Lankan leaders –thy name is hypocrisy

My, my, my, our dear friend and president – AKD for short- after much huffing and puffing did put in an appearance at the government-sponsored National Heroes Commemoration Ceremony (NHCC) on Monday. President Dissanayake after indicating that he would not attend the state-sponsored event ultimately not only put in an appearance, but made an impassioned speech calling for reconciliation.

But sadly, his forces which are supposed to maintain law and order, permitted a band of racists to attack a group of peaceful persons commemorating events at Mullivaikal in which thousands of Tamil civilians died.

But then, our president has of recent times shown a selective memory breakdown. During his impassioned speech at the War Heroes’ Memorial at Battaramulla, Dissanayake mentioned that the event –NHCC- was not merely a remembrance of the war’s conclusion, but a pledge   to unite all communities, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and Malays, in building a nation rooted in brotherhood and harmony rather than allowing divisions to ignite.

Poor AKD forgot an important segment of our population, the original inhabitants of this country –the Aadivasis- the often forgotten people. 

President Dissanayake waxed eloquent over the sacrifices the parents and wives of fallen soldiers made to bring peace to this land. He also shed copious tears over the bloodshed, to the point where he said the earth was soaked in it… where blood flowed like rivers.

Sadly our president forgot to mention it was his own party which initially took up arms against the forces of the state leading to  a massive blood bath.

In 1971 during the first JVP uprising, it was the president’s own party which called on young Sinhala men and women to rise up in arms against the forces of the state. The state was caught very much unprepared and took time to quell the uprising. Official records show that 5,067 were taken into custody, 53 security forces personnel died, 323 were injured, 37 policemen were killed, and 193 injured in police stations.

Between 1987 and 1990 once again the president’s party turned its ire against the forces of the state and even called for the execution of families of military personnel. And then came the 30-year Tamil insurgency in which over 40,000 of our people –Sinhala, Tamil, Muslims, both civilian and military  died  over problems we could have solved via negotiations. 

At the war memorial ceremony, President Dissanayake suggested that both in the north and south there are attempts to revive racism. Tut, tut, Mr. President have you already forgotten that in the north and east –the two regions are dominated by numerically minority communities who gave you victory at the presidential and general elections? The same occurred in the rest of the country including the hill country.

Have you forgotten that it was your own party back in 1971 that warned the Sinhala people that the upcountry Tamils were part of an Indian fifth column?

Noted international defence expert Rohan Gunaratne notes: “It was possible that the disenchanted north-eastern Tamil youth drew inspiration to stage an armed struggle against the state from the events of 1971.” 

Yes, rivers of blood flowed in our country. It was the blood of civilian’s irrespective of their race, religion or culture. Innocent bus drivers and conductors were killed out of hand for daring to cross militants. The military, on government orders killed disregarding race. Sections of the saffron brigade attacked our Muslim bothers while the armed forces looked askance.

Let’s face reality. By our silence ‘we’ the ‘silent majority’ condoned the bloodshed. 

WE ALL STAND GUILTY.

Let us stop commending one of the bands who killed large sections of our people as heroes. Killing is bad. It is condemned by all great religions in our country. Rather than honouring one of the groups who killed our own brothers and sisters, let us rather mourn those who died – irrespective of race, religion and ethnicity. Let’s build real reconciliation and national unity