk; mDgtpf;Fk;NghJ rk;ge;jd; Ngha;Nrh;e;jpUg;ghh;! rk;ge;jd;u ,lj;Jf;F RNu]; gpNukr;re;jpud; te;jpUg;ghh;! ,Jjhd; murpay; tpyhq;fpay;!

,dp ,e;j 22 $j;jikg;G ghuhSkd;w cWg;gpdh;fspy; ahh; ahiu fol;btplg;Nghfpwhh;fs; vd;gJ njhlh;ghd rpwpa mDkhdk;: ,zf;fg;ghl;L murpaYf;F Kjy;fhyb vLj;Jitf;fj; Jzpe;j $j;jikg;G ghuhSkd;w cWg;gpdh;fshd rpth[pypq;fk;> rpwpfhe;jh MfpNahh; $j;jikg;G Ntl;ghsh;fshf fsj;jpy; epw;fg;Nghjpy;iy.

fjpiuf; fN[e;jpud; jg;gpdhh;. mtUila KjyhtJk; Kjd;ikahdJkhd jFjpNa mtnuhU Nkl;Lf;Fb Fbkfd;. Nghd]hf mtUf;F Mq;fpyKk; rpq;fsKk; ruskhff; fijf;ff;$bath; nfhQ;rk; jkpOk; njhpAk;. ghtk; Fjpiuf; fN[e;jpud; jhd;. rpWgps;isj; jdkhd Ngr;rhYk; Fuq;Fr; Nrl;ilahYk; ,tUf;F Mg;Gj;jhd;. MdhYk; ,jpnyhU rpf;fy; ,Uf;fpwJ.

$j;jikg;G> gj;jkpdp rpjk;guehjid fol;btplNt ,Wjptiu Kaw;rpf;Fk;. ,Ug;gpDk; XusTf;F gpugy;ak; mile;Jtpl;l ngz; Ntl;ghsh;> Mrphpah;. vy;yhtw;Wf;Fk; Nkyhf rpjk;guehjdpd; Jiztpahh;. rpjk;guehjd; ahnud;W njhpANkh? (njhpahl;by; aho;g;ghzj;Jf;F Nghdg;Nghl;L Nfl;lhy; njhpAk;) gj;kpdp Ntl;ghsuhf njhpTnra;ag;gl;lhy; mth; jdf;Fj; Jizahf Fjpiuf; fN[e;jpuidAk; Ntl;ghsuhf epakpg;gjw;F jdJ rfy m];jpuq;fisAk; gpuNahfpg;gjw;F tha;g;gpUf;fpwJ. ,g;g Fjpiuf;Fk; gj;kpdpf;Fk; vd;d njhlh;G vd;W ePq;fs; Nfl;fyhk;? Cq;fspd; Nfs;tpapNyNa gjpYk; ,Uf;fpwJ mt;tsTjhd;.

Gul;rp ‘tz;b’f;fhud; RNu]pd; epyik vd;d? vd;w vz;zk; cq;fSf;Fj; Njhd;wpdhy; ePq;fs; murpaiy cd;dpg;ghf ftdpj;jhYk; murpay;thjpfis ftdpf;ftpy;iy vd;Wjhd; mh;j;jk;. rk;ge;jd; gLf;iff;Fk; ff;$Rf;Fk; kl;Lk;jhd; jdpikapy;Nghfpwhh;. kw;Wg;gb ve;NeuKk; RNu]; xl;bf;nfhz;LtpLfpwhh;. xUNtis tug;NghFk; nghJj;Njh;jYf;F gpwF eilngWk; nghJj;Njh;jypy; rk;ge;jd; ,Ue;jhy; RNu]pd; jait ehlNtz;bNaw;glyhk; ahh; fz;lhh;?

,d;ndhU RthurpaKk; eilngwTs;sJ. $l;lzpj; jiyth; Mde;jrq;fhp ,f;$l;lj;Jld; xl;bf;nfhs;tjw;fhd tha;g;G. Mde;jrq;fhpAk; rk;gd;jDk; neUf;fkhd ez;gh;fs;. ,ilapy; jkpo;nry;tDld; Vw;gl;l neUf;fj;jhy; Mde;jrq;fhp fho;g;Gzh;T nfhz;bUe;jhYk; jw;NghJ epiyik khwpapUf;fpwJ. tpLgl;l neUf;fk; kPz;Lk; ,ize;jpUf;fpwJ. MAjk; jhq;fpa Kd;dhs; gpuKfh; vd;why; Mde;jrq;fhpf;F mNyh;[p vd;whYk; ‘vd;Dld; thg;gh’ vd;W rk;ge;jd; Mirahf miog;gij Mde;jrq;fhpahy; jl;lKbAnkd;wh epidf;fpwPh;fs;?

$j;jikg;G cWg;gpdh;fs; ,dthjg; Ngr;Rf;fis jtph;g;gJ ey;yJ> jkpo; kf;fspd; vjph;fhyj;jpy; tpisahl Ntz;lhk; vDk; Mde;jrq;fhp jkpo; kf;fs;kPJ mf;fiwFilatuhf ,Ue;jhYk;> mtUf;F ghuhSkd;wf; fjpiuapy;yhky; if Rk;khapUf;fhJ vdNt mtUf;fpUf;fpw xNu njhpT rk;ge;jDld; Cly;nfhs;tJjhd;. ,d;ndhU njhpTk; ,Uf;fpwJ. $l;lzpapd; ngahpNyNa Njh;jy; fskpwq;FtJ. ,J nrd;wKiw nghJj; Njh;jiyg;Nghy fhiythhptplhJ vd;gjw;fhd ve;j cj;juthjKk; ,y;iy.

,t;tplj;jpy; ,d;ndhd;iwAk; Rl;bf;fhl;lyhk;. rk;ge;jDk; jkpoh;fspd; vjph;fhyk; gw;wpa rpwpa mf;fiwAilatuhf ,Ue;jhYk; mtUld; $l ,Ug;gth;fspd; fpLq;Fg;gpbapdhy; mtuhy; ,dthjrfjpapypUe;J tpLglKbahJ xd;W> ,uz;L jkpo; ,dthj Clfq;fspd; mDf;fpufk; ,Ue;jhy;jhd; jhd; njhlh;e;Jk; jkpo; kf;fs; kj;jpapy; gpufhrpf;f KbAk; vd;w #o;r;rpiatpl;L ntspNawj; Jzpahjth;.

vdNt ,jpy; $j;jikg;gpy; rhh;gpy; ‘Kf;fpa’ Gs;spfs; ghuhSkd;wk; njhpthth;fs;. Rj;jpr; Rj;jp Rg;gw;u nfhy;Nyf;f vd;gJNghy jkpo; kf;fs; Rg;gw;u nfhy;Nyf;f mdhjuthf tplg;gLthh;fs;. jkpoh;fs; czh;r;rpfSf;F ,yFthf mbikg;glf;$bath;fs;. vg;Ngh mtd; czh;r;rpfis iftpl;L mwpThPjpahf rpe;jpj;J nraw;gLthNdh mg;NghJjhd; mtdJ tpLjiynad;gJ rhj;jpag;gLk;.

,jpy; ,d;Dnkhd;iwAk; Rl;bf;fhl;lyhk;> a+vd;gp Ml;rpaikf;f $j;jikg;gpd; jaT Ntz;bapUe;jhy; $j;jikg;G jhuhskhfNt ‘mijf;’nfhLf;Fk;. [dhjpgjp uh[gf;rTf;F ‘fbthsk;’ Nghlj;jhd; ehk; a+vd;gpf;F MjuT nfhLf;fpNwhk; vd;W ,ypr;rthad; fhjpy g+r;Rw;Wthh;fs; vd;gJ jpz;zk;.

Nkw;$wpa jkpopdthj murpay;Nghf;if vjph;j;J epw;ff;$ba rf;jp jkpoh; gf;fKk; ,Uf;fpwJ Mdhy; mJ xd;Wjpul;lKbahj JHg;ghf;fpa epiyikNa ,d;Wtiu epyTfpwJ.

Gnshl; kw;Wk; …….

tpkh;rdq;fSf;F mg;ghw;gl;ljy;y

fle;j nghJj; Njh;jypy; ,th;fis xd;wpizj;J Nghl;bapl gy el;G rf;jpfs; Kaw;rpj;jd. mJ if$bapUe;jhy; Fiwe;jJ ,uz;Lf;F Nkw;gl;l ghuhSkd;w Mrdq;fisg; ngw;wpUf;f KbAk; vd;gJ gyuJ Mzpj;jukhd ek;gpf;if.

,k;KiwAk; lf;s]; Njthde;jh nghJj; Njh;jypy; jdpj;Jg;Nghl;baplj;jhd; jPh;khdpf;ff;$Lk;. xd;wpizg;gjpy; nghWikahf Kaw;rpg;Nghk;. my;yJ nghWj;jpUe;J ghh;g;Nghk;.

Gnshl; fLikahd tpkh;rdq;fis vjph;nfhz;bUf;fpwJ. jw;Nghija jiyth; jh;kypq;fk; rpj;jhj;jd; ‘vkJ iffs; fiwgbe;jJjhd; Mdhy; ,dpNkYk; mjid fiwgbahky; ghh;j;Jf;nfhs;Nthk;’ vd;W jdJ murpay; gf;Ftj;ij ntspf;fhl;bapUf;fpwhh;. Gnshl;bd; fle;jfhy fLikahd nraw;ghLfs; vy;Nyhh; kdjpYk; neUbf;nfhz;bUe;jhYk; Gnshl; fLikahd ciog;gpd; %yk; kf;fspd; kdq;fis nty;yNtz;Lk;.

‘Jwe;J’tpl;L Xbafspd; gpd;dh;

tlf;ifg;nghWj;jtiu Gnshl; kw;Wk; ‘,ye;j Ks;isj; jpUg;gpdhYk; ,th;fisj; jpUj;j KbahJ’ vd;W thshjpUf;f KbahJ. fle;j nghJj; Njh;jypy; Kaw;rpj;j rf;jpfs; kPz;LnkhUKiw ,th;fis xd;wpizg;gjw;F Kaw;rpf;f Ntz;Lk;. ,th;fis xd;wpizAkhW gytopfspYk; Kd; Kaw;rpfs; - tw;GWj;jy;fs; Nkw;nfhs;sg;glNtz;Lk;. mg;NghJjhd; $j;jikg;gpw;F rtyhd xU murpay; rf;jpia ehk; fskpwf;f KbAk;.

Pathways of dominance: 'Pathways of Dissent' edited by R.Cheran

By: Sivamohan Sumathy

On 19 May 2009, with the violent deaths of the top rung of the LTTE leadership, including that of its leader V Prabhakaran, Sri Lanka’s 30-year-old civil war came to an abrupt end. While the conclusion was a traumatic event for many in the country – not necessarily because of the destruction of the LTTE, but because of the huge loss of life and immense suffering of roughly 300,000 people, as well as the sheer scale of the breakdown of social cohesion – it also ushered in an era of possibilities, particularly in rethinking the pathways of nationalism. With these ideas in mind, this reviewer began to read Pathways of Dissent, edited by the sociologist R Cheran.

What would one expect from a volume on Tamil nationalism at this critical juncture? Having written and worked on this subject for many years, wading through the volume proved to be frustrating. The work provides no direction to any one of the burning questions that are currently posed for the academic or the activist situated at the cusp of the post-war political scenario. This is distressing, as so many are today seeking answers to questions that became so pressing in the context of the disastrous conclusion to the war. At that time, the Tamil diaspora, again paying scant attention to the lives of these people, turned out in their hundreds of thousands in the capitals of Europe and Canada to demand the release of Prabhakaran. What had gone so wrong with Tamil nationalism that it had became consonant with the actions and imperatives of LTTE and Prabhakaran? Unfortunately, although the essays of this volume were written fairly recently, they do not touch upon the destructive path that Tamil nationalism has long been taking, particularly in the new millennium.

The academic allure of the title’s use of the term dissent provides an analytical entry point into the volume and the entire project of Tamil nationalism. Dissent has a political salience that is useful and productive, particularly at this juncture of charting new directions for those who work with and within the idea of a Tamil nation. The sweeping hegemony of Jaffna-centrism dominant in the volume contradicts the idea of dissent, striking a note of dissonance from the very beginning. This bias is no accident – if all the chapters, barring one, take Jaffna as their focus, they do so not in the spirit of dissent, nor to scrutinise its dominant place in the narrative of nationalism. Rather, through academic sleight of hand, they do so to reinforce its dominance.

Dissent without resistance
Let us begin with Cheran’s introduction to the volume, which provides the framework for the subsequent chapters. Interestingly – and perhaps inevitably, given the very linear narrative of the history he charts – Cheran’s trajectory of Tamil nationalism collapses itself into the imperatives and dominance of the LTTE within the Tamil nationalist scenario, following the familiar nationalist path of recounting the ‘textbook’ version of the Sri Lankan Tamils’ history. Though certain class and caste implications of nationalism are signalled in the manner of political correctness, Cheran’s approach itself does not plug the dissonances of caste and class as a theoretical device of inquiry.

While Cheran’s introduction lays the foundation for such a reading, the chapters of the book fall neatly into a linear, historicist paradigm. Both S K Sitrampalam (a historian) and V Nithiyanandam (an economist) approach the issue from the ‘root causes’ angle, posing the question: How did Tamil nationalism emerge? Loosely reactive and focusing on the formation of the Sinhalese state, the essays by Sitrampalam and Nithiyanandam – which, respectively, look at the historical and archaeological, and the economic angles of the rise of the so-called Tamil nation – chart little that would speak to the varying forces that sit uneasily within that ‘nation’. Nithiyanandam attempts to trace the historical formation of the economy of the Jaffna as a separate socio-political entity; he gives little sense of the political economy of the entire region as a historical force that nourished and pushed the emergence of Tamil nationalism in multiple ways. Once again, it is a Jaffna-centric approach that prevails.

On the political front, the chapters on militancy are disappointing. Ravi Vaitheespara’s “Towards Understanding Militant Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka” is contradictory and strangely un-analytical. Its attack on the activist-scholar authors of the seminal The Broken Palmyra (1989) and the widely respected University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), the UTHR (J), is partisan, disguising its nationalist rhetoric in a thinly veiled populist brand of leftwing discourse.

Sidharthan Maunaguru’s essay, “Brides as Bridges?”, is anthropological and focuses on evolving generational patterns in trans-nationality. It is, once again, passive on the political front. While it provides some insight into movements of people that go beyond the boundaries of territoriality, what the writer envisions as its impact on the construct of the Tamil ‘nation’ remains unclear. Similarly, Rajesh Venugopal’s chapter on the neo-liberal economy brings up certain interesting questions regarding the anxieties of statist nationalism, the structural framework of the LTTE during the peace process of 2002-06. However, it stops short of pushing this analysis through to its logical conclusion, the unviability of the nation state as envisioned by the LTTE and separatist Tamil nationalists.

Daniel Bass’s essay on the Malaiyaha (Up-country Tamil) community is perhaps the only chapter that strikes a discordant chord in this volume, questioning the idea of the ‘monolith’ of the Tamil nation in its entirety. While one could not call it dissenting in the way suggested earlier, his chapter on the marginalised Tamil community of plantation workers does depart from Jaffna-centrism in a critical fashion. Academically speaking, Bass moves from tracing the genealogy of nation-making through the act of enumeration as initiated by the colonial government (his contribution is titled “Making Sense of the Census”), to broader more contemporary notions of citizenship and belonging to Sri Lanka. The essay does not directly allude to the project of nationalism until the very end, when he concludes with “the rise of a distinct up-country Tamil ethnic identity has ... undermined the supposedly pan-Tamil appeal of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism, while providing a counterpoint to dominant discourses of Tamil identity.”

The chapters on literature and art raise interesting issues but are ultimately disappointing. Chelva Kanaganayakam’s chapter on the literatures of the nation is selective and, both wittingly and unwittingly, makes a case for homogeneity. On the contrary, T Shanaathanan’s “Painting the Artist’s Self” reveals an engaged reading of the emergence of the artist as Tamil. His historiography of the artist is interesting, but when it comes to Shanaathanan’s theoretically marked commentary, one is let down. For example, the “fragment and the collage” that Shanaathanan says had come to dominate the Sri Lankan scene during the 1990s is understood in purely formal terms. He repeats clichés such as “In post-traditional societies individualization of the artist is also associated with commercialization and commodification of art work. In post-colonial societies it also directly or indirectly is connected with emerging nationalist sentiments.” Of course, one could ignore this as marginalia and look for something more substantial and theoretically sustained in the crux of his essay. But one is left with a sense of dissatisfaction, feeling engulfed by the overarching inevitability of the nationalist discourse in any narrative of the Tamil.

Nimanthi Rajasingam and Radhika Coomarasamy’s chapter, “Being Tamil in a Different Way”, looks at the ramifications of gender in colonial and postcolonial times and, importantly, during militancy. While it is historical and largely a literature survey, it is perhaps the only chapter in this volume that talks about dissent as resistance within the Tamil community. While one might have asked for a greater intimacy with the material and a more engaged positioning, this chapter undoubtedly represents an inquiry into dominance and dissent through the subversive category of gender, which is lacking in the rest of the volume.

Invisible Muslims
In addition to caste, which is dealt with only cursorily and tellingly suppressed, one of the central absences of the volume is any work on Sri Lanka’s Muslim community. A glaring omission, this is also an admission of the overarching politics of dominance of the volume. Why are the Muslims so important? Politically, Muslims posed a challenge to the hegemony of Tamil nationalism, both from within and without. Laying claim to the north and east as their homeland, the Muslim polities provided an alternative reading of Tamil nationalism and its framings that could have been productively exploited by those who worked on Pathways of Dissent. Indeed, the resounding silence on Muslims has an intricate connection with the Jaffna-centrism of the volume as a whole. Its nationalistic platform, which refuses to take even the east as a full-fledged category for inquiry, is an additional aspect of this.

The east, after all, provides a counterpoint to the domination of the Tamil nationalism. More multiethnic than Jaffna in the conventional sense, a serious engagement with the happenings in the east could have opened up illuminating faultlines. Tamil nationalism in the east has had a chequered career, and has posed great challenges to the myth of the cohesiveness of the nation. In deciding to focus almost exclusively on the north, particularly Jaffna, this work was able to conveniently sidestep the complexities informing the fraught unity of the nation and the challenges of the Muslim polity, including the mass eviction of upwards of 85,000 Muslims from the north, in 1990 (See accompanying article, “Ignoring two decades”). It is interesting that Kanaganayakam omits prominent Muslim literary figures in his piece on literature, including several writers who have brought in an inquiring note to the literary quest of nation-(un)making.

All in all, the title Pathways of Dissent is both politically hegemonic and academically wanting, as the volume does not in any way touch upon the critical tools afforded by dissent. Another work is clearly needed in order to bring that critical thrust into the analysis of Tamil nationalism.

Sivamohan Sumathy teaches literature, critical theory, theatre and film theory at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Her works include Thin Veils, like myth and mother, Piralayam and Oranges.

Courtesy: http://www.himalmag.com

Post election notes

By

Samanmalee Unanthenna

University of Colombo / University of Heidelberg

“Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest-forces that look like sheer insanity, if judged by the standards of other centuries. It is as though mankind had divided itself between those who believe in human omnipotence (who think that everything is possible if one knows how to organise masses for it) and those for whom powerlessness has become the major experience of their lives”

Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism

As the dust is settling after what was a vicious Presidential campaign the rumour mill is working at its hardest and also analyses of various shades are being presented. The mood is odd: triumphant yet revengeful on one side; shock, disbelief and defiance on the other.

But what of us? What about those of us who spoke out to stem the erosion of democracy and the emerging totalitarian characteristics of the MR regime? Is it all over for us? Do we give up the fight now? Do we go back to pursuing our individual ambitions and goals, shed any pretence of trying to work for change and allow cynicism to take over? I must say there was a moment on the 27^th of January, when I felt hopeless; when I questioned the point of fighting what seemed to be insurmountable odds; when it seemed as if we had lost our last chance to fight for a small space.

But now I think, this is perhaps a moment when losing hope or giving up means surrendering not just our lives but our souls to the workings of a totalitarian regime. When what we MUST believe that what we do and discuss in our homes, at work may transform what may happen not at the next election but what happens in hopefully 6 (but more realistically 8) years. If there is one lesson we should take from this Presidential campaign is that there are no short cuts; that restoring democracy, law and order and decency cannot happen in 2 months. That we are in this for the long haul.

One thing we need to remember in analysing the election results is the corruption of the MR campaign. While there have been positive and useful analyses of the election results there have also been some uninformed sweeping statements being made regarding the causes for SF to lose. This type of superficial analysis in my mind is not just misleading but dangerous in that it obfuscates what really happened and the real villainy. Let us be clear on one point at least: this has been the most corrupt election campaign ever in Sri Lanka for several reasons which I pointed out in my previous article as well. That is what lead to SF losing and nothing else. It is worthwhile to reiterate the many reasons why I describe this election as corrupt:

1. The shameless disregarding of the Supreme Court judgement directing the state media and the removal of the Competent Authority the Commissioner appointed to ensure unbiased reporting of state media since he was unable to do his job.

2. The state media completely violating election laws and continuing to promote MR after the 23^rd of Jan when all campaigning had to stop.

3. Ignoring the request by the Commissioner to not to use state officials, public resources and funds for the election campaign.

4. The role of the state media not only in restricting the opposition’s access but in deliberately and systematically broadcasting programmes that spread propaganda for the MR campaign while attacking SF and his campaign. No calculation has been made as to this impact of this in influencing the electorate.

5. The use of the police and armed forces for the MR campaign leading to the extremely dangerous politicisation of the armed forces for the first time in Sri Lankan history.

6. Increasing public officials salaries during the campaign, entertaining them at Temple Trees, launching ‘development’ projects etc: in short, bribing the public

7. The state media casting doubts as to the validity of SF’s candidature due to his failure to vote on the afternoon of election day. This was constantly broadcast over the media during the afternoon and clarifications from the former Chief Justice and the Elections Commissioner rejecting this insinuation were not broadcast on state media. Again, we do not know what impact this had on the final result.

Conclusions regarding the freeness and the fairness of the election have to take into consideration all these factors and not just what happened on the election day. The judgement of election observers, so called political analysts, the media and even political leaders that this was a ‘free and fair’ election needs to be therefore seriously questioned.

The extremely serious question that is before us all now is whether it is possible at all to have a free and fair election under these circumstances. Judging from the behaviour of the MR regime, all indications are that they are in no mood to relent, and that what we can expect is a hardening of attitudes driven by confidence that they can get away with blatant acts of corruption, intimidation and disregard for the laws of the country. The machine is well oiled, practiced and ready to roll on. This means that the ability of Sri Lanka to hitherto effect changes of government through the electoral process has been seriously compromised. This is the most dangerous situation we can find ourselves in.

So what do we do? If there is any sense of responsibility among us, then it is clear that generating a public demand for things such as the implementation of the 17^th Amendment, formulation of the Right to Information Act, independence and accountability from the judiciary and public service has to be our rallying point. We have to demand these things in different and diverse ways. And this is not going to happen before the general election. This requires working relentlessly for the next several years. It requires public agitation and creating a groundswell of support for these causes.

How do we do this one may ask. Well, each one of us will have to come up with creative ways to engage in these issues. Keeping in mind that all such initiatives will be monitored, suppressed and that the mainstream media will not be functioning independently we will have to think of alternative forms of communication. And when we do that, do not forget that the majority of citizens will not have access to the internet. Yes, it may seem impossible right now. But I ask you, what alternative do we have? Yes, we can choose to give up- but that means that the totalitarian project has won. But never let us forget in the words of Hannah Arendt that “Totalitarian domination, like tyranny, bears the germs of its own destruction” (Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism, 1968:478). Nurturing and setting free those germs of destruction in whatever way we can is our task for the next several years.

Thank you to all of those who have written back to me and I apologise for not responding to you individually. Your encouragement I appreciate very much and your criticisms I take with good grace. We may never meet face to face, but we can give each other strength through these challenging and difficult times. Above all, we owe it to ourselves not to give up or give in.

30^th January 2010

nghd;dhd khh;f;fj;Jf;fhfTk; khw;W Clfj;jpd; Njitf;fhfTk;……..!

- rjh. [P.

‘nfhhbath;fs; ,iof;Fk; jPq;FfspYk; ghh;f;f> mtw;iw ey;y kdpjh;fs; vd;Nghh; mjph;r;rpa+l;Lkstpw;F nksdkha; rfpj;Jf;nfhz;bUg;gJ gw;wpNa ehk; ,e;jj; jiyKiwapy; tUe;jKwNtz;Lk;’ – khh;bd; Y}jh; fpq;.

[dhjpgjp kfpe;j uh[gf;\ mNkhfntw;wp ngw;wpUf;fpwhh;. ,ij M&lk; $wpaJ khw;W ,izaj;jsq;fSk; mNjNghy rpy khw;W rpq;fs Clfq;fSk;jhd;. ngUk;ghd;ikahd jkpo; Clfq;fSk; mNjNghy rpq;fs Clfq;fSk; tpUg;G ntWg;GfSf;F mg;ghy; nraw;gl kWj;jpUe;jd.

‘mwpahj Fjpiuiatpl mwpe;j foij Nky;’ vd;gij rpy nkj;jg; gbj;jth;fs; mwpe;jpUe;jpUe;Jk;; ‘Coy;’ murhq;fj;ij mfw;wNtz;Lk; vd;W fq;fzk; fl;bf;nfhz;bUe;jhh;fs;. vy;yhtw;Wf;Fk; Nkyhf [dhjpgjp kfpe;jTf;F vjpuhd gpujhd Nghl;bahsh;fs; Nkw;Fyfpd; nry;yg;gps;isfs; vd;gijAk; ed;whfNt mwpe;jpUe;jhh;fs;. ,Ue;jhYk; ,th;fspd; Kaw;rp Raeyj;Jf;fhdjhfNt mike;jpUe;jJ.

‘,d;iwa kdpjd; Raeyj;jpd; iffspy; xU nghk;kyhl;lg; gJikahf khwpg; NghapUf;fpwhd;. vijf; NfhhpdhYk; mJ jdJ Raeyj;Jf;fhfNt vd kdpjd; tho;fpwhd;’ vd;gJ $j;jikg;gpd; gpujhd ghLnghUshfNt ,d;Wtiu jpfo;fpwJ.

th;f;fk; th;f;fj;NjhL NrUk; vd;gjw;fpzq;f ele;JKbe;j Njh;jypy; ruj;nghd;Nrfhit $j;jikg;G Mjhpj;jJ. ,J ntWk; ‘mtUld; (ruj;nghd;Nrfh) elj;jpa Ngr;Rthh;j;ijapy; Vw;gl;l jpUg;jp’ay;y. ruj;jug;G toq;fpa ed;nfhilfSf;fhfTk; toq;fg;gltpUe;j nfhilfSf;fhfTk;jhd;.

,Nj ed;nfhilia kfpe;j jug;Gk; toq;Fk; vd;gJ xd;Wk; nghpa tplaky;y. Mdhy; mJ tho;ehs; ed;nfhilahf ,Uf;fhJ. Mdhy; ruj;jug;gpdhy; toq;fg;gltpUe;j ed;nfhil mjhtJ gjtpapy; ruj; ,Uf;Fk; tiu mDgtpf;ff;$baJ. vJ vg;gbNah gpyhf;nfhl;il eOtp neUg;Gf;Fs;s tpOe;j fijahfptpl;lJ.

Mdhy; ‘Fuq;Fk; g+idAk; gpyhf;nfhl;il Rl;l’ fijahf $j;jikg;G tutpUf;Fk; ghuhSkd;wj; Njh;jypy; jkpo; kf;fspd; iffisr; Rl;Lnfhz;L gpyhf;nfhl;ilia vLj;Jr; Ritf;fj;jhd; Nghfpwhh;fs;. ,ijape;j khw;W jkpo; murpay; nfhk;gh;fshy; jLj;JepWj;jptpl KbahJ.

‘grpj;jpUg;gtDf;F kPidf; nfhLg;gjpYk; ghh;f;f kPidg; gpbf;f fw;Wf;nfhLg;gJ kpfr; rpwe;jJ’ vd;gJ [g;ghdpa gonkhop. vdNt ciog;gjw;Fk; czit ngw;Wf;nfhs;tjw;Fk; topnrhy;yNtz;Lk;. Mdhy; $j;jikg;G mtdplk; nrd;W cdf;F jd;khdk; ,Uf;Fjh? ekf;F Njit Rje;jpuk;> ek;ik ehNk Ml;rpnra;Ak; mjpfhuk; mJ ,J vd;W nrhy;yp Vw;fdNt gyehs; gl;bdpfple;jtid rhfbg;gNj $j;jikg;gpd; gzp. ,jw;F Gyd; ngah;e;j tprpybr;rhd; FQ;RfSk; ngUk;ghyhd jkpo; Clfq;fSk; gf;fgykhf ,Ue;jpUf;fpd;wd. ,dpAk; mJ njhlUk;.

ele;JKbe;j ghuhSkd;wj; Njh;jypy; jkpo; kf;fs; ahiu Mjhpf;fNtz;Lk; vd;gij Jzpe;J nrhy;yp mjw;fhd rg;Gf;fl;Lf;fis jkpo; kf;fs; jiyfspy; fl;Ltjw;F $j;jikg;gpdhy; kl;LNk Kbe;jpUf;fpwJ. mNjNghy ,e;j E}w;whz;bYk; cyfpd; NtW ve;j r%fj;jpYk; Ntfhj ‘gUg;G’ jkpo; r%fj;jpy; kl;LNk NtfpapUf;fpwJ vd;gij ehk; kWg;gjw;fpy;iy. kwg;gjw;Fk; ,y;iy.

‘Njrpathjk; vd;gJ KO kf;fisAk; FWfpa Kd;Djhuzq;fSf;fhfg; gapw;Wtpg;gjhFk;. Njrpathjj;jhy; kf;fspd; kdk; ftug;gl;lhy;> khdplg; gz;Gfspd; rPuopitAk; mwpTkl;lj;jpy; FUl;Lj; jd;ikiaAk; Nehf;fp mth;fs; js;sg;gLthh;fs;. vJtpjj; jilAkpd;wp ,dthjk; tsh;r;rpAw;why; kdpj ehfhpfj;jpd; ew;gz;Gfspd; mbg;gil vk;ik mwpahkNyNa khw;wkilAk;. r%f cWg;gpddhd kdpjdpd; Kd;Djhuzk; Raeykw;w nghJey Nehf;NfahFk;. Mdhy; Njrpa thjj;jpd; Fwpf;Nfhs; xU th;f;fj;jpd; Fwpf;Nfhisg;Nghd;Nw Raeyk; nfhz;ljhFk;’ vd nrd;w E}w;whz;by; tho;e;j kfhftp utPe;jpuehj; jh$h; $wpdhh;. ,e;j E}w;whz;bYk; ,e;jg; Ghpjy; rpy kukz;ilfSf;Fg; gpbgltpy;iy vd;gij vd;dntd;W nrhy;tJ?

kWGwj;Nj khw;W murpay; jiyikfspd; Ke;jpr; nry;tjw;fhd Xl;lk;. $l tUgth;fspd; $l tuf;$bath;fspd; ,Uj;jiy cije;Jjs;spa Xl;lk;. ,th;fSila mh;g;gzpg;Gk; nraw;ghLk; tuyhw;wpy; Fwpg;gplf;$bajhf ,Ue;Jk; mJ gjpag;gLtjw;fhd ve;j mwpFwpAk; njd;gltpy;iy. fl;rpiaf; fl;bf;fhg;gjpYk; tsh;j;njLg;gjpYk; ,th;fs;fhl;Lk; Kk;kuk; kf;fis gFj;jwpthsh;fshfthtJ tsh;j;njLg;gjpy; jtwptpl;ld.

mNjNghy khw;W murpay; rf;jpfSk; Kw;Nghf;F rf;jpfSf;Fk; kf;fis murpay; kag;gLj;Jtjw;fhd re;jh;g;gk; fdpe;jpUf;fpwJ. epj;jk; epj;jk; nfhiyfs; tpOe;j g+kpapy; ,d;W ed;tpij tpijf;fg;glNtz;bapUf;fpwJ. MdhYk; ,jw;fhd jahh;g;gLj;jy;fs; vJTk; eilngWtjhf mwpaKbatpy;iy. ,J kPz;Lk; Njrpaj;ij nfhz;lhLgth;fs; ‘,J Kw;Nghf;F Njrpak;’ vd;W nfhl;lkbg;gjw;F toprikj;JtpLk;. ,J kPz;Lk; khdplg; gz;Gfspd; rPuopitAk;> mwpTkl;lj;jpy; FUl;Lj; jd;ikiaAk; Nehf;fp kf;fis topelj;jpr; nry;Yk;. ,jw;fhd Maj;j epiyfspNyNa ,d;Wk; ‘Kw;Nghf;fhzth;fs;’ vd;W fhl;bf;nfhs;Sk; rpyh; vd;[pXf;fspd; JizAld; fhj;jpUf;fpd;wdh;.

vkJ njhpT ,yl;rj;jpd; njhpTfsy;y. ,yl;rpaj;jpd; njhpT. (thpj;Jf;nfhz;l nfhs;iff;fhf ehk; ,oe;jJ caph;fSk; clikfSk; kl;Lk;jhdh?) mJ xt;nthUthpd; nfhs;if Nfhl;ghLfSld; nghUe;jpg;Nghff;$bajy;y. rpy NtWghLfs; rpy Vw;wj;jho;Tfs; ,Uf;fj;jhd; nra;Ak;. Mdhy; xNu Neh;Nfhl;Lf;F tuf;$bath;fs;. xUtiu xUth; mutizj;J kf;fis Kd;Nehf;fpj; js;sf;$bath;fs;. Kd;ndhU fhyj;jpy; kf;fis murpay; kag;gLj;j Ntz;Lk; vd;W Jbj;jth;fs;jhNd? ,d;W Vd; MSf;nfhU jpirapy; gazpf;fpd;wdh;? xUNtis murpaiy jdJ [PtNdhghakhf (Professional) nfhs;tjpdhNyh vd;dNth?;

‘kdpjDila kjpg;gpl Kbahj ,dpa clikfspy; rpwe;jJ mtdJ tho;thFk;. mtd; xU jlitjhd; tho KbAk;. fhyk; KotijAk; Fwpf;Nfhs; ,y;yhky; ghohfptpl;NlNd vd;w Jauk; tijg;gjw;F ,lkspf;fhj tifapy; mtd; rPuhf thoNtz;Lk;. mw;gdhf tho;e;J ,opT NjbNdd; vd;w mtkhd czh;r;rp cs;sj;ij vhpg;gjw;F ,lk; nfhLf;fhj tifapy; mtd; Neuhf thoNtz;Lk;. cyfj;jpd; jiyrpwe;j ,yl;rpaj;Jf;fhf – kdpj Fyj;jpd; tpLjiyg; Nghuhl;lk; xd;wpd; nghd;dhd khh;f;fj;Jf;fhf ehd; vd; tho;T KOtijAk; mh;g;gzpj;Njd; vd;W ,wf;Fk; nghOJ chpik NfhUk; tifapy; mtd; tho Ntz;Lk;. jpBh; NehNah – Nrhftpgj;Njh tho;Tf;F ntbitf;ff;$Lkhjyhy; kdpjd; jd; tho;tpd; xt;nthU fzg;nghOijAk; ed;F gad;gLj;jpf;nfhs;s Ntz;Lk;’ – M];j;Nuht;];fp.

khdplg; gz;Gfspd; rPuopitj; jLf;fTk;> mwpT kl;lj;jpy; FUl;Lj; jd;ikia ePf;fTk; ekf;F Clfk; Njit. mJ fl;rp rhh;e;jjhfNth jdpegh; rhh;e;jjhfNth ,y;yhky; ehkidtiuAk; rhh;e;jjhf Clfj;jpd; Njit mtrpakhfpwJ. nra;jpfis nra;jpfshfTk; gFj;jwpTs;s Mf;fq;fisAk; kf;fs; kj;jpapy; nfhz;L nry;tjw;F ek;kplk; ve;j njhlh;GrhjdKk; ,y;iy.

Vnddpy; mz;ikapy; ele;JKbe;j Njh;jy; gpur;rhuj;jpy; ngUk;ghyhd jkpo; Clfq;fs; ‘Raey’j;ij J}f;fpg;gpbj;j $j;jikg;ig ‘Njrpak;’ vd;w Nfhjhtpy; J}f;fpg;gpbj;jd. mJNt tlfpof;Fg; gFjpfspYs;s Ff;fpukq;fs;tiu nrd;wile;jd.

‘RLJ kbiag;gpb’ vd;gJNghy jpBnud gj;jphpifiaNah thndhypiaNah my;yJ njhiyf;fhl;rpiaNah njhlq;fp mLj;J eilngWk; nghJj; Njh;jYf;Fs; kf;fis XNu mzpapd; fPo; nfhz;Lte;Jtpl Ntz;Lk; vd;why; mJ Kbahj fhhpak;. mJ vjph;tpidiaNa Vw;gLj;Jk;. vdNt njhiyNehf;Fk;> ePz;l gazKk;> Nehpaghh;itAk; nfhz;L ehk; nraw;gLNthkhapd; me;j nghd;dhd khh;f;fj;ij ehk; milaKbAk;.

eilngwtpUf;Fk; ehlhSkd;wj; Njh;jypy; $j;jikg;G %d;wpy; ,uz;L ngUk;ghz;ikiag; ngw;Wf;nfhs;sj;jhd; NghfpwJ. ghuhSkd;wk; nrd;W vkJ vjph;g;igAk; ekJ chpikiaAk; gw;wpg; NgRNthk;> NghuhLNthk; vd;W fijasg;ghh;fs;. ,J fijay;y ep[k; vd;W ngUk;ghyhd jkpo; Clfq;fs; Cjj;jhd; Nghfpd;wd. ,th;fs; tapW fpopaf; fj;Jtnjy;yhk; ntWk; ‘fw;gpjk;’ vd;w GhpjNy ,y;yhky; jkpo; kf;fSk; thf;Ffis ms;spf;nfhLf;fj;jhd; Nghfpd;whh;fs;.

jw;Nghija ehlhSkd;w rghehafh; nyhf;Fgz;lhuhit md;W rghehafuhf;Ftjw;F $j;jikg;gpd; 22 cWg;gpdh;fSk; cWJizahf ,Ue;jhh;fs;. ,J njhlh;ghf Gul;rp ‘tz;b’f;fhud; RNu]; gpNukr;re;jpudplk; “,lJrhhpahd b. FzNrfuhittpl;Ltpl;L ,dthjpahd nyhf;Fgz;lhit Vd; Mjhpf;fpwPh;fs;?” vd;W Nfl;ljw;F> “murhq;fj;Jf;F fbthsk; Nghlj;jhd;” vd;whh;. Mdhy; murhq;fk; jq;Fjilapd;wp $j;jikg;G Fwpg;gpLfpd;w jkpoh;fSf;nfjpuhd rl;l%yq;fs; cl;gl rfy rl;l%yq;fisAk; epiwNtw;wpNa ,Jtiu te;jpUf;fpwJ. (,Njegh; jhd; jd;kfspd; kUj;Jt gbg;Gf;fhf ,e;jpahtpd; Kd;dhs; kj;jpa Rfhjhu mikr;rh; md;Gkzpapd; miog;G kzpia mbj;jhh;)

,Njegh;fs;jhd; tlfpof;fpYs;s xU jkpo; Fbkfd; mikr;rh; lf;fpsirNah fUzhitNah mZfp murhq;f Ntiynahd;iw ngw;Wtplf;$lhJ. ‘,J kdq;nfl;l gpiog;G. cdf;Fj; Njit Re;jpuk;> Ranfsutk; ,d;dgpw’ vd;W vhpatpl;L Fsph;fha;thh;fs;.

Kd;dhs; [dhjpgjp re;jphpfh Kd;itj;j ,dg;gpur;rpidf;fhd ‘jPh;Tg; nghjp’ia ,dthj murpay; fl;rpfshd I.Nj.fl;rp> N[.tp.gp> rpq;fs cWka Mfpatw;Wld; Neh;Nfhl;by; epd;W vjph;jJ vd;gJ tuyhW. mt;thW nra;Jk; mNj %Q;rpAld; jkpo; kf;fsplk; thf;Ff; Nfl;L ghuhSkd;wk; njhpthfpapUf;fpwhh;fs;. kdr;rhl;rpAs;s xU rhjhuz kdpjd;$l md;W nra;jJ jtW vd;whtJ xj;Jf;nfhs;thd;. Mdhy; ,th;fs;? mt;thwhd xU nghd;dhd re;jh;g;gj;ijNa ehj;jpabj;jth;fSf;F ,dptug;NghFk; tha;g;Gf;fis gpwq;fhyhy; cije;Jtpl;L tpsf;fk; nrhy;tnjy;yhk; ‘rg;g Nkl;lh;’

,d;iwa #o;epiyapy; rpq;fs kf;fSf;F kl;Lky;y jkpo; K];yPk; kf;fSf;Fk; ek;gpf;iff;Fhpa ehafd; [dhjpgjp kfpe;j uh[gf;\jhd;. ‘[dhjpgjpj; Njh;jypy; tlf;F> fpof;F khfhzq;fspy; jkpo; kf;fs; ve;j Ntl;ghsUf;F $Ljyhd Mjuit mspj;jhh;fs; vd;gJ gpur;rpiday;y. Rkhh; 30 tUl fhy cs;ehl;L Nghhpd; KbTf;fg; gpwF Njhd;wpapUf;Fk; #o;epiyapy; [dehaf nrad;Kiwfspy; gq;Nfw;gjpy; Mh;tk; fhl;bapUf;fpd;wik vkf;F ngUk; cw;rhfk; jUtjhf mike;jpUf;fpwJ. mJTk; njd;dpyq;ifapd; murpay; fl;rpfspdhy; [dhjpgjp Ntl;ghsh;fshf epWj;jg;gl;lth;fSf;F me;j khfhzq;fspy; jkpo; kf;fs; thf;fspg;gjpy; mf;fiw fhl;bapUg;gJ kpfTk; ftdpf;fj;jf;fJ’ vd;W $Wk; [dhjpgjp kfpe;j uh[gf;rtpd; jiyikj;Jtg; gz;ig ghuhl;bNa MfNtz;Lk;.

‘jtpl;ilj; Njbg;Nghf rk;gh mhprpia eha; nfhz;LNghd fijahf ,Ue;j mw;g Rje;jpuKk; gwpNgha;tpLNkh?’ ,e;j $j;jikg;G $l;lq;fshy; vd;gNj vk;Ks;s kpfg;ngUk; rthy;.

‘xd;Nw Fyk; xUtNd Njtdy;y midtUk; Njt’ndd;W xNu Filapd; fPo; khw;W murpay; jiyikfSk; Kw;Nghf;F murpay; rf;jpfSk; xd;wpize;J> Kd;ndhU fhyj;jpy; tlfpof;fpy; epytpa ,lJrhhp murpay; rf;jpfspd; vOr;rpia kPz;Lk; Jsph;tpl xd;wpize;J ciof;Fk; fhykpJ.

யுத்தத்தை வைத்துப் பிழைப்பு நடத்தியவர்கள் படம் காட்டி பிழைக்க முயற்சி!

சதா. ஜீ.

தமிழ் மக்கள் மீண்டும் ஒரு வரலாற்றுத் தவறை இழைத்துவிடக்கூடாது என்று கூத்தமைப்பின் தலைவர் கூறியிருக்கிறார். அஃதானப்பட்டது தமிழ் மக்கள் ஜனரல் சரத்பொன்சேகாவுக்கு வாக்களிக்க வேண்டும் என்பதே அவருடைய வேண்டுகோள். வேலில போற ஓணானை பிடிச்சு சரத்துக்க கட்டின மாதிரியான ஒரு நிலையை தமிழ் மக்கள் ஏற்படுத்திக் கொள்ளப்போகிறார்களா? என்பது 27ம் திகதி அதிகாலை தெரிந்துவிடும்.

இந்த அவதியுறும் நிலைக்கு தமிழர்களையும் தள்ளிவிடுவதில் கூத்தமைப்பு மட்டும் ஈடுபட்டிருக்கவில்லை. செய்திகளை தருவதாகக் கூறிக்கொள்ளும் ஊடகங்களும் குறிப்பாக தமிழ் ஊடகங்களும் வரிந்துகட்டிக்கொண்டு நிற்கின்றன. இவை தருகின்ற செய்திகளின் தன்மையை வைத்துக்கொண்டு இந்த முடிவுக்கு வரமுடியும். பத்து செய்திகளில் ஜெனரல் பொன்சேகாவின் செய்தி எட்டு என்றால் மிகுதி இரண்டுதான் ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்தவின் செய்தியாக இருக்கும்.

அதுவும் ஜெனரல் பொன்சேகாவின் வாக்குறுதிகள்தான் பிரதான செய்தியாகின்றன. ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த பக்கத்து செய்தி என்பது தேர்தல் வன்முறையை பிரதானப்படுத்தியதாக இருக்கும்.

இதில் வேடிக்கை என்னவென்றால்: தமிழர்களைப் பொறுத்தவரை ஜெனரல் பொன்சேகா வழங்கிவரும் வாக்குறுதிகள் வாயுறவைப்பவை. இவற்றில் மிகப் பிரதானமானவற்றை ஜனாதிபதி மகிந்த தலைமையிலான அரசாங்கம் நிறைவேற்றிவருகின்றது.

உதாரணமாக வடபகுதியிலுள்ள உயர் பாதுகாப்பு வலையங்களுக்குள் மக்களை குடியமர அனுமதித்தது. மீன்பிடி தடை நீக்கப்பட்டது. யாழ்ப்பாணம் - கொழும்பு நெடுஞ்சாலை திறந்துவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. மிகப் பிரதானமாக சரணடைந்த புலி உறுப்பினார்களில் பலர் புனர்வாழ்வு அளிக்கப்பட்டு மீண்டும் பெற்றோரிடம் ஒப்படைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கின்றார்கள்.
சிங்கள, முஸ்லீம் மற்றும் தமிழ் மக்கள் இயல்பு வாழ்வுக்குத் திரும்பிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.

ஆனால் கூத்தமைப்பு வகையறாக்களும் அதன் ஊதுகுழல்களும் இதை விரும்பவில்லை. யுத்தத்தை வைத்துப் பிழைப்பு நடத்திவந்தவர்கள், இப்போது 'படம்' காட்டி பிழைப்பு நடத்துவதற்கு துடிக்கிறார்கள். இயல்பான வாழ்நிலைக்கு மக்கள் திரும்பிவிட்டால் இவர்களுடைய 'பருப்பு' வேகாது, எனவே 'அவருடன் (ஜெனரல்) கதைத்தில் எங்களுக்கு திருப்தி ஏற்பட்டிருக்கிறது. அவர் வந்தால் அப்படிச் செய்வார், இப்படிச் செய்வார்' (ஈரடி இயல்பல்ல இந்த வாக்கியம்!) என்று கதையளந்துகொண்டிருக்கிறது. இவர்களுக்கு திரைமறைவில் படியளந்ததினால்தான் ஜெனரலுக்கு ஆதாரவாக வெளிக்கிட்டிருக்கிறார்கள். இவற்றையெல்லாம் இந்த தமிழ் ஊது குழல்கள் கண்டுகொள்ளாது!

'இயல்பு' என்பது இவர்களுக்கு ஜென்மத்துப் பகை. மக்களை இயல்பான நிலையில் வாழவிட்டால் பிழைப்பில மண்ணள்ளிப்போடுவதற்கு சமன். புலிகளும் அதனையே முள்ளிவாய்க்கால்வரை தொடர்ந்தார்கள். தொட்டகுறை விட்டகுறையை கூத்தமைப்பு தலைமைதாங்கி முன்செல்ல பெரும்பாலான தமிழ் ஊதுகுழல்கள் சங்கூதியபடியே பின்செல்கின்றது.

எனவே மக்கள் வரலாற்றை தவறவிடக்கூடாது. சரியான முடிவை பிழையான நேரத்திலும் பிழையான முடிவை சரியான நேரத்திலும் எடுத்து வருந்துவதிலும் பார்க்க சரியான முடிவை சரியான நேரத்தில் எடுத்தால்தான் நேர்மையான திசைவழி பயணிக்க முடியும்.

சாத்தியமே
வாழ்வதற்கு
பொருள் வேண்டும்
ஆனால்........
வாழ்வதிலும்
பொருள் வேண்டாமா?

தீய
குறிக்கோள்கள் எல்லாம்
கொள்கைகளாகிவிடாது
ஜனனமும்
மரணமும்
ஒரு முறை தான்
சோதனைகளே
கேள்விக்குறியாகி.......

வாழ்க்கையாகி
விட்டாலும் - நீங்கள்
முயற்சித்தால்
சாதனையும்
சாத்தியமே.......

(தொகுப்பு:- மங்களம்)

எனவே தமிழ் மக்கள் தமக்குக் சொல்லப்படும் செய்திகளைவிட சொல்லப்படாத செய்திகளை, நாட்டு நடப்புக்களையும் அறிந்துகொண்டு சாதனையை சாத்தியமாக்க வேண்டும்.

There is a minority question with multiple configurations that plagues our existence in every way

by Sumathy Sivamohan

Recently, I was stopped at this checkpoint just outside Colombo. It was about 8 pm and I was in a three wheeler. Perusing my identity document, the security person queried in Sinhala: ‘Are you Tamil?’ Taken aback by this query, I paused a little before saying ‘yes.’

But what I actually wanted to say was ‘Hasn’t the President said there are no Tamils, Muslims or Sinhalese? That everybody is one?’ Yet, going against the President’s pronouncement, I said, ‘yes’. This is one of my check point stories. Many of us have a bag full of them.

What does this nondescript story reveal to us? It is telling in its very ordinariness. It is uncannily revealing of a predicament for many of us as we enter the new year and face a decisive election. Check points may come and go. High Security Zones may disappear tomorrow.

We welcome all this. But the question that I pose today is not just about checkpoints that are visibly there, but is about the check points that dot our path of struggle for a clear sense of belonging to this country.

Election Fevers: commissions and omissions

While the elections climax to a feverish pitch of frenzied activity with promises and counter promises, a question that we are confronted with again and again, in all its multiple configurations, is: Is there a minority question in the country?

For the security personnel, yes. If we observe and carefully follow the concerns and demands made by various political alliances of minority groups, the question seems ever present. If one consulted and worked with minority communities, one would see a more nuanced and yet forthright response to this in the affirmative. All in all, for many of us, who identify with the Muslims and Tamils of the country and with other marginal(ized) communities, there is a minority question that plagues our existence in every way.

Over the long 30 years of war and the even longer years of the ethnic conflict which has permeated and dominated the political scene in Sri Lanka, any attempt to address the politics and the political of the minorities has been stymied by the thorny issue of centralized control. Centralized control manifests in constitutional terms in both the executive presidency and the unitary structure. But the issue is fundamentally more complex than one of merely addressing and reforming the state at the top.

One has to look at the political dynamism of the last 30 years as well in this scenario. On the one hand, the state has entrenched itself as a unitary structure and is unwilling to move from that position, though the promise of the abolition of the Executive Presidency does raise people’s hopes. On the other hand, and in the tragic irony that accompanies all contestations, people’s lives, particularly those of the north and east, have been thrown completely out of joint in the intervening years of the conflict. People have lost control of the centre. The anger and clamour for change all round, in the north, east, south and west, speak of this urgency.

Here, I speak both concretely and metaphorically. While people on the whole feel more and more alienated from the centre, despite the increasing number of politicians and multiple elections that run all year round like super star contests, actual power is steeped in and entrenched in the centre and has become even more centralized in the hands of a few. The rise of the Rajapaksa family is only one manifestation of this.

One wonders why the Rajapaksa regime did not press forward with a political solution to the conflict, following on its triumph in the battlefield. It was hugely popular in the immediate aftermath of the war, but lacked both the courage and the political vision necessary for such a step. Intent on preserving its own control on the state, the regime made a calculated mistake. Their action of disregarding the concerns of the minorities, particularly with regard to the IDP situation, served to alienate a community that was eager to be drawn into the political process of nation(s)-building.

But the singular programme of regime building of the Rajapaksas lost sight of what would have in effect stabilized their position within the state at least to some extent. Also, displaced Muslims from the north, evicted by the LTTE in 1990 have been waiting for a clear response for a solution to their uncertain status in Sri Lanka. The government announces dismantling high security zones today. Why did it wait for so long to do this?

Maybe the answer has to be found somewhere else. Any devolution package leading to a solution and addressing the concerns of Muslim and Tamil minorities, would have been fundamentally detrimental to the centralized control that the Rajapaska regime relies on so heavily for its continued state of dominance.

At the same time, one would like to ask from those minority parties and persons rallying around the opposition today, namely Sarath Fonseka, what programme of action do they offer their constituencies?

Today, at this critical juncture, where we are trying to debate about our futures, it is important for those who speak for minority groups and peoples to have a clear assessment of the situation. Their rhetoric should match their strategies for political negotiation and engagement with the state and other parties/groups. I would like to ask them to work out a viable political programme and engage in dialogue at multiple levels with the people on the pressing issues of the day.

In order to do this, we perhaps have to move from a discussion of regime changes to a discussion on how to exploit the spaces for discussion that the conclusion to the war and the run up to the election has opened up: a discussion on democracy and the minority question at multiple levels, building links between different peoples and communities.

Crumbs from the table of the high? The politics of state patronage and the ethnicisation of state and civil society

Centralized control has enshrined and fine-tuned to the most disgusting level the politics of patronage, which in my view, takes on a dangerously ethnicised form, particularly in the east, where ethnic tensions had been steadily on the rise, from the very beginning of the postcolonial state, if not before. LTTE’s reign of terror in the north and the east, served to exacerbate these tensions, while the state and successive governments did nothing to alleviate rampant violence, even in the aftermath of the LTTE’s defeat in the east.

Centralized control and the politics of state patronage, merely served to fragmentize communities, pitting one against the other. On the other hand, the rising cost of living, hitting not only the poorer classes, but also the struggling middle class, brings all communities together.

The Rajapaksa regime’s only ‘positive’ response to insistent appeals by minority groups and alliances to address their grievances has been the grand idea of development and development projects in the east and the north. Development is touted as the panacea for all ills. But development projects, real or proposed, have increased the fears of the minorities. On the one hand they did not bring any relief to the people on the ground.

Development today is perceived as another form of corruption. At the same time, they increased ethnic tensions, leading to, in some cases, violence. ‘Development’ has further exacerbated the issue of displacement. While the country and the people grappled with the issue of there being large numbers of displaced persons, running into several hundreds of thousands, the government did not put forward or implement a thought-out, and, more importantly, collaborative plan of action to settle and resettle displaced persons, leaving them and us in a limbo, feeling more and more alienated from the centre and, as a consequence, powerless.

While the current government has made some headway with regard to the Official Language Policy by bringing in legislation regarding its implementation, in the absence of any sense of actual relief and in its sad isolation from all that is seen as important in the lives of the people, this remains a forgotten and minor achievement.

Do we belong? And how?: the memory of Lasantha Wickramatunge

As long as the minority question persists, the urgent question of democracy too will remain unattended to and unresolved to any satisfaction. Some of the most pressing concerns of minority groups, including plantation or Malaiyaha communities have been security. Security comes with a sense of belonging to the land, to the places in which one resides and the country at large.

The question of unlawful detention, the still existing PTA, and the still prevailing act of emergency raises questions concerning security, whatever the regime might be.

As we remember Lasantha Wickramatunge this month on his tragic death a year ago, who with unstinting courage challenged the ruling regime, we hope that the human and social rights of people become focal points of action of political activists and groups, regardless of ethnicity.

Speaking of courage and political action, I would like to bring up another crucial failure of our time. The minority question is hydra headed and can be posed in multiple ways. I, too, am multiple. I belong to another significant minority group in the country, and that is that of a left orientation. But today the left tradition of the country is in shambles and has caved in to, for the most part, majoritarian Sinhala nationalism. It is too late for the ‘traditional’ left to change direction.

They are a lost cause and have acted with a singular lack of courage. But it might be about time for a new generation of thinkers and actors to forge out on a path of critical thinking, and to forge a dialogue across ethnic communities to discuss issues of class and gender and importantly, the minority question itself.

The war economy has created multiple minority communities, including displaced Sinhalese and injured soldiers among others. Do they become a part of the minority question? Will there be other minority communities arising out of the post-war economy? These are questions that we need to seriously ponder.

In this spirit of reassessing the situation on the ground and as a way of pressing forward the advantages that any space for discussion opens up, I raise these questions that concern us as minorities in this country. For us it is a time of reflection, reevaluation and the plotting of a programme, both in the singular and the plural, which would be meaningful to everybody in this country in the short and the long term.

Official Secrets and Blind Justice

2^nd January 2010 – Fourth Anniversary of the Trinco Five Students’ Case

University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna)

Sri Lanka

UTHR(J)

Special Report No. 35

Date of Release: 2^nd January 2010

To down load the whole file in :

http://www.uthr.org/SpecialReports/spreport35.htm