Editorial

The passing away of the ‘father figure’ and leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, last Sunday was the passing of an era in the politics of the North. The nonagenarian was a professional, a lawyer like all of his predecessors who held sway in the politics of the North, viz., G.G. Ponnambalam, S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, Appapillai Amirthalingum, and the like.

None of the national secular political parties, the UNP, SLFP, LSSP or Communist Parties, were able to get a proper foothold amongst the Northern populace because they couldn’t support the Tamil chauvinism that was sweeping across the North ever since universal adult franchise was introduced to this country in 1931. Exceptions were few and far between, such as when S. Natesan (UNP) beat Chelvanayakam himself for the Kankesanthurai seat in 1952, or Alfred Duriappah (SLFP) was elected the Mayor of Jaffna.

The Northern political leadership distanced themselves from the mainstream parties, with a few exceptions like Ponnambalam, who joined the D.S. Senanayake Cabinet, or M. Thiruchelvam, who joined the Dudley Senanayake Cabinet. Otherwise, it served the parochial purpose of the Northern leaders to keep their people from integrating with the rest of the country. Tamil politicians like K.W. Devanayagam (UNP) or Chelliah Kumarasuriar (SLFP) came into more recent Cabinets from the East and from the Senate, respectively, not the North.

These lawyer-turned-politicians held sway in the North first with the 50/50 demand, later seeking decentralisation, then devolution, and eventually raising the stakes under pressure from the youth for a separate state. When the 1983 race riots in the rest of the country broke out, mainstream politicians like Sampanthan got caught in the crossfire. They couldn’t stay in Colombo as the majority blamed them for fuelling the ethnic fires, and they couldn’t live in Jaffna because they were being hounded by the revolutionary elements they had nurtured. They fled for safety to India, leaving a political vacuum that was filled by the AK-47-toting youth.

That was the dawn of fascism in the North. On their return, the politicians were assassinated one by one by those who by then claimed to be the ‘sole representatives of the Tamils’.

Mr. Sampanthan survived that purge and lived to fill the political leadership void when the government security forces that Northern politicians kept denigrating defeated and flushed out the terror groups militarily to restore democracy to the North.

Not having learned a lesson, the old guard politicians, pressed by the new breed of ‘young Turks’, continued beating the communal drum. They went down the retributive justice track that its diaspora was demanding from the Western capitals they had fled to during the 1983 pogrom and for devolution. They opted to lay their bets on their handlers in London, Paris, Toronto and New Delhi, not the government in Colombo.

Mr. Sampanthan joined the Federal Party in 1956 but was initially a reluctant entrant into hierarchical Tamil politics. He won a seat in Parliament only in 1977. He was a ‘moderate’ in many ways, arguing passionately for the civil liberties of his community, while eschewing violence as a means to an end.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his eulogy on the veteran politician’s death, referred to a private conversation where Sampanthan told him, “Ranil, do you think I would ever advocate the division of the country? I witnessed Independence as a child in 1948.” He was careful not to say he subscribed to a “unitary” Sri Lanka but kept using the terminology of a “united” and “undivided” Sri Lanka. With his advancing years, his middle-of-the-road voice was soon to become a voice in the wilderness as the radical elements retook control of Tamil mainstream politics.

The Northern Province is fast developing, recovering from the devastation of a thirty-year conflict and neglect, but no thanks to the diaspora or the local politicians. Dozens of resolutions have been passed seeking justice from Geneva, but nary a word against Indian fishermen taking the bread out of the mouth of their own.

As the ‘old order changeth’ in the North, what of the new?

Labour victory and Lanka

 

During a TV debate on the eve of elections between the two main contenders for the job of Britain’s next Prime Minister, two audience members were allowed questions. A young lady asked what each of them would do to stop those of her generation from leaving the country for Australia and Dubai in search of better prospects, as it was difficult for them to live in the UK. An elderly man then asked a biting question that left the candidates stunned. He asked, if Britain is so desperate that their choice is only between them.

It would seem that the problem of choice is not limited to the UK. While young people see the grass greener on the other side, wherever they are, many democracies are facing leadership issues, with half the world facing elections this year. The pathetic plight of the American voter is a classic example where the choice is between an ‘Old Man’ and a ‘Con Man’ as they themselves say.

Compounded by rising prices and a breakdown of social benefits like their much-vaunted health system (NHS), the Royal Mail had difficulty in even getting the postal ballots across to voters in time. Some harsh critics say Britain is a Third World country pretending to be a First World country.

The Labour Party’s victory at Thursday’s election with a ‘super majority’ was expected given the 14 years of Conservative rule losing its shelf-life. Britain has now gone ‘Left’ while the rest of Europe has gone ‘Far Right’ with new governments facing immigration as one of their bigger, if not biggest, issues.

Already, there are calls for a change in the FPP (First Past the Post) system that gives parties landslide wins. The winners with 400 plus seats got only 34 percent of the national vote. Reform Party with 14 percent got 5 seats, Lib Dems with 12 percent got 71.

For Sri Lanka, a Labour Government in the UK would probably make it even more difficult to deal with, especially in Geneva (UNHRC) given the support the electoral victors received from the vote-bank of disgruntled emigres from Sri Lanka.

How much this pressure group will poison the waters between the two Commonwealth countries is to be seen.