By Gunadasa Amarasekera Courtesy The Island

The Shorter Oxford Dictionary describes masochism as ‘a form of sexual perversion in which one finds pleasure in abuse and cruelty from his or her associates’’. Since the term is named after a novelist, I thought I could take liberties with it!

I believe this term could be well used to describe our present political arena wherein we derive a perverted pleasure in abuse and cruelty from our associates-US UK etc. Of course, while in the sexual field masochistic pleasure is an end itself in the political field it is a means to an end, to achieve an ulterior motive.

How else can one decipher, understand the phraseology used by Mangala Samaraweera-“takes note with deep appreciation ‘, when he co-sponsored the 30/10 2015 which was the cruelest abuse committed on us.

For a long time I had believed that this government was a hapless victim of the Western powers who are hell bent on dividing this country to further their geo-political ambitions. (Only an idiot will believe that they are motivated by high moral scruples and righteousness).I believed that this regime had no option but be an unwilling partner in the process. I was so convinced  as to extend my sympathy to them while directing my antipathy to ex-president Rajapaksa for not doing the right thing at the right time- namely abolishing the 13th Amendment and appointing useless Commissions as the LLRC to placate his enemies which only displayed utter servility and dependence emboldening our enemies to carry on their agenda with confidence.

Since of late I have been compelled to revise this view of mine.

Having cosponsored with ‘appreciation’ the Foreign Minister saw to it that those reports by world renown experts as Sir Desmond Silva, Holmes etc are not presented at the UNHCR or to the UNO. At no session were those fabricated war crime charges of Darusman and Sooka, the INGOs and NGOs challenged. The presentation made by Lord Naseby in the House of Lords presented a golden opportunity for us to clear ourselves of those fabricated charges. When this was brought up by Dinesh Gunawardana in the parliament the response was lukewarm.

Wasantha Senanayake’s half-hearted ‘thanks-giving’ was an insult to Lord Naseby. The letter supposed to have been written by President Sirisena to Lord Naseby I understand has never reached him. It may have been for our local consumption. When Harsha de Silva was asked to present it to the UPR working group, he dismissed it as irrelevant. His statement, ‘I wish to reaffirm our firm commitment to ensuring the implementation of 30/1 and 34/1 was the height of servility one could imagine. Can one explain this behavior in any other terms other than political masochism! It’s a masochism indulged in with an ulterior motive!

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime knows too well what is in store for them with the reaffirmation of their commitment to implement these resolutions. How the implementation of the Transitional Justice would bring in foreign participation in judicial mechanisms, how there would be hybrid courts, how International investigations, forensic reports, defense lawyers would vouch for the truthfulness of those fabricated charges cannot be lost on them. In the mean time Darusmaan estimate of 40,000 civilian deaths would get inflated to Sooka’s 70.000 and to Frances Harrison’s 150,000!!

What does the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime expect out of this self inflicted masochistic exercise?

Many a percipient observer seems to be concerned and worried about it. Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana writing to The Island (11/21) speaks of a hidden agenda on the part of the government. “With so many inexplicable things happening there is little doubt that there is a hidden agenda, but the question that will continue to haunt us is what this hidden agenda is.”

To answer that question one will have to cut through the hypocrisies surrounding this issue.

In the case of hidden agendas the usual strategy is to have the main intention out of focus, shrouded in secrecy. It will come out only as an innocuous by product at the end. As to what happens in this case one will have to visualize the drama that would be enacted in the hybrid courts-the establishment of which has been reconfirmed. (All of this may not happen as I have often repeated, if the Constitutional division of the country takes place before the next sessions of the UNCHR ).

One can be almost certain that with the evidence provided by Darusman and Sooka even the most partial judge will desist from pinning any war crimes on our army personnel. (The Prosecutors as well as the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime knows this too well. This exercise is intended to create the climate to endorse the final result-the division of this country).

But the way in which these crimes are paraded, the ensuing arguments, the wrangling, the cross talks, the abuse hurled at those concerned-the sound and the fury will reverberate not only here but across the world. It will provide headlines for the world press. The aura of credibility and authenticity manufactured by the foreign investigators and experts will not only create confusion and alarm in the minds of the world community, but will touch their moral sensitivities and prick their conscience. They will pressure the provocateurs to punish the culprits and if that is not possible to take measures to prevent the recurrence of a mayhem – a tragedy of this sort ever again. The measures they would suggest would be the granting of the demand of the Tamil minority-granting Federalism that will restore their dignity and identity. This no doubt is the ultimate result envisaged by the World powers as well as the Sirisena –Wickremesinghe regime.

The enormity of the crimes paraded and the sound and fury will also have its effect on the Sinhala community –especially the middle class. In their naiveté they will not be able to see through the aura of ‘credibility’ manufactured by the prosecutors. The result would be a deep sense of guilt. And that guilt would drive them to do penance and do justice to the Tamil Community against whom such crimes have been committed! They will endorse these measures engineered by the Western Powers, Elamists, INGOs, NGOS, UNRCH and accept the federal structure offered by the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime. (It was this same middle class that supported devolution and the division of the country as a solution to Prabhakaran’s terror.)

This the hidden agenda-the ulterior motive of the Masochism practised by the present regime.