{"id":64736,"date":"2017-03-30T13:34:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T20:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=64736"},"modified":"2017-03-30T13:34:46","modified_gmt":"2017-03-30T20:34:46","slug":"wigneswaran-the-judge-who-forgot-the-whole-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/03\/30\/wigneswaran-the-judge-who-forgot-the-whole-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Wigneswaran: the judge who forgot \u2018the whole truth\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

A highly successful lawyer was once asked why he was not interested in becoming a judge.\u00a0 He had laughed, \u2018I would rather talk a load of rubbish all day than listen to a load of rubbish.\u2019\u00a0 Judges have to listen.\u00a0 That\u2019s their job.\u00a0 And one of the things they have to listen to day in and day out throughout their careers is the oath taken by witnesses to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.\u00a0Whatever else they may have forgotten, this they must remember.\u00a0 It is hard to believe that a Supreme Court judge could forget this basic element of judicial process, even if they know that those who swear thus don\u2019t always tell the truth.<\/p>\n

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C.V. WIgneswaran is not a judge.\u00a0 He\u2019s a politician.\u00a0 He can, therefore, avail himself of that sad and pathetic instrument that the two-bit members of his tribe frequently use: political license (to toss around half-truths, gloss over fact, ignore context, play to the gallery etc).\u00a0 But Wigneswaran used to be a judge.\u00a0 He would remember things, for example the line about \u2018truth\u2019 referred to above.\u00a0 Even if he had to listen to \u2018such rubbish\u2019 as a judge, being a judge he would be duty-bound and of course honor-bound to desist from indulging in the same.<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
“No reconciliation without justice,” he says
\nbut can there be justice without truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
Last week, at the UNUR Economic Engagement Programme held in Tellipalai, Wigneswaran made some very valid points.\u00a0 He is absolutely correct in some of his criticisms of the Peace Building Priority Plan Framework, or rather the preparation of it.\u00a0 Participation of key stakeholders in all post-war development planning is non-negotiable and the failure to do this was a serious error on the part of the previous regime.<\/div>\n
As he correctly points out, it is still not too late for this government to put things right on this account.\u00a0 Reconciliation demands the participation of those affected freely and dignifiedly, he says and he is absolutely correct. \u00a0<\/span>Although the people he represents do not make up all the numbers of the category \u2019those affected,\u2019 it is clear that they were among \u2018the victims\u2019 of a process which included the mindless brutality exerted on them by their self-appointed saviours, the LTTE (championed as such by Wigneswaran\u2019s party, let us not forget).\u00a0 These caveats are valid, but they do not constitute an argument for non-inclusion.\u00a0 The non-mentioning of them, however, does not help his cause, because \u2018truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth\u2019 is part and parcel of \u2018peace building\u2019 or \u2018reconciliation\u2019 or whatever it is you want to call this process.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Wigneswaran bemoans \u2018the lack of reference to the inclusion of War Crimes jurisdiction into Law, demilitarization, High Security Zones, and security sector reforms,\u2019 and the non-reiteration of \u2018the need to withdraw the Prevention of Terrorism Act\u2019.\u00a0 He also complains that the framework has no reference to \u2018war crimes accountability\u2019.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We do know that this government makes a lot of noise on all these subjects, but we do not know whether such matters were considered by those responsible for developing this framework.\u00a0 Prioritizing is no easy matter, one has to concede.\u00a0 What bites Wigneswaran does not necessarily have to bite others as well. \u00a0 It makes sense, post-war, to be serious in word and deed about demilitarization and security sector reforms.\u00a0 If anyone expects the government to toss \u2018security\u2019 into a policy dustbin that would be optimistic in most situations.\u00a0 On the other hand, this government does act as though security is no longer a concern and this fact alone gives credence to Wigneswaran\u2019s gripe. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In any event, as an elected representative, he has every right to demand representation in any body which deliberates on matters that impact the people he represents.\u00a0 No argument there.\u00a0 The problem is that he does not seem to understand that one cannot indulge in Eelamist posturing, sing hosannas to terrorists and be selective in recollection of the past, and at the same time expect his proposals to be championed to the exclusion of all others. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He makes some claims.\u00a0 Discrimination and a hegemonic attitude on the part of the Centre led to our initial disagreements and unpleasantness. It was the snowballing effect of such negative attitudes which led to violence. When violence was brought to an end with International help the means adopted at the tail end by our powers that be were dubious and brutal.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That\u2019s Wigneswaran\u2019s version of what happened.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
There\u2019s truth in it, but what he has said does not constitute the whole truth and nothing but the truth.\u00a0 The land-grab intent, the deliberate positing of myth as history and fiction as fact, the exaggerations that accompanied all this, the easy inter-change of \u2018grievance\u2019 and \u2018aspiration\u2019 and such also contributed to the \u2018snowballing effect\u2019.\u00a0 And it is not possible to blame snowball for all that the LTTE was and what it became. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Wigneswaran wants \u2018the diaspora\u2019 to be included.\u00a0 The logistical nightmare aside, why on earth should any government \u2018include\u2019 non-citizens.\u00a0 If they still hold citizenship or have dual-citizenship, such inclusion as proposed by Wigneswaran has to be preceded by a stringent screening process for the simple reason that \u2018the diaspora\u2019 (in the monolithic sense the term is used by Tamil Nationalists) was an important cog of the principal obstacle to peace and reconciliation, namely the LTTE.\u00a0 It would be a foolish government indeed that would \u2018include\u2019 such elements in any peace-building exercise.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But where he errs more (which by the way is hard to pardon for reasons expressed above) is when it comes to \u2018accountability\u2019.\u00a0 Wigneswaran, surprisingly, has treated the entire period of the war prior to \u2018the last days\u2019 as though not worthy of scrutiny.\u00a0 This is strange since there were serious crimes committed by security forces in the early days of the war. \u00a0 Those lives lost and the anguish caused as a result cannot be less important, surely? \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He focuses on \u2018the concluding stages\u2019.\u00a0 He speaks of \u2018attending to the psychological injuries caused by the war\u2019 during this period and places the totality of blame for \u2018brutality and extortion\u2019 on \u2018sections of the armed forces\u2019.\u00a0 This is where this ex-judge expunges the phrase\u00a0 \u2018the whole truth\u2019 from the transcript. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What was this \u2018last stage\u2019?\u00a0 Let us detail it. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the last stage, the LTTE continued to do what the LTTE had always done.\u00a0 Tamil children were abducted and forcibly recruited.\u00a0 Guns were thrust in their hands and they were sent in to battle.\u00a0 In the last stages the LTTE continued to plot acts of terrorism on civilian targets.\u00a0 In the last stages the LTTE help hundreds of thousands of Tamils hostage.\u00a0 In the last stages the LTTE prevented Tamil civilians who were forced to be part of its \u2018human shield\u2019 from fleeing to the relative safety of areas held by the security forces.\u00a0 The LTTE shot at those attempting to flee. In those very same \u2018last stages\u2019.\u00a0 In the last stages the LTTE sent children strapped with explosives which were then set off as they reached the \u2018receiving points\u2019 set up by the security forces, clearly with the intention of wrecking the process whereby civilians could get to safe areas.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The last stages constituted a massive and historic hostage rescue operation.\u00a0 In the last stages, judge, your party went pleading to anyone who was willing to listen to prevail on the then government to provide free passage to the hostage-takers.\u00a0 In the last stages the United States did its best to evacuate the hostages, possibly to \u2018be free to fight another day\u2019. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Remove all these elements from \u2018the last stage\u2019 and it\u2019s not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth that will be obtained.\u00a0 Remove them all, and yes, \u2018brutality\u2019 becomes the preserve of those who carried out the rescue operation at great cost.\u00a0 Remove all this and it will not be just those \u2018sections\u2019 of the armed forces who ought to be brought to justice for violating relevant laws, local and international, that will be punished, but the entire armed forces and every single citizen who stood for democracy over terrorism.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The pity of it all is that by using this brush of selectivity and in indulging in truth-twist, it is Wigneswaran who is most guilty of the very error he accuses other of: sweeping things under the carpet.\u00a0 The great pity of course is that this kind of concealment detracts from the most noble elements of his overall proposal.\u00a0 Simply, he denies himself the right to be taken seriously.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/b>RELATED ARTICLES<\/div>\n
The Sinhala and Tamil traces of the island’s history<\/a><\/div>\n
Wigneswaran and the puppeteering with ghosts<\/a><\/div>\n
The ‘national question’ and the vague-speak of Tamil ‘moderates’<\/a><\/div>\n
President Sirisena has spoken (on Eelamist myth-mongering)<\/a><\/div>\n
The quiet and shout of the racist label<\/a><\/div>\n
Let’s listen to Wigneswaran<\/a><\/div>\n
The NPC resolution is both a threat and an opportunity<\/a><\/div>\n
Truth and justice are un-deferrable\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
Resolving to hate<\/a><\/div>\n
Why Wiggy missed a train<\/a><\/div>\n
Wigneswaran’s framework<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/b>Wigneswaran’s double-speak and dilemmas<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer.\u00a0 Email: <\/i>malindasenevi@gmail.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Blog:<\/i>malindawords.blogspot.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 Twitter: malindasene<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne A highly successful lawyer was once asked why he was not interested in becoming a judge.\u00a0 He had laughed, \u2018I would rather talk a load of rubbish all day than listen to a load of rubbish.\u2019\u00a0 Judges have to listen.\u00a0 That\u2019s their job.\u00a0 And one of the things they have to listen to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-malinda-seneviratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64736","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=64736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}