Gomin Dayasri -Courtesy The Daily Mirror

A9- the road from Jaffna to Colombo is rapidly improving – surface and surroundings- as hundreds from the South travel to the North and are greeted by the northern traders as the mainstay of their sale. Northerners travel in greater numbers to the South in ease and spends more.

Life in Jaffna meanders without stress in tranquil surroundings these days with its stoic inhabitants having experienced heavy storms before; welcome the ensuing peace. They are baffled on the postures of those for whom they voted – desire to lead a life without strife and skirmish, if heard.

Locals tell it in a short sentence. They voted mindfully for the man who came from Colombo to Jaffna. Once a respected judge who upheld esteemed values of authentic Jaffna, unknown and unspoken in most of Colombo: old school Wigneswaran has a feel for its value. In the present mode, has become a typical politician: yet he does not have the guile and craft associated with politicians. He is a judge who should have led his life as a retired judge and earned respect for his wisdom and integrity – lived on his pension without greed for other office.

His metamorphosis can mar the potential of the provincial council of the Northern Province. Voters overwhelmingly went for him than for their known peninsula politicians. There was a reason.

Prabhakaran posed as different to the politicians and towered over them in esteem at both tips of the Palk Strait-as an uncorrupt doer. It mattered not whether Prabhakaran was in the liked or disliked column- he is credited for the variation.

After him Jaffna was in search of a politician with a difference and distant from terrorism – Wigneswaran appeared to hold that space- capable of bridging the distance between Jaffna and Colombo over troubled waters.Maturity and wisdom of the voters are not lessons learnt by the northern legislators.A storm is gathering over the Northern Provincial Council where Wigneswaran acts as a storm trooper more than a fire fighter.

Naturally, he does not have a political base to fall back or the charisma, dynamism and capability to give leadership and has become a disciple of the provincial councilors of many shades than a leader to an assortment of them. It seems he loves high office and wants to hold on to it by playing to the loud and vocal.

A pattern was set-a five party combine of the North carried 85.2% of the vote and one man became a towering giant in the vision of the North carrying 62% of the votes cast for the TNA, amongst five competing parties.He had the North at his feet but instead fell at the feet of lesser politicians.

It bodes ill for the country as fissiparous tendencies surface in the art of a quick fix by reviving the spirit of terrorism or attempting to erect mausoleums and war cemeteries for them and adorning terrorism with flowers to display. It places the Chief Minister at the crossroad of a confrontation and such makes it imperative the military stands to attention based in the North. Wigneswaran lacks foresight and he is making the case stronger to keep the military stationed in the North permanently.
The old judge is a maverick at heart and lacks the quick steps of a politician to pivot around a tight position.Wigneswaran in his present unpredictable mood could open and close a terrorist mausoleum and be passionate on both counts -political immaturity makes him a wavering seasonal weathercock speaking in two tongues moving away from the reconciliation process to a conflict situation.

” People in the North voted overwhelming for the man who gave his address in the nomination papers as No 16/C, Cambridge Road, Colombo 7 as their prime preference opting for the Colombo elder hoping he would make Jaffna the modern second capital of Sri Lanka “

Jaffna voted expansively for northern nationalism (repeat: not terrorism)-the message the government failed to comprehend and lost badly. They voted overwhelming for the man who gave his address in the nomination paper as No 16/C Cambridge Road, Colombo 7 as their prime preference – opted for the Colombo elder hopefully he will make Jaffna, the modern second capital of Sri Lanka-not a state of its own through the discourtesy of terrorism.

People of the North want their children to enjoy a free life different and better to what they endured for 30 years. Just as the Diaspora desire living in luxury, across seas, in comparison to their cousins in the North. That road is long and far because they are living behind times for which Prabhakaran is responsible. Jaffna Man knows and in a hushed tone, when they overcome pride, blames the terrorists for it. They do not want the terrorists back nor would Wigneswaran support it knowingly: but unknowingly he would create it to the applause of the Diaspora but not to the cheer of the locals who knows better than Wigneswaran who lived in the fashionable part of Colombo.He is not a Colombo resident but a man with a Colombo address familiar to the NGO society.

Northern nationalism is not the Prabhakaran culture; it is pure– it is natured by the peaceful citizenry proud of its civilisation and culture and finds in Wigneswaran a grandfatherly icon to pin its character on his lapel-provided he is smart to identify its genuine possessors.Its character attracts former terrorist operators ranging from a few active politicians and catholic clergymen resident outside Jaffna with a coterie around with international connections, anxious to link it to the terrorist idiom and the NGO society. Fortunately there are many mature padres in the churches of the North.There are wheels within wheels and is an onerous task for a simple legal mind to unscramble.

There is a mixture of stupidity and sincerity in Wigneswaran. Unfortunately he does not know when to zip the lip that places him often in peril. Lost his balance at his ceremonial sitting as a Supreme Court judge, embarrassed a captive audience with his inherent racist inclinations that surfaces at inauspicious moments and was duly whipped by S.L.Gunasekera; and then went on to become a perfect judge in delivering judgments that showed no trace of racism or showed no bias against S.L.Gunasekera for his deserved outpouring which made Wigneswaran a better man and lesser discomfort to his brothers on the bench. There are times Wigneswaran needs the big stick because at his best he is always immature.

Yet, unlike some of his controversial contemporaries on the bench in his day, whose interests were primarily their own self-interest, played politics wearing wig and gown, shifted stances misjudging the passing scene and made colossal misjudgments that ultimately relegated them to a judicial and political outback. Not so, in the case of Wigneswaran, a man of esteem, after the initial outburst settled down to be an admired judge and became a full time politician long after he ceased to be a member of the judiciary.

Wigneswaran’s initial liability was the thumping majority he received as an outsider: acquired green eyes, an infectious disease in Jaffna amongst the political fraternity, which is virtually incurable.Voters by their endorsement showed their preference to an unbiased outsider than a local that checked their class and caste, pedigree and parentage.

Mystic newcomer in town is the Indian Consul resident in Jaffna in his newly opened mission house with a king size staff that has become a favourite watering hole to many politicians to gather to hatch plots. The new viceroy of Jaffna hailing from Tamil Nadu is the master of ceremonies while the local governor is a mere bystander from Colombo. RAW stands for India and feints in its affection for Jaffna and befriends any source to destabilise any neighbour. Not surprising, India has no true friend along the shores of the Indian Ocean.

Wigneswaran’s undoing is the company he keeps that makes him a different man from what he sometimes is- a racist who can make racism – a forbidden word used in the past tense.

The Diaspora influenced the vote with money transfers on which many depend in the North for sustenance as the earning power is sparse with traders no longer enjoying the black market prices imposed during the troubled times. The locals heave a sigh of relief from the exploiters of the past with goods freely available.
Much of that unjust enrichment was invested in lands and buildings in the belief prices will skyrocket with the peace dividend and a bounty is in the offing in a sellers market. With no such upward trend the northern exchange crashed. The mega projects initiated by the government have not lined cash in the pockets of the people and the election result reveals that the government has not made an impact with its misfired policies. Reaction is mixed- satisfied with the prevailing peace but distinctly unhappy with the economy. To make inroads, Jaffna Man’s wallet must show a better bulge.

Women are a major factor in the northern equation by outnumbering the men but are backward, lacking in enterprise due to rigid social barriers and are not attracted to any self-help projects that many banks are prepared to offer on which they are no takers. It’s an honourable society that has not lived on loans and pays back what it borrows. A repressed society suffocated on 30-years of enslavement due to terrorism from which they are seeking to distance.

The most damaging gender issue is the dowry sought on marriage that makes Jaffna the spinster capital, with many unable to meet the financial demands sought at marriage.It is interesting that no women’s rights NGO have stepped in to fill a vacuum that exists. They won’t– because the opportunity some NGO does seek is in being troublemakers: not genuine good Samaritans. In the times of the terrorists there was little bargaining on acquiring dowries and raising caste issues.  Two fingers are raised for the LTTE.

Tamil politicians will play into the hands of the government if they align northern nationalism with the footprints of terrorism. Those against Wigneswaran think it is the route to bait him from his pedestal by misleading him. They read wrong because northern youth are not prepared again to be victims of a society left behind – they will take years of hard toil to reach southern standards.  The youth realises there is a life ahead living on their own soil without being captured by rhetoric and guile. They are the future – not the lost generation of elders – that caved in to the terrorists.

Wigneswaran is positioned to make A9 a designed walking path to Colombo. He has the background, ability and desire but the company he keeps make him wear blinkers that fail to read the sign posts before him. He can become a historical bungler being misled on being na¯ve.