C. Wijeyawickrema
A news
item that Tissa Vithrana (TV) has been appointed by SLPP as coordinator for
Tamil affairs, took my mind back to the days of the majority and minority
reports of the infamous APRC chaired by LSSP’s TV. His majority report was
signed by members including a husband and wife team! TV even suggested to have
a Tamil policeman in Sinhala villages to protect Tamil families. Following NM,
his maternal uncle, who went to the Dalada Maligava with jasmine flowers in
1964, TV also carried a tray of flowers to DM, as if he had become a converted
or tempered old Marxist. This was the time that TV agreed not to have
administrative divisions based on language or religion.
There are
so many past federalist supporters within the SLPP such as G.L. Peiris, Dilan
Perera, Dullus A. I hope they no longer support 13-A which is federal as the
Supreme Court has concluded.
I wrote
two essays about the APRC then but could not locate them on the Internet. From
what I could remember APRC majority report of TV was as bad or even worse than
the Jayampathy- Sumanthiran-Lal Wijenayaka draft constitution of 2018.
Fortunately,
I was able to dig another essay that I wrote in 2007 as an e-mail, and I think
it will be useful to SLPP leaders and TV to remind them their past before their
present reincarnation,
Subject: A Critique of the Vitharana Proposal
A Critique
of the Vitharana Proposal
In the essay given below C.
Wijeyawickrema, also known as Chand Wije (CW), gives a critique of the
views of Minister Tissa Vitharana , Chairman of the APRC (q.v. = see glossary. While
his basic criticism of Vitharana’s views is correct he combines this analysis
with several of his pet ideas which are questiionable. The problem is to
separate the two. I note that CW’s essay has not received much comment from the
‘Patriots’ even though it has been repeated. But then there is very
little sensible comment coming from the Patriots.
CW shows that Vitarana’s
policy gives a one-way trip to Federalism even if he does not actually use the
F-word. There are two amendments to be made to this. Firstly it will not stop
at Federalism and sooner than later it will lead to full separation which is
the ultimate goal not only of the LTTE but also of the non-LTTE Tamils.
Secondly the views advanced by Vitharana are not his own but those contained in
the Mahinda Chintanaya (q.v.). This so-called ‘Chintanaya’ gave the
monstrous formula of “maximum devolution within a unitary state”. The
plain fact is the devolution (q.v.) is incompatible with a unitary state, so we
are dealing with a basic contradiction in terms. CW is correct in pointing out
that the Indian system will work in India but not in SL. His
Himalaya-Pidurutalagala analogy is quite appropriate.
The APRC or APC was simply
set up to find a formula that will satisfy (a) the international community and
(b) the Tamils who are a minority, and (c) those cowardly Sinhelas who think
that they can get out of the current mess by giving the Tamils a bit of the
cake but not the whole. These are not considerations that should determine the
search for a optimal system of Government for any country. The APRC has not
been able to find a solution that satisfies the Mahinda Chintanaya as
no such solution exists. So far we have had the Majority Report, which is
presumably supported by Vitharana, and the Minority Report supported by some
nationalists. They differ only in one particular, viz. whether the North and
the East should be amalgamated in one Provincial Council or not. But both are
wrong (see ACSLU Blogs ID 6.1 and 6.2). No
wonder GOSL is afraid to adopt any of these versions, or an alternative to
them, and keeps on advancing the date they are supposed to announce their
decision. CW calls Vitharana “an anti-Mahinda Chinthanaya agent”. He
is in fact a trusted agent of MahindaR. How could be have become the chairman
of the APRC is he is not approved by the largest party in the Parliament. I
regard him as a stalking horse for MahindaR.
CW seems to think that the
APRC should produce a grand plan for the development of the country. This is
the responsibility of the ruling Party and GOSL, but we know that they are not
doing this. What they do is to build grand projects (with money begged or
burrowed) such as the airport at Weerawila, the cricket stadiums in Hambantota,
Mihinair airline, etc. all meant to perpetuate the Mahinda dynasty rather than
the develop the country in the most efficient way. What the APRC is entrusted
to do is the produce a plan for devolution of power while maintaining the
facade of a unitary state, and this is the impossible thing they are trying to
do. This too should be the responsibility of GOSL if they do what is expected
of them rather than shift the responsibility to others.
Having given credit to CW
where credit is due some comments are necessary on some of his other ideas and
how his pet theories square up with the Vitharana phenomenon.
- The Kalusuddas. Tissa Vitharana
is the very opposite of the typical Kalusudda much vilified by CW. He is
usually clad in the spotless white attire called the National Dress (or
“kapati suit”), carries trays of flowers to the Asgiriya and
Malwatta Temples, wears the regulation pirit nool around his wrist,
speaks in spotless Hela-bhasa, hails from the rural areas and has set foot
in a kamatha, etc. So he is the opposite of what you would expect a
Kalusudda to be. Also Kalusuddas are strongly attached to the unitary
state that the British left as their dowry to the newly reborn nation, but
Vitharana has moved away from them. So in the light of Vitharana CW may
have to amend this theory of the Colombo-based 200 Kalusudda families. The
real danger to the nation now comes from the ultra-nationalist
Vitharana-types.
- Parity of Status. CW debunks the
‘parity of status’ doctrine relating to use of language blithely
forgetting that the much proclaimed ‘Sinhala Only’ has been abandoned in
favour of the current ‘Tri-Lingual Policy’. From public documents to name
boards all three languages are used, and this is just what the old parity
of status position was. Today only the Tar Brush Brigade (q.v.) is trying
to rub out Tamilicized names in the North and East, but it is getting the
cold shoulder from the MahindaR GOSL. CW is better adviced to find out why
Sinhala Only failed after it did so much damage to the nation. At
the same time CW speaks of the country being “language blind”
but what he means by this I do not know.
- Marxism. CW seems to think that Vitharana
and the JVP are true Marxists. There is a great difference between what
Marx was writing about and what V. & JVP are doing. These ‘Maxists’
are closer to Pol Pot than to enlightened views of Marx and Engels.
- The “U” Formula. CW cites the
shelter given to Catholics who were persecuted by the Dutch in the Kandyan
Kingdom, and the cohabitation of various ethnic groups that allowed in the
Kandyan Kingdom. This is the counterpart of the modern notion of
Multiculturalism in the classical Sinhala tradition. However with the
neo-Sinhalas this tradition too was to some extent corrupted. It was
Konappu Bandara (q.v.) who introduced Christian culture to the Udarata and
the shelter given to Catholic priests stems from this and not from the
ancient classical tradition of the Sinhalese.
- The ‘Upatissa Damanaya’. This is a
rather confusing section. You cannot use Buddhist methods on Prabhakaran
or TNA. There are situation where Buddhist methods work and situations
where they do not work. Even though the Buddha told the Maghadha King that
the Vajjians will not be defeated if they stick to their republican
constitution in the event they were actually defeated by Ajatasatru. What
we need today is Ajatasatru’s methods in tackling Prabhakaran and the TNA.
The Mahinda Chintanaya has nothing to do with Classical Sinhala values. It
is a typical deception that arises directly out of neo-Sinhala attitudes.
It will fail as other neo-Sinhala strategies which have brought woe to the
Sinhalas.
- Agrarian Socialism. CW with his
faulty river basins theory has always advocated an agrarian solution for
Sri Lanka. The fact is that agriculture alone, with an emphasis on tank
irrigation cannot sustain SL’s burgeoning population. Some people are
hoping for the discovery of oil. This is the “manna from heaven”
mentality. Others are tryting to sent more SL workers to clean Muslim
toilets in the Middle East (and those of emerging countries in the SE
Asia). These are the only avenues available if you try to rely mainly on
the kamatha as CW has advocated. The alternative of creating a highly
educated workforce (as India is trying to do) has been hindered by the
‘Sinhala Only’ education system introduced by the Hela revolution.
- Move the Capital to the Vanni. This is CW’s
crazy solution which I have criticised earlier. What he does not realize
is that if GOSL proceeds the way it has been going the LTTE may win and SL
will really be ruled from the Vanni.
There are many other points in CW’s long post
that I can comment on, but I think I have said enough to sample the positive as
well as the negative points in it. I do appreciate his putting out his ideas at
a reasonable length. This compares with the attitude of many in this forum who
are good at hurling abuse but cannot deal with new and unfamiliar ideas.
Vitharana Proposal and the Separatist Paradigm (1918-2007)
by C. Wijeyawickrema
(I heard that a
letter to the Island editor on April 25th 1997 ended the then “Package
deals” of law professor G. L. Peiris. I write this letter praying for an
end to the APRC proposal of minister Vitharana.)
Marxism and Malwatta
After
two atapirikara-carrying trips to Malwatta and Asgiriya temples, minister
Vitharana, Chairman, APRC, has given an outline of his “power sharing
mechanism” to a Daily News reporter (Daily News, 3/30/2007). He had also
spoken before the OPA on 3/27/2007, especially on the devolution of water
resources. The general secretary of LSSP visiting Malwatta and Asgiriya is
different from Anandasangaree or Karuna going there. As part of their overall
plan of peace and good governance, British governors used the two Kandy
Mahanayakes as cultural relicts. It was a strategy similar to them accepting and
promoting the caste system despite their Christian religious beliefs. In the
case of monarchy in London it has functioned as a symbol of unity.
With
no disrespect to the Venerable Mahanayake Theros, it must be said that the
revival and protection of the Buddhist way of life under an all-out assault on
it after 1815 and 1818 was carried out by coastal monks such as Walane
Sidhdhartha, Waskaduwe Subhuthi, Migettuwatte Gunananda and Hikkaduwe
Sumangala. Like in India or more recently in South Korea Buddhism would have
wiped out from Ceylon if not for the Sanga society in which Vidyalankara monks
played a key role. The JHU and for example, Ven. Ellawala Medhananda is the
latest link of this chain via the late Ven. Soma. Thus, if APRC chairman had an
urge to obtain Buddhist views on his plan he has one in Colombo free of travel
time. A trip to Kandy should not look like the trip JRJ and RP made to the
first wedding of Prince Charles.
In
any case minister V’s words do not give the impression that he had listened to
the advice given to him by the Malwatte Mahanayake Thero. This advice was
reported in detail in the Island newspaper on March 9, 2007. It also appears
that minister V ignores public comments such as “Federalism and
marriage” (12/12/2005, 1/11/2006), “you cannot legislate against
geography” (Island, 2/22/2006), “Federal Marriages and water
wars” (www.defence.lk, 8/31/2006), “Language-blind regional development
units” (Island, 10/25/2006), “Anandasangaree and God Vishnu”
(Island, 1/3/2007) and “A letter to a Tamil friend after 40 years!”
(1/25/2007). This is no surprise as APRC has even ignored 800 or so proposals
it obtained by invitation from “Janayas.”
Parity of status- history repeats
During
the period 1935-1964 Marxists preached two things: bangawewa (destroy) and sama
thana. JVP copied this later in 1971 and 1988. Sama thana did more
psychological damage as villagers could not comprehend that the golden brains
could possibly go wrong. Facing generations of discrimination under the
colonial rule, and never treating Tamils or Muslims as second-class people,
they could not think of any justification that in their locality or region
where 99.9% spoke Sinhala why Tamil should be equally used (recognized). LSSP
and CP never understood that providing equality of opportunity is different
from parity of status. JRJ’s Imbulgoda march was against a Tamil Federal
scheme. But villagers were confused as to why Marxists became an appendage to
the Tamil state party of Chelvanayagam. With stories such as Marxists shouted
at Sir D.B. calling him an abittaya (because he grew up in a temple atmosphere
as child) and they called King Dutugemunu a gadol modaya (fool of bricks)
Marxists became an engine on logs (kota uda).
With
only an appointed, not voter elected position, minister V is repeating history.
He has taken upon his soldiers the baggage abandoned by G. L. Peiris. In
Buddhism no two persons are equal, and therefore, providing equality of
opportunity to its people by a government which came as a western democratic
principle had no conflict within Buddhist society. Aspirations of individual
Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim, not the aspirations of IC, Tony Blair, the American
ambassador or Prabakaran that minister V should talk about. For that he does
not have to resurrect the Neelan-GL package.
Ven. Kalukondayawe Pannasekera Thero
and suriya mal viyaparaya
Ven.
K started a village development and crime eradication movement in the 1940s
with Justice Akbar, ASP Osmond de Silva and Tamils. Ven. K faced all kinds of
obstructions from the colonial government and the CCS crowd. At that time LSSP
was also engaged in Malaria control work and suriya mal selling. If Marxists
were not blinded by the dogmas of Trotsky and Stalin they could have become
little Ho Chi Mings in Ceylon where nationalism and socialism (not Marxism)
worked hand in hand. Instead uncles of minister V became alienated from the
villagers like water and oil. What V is doing today will make him an anti-Mahinda
Chinthanaya agent within the government.
F=U formula
If
the Chairman of APRC thinks that “the words federal and unitary have lost
their meanings over the passage of time,” then we need God Vishnu’s help
to help him. This is a lesson at grade 9 level Civics. The self-appointed
jack-of-all-trades Carlo Fonseka has recently pointed out at a book launching
why devolution (F not U) is needed for social order on the basis of his
analysis of Buddhism’s three “kilesas” (lobha-dosa-moha)” (Island,
3/25/2007). Carlo is a fellow Marxist for a quick lesson only a phone call
away. There is also a book by the law professor Lakshman Marasinghe (the
evolution of constitutional governance in Sri Lanka, 2006).
Did
minister V explain his F=U formula to the Mahanayakes? “F” is a
political marriage contract in modern politics. “U” on the other hand
is Buddhist politics such as the King allowing persecuted coastal Catholics or
Muslims to live in his kingdom or temple priests in remote areas giving food
and lodging to Christian priests from Colombo or Galle who went on head hunting
trips. Could V think of any example from anywhere in the world where Sinhala,
Tamil, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim people cohabitate and live in
harmony despite an active separatist agitation since 1923? It was the Colombo
ruling families who ruined this harmony after 1931.
An
“F” marriage cannot work when one of the partners has a paramour. The
IC solution to Sri Lanka is unique in that two parties living in one house is
asked to go to two houses for the happiness of both. Unfortunately, a marriage
cannot be saved that way. This is why even Lakshman Kadiragamar was wrong in
proposing an “F” solution. An “F” solution based on
language differences (as in India since 1956) is a slippery path with no end in
sight. Indian “F” model is the best example. Indian army is fighting
against separatism all over India.
An
“F” creates two or more units which have some powers that cannot be
taken back from them permanently forever. The egg is scrambled. As the asymmetrical
package dealer G. L. Peiris once confessed, the F is a risky path, once taken
the egg cannot be unscrambled. F is like a roach motel, you see the roach
entering but no return back. Unlike the notorious CFA 2002 or the merger, F is
a one-way path.
Upatissa damanaya
Why
did APRC ignore 800 or so people’s proposals? What is the reason for a hurried
solution? Where is the home-grown solution? Does minister V believe in Buddhist
economics discussed in Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful (1973) or in Buddhist
politics? One example was Buddha’s advice to Ajathashatru, the king of Magadha,
when the latter had a war plan to capture the Lichchavi kingdom of Koshala. It
was Buddhist democracy in 500 B.C. After all the reasonableness doctrine,
compromise in modern democracy is the Middle Path in Buddhism. Why cannot V use
either the Nalagiri or Angulimala damanaya in dealing with Tony Blair, TNA or
Prabakaran?
The
Mahinda Chintanaya is nothing but an application of our 2500-year old
traditions of living in harmony with other human beings (be they Helanic or
Roman or Muslim traders, Tamil invaders or plantation coolies, Malay soldiers
or Portuguese who came with Bible and sword, Burghers and NGO evangelists)
which got twisted in the hands of Colombo black whites (since 1833) and Marxist
preachers (since 1935). APRC or its expert committees do not have people who
read the Ummagga Jathakaya as high school students.
White man’s burden (1905-2007)
Why
is minister V in a hurry? Is it because more and more time means less and less
time for the Prabakaran episode? The IC does not want a total removal of the
cancer of terrorism. They want a second Vadamarachchi in 2007. They want him in
a three-piece suit flanked by his western-educated children. Why? Is there any
connection to the theory of the White man’s burden of 1905? Is there any
influence from White evangelism of Blair or Bush as outlined by the Polish Pope
John Paul II when he visited India in 1999 (evangelization of Asia)? Pope’s
propaganda cabinet minister with a giant budget was located in Ratnapura. Or
was it the “clash of civilization” thesis of the Harvard professor
Huntington (1993)? Balkanization of Sri Lanka is a short cut to India. The
world federation of Tamils wants a separate state, and Tamil Nad opposes
Hindia’s intrusions. In the Trincomalee harbor even the nuclear submarines
could hide in deep under sea troughs as revealed by the former CCS officer
Neville Jayaweera who is now running a Christian communications network from
England. So, there is great temptation all around that probably escapes from
minister V’s radar screen.
“India is a myth” – Indian
National Congress (1885)
What
does V know about the separatist paradigm in Tamil Nad and Sri Lanka? It began
in Tamil Nad in 1917 and one year later in 1918 it came to Ceylon. In India the
colonial master openly promoted separatism stating, “India is a
myth.” They promoted a Pakistan. In Tamil Nad separatism grew to the
extent that even the Ramayanaya story was changed stating Ravana was a Tamil
king who fought against the evil doers of Rama and Seetha (Adam and Eve?)!
Prabakaran is thus a Ravana prince more than a new Chola king with a cyanide
pill. In the past it was Sivaji Ganeshan or MG Ramachandran (born in Kandy) who
acted as Ravana in popular Tamil Nad movies. A former SP of NP recently noted
how Jaffna Tamil boys went in the morning by boats to Tamil Nad to see the
opening shows and return home in the night!
Minority-majority complex
Despite
the total silence of Colombo NGO peace mudalalis with western Ph.D.s and the
Marga Institute, not to produce “papers” on the impact of the Tamil
Nad separatist agenda on Sri Lanka, from 1917 to 2007, there had been a
continuous flowing of two parallel streams of separatism poisoning each other.
Thus in 1949 SJV Chelvanayagam benefited from Tamil Nad’s “Dravidasthan
movement.” In the late 1950s it was the “anti-Hindi movement.”
When separatism was proscribed by the 1963 constitutional amendment, it came to
the Kandyan areas in lock stock and barrel as DMK threat and a Kallathoni
problem (Tennakoon Vimalananda, Dravida Munethra Kasagam Movement and the
future of the Sinhalayas, Anula Press, Colombo, 1970). In the 1980s separatism
went back to India, officially, with MGR and Indira Gandhi sponsoring it with
surface to air missiles. After the murder of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 there was a
setback, but in an era of coalition governments in Delhi, Tamil Nad voting
block has become more powerful than the power of Delhi to use or abuse the
presidential rule in order to discipline unruly regional politicians (Article
356).
Tamil Nadu time bomb
Tamil
Nad is in such volatile state that Delhi is now surviving by capitalizing the
rival demands of its present or former chief ministers to arrest the other or
to impose the presidential rule. At least two major caste groups are demanding
two separate states within Tamil Nad. It is only a matter of time a future
Prabakaran takes control of Tamil Nad politics which is driven by sex scandals
and family affairs. The common criminal Veerappan incident (Saradeal or
Robinson Crusoe) demonstrated how easily and quickly separatist sentiments
could be utilized to overthrow the corrupt and inefficient political
establishment in Tamil Nad. The Janatha Party leader Subramaniumswamy’s recent
book (Sri Lanka in crisis: India’s options, 2006; (Island, 3/21/2007) should be
an eye-opener to minister V.
Himalaya and Pidurutlagala
Does
V provide an adequate mechanism to prevent secessionist attempts under the
geopolitical conditions mentioned above? He says there are two safeguards: (1)
the president can deploy the army and (2) he can dissolve the province and take
over the administration. Minister V must be kidding. Even under the 13th
amendment which is not and F but U condition according to V or Carlo Fonseka or
another law professor Lakshman Marasinghe (Daily Mirror, 3/9/2007), the chief
minister Vartharaja declared UDI and fled to India. Where would be the IC if it
happens again? Once minister V allowed the province to do everything it needed
to be on the separatist path, the province will appeal to IC for help or
justice. It will say the president is not allocating sufficient amount of water
from the Mahaveli River and the IC and UNO will intervene. As Marx said people
also suffer from the dead.
In
the case of India each state is a small fraction of the goliath. This is why
comparing Indian F and its article 356 with a Sri Lanka F is like comparing the
Himalayas with Pidurutalagala because both are mountains. Minister V has to be
more careful than Anandasangaree.
Traditional Tamil homeland – cart
before the horse (1976-2007)
Does
V reject the proposition that there is a traditional Tamil homeland in the
Eastern Province? Is he willing to make that rejection the foundation stone of
his proposal? V should not first get his scheme approved and say that the issue
of re-merger will be discussed later. Re-merger means acceptance of a homeland.
Homeland theory is a colonial western idea. This was what the Neelan-GL package
wanted. Neelan went even further and refused to accept the Pondicherry
sub-model of the Indian “F” model because the homeland would then
look like a moth-eaten patch of land with Muslim and Sinhala “Pondicherry
units”. V will be putting the cart before the horse if he does not clearly
understand this issue. If V’s constitution is silent on homelands now and if
later it comes up making a giant N-E unit, then the Trincomalee state will be
as big as the Colombo state. With Malayanadu in between Colombo army will be no
match to Trinco power. This is not a daydream of a Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinist.
V does not have to believe what the retired geography professor G. H. Peiris
wrote in his book (2006). He could read what the Scotsman Paul Harris has
written on the subjects of Malayandu youth unrest and Oluvil Muslim radicals.
If V accepts FP, TULF, TNA and Anandasangaree versions of a homeland then V
cannot stop homelands for Muslims, Indian Tamils or Christians in Negombo. He
will get an “F” grade from the IC crowd.
Discrimination against the majority
(1505-1931)
V
says there are about 27 other countries which have veered away from U status
towards F states to prevent separation. Without a list of these countries one
cannot comment on this point. In the Fiji Islands or in Malaysia there were
attempts of separation. In the Fiji case the army arrested the Indian-backed
prime minister for anti-national work against the native Fijians. In Sri Lanka
Tamils and Muslims enjoy more rights than anywhere else in the world. In
Colombo the richest are the Tamils and Muslims. Thus, when Karuna says in 2007 or
when the JVP said in 1971 or 1988 “give us what Colombo gets”
(kolambata kiri apita kakiri -Youth Commission Report, March, 1990, p. xvii))
there is/was no ethnic discrimination. Instead, the truth is that the Colombo
class has been controlling 95% of people, which became worse under the
globalization game and the 1978 Dharmista samajaya gimmick.
Section
29(4) of the Soulbury Constitution did not allow the removal of five centuries
of discrimination against the majority community which is allowed and
implemented in other countries that faced similar situations of the majority
was the victim. The Shia majority in Iraq complain that the Sunni minority
mistreated and killed them. South Africa had the same problem. In Russia the
party members were the minority who exploited the majority citizens.
Macaulay’s grandchildren (1840s)
V
says “if the minorities don’t get the power they need, the only solution
is separation.” Can V say that the majority got the power? Who got power
after 1931 or after 1833? A group of white-kissing Colombo families who used
Buddhist masks after 1931 got power. A group of Colombo Tamils who used the
language card to prevent the poor Tamil learn Sinhala but gave Sinhala private
tuition to their children got power. The question is, will this Colombo control
change under V’s proposal? Rather than re-inventing the Neelan-GL package, V
should ask a set of new questions. He has become a prisoner in trying to
provide new answers to his old questions. Does he know that by sheer
mismanagement the Colombo black whites ruined the country?
(a)
they destroyed the structural democracy of the island since the early 1960s,
after the 1962 Coup (the separation of powers doctrine started in 1802 when
North was the governor and the rule of law);
(b) JRJ killed territorial democracy after 1978 with a “bahubootha
Vyavastava,” an electoral system that robbed people of their
representative democracy, and by demolishing the VC-TC local government system;
(c) In the 1980s village level civil administration was politicalized by
increasing the number of GSN units from 4,000 to a mind-boggling 14,006 (each
GSN unit has a GSN, Samurdhi Niladharee and a mid-wife);
(d) A corruption trinity of AGA-local MP-NGO agent (Colombo peace mudalalis or
evangelists) now runs the show. Each AGA unit (there are 319 of them) has
between 100-150 officers excluding teachers;
(e) the gap between Colombo and villages increased under globalization and free
trade;
(f) the divide between Colombo rich and village poor widened after 1978;
(g) Vakarai IDP welfare money stolen by corrupt officers!
Do
we need a hurried devolution package, based on the same Neelan-GL formula? Or
should we take a holistic approach to handle our antho-jata-bahi-jatas
meta-problems? The V proposal in its present form will deliver an “F”
to a group of Tamil politicians but will not solve the mismanagement problems
of the average person, Sinhala or Tamil. This is the aspiration issue that V
should think of. Not the aspirations of IC or Tony Blair.
In
India under the language-based state reorganization, a new tier of
local/regional politician class developed who began to challenge the Delhi
political class. That brought an end to the Congress Party control and created
a sick Delhi center dependent on over 20 coalition partners. Indian poverty is
still a major problem and politicians at all levels are thriving. Is this not
what is happening in Sri Lanka after 1978? Macaulay’s grandchildren from all
former colonies flooded UN jobs just as white mayors in USA left the major
cities leaving them for black or Hispanic minorities. For an outsider,
minorities are mayors in all major US cities! Who are the children going to the
future world leaders’ summit in USA (Daily News, 7/23/2006)? How many Sri
Lankan village boys got scholarships to Harvard or Oxford? Just see how Sri
Lanka’s Sixth Great Force (janitors and housemaids in Arab countries) is
treated by its Colombo ruling families? This is what minister V should consider
as top priority not a Prabakaran solution within 60 days.
Colebrook (1832) and Dixit (1987)
V
says Province is the devolution unit. Does he not accept that PC is a white
elephant, and unwanted burden on people and the economy? Is there any
scientific, ecological, social or economic justification for this unit other
than Rajiv Gandhi and Dixit forcing it on JRJ, Sri Lanka’s kaputu bo tree? V is
taking the path of least resistance to achieve his goal of paving the way for a
Tamil homeland. Why did Colebrook divide the island into five?
Ayub Khan’s plan of October 26, 1959
V
has proposed a 100-family Jana Sabha (JS) unit (ward) below Gam Sabha (GS).
From GS comes Pradeshiya Sabha (PS). A GS will according to V cover about 2/3
of one GSN unit. This is similar to what Ayub Khan proposed for Pakistan which
was similar to the Soviet people’s councils (Pakistan: old country/new nation,
Ian Stephens, Pelican, 1964, p. 314). The Ayub plan became too good to be true
and never implemented. He was talking of “basic democracies” with
units of 800-1000 people. Instead of his own plan, if V decides to read the
valuable document of the Local Government Reforms Commission (Sessional Paper
No. 1 of 1999, the Abhayewardhana report) he would become an expert in
grass-roots politics. A.T. Ariayaratne’s 1988 book, “The Power Pyramid and
the Dharmic Cycle” also gives a plan of action. Another source is Arjuna
Hulugalla of the CIMOGG who writes regularly with a unit plan leading to a
District administration.
Trinity of gama-vawa -dagaba
V
has a golden opportunity to link the Gama Naguma project just inaugurated under
the Mahinda Chinthanaya with his mission as Chairman of APRC, if he comes out
of his parity of status prison. Tamils have a homeland in Tamil Nad. Muslims
have Mecca and a billion muslims. Christians have Pope. Sinhala people and
Sinhala Buddhist have this tiny island, 15 million and the ocean. Trostsky or
Vishaka Kumari Jayawardena did not know this. The 2500-year old civilization of
Sri Lanka should really be a UNECO heritage site. Just think of the biso kotuwa
or the Dambulla hydraulic lamp? Rather than running with ghosts of SJV
Chelvanayagam or GG Ponnambalam, minister V should think of using his Marxist
energy to empower the Tamils, Sinhala and Muslim comrades at the trinity level.
Because, the dagaba was kovil, mosque or church at the grass roots level. Let
aspirations grow at the family and village level. Do not promote language-based
separation. Instead create language-blind developmental units. If in a given
village the majority happens to be Tamil let them work on their aspirations
from house-hold level upward to VC level. Several VCs can go to District level.
Imposing a Provincial level unit on them by a Colombo group is not suitable in
Sri Lankan case as there is the fear and danger of separation.
Make a trip to New Zealand
Because
our trinity is tank-centered it fits very well with the modern concept of river
basin-based administrative units. New Zealand, a tiny country like ours is
using this concept. The geographer Maddumabandara has produced a river
basin-based administrative system for Sri Lanka that V should get his APRC and
the expert lawyers to study. Because, one cannot legislate against geography
law in books cannot become law in action if APRC chairman acts like a Colebrook
in 2007.
Move the capital city to Raja Rata
While
developing the Southern Province the APRC should think about moving the
administrative capital to a location within the triangle of
Anuradhapura-Vavuniya-Trincomalee on a 20-year plan. Let Tamil farmers in
Jaffna meet with Sinhala farmers in Hambantota by linking that capital with
Hambantota along the Mahaveli River with a railway line and a highway. By
moving the science and integration ministries to Raja Rata ASAP the Marxists
ministers could win the hearts and minds of the janayas. This is what an APRC
should really be engaged in rather than re-dusting the old documents in Colombo
houses.
