18 October 2018 12:00 am
Just nine years after the civil war, Sri Lanka is struggling to stabilize its economy and keep the minority Tamils happy.
But progress in most fronts has stopped largely due to a lack of leadership within the Government and the Tamil community. The Government comprising majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils at one time saw their lives being shaped by two individuals: Mahinda Rajapaksa, the country’s former president, and Veluppillai Prabakaran, the Terrorist leader who carried on a brutal campaign for autonomy. Both Rajapaksa and Prabakaran were dictators and ruthless to no end, but their leadership skills were up to the mark. They could move the people to agree or undertake a task: Rajapaksa through wit and shrewdness and Prabakaran through sheer brutality. Just almost a decade after the war the people of these two communities have much to speak about these two leaders despite the country being in turmoil.
With Prabakaran dead and Rajapaksa having finished two terms as president of Sri Lanka, we see the next set of leaders struggling to get their focus right in taking their respective communities and the country forward.
We are not experiencing a war now. We need leaders with the mentality for development and reconciliation. In this respect present President Maithripala Sirisena is the best bet and is on the hot seat. But many feel that the thoughts of politicians must be supported by actions. This Sirisena can only perform to a certain extent because the party (UNP) that backed him doesn’t prefer him unlike before. This wasn’t the case with Rajapaksa. There were quite a few who didn’t like him, but chose to work for him during his tenure. The present president is a good example. Even if you removed the President’s garb from Rajapaksa, there still would be a leader, waiting to perform, within this man. What stood in good stead for the former president was his far-thinking ability, charisma and being ruthless when he had to.
Now the Rajapaksa and Prabakaran chapters are over. Minister of Plantation Industries Navin Dissanayake said recently that the party needs to read the pulse of the people. He also cautioned the UNP about rifts between party stalwarts and reminisced the differences between his father and former President Ranasinghe Premadasa. A rift similar to this exists between Premier Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa. The civil war taught this country how its citizens should stand by its leaders. But strangely, at times of peace, there are rifts within rifts and a severe shortage of leaders who can double up as administrators.
The SLFP, which Rajapaksa marshalled, is on a rapid decline. The LTTE, which gave somewhat of a voice to the Tamil cause, is no more. New forces have emerged in the political front, but the old lessons learned from the SLFP (Which led the UPFA at elections) and the Tiger rebels mustn’t be forgotten.
A Tamil politician we can learn much from is V. Anandasangaree of TULF fame. There was much criticism aimed at the TULF because it politically accepted the overall dominance by the LTTE. TULF’s Anandasangaree later joined the TNA, but received shabby treatment. He is a mild man, but will fiercely push his point across that non-violence is the way to solve struggles between these two communities. It didn’t come as a surprise when UNESCO awarded him with the Madanjeet Singh Prize for promoting tolerance and non-violence. The Tamil politician is one who wrote to Prabakaran and requested him to give up the arms struggle. Later he resisted the LTTE and and even refused to be intimidated by them. Veteran columnist DBS Jeyaraj once wrote that the years during which Anandasangaree resisted the LTTE were the most productive period during his political career. Still, despite all this, Anandasangaree’s role in active politics came to an end many years ago.
In the new face of Sri Lankan politics we see the emergence of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa who is promoting himself as a possible presidential candidate. Politicians like Gotabaya must have strong opposition because of their dictatorial ways. UNP’s Navin Dissanayake is much talked about as a future leader of the country and so is Sajith Premadasa. The latter has shown traits of his father in terms of pursuing a task and also reading the pulse of the people.
The country’s civil war produced leaders and also gave us headaches. Leaders born during a struggle or conflict don’t fit into any other era. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prabakaran, our very own former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and not forgetting former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda played their roles meticulously. But sadly they were shadows of their former selves when they were pushed into administrative roles after the war.
Now it seems that the ‘brains’ of both communities prefer to pursue their professions in keeping with their qualifications and shun politics.
This is more true with the Sinhala community. Within the Tamil community too we see its politicians tending to boycott anything related to politics if things are not going to their liking. The ...... columnist Ahilan Kadirgamar once wrote that the Tamils have been numbed by decades of Tamil Nationalism and LTTE’s totalitarian rule. He encouraged the Tamil community to critically engage in debate and discussions to promote the Tamil cause.
Sri Lanka needs to see academics enter politics. This is not the time to judge leaders by race, cast and religion. This is an era where leaders must be judged by what they bring as knowledge to the discussion table.
The ship that is Sri Lanka is gathering speed on a sea of opportunities. We need a captain who can adjust the sails and guide her to a safe port!