{"id":110456,"date":"2021-01-06T18:03:29","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T01:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110456"},"modified":"2021-01-06T18:03:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T01:03:29","slug":"sad-news-of-professor-tissa-vitharanas-inability-to-reform-himself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/06\/sad-news-of-professor-tissa-vitharanas-inability-to-reform-himself\/","title":{"rendered":"Sad news of professor Tissa Vitharana\u2019s inability to reform himself!"},"content":{"rendered":"

C. Wijeyawickrema USA<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Can a dog\u2019s tail straighten\nby keeping it inside a piece of bamboo tree?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In America I see dog tails in all kinds of shapes due to human intervention.\nIn China and Japan there was a time that young girls were subjected to customary\n\u2018feet-squeezing\u2019 therapy  to give them tiny,\nbeautiful feet. The recent press release by Professor Tissa Vtharana (TV) on\nbehalf of LSSP, reminded me the Sinhala proverb that one cannot make a dog\u2019s\ntail straight by placing it inside a bamboo block [even for a decade or two]. Impermanence\n(change) is what we all see in the world, but TV and Wickremabahu K are perhaps\nthe only two Marxists who still live in the LSSP world of 1935-1964, blindly\nfollowing the Samathana<\/em> theory, despite the fact SJVC meant by it a\nKosovo plan since 1949. In this affair, Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri, JVP-supporting\nhistory professor, has understood the truth. He says the solution to the\nso-called Tamil issue is, to give them what they ask, i.e., an Eelam!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are mildlytamed\nother supporters of an F solution such as Vasudeva, Dew Gunasekara, and so many\nother older MPs hiding under the SLPP cloak, who survived only because of the\nGotabhaya Factor. I did not realize how serious was this steamroller effect of\nGota\u2019s name, until I read an essay by KkS Perera in the Daily Mirror, on Jan.\n5, with an eye-catching title: SLFP with its 1.5\nper cent attempts Hara-kiri? -disband\nit and join UNP.\u201d Commenting on a new game by ex-president Sirisena\nand Dayasiri Jayasekera, he says that in the two districts SLFP contested solo,\nit got only 1.47% and 1.57% of valid votes cast in Nuwara-Eliya and Kalutara\nrespectively.  People did not want to\nforget what they did to the Sinhala nation via the Yahapalana illicit marriage.\nSo, if not for Gota and the SLPP cloak, SLFP could have faced the same RanilW\nfate, except perhaps Sirisena, because of his competitive thirst to convert\nPolonnaruwa to another Hambantota using all the funds he could muster. See what\nhad happened to Handunnetthi that every other black-white blog owner promoted\nas a must MP in the parliament, when the general demand was to get rid of the\n225 rascals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tissa V is not in a political Siberia today because of the generosity\nof MahindaR then, and the SLPP-Gota factor now. His vote bank is miniscule. As APRC\nchairman, he betrayed MR, and worked openly as well as secretly to promote\nChandrika\u2019s balkanization scheme. His plan was rejected not because he had on\nhis lap a husband\/wife team selected as members, but the Minority Report\nprepared by the late H.L.de Silva and the Gomin Dayasiri-Manohara de Silva- G.H.\nPeiris trio. Therefore, his recent statement, Tamil-speaking people, after\nthe defeat of the LTTE, see the Provincial Councils as an adequate sharing of\npower, given some minor modifications that were acceptable to them at the APRC,\nwithin a single unitary state,\u201d (Island January 3, 2021), is mind-boggling,\nto say the least.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does he not realize even in the sunset days of his panchaskanda, that\nwhat he considers as minor modifications which he suggested in 2006, such as stationing\na Tamil policeman in each Sinhala villages in the South etc., cannot give the\npeople of Sinhale, a guarantee that they are free of a balkanization trap, simply\nbecause he now combines the two words, single with unitary (state) in his communique?\n13-A is a one-way ticket to Eelam with a resting place called a union of\nregions of the Chandrika-Orumittanadu type, or police or land powers of the\nDayan Jayatilaka kind. Wigneswaran is now talking about Shakespeare\u2019s Ides of\nMarch about to happen in Geneva in March, about a homeland blessed by five\nShiva Lingams brough to the island in pre-historic times! It is no longer a\nsimple Tamil homeland of SJVC type limited to NP and EP. It is now a theory to\ncatch the moon! Why is that this truth is not sinking in his brain if not in\nhis heart? His uncles perhaps, did not know the hard life Karl Marx\u2019s wife went\nthrough to feed her family. I think Marx would have become an ardent Buddhist\nif he had an exposure to Buddhist literature. Why did Marxists in Ceylon did\nnot see the thin separation between Buddhist path and the theory presented by\nMarx. Instead of the <Bangaveva> slogan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everybody is trying to veer the Romesh de Silva committee to follow\nChandrika\u2019s 1995-2000 package deal. Previous committees including the LLRC has disappointed\nthe Sinhala people (see Senaka Weeraratna\u2019s essay on the Lankaweb, on Jan. 4th<\/sup>\n(LLRC Report \u2013 Betrayal of the victory of the security force in 2009). The\npurpose of this essay is to remind the game TV and his Majority crowd played\nthen in 2006. The essay attached below is a record I made at that time, the facts\nthat I cannot remember now. However, after reading it, I tremble when I see how\nwrong was Tissa then, and how grave the predicament Sinhale people are trapped\nin, due to Sinhala black-white party politics. Of course, I will copy it to the\nconstitutional experts\u2019 committee, because it has no time to peruse old\ndocuments prepared consecutively by sets of black whites to trick people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

========================<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This essay was written on April 2, 2007. It is long, but if it is\ntruncated its value is lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitharana proposal and the\nseparatist paradigm (1918-2007) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I heard that a letter to\nthe Island editor on April 25, 1997 ended the then Package deals\u201d of law\nprofessor G. L. Peiris. I write this letter praying for an end to the APRC\nproposal of minister Vitharana.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marxism and Malwatta<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two atapirikara<\/em>-carrying\ntrips to Malwatta and Asgiriya temples, minister Vitharana, Chairman, APRC, has\ngiven an outline of his power sharing mechanism\u201d to a Daily News reporter\n(Daily News, 3\/30\/2007). He had also spoken before the OPA on 3\/27\/2007,\nespecially on the devolution of water resources. The general secretary of LSSP\nvisiting Malwatta and Asgiriya is different from Anandasangaree or Karuna going\nthere. As part of their overall plan of peace and good governance, British\ngovernors used the two Kandy Mahanayakes as cultural relicts. It was a strategy,\njust like their accepting and promoting the caste system despite their Christian\nreligious beliefs. In the case of monarchy in London it has functioned as a symbol of\nunity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With no disrespect to the Venerable Mahanayake Theros, it must be\nsaid that the revival and protection of the Buddhist way of life despite all hostile\nacts against it, after 1815 and 1818, was carried out by coastal monks such as\nWalane Sidhdhartha, Waskaduwe Subhuthi, Migettuwatte Gunananda and Hikkaduwe\nSumangala. Like in India or more recently in South Korea Buddhism would have\nwiped out from Ceylon if not for the Sanga society in which Vidyalankara monks\nplayed a key role at a later stage. The JHU and for example, Ven. Ellawala\nMedhananda is the latest link of this chain via the late Ven. Soma. Thus, if\nAPRC chairman had an urge (itch) to obtain Buddhist views on his plan, he had\none in Colombo free of travel time. A trip to Kandy should not look like the trip JRJ and\nRP made to the first wedding of Prince Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case minister V\u2019s words do not give the impression that he\nhad listened to the advice given to him by the Malwatte Mahanayake Thero. This\nadvice was reported in detail in the Island\nnewspaper on March 9, 2007. It also appears that minister V ignores public comments\nsuch as Federalism and marriage\u201d (Island, 12\/12\/2005, Island, 1\/11\/2006), you\ncannot legislate against geography\u201d (Island, 2\/22\/2006), Federal Marriages and\nwater wars\u201d (www.defence.lk<\/a>, 8\/31\/2006),\nLanguage-blind regional development units\u201d (Island, 10\/25\/2006), Anandasangaree\nand God Vishnu\u201d (Island, 1\/3\/2007) and A letter to a Tamil friend after 40\nyears!\u201d (island, 1\/25\/2007). This is no surprise as APRC has even ignored 800\nor so proposals it obtained by invitation from Janayas.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parity of status- history\nrepeats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the period 1935-1964 Marxists preached two things: bangawewa<\/em> (destroy) and sama thana.<\/em> JVP copied this later in\n1971 and 1988. Sama thana<\/em> did more psychological damage as\nvillagers could not comprehend that the golden brains could possibly go wrong.\nFacing generations of discrimination under the colonial rule, and never\ntreating Tamils or Muslims as second-class people, they could not think of any\njustification that in their locality or region where 99.9% spoke Sinhala why\nTamil should be equally used (recognized). LSSP and CP never understood that\nproviding equality of opportunity is different from parity of status. JRJ\u2019s Imbulgoda\nmarch was against a Tamil Federal scheme. But villagers were confused as to why\nMarxists became an appendage to the Tamil state party of Chelvanayagam. With\nstories such as Marxists shouted at Sir D.B. calling him an abittaya<\/em> (because he grew up in a temple\natmosphere as a child), and they called King Dutugemunu a gadol modaya<\/em> (fool of bricks) Marxism became an engine on logs (kota uda).<\/em> But they went on tours to\nadmire the pyramids!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With only an appointed, not voter elected position, minister V is\nrepeating history. He has taken upon his shoulders the baggage abandoned by G.\nL. Peiris. In Buddhism no two persons are equal, and therefore, providing\nequality of opportunity to its people by a government following western\ndemocratic principles had no conflict within Buddhist society. It is the aspirations\nof individual (in the sense of personal needs and wants) Tamil, Sinhala, and\nMuslim, not the aspirations of IC, Tony Blair, the American ambassador or\nPrabakaran that minister V should talk about. For that he does not have to\nresurrect the Neelan-GL package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Kalukondayawe Pannasekera\nThero and suriya mal viyaparaya<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. K started a village development and crime eradication movement\nin the 1940s with Justice Akbar, ASP Osmond de Silva, and lots of Tamils. Ven.\nK faced all kinds of obstruction from the colonial government and the CCS\ncrowd. At that time LSSP was also engaged in Malaria control work and suriya\nmal selling. If Marxists were not blinded by the dogmas of Trotsky and Stalin,\nthey could have become little Ho Chi Minh\/s in Ceylon, where nationalism and socialism\n(not Marxism) worked hand in hand. Instead, the uncles of minister V, became\nalienated from the villagers like water and oil. What V is doing today will\nmake him an anti-Mahinda Chinthanaya agent within the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F=U formula<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Chairman of APRC thinks that the words federal and unitary\nhave lost their meanings over the passage of time,\u201d then we need God Vishnu\u2019s\nhelp to help him. This is a lesson at grade 9 level Civics. The self-appointed\njack-of-all-trades Carlo Fonseka has recently pointed out at a book launching\nwhy devolution (F not U) is needed for social order based on his analysis of\nBuddhism\u2019s three klesas\u201d (lobha-dosa-moha<\/em>)\u201d\n(Island, 3\/25\/2007). Thus, Carlo is a fellow Marxist available to V for a quick\nlesson on Buddhism, only a phone call away. There is also a book by the law\nprofessor Lakshman Marasinghe (the evolution of constitutional governance in Sri Lanka,\n2006).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did minister V explain his F=U formula to the Mahanayakes? F\u201d is a\npolitical marriage contract in modern politics. U\u201d on the other hand is Buddhist\npolitics such as the King allowing persecuted coastal Catholics or Muslims to\nlive in his kingdom or temple priests in remote areas giving food and lodging\nto Christian priests from Colombo or Galle who went on head\nhunting trips. Could V think of any example from anywhere in the world where Sinhala,\nTamil, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim people lived in harmony despite an\nactive separatist agitation since 1918? It was the Colombo ruling families who ruined this\nharmony after 1931.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An F\u201d marriage cannot work when one of the partners has a paramour.\n The IC solution to Sri Lanka is\nunique in that two parties living in one house is asked to go to two houses for\nthe happiness of both. Unfortunately, a marriage cannot be saved that way. Hence,\neven Lakshman Kadiragamar was wrong in proposing an F\u201d solution. An F\u201d\nsolution based on language differences (as in India since 1956) is a slippery\npath with no end in sight. Indian F\u201d model is the best example. Indian army is\nfighting against separatism all over India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An F\u201d creates two or more units which have some powers that cannot\nbe taken back from them permanently forever. The egg is scrambled. As the\nasymmetrical package dealer G. L. Peiris once confessed, the F is a risky path,\nonce taken the egg cannot be unscrambled. F is like a roach motel- you see the\nroach entering but no returning back. Unlike the notorious CFA 2002 or the\nmerger, F is a one-way path.,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upatissa damanaya<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did APRC ignore 800 or so people\u2019s proposals? What is the reason\nfor a hurried solution? Where is the home-grown solution? Does minister V\nbelieve in Buddhist economics discussed in Schumacher\u2019s Small Is Beautiful\n(1973) or in Buddhist politics? One example was Buddha\u2019s advice to Ajathashatru,\nthe king of Magadha, when\nthe latter had a war plan to capture the Lichchavi kingdom of Koshala.\nIt was Buddhist democracy in 500 B.C. After all, the reasonableness doctrine,\ncompromise in modern democracy, is the Middle Path in Buddhism.  Why cannot V use either the Nalagiri<\/em> or Angulimala damanaya<\/em> in dealing with Tony Blair, TNA or Prabakaran?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mahinda Chintanaya is nothing but an application of our\n2500-year- old traditions of living in harmony with other human beings (be they\nHelanic or Roman or Muslim traders, Tamil invaders or plantation coolies, Malay\nsoldiers or Portuguese who came with Bible and sword, Burghers and NGO\nevangelists) which got twisted in the hands of Colombo black whites (since\n1833) and Marxist preachers (since 1935). APRC or its expert committees do not\nhave people who read the Ummagga Jathakaya as high school students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White man\u2019s burden (1905-2007)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is minister V in a hurry? Is it because more and more time means\nless and less time for the Prabakaran episode? The IC does not want a total\nremoval of the cancer of terrorism. They want a second Vadamarachchi in 2007.\nThey want him in a three-piece suit flanked by his western-educated children.\nWhy? Is there any connection to the theory of the White man\u2019s burden of 1905?\nIs there any influence from White evangelism of Blair or Bush as outlined by\nthe Polish Pope John Paul II when he visited India\nin 1999 (evangelization of Asia)? Pope\u2019s\npropaganda cabinet minister with a grand budget has his office located in Ratnapura.\nOr was it the clash of civilization\u201d thesis of the Harvard professor Huntington (1993)? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balkanization of Sri Lanka\nis a short cut to India.\nThe world federation of Tamils wants a separate state, and Tamil Nad opposes\nHindia\u2019s intrusions. In Trincomalee harbor even nuclear submarines could hide\nin deep under sea troughs as revealed by the former CCS officer Neville\nJayaweera who is now running a Christian communications network from England.\nSo, there is great temptation all around that probably escapes from minister\nV\u2019s radar screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India is a\nmyth\u201d – Indian National Congress (1885) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does V know about the separatist paradigm in Tamil Nad and Sri Lanka?\nIt began in Tamil Nad in 1917 and one year later in 1918 it came to Ceylon.\nIn India the colonial master openly promoted separatism stating that India is\na myth.\u201d They promoted a Pakistan.\nIn Tamil Nad separatism grew to the extent that even the Ramayanaya story was\nchanged making Ravana a Tamil king who fought against the evil doers of Rama\nand Seetha (Adam and Eve?)! Prabakaran is thus a Ravana prince more than a new Chola\nking with a cyanide pill on his neck. In the past it was Sivaji Ganeshan or MG\nRamachandran (born in Kandy)\nwho acted as Ravana in popular Tamil Nad movies. A former SP of NP recently\nnoted how Jaffna Tamil boys went in the morning by boats to Tamil Nad to see\nopening afternoon show and return home in the night!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minority-majority complex<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the total silence of Colombo NGO peace mudalalis with\nwestern Ph.D.s and the Marga Institute, not to produce papers\u201d on the impact\nof the Tamil Nad separatist agenda on Sri Lanka, from 1917 to 2007, there\nhad been a continuous flowing of two parallel streams of separatism poisoning\neach other. Thus, in 1949 SJV Chelvanayagam benefited from Tamil Nad\u2019s\nDravidasthan movement.\u201d In the late 1950s it was the anti-Hindi movement.\u201d\nWhen separatism was proscribed by the 16th constitutional amendment in 1963, it\ncame to the Kandyan areas in lock stock and barrel as the DMK threat and a Kallathoni\nproblem (Tennakoon Vimalananda, Dravida Munethra Kasagam Movement and the\nfuture of the Sinhalayas, Anula Press, Colombo, 1970).  In the 1980s separatism went back to India,\nofficially, with MGR and Indira Gandhi sponsoring it with surface to air\nmissiles. After the murder of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 there was a set back but in an\nera of coalition governments in Delhi, Tamil Nad voting block has become more\npowerful than the power of Delhi to use or abuse the presidential rule to discipline\nunruly regional politicians (Article 356). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil Nadu time bomb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil Nad is in such volatile state that Delhi is now surviving by\ncapitalizing on the rival demands of its present or former chief ministers to\narrest the other or to impose the presidential rule. At least two major caste\ngroups are demanding two separate states within Tamil Nad. It is only a matter of\ntime a future Prabakaran takes control of Tamil Nad politics which is driven by\nsex scandals and family affairs. The common criminal Veerappan incident\n(Saradeal or Robinson Crusoe) demonstrated how easily and quickly separatist\nsentiments could be utilized to overthrow the corrupt and inefficient political\nestablishment in Tamil Nad. The Janatha Party leader Subramanium Swamy\u2019s recent\nbook (Sri Lanka in crisis: India\u2019s options, 2006; (Island, 3\/21\/2007) should be\nan eye-opener to minister V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Himalaya and Pidurutalagala<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does V provide an adequate mechanism to prevent secessionist attempts\nunder the geopolitical conditions mentioned above? He says there are two\nsafeguards: (1) the president can deploy the army and (2) he can dissolve the\nprovince and take over the administration. Minister V must be kidding. Even\nunder the 13th<\/sup> amendment which is not an F but U condition according\nto V or Carlo Fonseka or another law professor Lakshman Marasinghe (Daily\nMirror, 3\/9\/2007), the chief minister Vartharaja declared UDI and fled to\nIndia. Where would be the IC if it happens again? Once minister V allowed the\nprovince to do everything it needed to be on the separatist path, the province\nwill appeal to IC for help or justice. It will say the president is not allocating\nsufficient volume of water from the Mahaveli River and the IC and UNO will\nintervene. As Marx said people also suffer from the dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of India\neach state is a small fraction of the goliath. This is why comparing Indian F\nand its article 356 with a Sri Lanka F is like comparing the Himalayas\nwith Pidurutalagala because both are mountains. Minister V must be more careful\nthan Anandasangaree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional Tamil homeland\n\u2013 cart before the horse (1976-2007)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does V reject the proposition that there is a traditional Tamil\nhomeland in the Eastern\n Province? Is he willing\nto make that rejection the foundation stone of his proposal? V should not first\nget his scheme approved and say that the issue of re-merger will be discussed\nlater. Re-merger means acceptance of a homeland. Homeland theory is a colonial\nwestern idea. This was what the Neelan-GL package wanted. Neelan went even\nfurther and refused to accept the Pondicherry sub-model of the Indian F\u201d model\nbecause his homeland would then look like a moth-eaten patch of land with\nMuslim and Sinhala Pondicherry units\u201d. V will be putting the cart before the\nhorse if he does not clearly understand this issue. If V\u2019s constitution is\nsilent on homelands now, and if later it comes up making a giant N-E unit, then\nthe Trincomalee state will be as big as the Colombo state. With Malayanadu in\nbetween Colombo\narmy will be no match to Trinco power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a daydream of a Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinist. V does not\nhave to believe what the retired geography professor G. H. Peiris wrote in his\nbook (2006). He could read what the Scotman Paul Harris has written on the\nsubjects of Malayandu youth unrest and Oluvil Muslim radicals. If V accepts FP,\nTULF, TNA and Anandasangaree versions of a homeland then V cannot stop\nhomelands for Muslims, Indian Tamils or Christians in Negombo or Tamils in\nWellawatte. He will get an F\u201d grade from the IC crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discrimination against the\nmajority (1505-1931)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

V says there are about 27 other countries which have veered away\nfrom U status towards F states to prevent separation. Without a list of these\ncountries, one cannot comment on this point. In the Fiji\nIslands or in Malaysia there were attempts of\nseparation. In the Fiji\ncase the army arrested the Indian-backed prime minister for anti-national work\nagainst the native Fijians. In Sri Lanka Tamils and Muslims enjoy more rights\nthan any where else in the world. In Colombo, the richest are the Tamils and\nMuslims. Thus, when Karuna says in 2007 or when the JVP said in 1971 or 1988\ngive us what Colombo gets\u201d (kolambata\nkiri apita kakiri <\/em>–Youth Commission\nReport, March,1990, p. xvii))<\/em> there is\/was no ethnic discrimination.\nInstead, the truth is that the Colombo class has been controlling 95% of the people,\nwhich became worse under the globalization game and the 1978 Dharmista samajaya<\/em> gimmick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Section 29(4) of the Soulbury\nConstitution did not allow the removal of five centuries of discrimination\nagainst the majority community which is allowed and implemented in other\ncountries that faced similar situations where the majority was the victim. The\nShia majority in Iraq complained that the Sunni minority mistreated and killed\nthem. South Africa\nhad the same problem. In Russia, the party members were the minority who\nexploited the majority citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macaulay\u2019s grandchildren (1840s)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

V says, if the minorities don\u2019t get the power they need, the only\nsolution is separation.\u201d Can V say that the majority got the power? Who got\npower after 1931 or after 1833? A group of white-kissing Colombo families who\nused Buddhist masks after 1931, got power. A group of Colombo Tamils who used the\nlanguage card to prevent the poor Tamil learning Sinhala, but gave Sinhala\nprivate tuition to their children, got power. The question is would this\nColombo control change under V\u2019s proposal? Rather than re-inventing the\nNeelan-GL package, V should ask a set of new questions. He has become a\nprisoner in trying to provide new answers to his old questions. Does he know\nthat by sheer mismanagement the Colombo\nblack whites ruined the country?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*1. they destroyed the structural\ndemocracy<\/em> of the island since the early 1960s, after the 1962 Coup (the\nseparation of powers doctrine started in 1802 when North was the governor, and\nthe rule of law);<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. JRJ killed territorial\ndemocracy<\/em> after 1978 with a bahubootha\nVyavastava,\u201d<\/em> electoral system that robbed people of their representative\ndemocracy, and by demolishing the VC-TC local government system;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. In the 1980s village level civil administration was politicalized\nby increasing the number of GSN units from 4,000 to a mind-boggling 14,006\n(each GSN unit has a GSN, Samurdhi Niladharee and a mid-wife);<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. A corruption trinity of AGA-local MP-NGO agent (Colombo peace\nmudalalis or evangelists) now runs the show. Each AGA unit (there are 319 of\nthem) has between 100-150 officers excluding teachers;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. the gap between Colombo and villages increased under\nglobalization and free trade;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. the divide between Colombo rich and village poor widened after\n1978;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vakarai IDP welfare money stolen by corrupt officers! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we need a hurried devolution package, based on the same Neelan-GL\nformula? Or should we take a holistic approach to handle this antho-jata-bahi-jatas<\/em> meta-problems? The\nV proposal in its present form will deliver an F\u201d to a group of Tamil\npoliticians, but it will not solve the mismanagement problems of the average\nperson, Sinhala or Tamil. This is the aspiration issue that V should think of.\nNot the aspirations of IC or Tony Blair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In India under\nthe language-based state reorganization, a new tier of local\/regional\npolitician class developed who began to challenge the Delhi political class. That brought an end to\nthe Congress Party control and created a sick Delhi center dependent on over 20 coalition\npartners. Indian poverty is still a major problem and politicians at all levels\nare thriving. Is this not what is happening in Sri Lanka after 1978?  Macaulay\u2019s grandchildren from all former\ncolonies flooded UN jobs just as white mayors in USA left the major cities leaving\nthem for black or Hispanic minorities. For an outsider, minorities are mayors\nin all major US\ncities! Who are the children going to the future world leaders\u2019 summit in USA\n(Daily News, 7\/23\/2006)? How many Sri Lankan village boys got scholarships to\nHarvard or Oxford?\nJust see how Sri Lanka\u2019s\nSixth Great Force (janitors and housemaids in Arab countries) is treated by its\nColombo ruling\nfamilies? This is what minister V should consider as top priority not a\nPrabakaran solution within 60 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colebrook (1832) and Dixit\n(1987)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

V says Province is the devolution unit. Does he not accept that PC\nis a white elephant, and unwanted burden on people and the economy? Is there\nany scientific, ecological, social, or economic justification for this unit\nother than Rajiv Gandhi and Dixit forcing it on JRJ, Sri Lanka\u2019s kaputu bo tree<\/em>? V is taking the path of least resistance to achieve\nhis goal of paving the way for a Tamil homeland. Why did Colebrook divide the\nisland into five?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayub Khan\u2019s plan of\nOctober 26, 1959<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

V has proposed a 100-family Jana Sabha (JS) unit (ward) below Gam\nSabha (GS). From GS comes Pradeshiya Sabha (PS). A GS will according to V cover\nabout 2\/3 of one GSN unit. This is similar to what Ayub Khan proposed for Pakistan\nwhich was similar to the Soviet people\u2019s councils (Pakistan: old country\/new\nnation, Ian Stephens, Pelican, 1964, p. 314). The Ayub plan became too good to\nbe true and never implemented. He was talking of basic democracies\u201d with units\nof 800-1000 people. Instead of his own plan, if V decides to read the valuable\ndocument of the Local Government Reforms Commission (Sessional Paper No. 1 of 1999,\nthe Abhayewardhana report) he would become an expert in grass-roots politics. A.T.\nAriayaratne\u2019s 1988 book, The Power\nPyramid and the Dharmic Cycle\u201d<\/em> also gives a plan of action.  Another source is Arjuna Hulugalla of the\nCIMOGG who writes regularly with a unit plan leading to a District administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trinity of gama-vawa\n\u2013dagaba<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

V has a golden opportunity to link the Gama Naguma project just\ninaugurated under the Mahinda Chinthanaya with his mission as Chairman of APRC,\nif he comes out of his parity of status prison. Tamils have a homeland in Tamil\nNad. Muslims have Mecca\nand a billion muslims. Christians have Pope. Sinhala people and Sinhala\nBuddhist have this tiny island, 15 million and the ocean. Trostsky or Vishaka\nKumari Jayawardena (queen of Marxism in Ceylon) did not know this. The 2500-year-old\ncivilization of Sri Lanka should really be a UNECO heritage site. Just think of\nthe biso<\/em> kotuwa <\/em>or the Dambulla hydraulic lamp?  Rather than running with ghosts of SJV\nChelvanayagam or GG Ponnambalam, minister V should think of using his Marxist\nenergy to empower the Tamils, Sinhala and Muslim comrades at the trinity level,\nbecause, the dagaba was kovil, mosque or church at the grass roots level. Let\naspirations grow at the family and village level. Do not promote language-based\nseparation. Instead create language-blind developmental units. If in a village\nthe majority happens to be Tamil let them work on their aspirations from house-hold\nlevel upward to VC level. Several VCs can go to District level. Imposing a\nProvincial level unit on them by a Colombo\ngroup is not suitable in Sri Lankan case as there is the fear and danger of separation.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make a trip to New Zealand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because our trinity is tank (reservoir)-centered it fits very well\nwith the modern concept of river basin-based administrative units. New Zealand,\na tiny country like ours is using this concept. The geographer, Maddumabandara\nhas produced a river basin-based administrative system for Sri Lanka that V\nshould get his APRC and the expert lawyers to study. Because one cannot\nlegislate against geography, law in books cannot become law in action, if APRC\nchairman acts like a Colebrook in 2007. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Move the capital city to\nRaja Rata<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While developing the Southern Provinces the APRC should think about\nmoving the administrative capital to a location within the triangle of\nAnuradhapura-Vavuniya-Trincomalee on a 20-year plan. Let Tamil farmers in\nJaffna meet with Sinhala farmers in Hambantota by linking that capital with\nHambantota along the Mahaveli River by a railway line and a highway. By moving their\nscience and integration ministries to Raja Rata ASAP, the Marxists ministers\ncould win the hearts and minds of the janayas. This is what an APRC should\nreally be engaged in rather than re-dusting the old documents in Colombo houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. Wijeyawickrema<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

C. Wijeyawickrema USA Can a dog\u2019s tail straighten by keeping it inside a piece of bamboo tree? In America I see dog tails in all kinds of shapes due to human intervention. In China and Japan there was a time that young girls were subjected to customary \u2018feet-squeezing\u2019 therapy  to give them tiny, beautiful feet. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c-wijeyawickrema"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}