{"id":96846,"date":"2019-12-24T23:44:39","date_gmt":"2019-12-25T05:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96846"},"modified":"2019-12-24T16:23:42","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T23:23:42","slug":"ninety-four-percent-voted-for-one-country-one-law-so-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/24\/ninety-four-percent-voted-for-one-country-one-law-so-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Ninety four percent voted for \u2018One Country, One Law,\u2019 so there!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\n\nThe recently held \npresidential election, like all major elections, was a hard fought \naffair. In terms of who supported whom, historical antipathy, who wanted\n to remain in power and who wanted to assume power, there were \ndifferences. Well, the candidates themselves, outside of their political\n homes, were also different in the way they conducted themselves and of \ncourse their track records. Apart from all these rather trivial \ndifferences actually, Sajith Premadasa and Gotabaya Rajapaka had more \nthings in common than has been acknowledged by either or their \nsupporters, especially when it comes to policy issues.\n\n
\n\nBoth\n promised goodies. Sure, Sajith went a bit overboard with such things, \nas he did with almost everything, but still, \u2018welfarism\u2019 was a key part \nof both manifestos.  Both \ncandidates said that if elected they would review all bilateral \nagreements. The point of reference was the Millennium Challenge \nCorporation Compact (MCC Compact). They both believe, sadly, in \ngrowth-led development. Both, happily (the way I see things), spoke in \none voice about the legal system in the country. Apart from promising \nthe independence of the judiciary, due process, rule of law etc., they \nboth assured the electorate that the future, in terms of legal matters, \nwould be framed by the following: ONE COUNTRY, ONE LAW!  \n\n
\n\nA\n total of 6.9 million voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa while Sajith \nPremadasa obtained 5.7 million votes. That\u2019s 12.6 million. There were \naltogether 35 candidates. They either echoed this vision in their \nmanifestos and rhetoric or were silent. In other words, at least 12.6 \nmillion people or 94.24% of the total number who cast valid votes \n(52.25% for Gotabaya and 41.99% for Sajith), voted for candidates who \nbelieved that Sri Lanka is a SINGLE COUNTRY and therefore should have \nONE LAW for all.    \n\n

\n\nWhat does it mean, though? \n\n
\n\nBefore\n answering that question, let\u2019s flag some slogans frequently tossed \naround by the class-less, identity-less, religion-less saints who are \nfond of blaming all ills on the majority community: \u2018There should not be\n a special place for Buddhism,\u2019 \u2018This is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious\n country,\u2019 \u2018Article 9 should be repealed,\u2019 \u2018religion should be separated\n from the state,\u2019 \u2018Sri Lanka should be a secular state.\u2019\n\n
\n\nFine. \n\n
\n\nFirst\n of all, is there any county with a population at least as large as Sri \nLanka\u2019s that is mono-ethnic, mono-religious and monolithic in terms of \npolitical beliefs? No. We are multi-ethnic and multi-religious. Should \nthe fact be enshrined in a constitution? Should we also say \u2018Sri Lanka \nis an island?\u2019 No. Should we say \u2018In Sri Lanka there are men and women?\u2019\n No. More importantly, if you are really fixated with this \nmulti-religious, multi-ethnic wording, the you have to insert the \nnumbers as well, for clarity if not for anything else.  Otherwise,\n the impression given is that the population is equally divided into \nethnic groups and religious communities, much like how the use of the \nwords \u2018North\u2019 and \u2018South\u2019 during Sri Lanka\u2019s long struggle against \nterrorism gave the mischievous impression that Sinhalese and Tamils were\n equal in numerical strength and that the relevant \u2018homelands\u2019 could be \ndemarcated by drawing a horizontal line perpendicular to the half way \npoint in a line connecting Devundara and Point Pedro. \n\n
\n\nWhat\n Gotabaya and Sajith (and other candidates) promised is that there would\n be a single corpus of laws. In other words, what applies to a Sinhalese\n would apply to a Tamil, what applies to a Hindu would apply to a \nMuslim, etc. In other words, the fundamental concept of \u2018Equality\u2019 \nshould be applied across the board. \n\n
\n\nThe\n next question is \u2018what IS this One Law\u201d?\u2019 C.V. Wigneswaran delivering \nthe Kanthaiah Sivanantham Memorial lecture about a decade ago \nvociferously defended the Thesawalamai Law. He maintained that it would \nprotect even non-Tamils who purchase property in areas that come under \nthis law. Well, it is arguable that there could be laws that help \nstrengthen community integrity. If that\u2019s the case, such laws could \ncover the entire country. The same would go for, say, Sharia Law or the \nKandyan Marriage Law. We don\u2019t have to throw away the Muslim Marriage \nand Divorce Ordinance. We could expand its ambit to cover all religious \ncommunities and atheists too!  \n\n
\n\nAlternatively,\n and this seems to be the most logical course of action, all such \nregional, ethnicity or religion based laws should be repealed. What \napplies in the general should not be trumped by the specific.  \n\n
\n\nBut\n then again, horror of horrors (some might whine), wouldn\u2019t that hurt \ncustoms, religious practices and culture of some communities? Well, \nthere\u2019s give and take. There\u2019s having the cake and trying to eat it too.\n You want \u2018secular\u2019? Fine. You want \u2018secular\u2019 for some but not for \nothers? No. The truth is that there is celebration of specificity and \nthere’s also abuse of specificity. \n\n
\n\nWhat\n is held sacrosanct by each religious community should not be brushed \naside. Agreed. However, it is humbuggery of the highest order to demand \nsensitivity (and secularism) in the name  of\n reconciliation and co-existence and then use sensitivity as a cover to \nchop off other people\u2019s noses so you can have more room to flex your \nmuscles \u2018freely\u2019.  \n\n
\n\nThere\u2019s\n something wrong, for example, in saying \u2018equal rights for all \ncommunities, but not when it comes to gender,\u2019 using these \u2018sensitive\u2019 \nreligious \u2018edicts\u2019.  \n\n
\n\nThese\n are not easily resolved, of course. All the more reason for these \nissues to be widely debated and taken seriously, instead of taking the \neasy path of, say, repealing Article 9 (but leaving Thesavalamai, MMDC \nand the Kandyan Marriage Laws untouched, [Aha!].\u2019  \n\n
\n\nReligious\n freedom is non-negotiable. The parameters of \u2018religion\u2019 need to be \nfixed, though. You cannot have a set of laws that has any reasonable \ndegree of integrity if there are \u2018religious\u2019 caveats through which \ncertain people can creep through but others cannot. Religious \ncommunities in a \u2018multi-religious\u2019 (that term!) nation cannot have it \nall for this would mean, theoretically, that in the name of religion \ncertain groups can enjoy privileges that are denied other religious \ngroups, or that women of a particular faith are subjugated in specific \nways in which others are not. \n\n
\n\nReligious\n holidays tell the story best. There are 13 Buddhist holidays, three for\n Hindus, 54 for Christians and three for Muslims. Hold on, there\u2019s more.  Muslims\n are given two hours of leave from 1 pm every Friday. That\u2019s the \nequivalent of 13 work days if you want to be mathematically clinical \nabout such things. During the Ramadan period, Muslims have the privilege\n of obtaining \u2018special leave\u2019 to take part in prayers. A Muslim woman is\n given leave of four months and ten days in the event her husband dies \nand three months following divorce.  \n\n
\n\nIf\n you want \u2018One country, one law,\u2019 and if you want Sri Lanka to be \n\u2018secular,\u2019 then this religion-fixation should be dissolved. If you are a\n devout adherent to a religious faith, it\u2019s fine. Just do it on your \ntime. Take leave to observe sil. <\/em>\n Take leave on Good Friday and Christmas. Take short-leave to go to the \nmosque. Take leave for Ramadan. Take leave and grieve if your husband \npasses away. Take leave if you find it hard to deal with divorce. \n\n
\n\nThe\n best would be to apportion a certain number of days under \u2018Religious \nLeave\u2019 (which could be broken down to hours if needed) for everyone, \njust like Annual Leave, Sick Leave and Short-Leave. \n\n
\n\nIf\n you want to leave such things as they are and at the same time beat \nyour chest and stamp your foot for secularism, you are indulging in the \nworst kind of buffoonery. As things stand, it\u2019s all about having the \ncake and eating it. It boils down to removing Article 9 (which, in any \ncase, is negated by Articles 10 and 14), whacking Buddhists and allowing\n other religious communities to entrench the privileged positions \nalready enshrined in the Constitution.  \n\n
\n\nWell,\n the people have spoken, haven\u2019t they? We are talking of 12.6 million \n(or 94.24% of those who voted). They subscribe to the ONE COUNTRY, ONE \nVOTE notion. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has the mandate. And the \nUnited National Party (UNP) is honor-bound to support implementation.\n\n
This article was first published in the ‘SUNDAY MORNING’ [December 22, 2019]<\/em>malindasenevi@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>. www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne The recently held presidential election, like all major elections, was a hard fought affair. In terms of who supported whom, historical antipathy, who wanted to remain in power and who wanted to assume power, there were differences. Well, the candidates themselves, outside of their political homes, were also different in the way they […]<\/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-96846","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\/96846","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=96846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}