War is of a distant past: peace has prevailed without a hindrance for 7 years. Is terrorism re-surfacing with the LTTE regrouping and arrests being made under the PTA?
Crowds do not mean much at May Day rallies but MP’s on stage read the minds of the voters. An elected-not a nominated-MP sits at a rally where his constituents want to vote for him. A snapshot of a difference between the North and South.
One thing is for sure –the peoples’ outlook has changed for the better but not of politicians who would publicly posture for an extra vote. People blame the politicians and vow to teach them a lesson, but keep voting for them again and again as it is the people that never learn lessons of the past. A vicious circle.
Media blames and shames politicians only to greet and garland them ceremonially.Media fails at crunch time too.
The twin phases require dual mindsets: pre - war and post - war. If the outlook then was to win over terrorism at all costs –now, the approach should be to live in peace and harmony in a happy environment for all
communities at any cost.
Trouble times were essentially of the past, if not for the utterances of a few rabble-rousers in the northern peninsula and in the southern periphery. Vigilance should not be reduced: till the trouble-making voice is stilled since it originates from a political leadership.
Those sounds, loud and long, can convert a storm in a tea cup into a fiery tempest. Ethnic rousers are a dying breed but will never dry to a finite: their numbers will continue to wane and must be brought to near zero. Till then, be on guard and not live on the empty
empathy of the TNA.
A younger leadership with a cosmopolitan mindset is better equipped for the reconciliation process: carrying less garbage of the past, they know the dangers of terrorism that needs elimination and has the time ahead to plan a future for their generation. They are still idealistic to abhor corruption. How long will they maintain their un-tainted character or pose? For the younger generation it is the economy that counts most. They
need to live in comfort.
Good times for the existing leadership along with their aged advisors are nearing the end,as the country awaits the arrival of Prasanna Ranatunga (UPFA), Buddhika Pathirana (UNP) and Abraham Sumanthiran (TNA), youthful buccaneers holding hopes for a high. We have been governed too long by the wrong generation, as local politicians have not learnt the art of retiring gracefully. A corrupt politician has a lesser chance of retiring: political clout is the best defence to avert possible conviction. They quit having littered the surroundings leaving a trail of non-toilet trained related pups.
Sinhala intellectuals should take the lead, especially the nationalists,equipped in the patriotic mold and who performed heroically during war. They must not string their aprons to politicians in the search of a platform. Patriots at home and abroad,get a better hearing from the Sinhala elite; can play a prime role in attending to the genuine grievances of the Tamil people in the North in a confidence building exercise that will attract
the northerners.
They can win the hearts and minds of the common man of the North however detested they would be by the northern politicians who live on communalism like the invisible diaspora. The common man in the North always prefers an independent non-partisan efficient Sinhalese head to lead the North to a caste ridden, family conscious, religious bigot from the North. Remember the Anuradhapura constituency kept re-electing as their MP Mr. Freeman an English man in preference to the Sinhala candidates under universal franchise. Sri Lankans have a proud value structure of
respecting righteousness.
The TNA’s resolution in the Northern Provincial Council seeking to merge the North and East and call for a federal solution is ill advised and ill timed. The prime purpose was to make the South react with an angry response and to defeat the reconciliation and reconditioning purposes: the prime need of the hour.
The northern political code is to throw smoke bombs to enlarge it to reach nuclear proportions, it must be kept in check. It is indeed comforting that the people are wise not to react to whatever stupidity TNA maps out, as they have prudently done away after July ’83 where the South lost badly due the idiocy of a few.
A vision of a divided TNA, vocal and visible, leads the combined opposition in the centre purely to safeguard parochial interest of the North while the TNA’s provincial council has, not serviced the genuine grievances of the Tamil people in the North. The North’s telling need is social, economic and cultural ascendency. Instead it carries with it a caste ridden, male dominated, and dowry hunting society living far behind times.
If terrorism were still in place, would Sampanthan dare accept the leadership of the opposition or visit a camp, Army or otherwise, with or without permission? There were many in the TNA who took shelter in South India leaving their constituents at the mercy of the LTTE.
Governments in the South do not bother to understand the hardships undergone in the North during the years of terrorism and assuage their backwardness. Northerners instead of asking for more and more from an economically affected southern government should instead reciprocate with a helping hand in reaching an amiable, acceptable solution to the national issue rather than placing proposals that would be shot down in the centre expressly or tacitly.It causes bitterness rather than understanding,
Have a provincial council worked for the betterment of the North rather than the Central Governments of two regimes and governorship? The answer is ‘NO’ in capitals. Yet the Centre has failed to communicate directly with the people of the North and be understood.
Parties in the South have hardly any representation in the North because their policies are southern oriented. Ethnic issues can be overcome if the main political parties are truly representative nation wide. Ethnic issues would remain thorny if the Cabinet Ministers of minorities in the North are merely nominated personnel rather than elected representative.Therefore the southern parties must include moderate policies that
attract the North. Credit goes to the people for the restraint shown, after the disgraceful July 83. Never once did they, thereafter, react to the savagery of terrorism or seek retribution for the carnage caused. instead they disciplined themselves leaving it to the defence authorities to
do the needful.
The froth and bile pouring from faraway people -the insignificant and irrelevant Tamil/Sinhala Diaspora - makes life uneasy at home since their impulses impact the local scene with their ability to manipulate people with financial contributions and finding slots abroad for education and employment opportunities for the locals. They indeed export terrorism across seas.
The outpouring of the diasporas must be discounted notwithstanding the contributions to their friends’ relatives and politicians. Those lips cannot be sealed in the
name of democracy.
It shows the difference between people and politicians. People have reached for each other with the hand of friendship and maintained a manageable equilibrium.Politicians must become the peacemakers to improve the equilibrium. Instead to attract voters they throw hand bombs. Leave our next generation to put those politicians in the bin.
