31 October 2017 12:28 am
However, the history of Sinhala hardline obstructionism is repeating itself and has already made a dent in the latest constitutional effort. Maha Nayakas have objected to the new constitution. Elle Gunawansa Thera, a hard line monk has asked Parliamentarians to vote against the proposed constitution. Wimal Weerawansa, another rabble rouser has advocated to bomb Parliament. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former strongman president is fishing in the troubled waters. He has observed that the monks of all Buddhist sects have opposed the constitutional amendments, wondering as to why the government is still proceeding with them - as if he had consulted the Maha Sanga before white vans were deployed to abduct the opponents of his regime. Yesterday, his acolytes of the Joint Opposition held a protest against the new constitution.
The government has downplayed the report of the Steering Committee on the Constituent Assembly. But, that is not the right approach. Instead, it should educate the public and create a genuine public discourse, at the same time, preventing it being hijacked by the bigots of all sides.
Constitution making in Sri Lanka has not always been a consultative process even when minority concerns were not involved. The two post independent constitutions: the Republican Constitution of 1972 and the Constitution of 1978 were forced arbitrarily upon the nation, using the Parliamentary majority of the ruling party. Interestingly there was little public outcry towards that arbitrariness.
However, whenever efforts were made to address a fraction of minority concerns, protests are fermented in the South in a predictable fashion. This makes one ponder whether the Sinhalese majority is troubled more by the notion of Tamils getting their due share, than erosion of their own fundamental rights, which happened twice under the two previous constitutions, and then under the 18th amendment to the Constitution, which precariously took the country towards a presidency of life of Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Sinhalese hardline is shortsighted, retrograde and self- destructive; it is a distant cousin of manifold heresy that successful modern states either kept in a short leash...
Whenever, time and opportunity were on their side, Sinhalese hardliners have obstructed any meaningful engagement with Tamils to find a political solution. They foiled the earliest initiatives in the 50s and 60s, which, otherwise, could have prevented the degeneration of the Tamil struggle into wanton terrorism. That could have saved the country from loss of lives and economic ruin. There is no guarantee that the repetition of the old folly would not lead to the same disastrous end, sometime in the future.
However Sinhalese hardline is shortsighted, retrograde and self- destructive; it is a distant cousin of manifold heresy that successful modern states either kept in a short leash or crushed with calculated violence to cleanse their nations of primitiveness. It has thrived in Sri Lanka in a culture of permisiveness, and is often promoted by the peddlers of illiberal ideologies. Now that there are no terrorists waging a nihilistic war against the State, it is this fringe Sinhala Buddhist ideology that poses the greatest immediate threat to unity and prosperity.
Sri Lanka has now passed the opportune time when the state could have forcefully intervened to redefine the national compact, which would have warranted use of quite a bit of coercive power. Still, the government cannot let a few loud mouthed bigots to distort the public discourse and drag the nation again towards their self -destructive ends.
The government should confront and contain them. But that cannot be done by tear gassing and water cannon, which only emboldens detractors. A better way would be to launch speedy investigations into high profile crimes of the Rajapaksas, which the UNP partner of the current co-habitation government has not pursued, preferring to keep the Rajapaksas as a hedge against President Sirisena and the SLFP. Such short sighted electoral calculations have now backfired.
Second, the government also has to reach out to influential sections within the Buddhist clergy, who do not necessarily agree with the jingoistic notion of a few, but have preferred to keep away from the whole hullabaloo. That silent and indifferent majority need to be galvanized and encouraged to take part in the national discourse. The government should create a platform and provide inducement for them. They should be briefed on the government agenda, as well as the danger of Buddhist discourse being monopolized by a fringe hardline.
Third, the public should be informed. The Sinhalese majority had come a long way since they were herded like proverbial sheep to self-destruction by serial opportunists. University students, teachers, media, artistes should be mobilized to educate the public, and also to confront bigots who lurch in any society. A portion of many millions of rupees of funds that were ear-marked for democracy can be utilized.
The government cannot ignore the detractors of constitutional reforms, because they are too numerous and too organized to be ignored. They would not wither away, they need to be defeated.
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