ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by Charles.S.Perera

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Justice Wigneswaran is a candidate that every Tamil can be proud of to have as his and her representative, and may make a Chief Minister that most Sri Lankans of whichever ethnicity or religion can be proud of. In fact he will have the salutary effect of raising the bar of performance for every chief minister and Sri Lankan politician throughout the island.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

This is the eulogy with which Dayan Jayatilleke expresses his jubilation at the master stroke, as he calls it of TNAƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Sampanthan. It may perhaps be too early for his jubilation as SampanthanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s master stroke if realised may ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ turn out to be a poisoned thornƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in the body politics of a United Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It may also be good bye to reconciliation and Communal unity.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Because it may seal the Communal Separation, giving place to another eventual cabal forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  several more decades of terrorism and direct suffering for the Tamils of the North and indirect suffering for the rest of the country.

Of course Dayan Jayatilleke is spoken of as an intellectual of a rare quality Sri Lanka has ever produced- a political analyst of distinction. But whether that is enough for him to prophecy what SampanthanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s master stroke will turn out to be, we will well have to wait and see.

Dayan Jayatilleke is a well read man, a diplomat, aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  professor and a writer.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He has read so muchƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and instilled in himself a foreign ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-intellectƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ because of whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  he cannot write a page without quoting from one of the authors whose writings he had read. It is so frequent ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that one cannot help presuming that Dayan Jayatilleke has no thoughts of his own.

His mind is to that extent shaped , pruned and constructed by the knowledge gathered from foreign writings. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ThereforeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Dayan Jayatilleke cannot think as an ordinary Sri Lankan to ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ understand what type of political development is best for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka had been colonised byƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  three European Nations. Its culture had been assailed by foreign cultures and left to gather dust for several centuries.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Thereafter the country ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ came close to be ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ territorially divided by a ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ blood thirsty Tamil maniac who took guns to make his dreams a reality. Even though the blood thirsty Tamil maniac is no more , there are his counterparts with the same dream hoping to realise it without guns- at least for the moment.

They are more dangerous than the maniac who we have just disposed of. The worst of it is, thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  there are those, who are intellectually different from the ordinary Sri Lankans who are ready to follow them shoutingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in superlatives from roof tops their appropriateness to shape the political destinies of Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Dayan Jayatillake is one such intellectual who follows a man with such a dream being dragged into politics by cunning politicians with a separatist plan. Of the choice of this man Dayan Jayatilleke says:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The choice of Justice Wigneswaran illustrates the kind of strategic thinking that is needed in politics when fundamental issues are at stake; strategic thinking that is willing to stand up to and sacrifice more obvious ethno-populist passions and pressures for the defence of vital interests of the entirety of the people and place one represents. The choice further shows a capacity on the part of Mr Sampanthan (and his able young supporter Mr Sumanthiran) to think through those strategic interests in a manner that transcends baser ethno-populist sentiment. In short, Mr Sampanthan and Mr Sumanthiran have accurately understood strategic Tamil interests which they have not confused with the lowest common denominator of Tamil sentiments.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Dayan Jayatilleke cannot think independantly and depends on other peoplesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ choices to fall in line with their thinking. All know Sampanthan andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sumanthiran are the blind followers of the terrorist leader who dreamed of a separate Tamil EElam. They have selected to lead the Northern Provincial Council if they were to be the winners,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  a man who thinks like them to assure the realisation of their pet dream the separate Tamil Eelam State.

Why do most of the Sri Lankans think that the TNA would be a bad choice of the Tamil people of the North to hand over the responsibility of the Governance of the Northern Provinial Council ?

Because Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had lost count of its strength in unity and its ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ potentials of development and progress during the many centuries of colonial rule, and had been dragged into a three decade of suffering under terrorism because of a wrong belief in a Tamil ethnic superiority for which TNA was responsible as a proxy to the terrorists.

It is not through asserting the superiority of one community or another that the future development , peace and progress of ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka could be assured, but it is ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in forgetting the Communal difference and forging ahead as a united nation thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Sri Lanka will reach its goal of being a peaceful, contented Nation.

For that a man like V.Wigneshwaran is quite unsuitable. As Dayan Jayatilleke himself admits Wigneshwaran is a federalist, who believes in self dermination:

Dayan Jayatilleke states, writing about Judge Wigneshwaran:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-He will not bend the knee and tug his forelock before the Sinhala Establishment. He is nobodyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s “malli”. An interview given to Ayesha Zuhair in 2011 reveals him to be a federalist who stands for the right of self-determination, though he never strays into endorsing secession. What is tricky is not the federalism but the fact that in most parts of the world, federalists do not stand for self ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”determination, though he belongs to that tendency which does.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Is this the man we want to be the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council ?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He is suitable in the eyes of Dayan Jayatilleke, but is itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  whatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  most of the other Sri Lankans want ?

Dayan Jayatillake thinks that the South is racist (he means the Sinhala), which is the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- radical evilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ now remaining in the South.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Dayan Jayatillake says:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-With the forces of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”radical evilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ (as the great Goethe designated it) defeated in the North and East but not yet in the South, it will be a harsh and bitter struggle thoughƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚and a grim, emotive, turbulent transition. Living with and accommodating a TNA run Northern provincial council led by Justice Wigneswaran will require and may generate a profound shift in the collective psyche.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Dayan Jayatilleke who it has been said removed the images of the Buddha from the Embassy when he was the Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Paris, does not seem to have understood the ordinary Sinhala people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Sinhala people are far from being racists.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They always accommodated the Tamils and had no problems with them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Sinhala-Tamils riots which were unfortunate do not represent the Sinhala Mindset.

Even today, after three decades of terrorism Sinhala people have nothing against the Tamil people. What Sinhala people want is that the people of the Tamil CommunityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  stop thinking in terms of Tamil ethnicity, but accept all communities as compatriots forming a one large Community of Sri Lankans.

Dayan Jayatilleke with his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-construed mind setƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, thinking withƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  his ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- foreign knowledge promoted intellectuality ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- which has nothing of his own and least ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  any thing Sinhala, is unable to grasp the simple political realities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He is not of the common Sinhala people, hence he detests those not educated in English ?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He says:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Sinhala Establishment has to get its head around the fact that though the Tigers were utterly defeated, the Tamil community has not been cowed and has bounced back politically. One of the reasons for this resilience and recovery is the continued availability of an educated elite, literate in an international language (English)ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚a sociological resource which has been depleted on the Sinhala side by and driven into alienation or exile by the state of suffocation imposed by the State. On the Tamil side the English educated elite is still available for politics and public service and is welcomed by Tamil society while on the Sinhala side, the public welcomes the incorporation of the elite but the dominant monolingual petty bourgeoisie which monopolises the state apparatus, does not.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (emphasis is the writer’s)

What a rash statement ? And he adds:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The choice of Justice Wigneswaran as Chief Ministerial candidate shows firstly, that the Tamil professional elite is still intact and willing to engage in politics and secondly, that the Sinhala state which has shed the equivalent human resources will find it difficult to compete in the regional and international arena.

Dayan Jayatilleke is for keeping the 13 Amendment intact, and he says:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-It is not however a zero-sum game in which Tamil interests win and Sinhala interests lose. Indeed the choice they have pushed for, Justice Wigneswaran is the best chance to make the 13th amendment work and is therefore the best hope for North-South reintegration on the basis of frankness, dignity and mutual respect.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

That is the way he thinks the reconciliation will work for Sri Lanka.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  He is mentally still living ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-hauntedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by the period of Vardarajaperumal ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and Pathmanabha, hence unable to come down to think of Sri Lanka stepping out of the past three decades of suffering under terrorism and beginning a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-new lifeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ attempting to form ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a single Nation uniting the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ three Communities, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ seeking a different path from that which ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ it had been traversingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  before terrorism.

Dayan Jayatilleke says:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri Lanka, it must be recalled, is haunted by the negative experience of the North Eastern Provincial Council. One of the reasons for its failure was the personality of Vardarajaperumal who was chosen as Chief Minister (despite my strenuous representations to the EPRLF leader K Pathmanabha as well as the Indian side). PerumalƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s lack of political maturity and realism in dealing with the Sri Lankan state, his mercurial populism and alcohol-fuelled adventurism were among the main reasons for the mishandling of the inevitable contradictions between the periphery and the centre.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

The 13 Amendment is a deterrent to what is essential for the evolution of a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-New Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ devoid of Communal Separatism.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That Dayan Jayatilleke does not seem to want, and therefore heƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  states:

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Justice Wigneswaran is hardly a Vardarajaperumal. Educated in Colombo and a distinguished senior representative of one of the arms of the Sri Lankan state itself, he has long functioned in a multiethnic social universe. A dignified yet outspoken, multilingual man, he is in the current circumstances, the best possible bridge between North and South. He is, in sum, the TNAƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Lakshman Kadirgamar.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

What a shame he compares Wigneshwaran to late Lakshman Kadirgamar !

Dayan Jayatilleke issues a warning to the Government ( or is it to the Defence Secretary his referenceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  being ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the security managersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in saying, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-If the deep state is hoping to de-stabilise the elected Northern provincial council, the security managers will have to think again. In the event of a manufactured crisis and a creeping or dramatic coup by the capital, who would be the better interlocutor with the world community; who would be better able to convince the worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s capitals? The national security fundamentalists or an erudite, reasonable, articulate ex-Supreme Court judge? ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-

With this type of statementsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  one really wonder how he could have beenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  trusted to defended a unitary Sri Lanka ?

Dayan Jayatilleke affirms, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- With Sampanthan, Sumanthiran and Wigneswaran, the fate of the Tamil community is in the best possible democratic hands.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

So far Sampanthan and the TNA have not shown any signs of being democratic.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ are constantly in breach of the ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Constitution of Sri Lanka , calling for the establishment of a separate Tamil Eelam State andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  seeking the aid of foreign Governments to destabilise Sri Lanka .

If Wigneshwaran were to be of the same ilk, reconciliation of Communities will be far from what Dayan Jayatilleke says,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the best hope for North-South reintegration on the basis of frankness, dignity and mutual respect.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚