Columns
Freedom, where are the joys that free men have sung in thy name?
This Wednesday morning as President Maithripala Sirisena hoists the Lion flag of Lanka to mark the 67th year of independence from the British Raj, no doubt his eyes will rest on the yellow and green strips of colour that symbolise the presence of the two minority communities – the Tamils and the Muslims — who have shared the land with the Sinhalese and together have undergone the trials and tribulations this nation has endured for centuries.
Twenty six days after being sworn in as President, the immensity of his victory made possible by the combined support of all communities that comprise the citizenry of Lanka will further be reinforced as will be the enormity of the burden he must bear not only as the guardian of the majority Sinhalese but also as the champion of the rights of the minorities.
But to the fallen, still nursing their wounds after last month’s licking at the polls, the spectacle of defeat has been too much to bear, too painful to consider rationally. With sweet grapes turned suddenly sour in their fulminating mouths, they pooh-poohed Maithripala’s clear and convincing victory as one that was only won because of the minority vote. They missed the point entirely even as they missed the bus completely in the first past the post election race when they failed to realise or refused to admit that the election of the Sri Lankan President is not the sole prerogative of one community but of all Lankans.
The Mahinda Chinthanaya held the means to election victory were to beat the ragged skin off the much banged drum of jingoism, to appeal solely to Sinhalese chauvinistic sentiments in the vain belief that the majority Sinhalese could be doused in the oil of patriotism, fired by bellicose bigotry, and roused to cast their vote blindly in such sufficient numbers that the Sinhala vote alone would suffice to claim the crown of Lanka.
The pathetic epitaph on the election result as written by former President Rajapaksa and read out by him from his Medamulana home to a mourning cortege of sympathisers — that “The majority votes Maithripala got came from Eelam. That’s how he got a majority. It’s because we were able to unite the country, he could do it. Otherwise his votes would have been only from this side. If that was so, it would have been me forever” — reveals the extent of his delusion and the intensity of his ingrained conviction that Lanka belongs only to the Sinhalese and only the Sinhalese matter. The true meaning of this preposterous statement exposes his racist bent: that if the Tamils had been disenfranchised, denied the right to vote, he would be president for life.
Had such a Sinhala leader, with such outpouring of racist froth, been returned to office without any thanks to the Tamils, the chances of building the bridges of trust and friendship to bond the Sinhalese and the Tamils in unity and harmony again would, indeed, have been remote. Propelled by those even more hardcore chauvinists than he, Rajapaksa would have been driven further to the southern Sinhala corner; and the country, though united physically, would have remained divided psychologically. If a mind on its own can make a hell of heaven and a heaven of hell, can it not make an Eelam in Lanka and a Lanka with an Eelam just as effectively?
Fortunately for Lanka, the rainbow of hope appeared at the eleventh hour, beaming the prospect that the pot of peace may well lie within reach. And close at hand, may also be freedom’s tree laden with fruit waiting to be plucked for the common benefit of all.
The joys of freedom India’s Mohandas Gandhi sang of to move an empire to crumble and fall were faintly heard in the neighbouring isle of Lanka by a few educated Lankans mostly from the elitist crust. They watched in amazement as the mass of the Indian sub continent took up the chorus; and heard in its crescendo the imminent crash of British dominance over Asia.
The Lankan pantomime for independence had hardly begun when before the moral might of one small Indian man, ‘a onetime Inner Temple Barrister, now a half naked fakir’, armed with naught but with his staff of Buddha’s ‘ahimsa’, the sword and shield of non violence, British resolve flagged, failed and faltered and ultimately surrendered.
President Maithripala Sirisena has been anointed by the masses with the sacred duty of restoring the nation to its quintessence state.
What Mahatma Gandhi had won for India was not for Mother India to enjoy alone but for her brethren in the Asian region to share as well; and the reins of government were handed to the new Jades of Asia. And soon, barely a year after quitting India, the fatigued, world war wacked British decided to quit Lanka as well, with an audible sigh of relief. Thus it came to pass that, 148 years after occupying Lankan soil, 133 years after exercising sovereignty over the entire island, the British bade adieu. On February 4, 1948, D. S. Senanayake as the first prime minister of an independent Ceylon signed the receipt for the gift from Britain’s King George VI, courtesy of Mohandas Gandhi.
India, after having won her independence with blood, sweat, tears and toil, has acquitted herself most admirably to become the world’s most populous democracy, where the ideals of the best known form of government yet, is visibly cherished and fervently practised. Having sacrificed so much to gain it, they realise what it will be to lose it, how much poorer they will be rendered if they become the spendthrifts of their forefathers just efforts. Knowing its value, they safeguard it and exercise eternal vigilance.
Lanka, on the other hand, having received the gift of independence on a platter, has shown no signs of such appreciation. Instead, independence has been the right to indulge in the freedom of the wild ass. Instead of building the nation under the framework of democracy, her leaders had not been too averse to exploit to the fullest degree the inherent chauvinism of the Sinhalese. Instead of seeking future prosperity, the Sinhalese yearned and sought to bathe in ancient springs of spurious glory the Mahawamsa had inculcated in them. The Tamils, too, having enjoyed a privileged existence as the pampered poodles of the British, sought to perpetuate their privileges. In the resultant conflict neither side saw the advantages of shedding their parochial creeds and creating a climate where all were Lankans first and Sinhala or Tamil second.
After 2000 years of dynastic rule by Sinhala kings exercising absolute power followed by another 500 years of domination by foreign powers with scant regard to the Rights of Man until the British came along and offered some mite, was the Lankan citizenry ready and mature enough to exercise freedom of the individual with checks and balances provided by democratic institutions and not emitting from a sovereign monarch? Was democracy a sudden shock to the nation’s mind set?
Since 1948, it has been 67 turbulent years for Lanka’s lotus eaters. Throughout this period the nation has seen the fanning of communal prejudices, the murder of a prime minister, two southern youth insurrections, a transformation to a republican state, an illegal extension of Parliament, a new constitution with an all powerful executive presidency, the rise of Tamil militancy leading to a full blown terrorist war that lasted for twenty five years, a militant demand to establish a separate Eelamist state for Tamils in Lanka, an Indian invasion and occupation of northern Lanka, a prolonged period of rule under emergency law.
In times of war, the laws fall silent. But even when the war drums fell mite in May 2009 with the killing of Tiger chief Prabhakaran and his terror army was annihilated and normalcy returned to the land, the peace dividend did not flow to the masses but were utilised instead to aggrandise Mahinda Rajapaksa as the saviour of the nation, as the king of Lanka who single handedly had brought peace, who singlehandedly had won the war and to whom therefore the entire nation must pay continuous worship in utmost gratitude. Anything short was to be considered as an act of treachery against the state.
The fatal error the Rajapaksa regime committed was that they over did it. They overestimated the quantity of gratitude the Sinhala heart could hold and having no more Prabhakarans to kill they had no means to replenish their fast dwindling stock. But the music still played on and on. The mantra was repeated ad nauseam until the charm lost its potency.
Whilst the trumpets of war glory sounded from the castle towers, on the ground corruption ravaged the land. UPFA politicians and Rajapaksa cronies were allowed to gorge on the national cake leaving if at all, a few measly crumbs to the masses. Billions of public money were wasted to hold extravagant tamashas, the singular purpose of which was to boost the Rajapaksa image. Ministers openly flouted the law and flaunted their wealth. While the tax officials didn’t dare to probe how ministers could afford such a luxurious lifestyle, certain ministers operated their own tax collection system, demanding ‘kappan’ from even street vendors. Some even stormed police stations and ‘kidnapped suspects whilst the police remained inert. The judiciary was tampered with, the chief justice was purportedly impeached and the law was selectively enforced with the police ordered to look askance and stay in apathy when one of the Rajapaksa ‘patriotic’ supporters were involved and was ‘shaped up.” Law and order were brought to the nadir. Injustices were not only done but openly seen to be done. And all this was permitted to happen in the belief that the opprobrium of the masses would instantly dissolve the instant Mahinda cast his magical war glory spell. It was believed to be the ultimate vote winner, the panacea for all the Rajapaksa ills that would return the regime reinvigorated with a fresh mandate from the people, to enjoy a new lease of decadent life.
That is the vile culture Maithripala Sirisena has been ordained by providence to change. The wheel has turned full circle and hopefully the worst is over. And as he commemorates the 67th anniversary of Lanka’s independence this Wednesday, he will surely know that the joys of freedom have not filtered down to the people. The people have chosen him to ensure that that freedom’s benefits do flow to the masses and are not dammed in the lofty climes of the privileged few.
First the system must be cleansed. It must be purified. All those guilty of corruption must be brought to justice. They must face the full wrath of the criminal law. Such an exercise will also act as a deterrent to members of his own cabinet as to the consequences they will face if they give in to temptation. Simultaneously law and order must be restored. It must be demonstrated that everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Secondly, the just grievances of the Tamil people must be approached in new unbiased light. The Sinhala people must be persuaded to shed their petty prejudices and accept the historical fact that the Tamils too have a right to enjoy the broad acres of this land. In return the Tamils must also be willing to act less than a minority community under a persecution complex and start acting responsibly as equal citizens of the land and not overstep their demands to make it inimical to the interests of the majority community.
Lanka must be turned to a meritocracy. As Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in Parliament on Thursday, ‘our aim is to create a civilized society”. And Maithripala has the necessary resolve to achieve it and the vital support of all to realise it.
If the sour pusses in the Mahinda camp had reservations about the small margin of 4 per cent by which Maithripala Sirisena clinched the all or nothing presidency; if they had expressed obnoxious racists views that Maithripala only won because of the Tamil and Muslim vote, as if those two communities were second class citizens of Lanka and their coolie votes could be discounted from the final tally, they should think again. What may have appeared as a close finish has turned out to be a landslide victory for the new president.
For the first time in Lanka’s modern history, President Maithripala Sirisena truly represents all the communities of the country and has garnered the support of all the main political parties. The Tamils and Muslims voted for him overwhelmingly at the elections. So did the supporters of the UNP, the party with the largest voter bank. So did a large number of the ruling SLFP. So did the JHU. Even the diehard JVP, though it did not lend direct support, indirectly backed him; and, in pursuit of their declared aim to topple the degenerate Rajapaksa regime, even grudgingly voted for him.
Within days of Maithripala becoming President of Lanka, the Uva Provincial Council fell to the UNP when a large number of SLFP councilors joined the Maithri camp. And today the other provincial councils have begun to fall like dominos. Barely a week after losing the presidency, but still chairman of the SLFP, Mahinda Rajapaksa who had clung desperately to his position as numero uno in the party, also threw in the towel and resigned, paving the way for the SLFP Central Committee to unanimously appoint Maithripala Sirisena as the new party chairman.
Nothing succeeds like success and on all sides of the once divided House of Parliament, they all clap for Maithripala. From Point Pedro in the north to Dondra Head in the south, the applause rings for Maithripala. If his defeated detractors had three weeks ago contemptuously held that he had won on a penalty point, then the unfolding events these 26 days in office have shown he had clinched the Presidential cup, game, set and match.
But with the crown, encrusted with all the gems of the political firmament, comes the heavy burden he must now bear on his head. Much is expected of the one who once was least expected to win. Overnight he has become the man for all seasons, the man for all reasons, endorsed by all as the leader of them all. How he stands and delivers his promises will determine not only his own fate but the future of all Lanka. If this moment in time is allowed to slip, this nation may never savour the chance to cleanse the evil ridden system and begin anew with a clean slate.
Maithripala Sirisena, as the first President of Lanka to be born a free citizen after the grant of independence in 1948, has been anointed by the masses with this sacred duty of restoring the nation to its quintessence state. God speed; and on with the task.