If He is Bold the President
Must Stand up to the IC and Stand by the MC
Dilrook Kannangara
The saying goes; one who stands for nothing will fall for everything.
Unfortunately all the previous administrations that ruled this country
fell for everything the IC held out to them since they did not stand
by anything, most notably their own words. We had politicians who screamed
at the top of their voices about territorial integrity and sovereignty
only to let the very same destroy right in front their eyes; we had
politicians who promised peace and prosperity but delivered none; there
were worse politicians who avowed on the holy ‘Piruwana’ scripts
that they would never de-proscribe the LTTE only to eat their words
shamelessly. Now it is the turn of the peoples’ president to face
the challenge. The IC is trying all the tricks it knows to save the
gory tigers from sure extinction. One foreigner had tried the old trick
of the ‘Murunga’ (drumstick) tree by calling the President
bold enough to bring a political solution that serves only racial aspirations
of just one racial group living in the country to the detriment of the
others; especially the voters who voted for the President.
The President is bold if he can stand up to these ‘Begal’
(nonsense) and vile threats from the powerful IC and stand by the Mahinda
Chinathanaya (MC) that attracted much praise from helpless Sri Lankans.
Any donkey can yield to the pressures of the IC which is powerful, rich,
rewarding and assertive. On the other hand those who defend the nation
state of Sri Lanka are powerless, poor, have only the right to vote
to make them heard and silent. Therefore it needs a lot of courage,
resolve and boldness to stand by the poor and powerless voters vis-à-vis
the IC. If the President falls for the carrots offered (and the sticks)
by the IC, he stands to be rewarded with millions of dollars in aid,
wide-spread recognition, personal gratifications and the like. Conversely,
if he stands by the people, not only he stands to lose the gratifications
offered by the IC, he cannot get anything in return from the voters
other than their humble support to continue the good work.
If the incumbent president falls for the pressures of the IC, he is
no different to all the cowards who ruled Sri Lanka for the past 30
odd years who failed to solve the terrorist problem that has bled the
country. This resonates very well with the traditional Sri Lankan wisdom
beautifully encapsulated into the proverb ‘selfless service to
the word, fatal destruction to home’ (‘loketa parakase gedarata
maragathe’)!
The International community is divided into many different groups as
regards the Sri Lankan conflict. One prominent group that fought many
battles around the world from Korea to Vietnam and from Iraq to Afghanistan
and lost spectacularly. While practicing one solution to their wars,
they tell us not to wage war as it will bring a settlement to our problems.
Apart from this handful of nations, there are many others that have
not tried to interfere with the Sri Lankan problem. There are few other
countries that actively support the War on Real Terror launched by Sri
Lanka. Therefore, if one were to pin point at the IC and its demands
from Sri Lanka, he/she is going to get confused as the IC is shapely
divided on the issue. However, Sri Lankans are not divided or confused
over the issue, who the terrorists are and who the defenders of the
nation are; they have a clear vision as to what got to be done and hence
they overwhelmingly support the war effort. It should be emphasized
that just because one is born in Sri Lanka, he/she doesn’t become
a Sri Lankan in the true sense of the word. Only those who dream of
an undivided Sri Lanka with its natural boundaries are true Sri Lankans.
Many Tamil Elamists and Tamil Naduists conveniently hide behind the
term Sri Lankan only to obtain the maximum benefit and promote their
true nationalities.
The IC is harping on a ‘Tamil problem’. If there is such a
problem, what should Sri Lanka do that houses many other races? Nothing,
because it only affects less than 10% of its population and there are
problems (like the terrorist problem) that affect everyone. The so called
Tamil grievances cited by Tamil racial elements forget that the Sinhalese,
the Muslims, etc. also suffer from the same problems. Should the President
forget about the Sinhalese, the Muslims, etc. and their problems and
aspirations and come up with a ‘political solution’ that only
serves the Tamils? No; if he does, his solution will be torn into pieces
by a subsequent government, if at all it managed to survive the President’s
own government. Instead a bold national leader should stand up to the
IC and tell them that people belonging to other races too have similar,
if not graver problems.
We should also understand why the IC is so keen in solving ‘Tamil
problems’. There is a large contingent of Tamils in their own countries
and they are not willing to entertain the demands of these Tamils. Hence
they exert pressure on weak nations to do what they are not willing
to do in their own countries. This is no valid excuse for us to entertain
Tamil racial demands.
The President should also look at some other countries that successfully
overcame Tamil nationalism, most notably Malaysia. Did the highly intelligent
leaders of Malaysia ever compromise national interests to gratify these
separatists? No. Did they give in to the demands of these separatists
as a solution to the problem? No. Had they given in to the problem like
Sri Lankan leaders have done in the past, Malaysia would be infested
with not only Tamil separatism, but also, Chinese separatism and Islamic
fundamentalism.
Problems cannot be solved by yielding in to them. On the contrary, problems
must be solved in the national favour; otherwise they remain unsolved.
A race based political solution will only legalize racism that we effort
fully try to overcome; challenge the territorial integrity of the nation;
strengthen anti-national forces; ridicule the great sacrifices made
by the armed forces over 30 years; baffle pro-Sri Lankan Tamils who
have to put up with untold miseries, sufferings and marginalization
in their own country for standing by what is right. Therefore if the
elected president can shamelessly betray his voters and the election
manifesto (Mahinda Chinthanaya) and bow down to a race-based solution,
he becomes one of the past leaders who did same and fuelled the conflict.
On the part of the people it symbolizes a breakdown of the voter-decision
maker contract and the masses will have to reply by other means to cause
their concerns heard. Large scale strikes that cripple the economy,
public agitation campaigns, violent protests and the like will greet
the cowards who succumb to international pressure to the detriment of
their voters. Pro-government forces used to tell the people not to engage
in these disruptive acts during the war. But they fail to realize that
if the government is going to give away the country in a platter, there
is no sense in fighting a war. If the proposed political solution compromises
on national aspirations and interests, it is nothing short of a Mahadenamutta
solution executed by King Kekille.
Therefore the President should not be carried away by false praises
and vile threats made by the international community. If the IC is genuine
it would tell the President to listen to his heart and the people to
find a political solution! But the IC would never ever tell so as it
knows too well that yielding to racial aspirations can only aggravate
the problem and that is exactly what they want. Can the IC bypass the
voters’ right of decision making (through their elected representatives)
and rout the peoples’ mandate given to the President?
Whatever the political solution is, it cannot solve the gravest problem
faced by the country caused by a bunch of gory terrorists; only a military
solution can do that.
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