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You’re not supposed to
be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong,
no matter who does it or says it.” Malcolm X (Advice to Youth of Mississippi – 1964)
Senior Journalist J Tissanayagam was charged with creating ethnic
dissension, by a regime which included such apostles of reconciliation
as Champika Ranawaka. Azath Salley
has been arrested for fermenting religious disharmony by a regime which
is providing succour to such proponents of brotherly love as Rev.
Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara Thero.
If creating religious disharmony is really an issue for the
government, it is not Mr. Salley who should be in custody but the likes
of Rev. Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara Thero.
Mr Salley was arrested because he made the cardinal error of
criticising the Rajapaksas, because he had the temerity to take on the
BBS. He stood up to the BBS
while Muslim ministers maintained radio silence – probably because they
know that the BBS is a Rajapaksa-monkey; and that any minority leader
who opposes the saffron-mobsters engaged in Rajapaksas’ work risk
imprisonment or worse.
Mr. Salley’s arrest probably has multiple objects. Perhaps the regime
wants to frighten the Opposition into total inaction so that the 19th
Amendment can be passed fast, with minimum fuss. Maybe the regime wants
to send a message to all minority leaders about the costs of dissent.
It might even be the essential first step in manufacturing an Islamic
version of that old Naxalite Plot, which in turn can be used to
neutralise Delhi, London and Washington (Delhi and London are important
conjuncturally, vis-à-vis the Hambantota Commonwealth; Washington is
important structurally because Basil and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa are US citizens while America is the favourite port-of-call, whenever President Rajapaksa has a health issue).
The arrest of Mr. Salley is unjust; it must be opposed
unconditionally. Whatever Mr. Salley did in his political past –
including his one-time support for the Rajapaksas – is of no
consequence, now. He is a victim of Rajapaksa injustice and abuse, and
as such deserves the support of all who care about democracy and basic
rights.
We cannot remain silent and inactive about the arrest of Azath
Salley, without encouraging the Siblings to reach even deeper depths of
repression and impunity.
Protesting against the injustice done to Mr. Salley is an inextricable component of the struggle for Lankan democracy.
The BBS and its ‘Nationally Important Task’
The Rajapaksas may have saved the Hambantota Commonwealth by promising to hold Northern Provincial Election in September, but it is a promise impossible to deliver.
The Rajapakses do not want to share power with anyone, including the
parliament, the SLFP and the judiciary. The Siblings cannot allow a
provincial council which is not under their familial control to come
into existence. The Ruling Family’s real problem with a TNA-controlled
NPC is not that it will promote separatism but that it might strengthen
national opposition and provide a rallying-point for
Rajapaksa-opponents.
The Rajapaksas do not believe in the existence of an ethnic problem.
According to their thinking, the Tamils were living in perfect
contentment, until Tamil nationalists came along and sowed discontent.
Eelam War erupted not because Tamils had real grievances but because Vellupillai Pirapaharan wanted his own state.
The Rajapaksa notion of how reconciliation should be achieved is dependent on this diagnosis.
Since Tamils have no legitimate grievances, a political solution/devolution is unnecessary. Any Tamil dissatisfied with the status quo
is a Tiger by definition. The way to avoid another ‘problem’ is to
adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards any sign of minority activity,
from the very beginning. Hit hard, at the earliest possible sign of
life, so that the minorities learn to curb their thoughts, mind their
language, control their activities, and accept their secondary status –
and even learn to live with the demented ravings of the BBS/JHU.
If the Rajapaksas hold the NPC poll in September, either the election
will be violent, unfree and unfair; or the provincial council will be
denuded of all powers. Since a violent election might create too many
regional and international waves, the Siblings might opt for the 19th
Amendment, so that limited political-devolution is downgraded into
not-so-generous administrative-decentralisation and provincial councils
become glorified pradesheeya sabhas.
Many minority parties belong to the UPFA. Their leaders hold
ministerial/deputy ministerial positions. But a small measure of
personal power and a limited capacity to advance themselves are all they
really possess. The minority parties are mere show-pieces to bolster
the Sri Lankan credentials of a Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist regime. In
any case, even Sinhala ministers possess little actual power, because
all power is concentrated in the hands of the Siblings and a few trusted
acolytes.
That is how the Rajapaksas would want all Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim
leaders and activists to conduct themselves. Anyone refusing to toe that
line can face persecution or worse, be it the war-winning Army
Commander or a one-time ally like Azath Salley.
The relationship between the Rajapaksas and Sinhala-Buddhist
supremacists is a symbiotic one. Sinhala-Buddhist supremacism provides
the Siblings with an attractive mantle for their naked power agenda. By
attaching themselves to the Rajapaksa Juggernaut, Sinhala-Buddhist
supremacists in turn have gained more power and influence than they ever
possessed, including in 1956. Had the Siblings tried to impose familial
rule without the cover of patriotism, they would have encountered far
more Southern dissent. It is the Sinhala-Buddhist mantle which has
enabled the Rajapaksa project to achieve hegemonic status in the South.
Thus the Rajapaksas cannot ditch Sinhala-Buddhist supremacism anymore
than Sinhala-Buddhist supremacists can ditch the Rajapaksas (as Gen.
Fonseka found out to his cost).
As memories of the spectacular victory over the LTTE fades with time,
the Rajapaksas need to deliver socio-economically, in order to retain
their Southern hegemony. This means ensuring that the Sinhala South is
given rapid and adequate access to the peace dividend, in the form of
lower prices and higher living standards, less poverty and more
employment, better educational and health services and improved
opportunities.
But these developmental goals are unachievable under Rajapaksa rule,
which prioritises guns and tamashas over rice. That prioritisation is
inevitable; without a militarist conception of national security, the
Siblings cannot justify the muffling of the media, the criminalising of
dissent and the subjugation of the judiciary, in peacetime.
Thus the need to create a fear psychosis in the South, which alone
can justify the continuance of impunity and excess. The BBS is a star
player here; its Rajapaksa-mandated task is to create a climate of
paranoia by fostering politics of fear, hate and hysteria.
According to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the BBS monks ‘should not be feared
or doubted by anyone’ because they ‘are engaged in a nationally
important task’. Indeed; this ‘nationally important task’ of the BBS is
to keep Sinhala-Buddhists focused on Tamil enemies, Muslim threats and
Christian conspiracies, to addle their brains with fear, so that they
will not have time to worry overmuch about economic woes or develop the
sense to see through the Rajapaksa façade.
Azath Salley, whatever his past mistakes, did the right thing by
exposing these Rajapaksa machinations. That is why he is behind bars.
And that is why his unjust arrest must be resisted. (By Tisaranee Gunasekara)
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