{"id":96205,"date":"2019-12-09T17:02:51","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T00:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96205"},"modified":"2019-12-09T17:02:51","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T00:02:51","slug":"the-13th-amendment-and-moral-obligations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/09\/the-13th-amendment-and-moral-obligations\/","title":{"rendered":"The 13th Amendment and moral obligations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\n\nMano Ganesan, \nleader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) believes that \u2018India has \nthe moral duty and political right towards the Tamils of the North and \nEast since the 13th Amendment is the child of the Indo-Lanka Accord.\u2019\n\n
\n\nPrime\n Minister Modi, when he met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Delhi, \nflagged the 13th Amendment. That \u2018flagging\u2019 (of a dead horse, should we \nadd?) has excited Tamil politicians. M.A. Sumanthiran and S Sritharan of\n the Tamil National Alliance have spoken about \u2018Indian pressure\u2019 almost \nas a given, something wholesome and necessary. They, like others, have \noften talked of the 13th Amendment as \u2018just a start\u2019. That\u2019s \nChelvanayakam\u2019s ghost talking, \u2018a little now, more later\u2019.\n\n
\n\nWell,\n we\u2019ve had the 13th Amendment for 30 years now. It was not an Indian \nbaby nor an Indo-Lankan baby. In real terms it was Rajiv Gandhi\u2019s first \nstep in extending India\u2019s hegemony in the region. He famously said \u2018This\n is the beginning of the Bhutanization of Sri Lanka!\u2019 But then again, \narm-twisting aside, the accord certainly carries the Indian signature.  Does that give India a \u2018moral authority\u2019 to see it implemented?\n\n
\n\nIf\n we talk moral authority, then we need to consider the Indo-Lanka Accord\n not as an inflation of favorite parts but its entirety. Part of the \nagreement was for India to disarm the LTTE. India didn\u2019t hold up that \nend of the bargain. The moral authority argument ends just there.  \n\n
\n\nNow\n all provincial councils, set up in accordance with the Indo-Lanka \nAccord and the 13th Amendment, are dissolved. Indeed, some were \ndissolved a couple of years ago. The administrative arm of the state \ncontinued to function, however. So far, no complaints. No agitation for \nelections, not from the democracy-darlings fronting for the United \nNational Party (UNP) whenever its political fortunes seemed to be going \ndown the tube and not even from the raucous Tamil communalist \npoliticians screaming \u2018India\u2019s Baby, India\u2019s Baby!\u2019 \n\n
\n\nIt\n is not, let us repeat, India\u2019s baby. The people of Sri Lanka never \nwanted it. Their views weren\u2019t obtained. The 13th Amendment was \nillegally enacted and in a scandalous rush to boot. To claim that India \nstill has some stake on account of an Accord that died the day the \nIndian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) left the island, is silly or else \nsycophantic. To plead for Indian \u2018pressure\u2019 so that Sri Lanka\u2019s \npolitical landscape can be altered can be read, if one were generous, as\n a sign of helplessness.  Another reading is possible: par for the course of Tamil communal politicians. \n\n
\n\nThe\n Tamil nationalist formula would retire for a considerable period of \ntime any chance of inter-communal reconciliation. That\u2019s a recipe for \npolitical instability. A weak, unstable state is of course something \nthat may make certain Indians salivate, but Narendra Modi would know \nthat desperate leaders could willingly barter sovereignty and much else \nbesides to the highest bidder. Indians talk about China\u2019s footprint in \nSri Lanka. Indians aren\u2019t exactly cheering on USA\u2019s designs via SOFA and\n the MCC Compact either. \n\n
\n\nAll\n that is external. There\u2019s an internal element here. Sri Lanka. Sri \nLankans. Defunct provincial councils that\u2019s not inspiring any whines \nfrom any quarter.  A Tamil \nnationalist project based on a myth model that has served only the petty\n projects of two-bit Tamil politicians. A war waged by warriors spawned \nless by Sinhala chauvinism than Tamil nationalist who nurtured in THAT \nbaby unrealistic aspirations. A nation that requires healing.  \n\n
\n\nInterestingly,\n the communalism and the anti Sinhala and anti Buddhist rhetoric have \nall been couched in the language of oneness, secularism and almost an \nerasure of identity. Well, erasure of all identities except those of the\n non Sinhala and non Buddhist sections of the population. \u2018ONE SRI \nLANKA!\u2019 they shout, but not exactly in undertones interject \u2018Tamil \nNational Identity,\u2019 and Religious Identity (yes, all religious \ncommunities except Buddhists). Having the cake and eating it. Trying to \nride two donkeys with one backside. \n\nThe\n abolition of the 13th is necessary on account of its unholy enactment \nand failure to resolve issues that have been mislabeled. Would that sort\n matters out? Obviously not. Neither will \u2018development.\u2019 There\u2019s an \nissue of belonging which the \u2018full implementation of the13th\u2019 cannot \nresolve (because it was ill-conceived and utterly out of sync with \ngeographic, economic, demographic and historical realities). It is \nnevertheless an issue that requires priority attention.\n\n
\n\nPresident\n Rajapaksa has referred to \u2018inclusive nationalism\u2019. What\u2019s inclusive \nhere? Is it for the subjugation of all identities, communal and \nreligious, to some vague notion of \u2018Sri Lanka\u2019 and \u2018Sri Lankanness\u2019? Is \nit some kind of ethnic assimilation, which is another term for gradual \nand\/or coerced dissolution of minority identity in that of the majority \ncommunity? Is it a celebration of all identity communities? He has not \nspelled it all out. Not yet. \n\n
\n\nHowever,\n if there is to be a Sri Lanka which is inclusive, then an important \nnon-negotiable would be the full restoration of Rule of Law and ensuring\n the absolute independence of the judiciary, quite apart from addressing\n and resolving representational anomalies (and not just on the subject \nof identity).  \n\n
\n\nThis\n country is made of a lot of things and people are one element. There \nare resources that have to be protected and used in ways that are \nwholesome. There is talent that goes unnoticed and eventually wasted \nbecause the talented are not \u2018properly\u2019 positioned or are made invisible\n by certain structures and processes. There are notions of \u2018development\u2019\n that are inclusive and those that result in costs that are not counted \nor are ignored out of boorishness, ignorance or simply because people \ndon\u2019t want to deal with inconvenient truths. \n\n
\n\nPresident\n Rajapaksa may or may not have a comprehensive understanding of \n\u2018nation\u2019. One hopes he does, because that would be a good thing. Then he\n would not \u2018forget\u2019 anyone. He would not forget things like carbon \nneutrality. He would not forget history and heritage. He would not make \nanyone feel a lesser citizen or one who has to depend on the largesse of\n someone else. \n\n
\n\nHe\n has told Prime Minister Modi (and also others who take note) that he \nwill speak his mind. This is a good thing. We\u2019ve had politicians of all \nhues promising the undeliverable, to one and all. The UNP in particular \nhas hoodwinked the Tamils (going by patterns of loyalty in elections) \ninto believing that their grievances will be redressed and aspirations \nrealized. \n\n
\n\nIn\n any event, obtaining such inclusivity will be difficult because of the \n13th Amendment (among other things). Simply because it was a monumental \nblunder and an affront to reason. Thirty years is long enough for people\n to realize this. Keep it, and Tamil communalists will stand on it and \nscream. Take it out and the true dimensions of grievance have a chance \nof being articulated, i.e. the frills will be done away with.  \n\n
\n\nIt\u2019s\n not India\u2019s baby now, anyway. India is out of the equation and can \nclaim equation-residence only on account of nostalgia or hegemonic \nintent. Modi is obviously far too intelligent for such puerile \nindulgences. No, it is not India\u2019s baby. It\u2019s Sri Lanka\u2019s irrational \nirritation.  \n\n
\n\nIf\n India insists on the 13th or some version along those lines as price \nfor \u2018help\u2019 then Sri Lanka, which cannot really declare war on India, \nshould say \u2018udau epa\u2026.vadath epaa\u2019 <\/em>(Help? Thank you, but no. Just don\u2019t harass us).  \n\n
\n\nSumanthiran\n has expressed hope that the new President will engage with his party. \nNothing wrong in that. Indeed, it would be good for the President to \nmeet the TNA and other parties representing districts that rejected him \nin favor of Sajith Premadasa. He can listen to them. He can tell him his\n story and his plans.  \n\n
\n\nThose\n plans, whatever they are, cannot be about the Tamils and Muslims only. \nThey will have to be about the Sinhalese too. And they will tell us what\n he thinks about categories of people outside of ethnic and religious \ncolors. The \u2018ethnic\u2019 and \u2018religious\u2019 let us not forget have stolen \ncenter-stage to the point that many subjugated and neglected communities\n have been made invisible. A nationalism that includes Tamils, Muslims, \nSinhalese and other identity based groups but excludes the many \nunderclasses whose woes are forgotten or imagined not to exist, will be \npartial inclusivity. That won\u2019t do.  \n\n
\n\nIndia\n has certain moral obligations, I\u2019m sure. Indians would know them. \nGotabaya Rajapaksa has moral obligations. That\u2019s obtained from manifesto\n and tested in implementation of the same. He\u2019s known to be a \nworkaholic. Let\u2019s see how he works and whether or not it will work.\n\n

malindasenevi@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>. <\/em>
<\/em>This article was first published in the Sunday Observer [December 8, 2019]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne Mano Ganesan, leader of the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) believes that \u2018India has the moral duty and political right towards the Tamils of the North and East since the 13th Amendment is the child of the Indo-Lanka Accord.\u2019 Prime Minister Modi, when he met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Delhi, flagged the 13th Amendment. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96205","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\/96205","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=96205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}