Rajpal's Column

12th December 1999

Minorities: between tangible and intangible offers

By Rajpal Abeynayake

Minorities are spoken of as vote objects — and that's only a little worse than being considered objects of sex. It has pressed panic buttons for some minorities, because it is not comfortable being caught up in what's essentially somebody else's power equation. A few things can go wrong, and the minorities may end up getting most of the flak.

But, that apart, the minorities are also enjoying a position of power, and that's being particularly enjoyed these days by the LTTE perhaps. Whether the LTTE has endorsed the UNP or not is one thing; but is the Tamil constituency countrywide going to follow the LTTE and its apparent advise on whom to vote for as President?

If the LTTE says it reposes more confidence in Mr. Wickremesinghe, that poses a problem for the Leader of the Opposition as well. In Batticoloa, it was a problem he enjoyed.

But that will not be so in the run up to the election in general. Mr. Wickremesinghe has offered the LTTE talks, and the LTTE has reciprocated. It is a familiar — bucolic almost — scene.

It would have been better for all concerned, had Mr. Wickremesinghe said exactly what he hopes to do, in order to settle the ongoing conflict rather than offer talks only, which gives the spectator a feeling that we have been down this road before. It is correct that Mr. Wickremesinghe has offered an interim administration in the North East, which he says, will be an interim body constituted until a suitable solution to the ethnic problem is worked out.

That places both Tamil and Sinhala parties in a position in which they would need to do a great deal of guesswork. It's a convenient position for a politician to be in; but tangibles may help Mr. Wickremesinghe more than intangibles, despite this. If Mr. Wickremsinghe indicates before the Presidential election what he proposes to talk with the LTTE, or indicates the shape at least of the solution that he envisages, it may lose him some votes in some quarters.

But, if he prefers to take the undefined position, he may run the risk of losing votes on all sides. That analysis is of course taking for granted that the position of the UNP's goal is to get all votes possible by all means, as it is the position of the PA in these elecitons.

TAILPEICE: From that sublime exercise, to veer towards ridiculous escapism, most minorities it is said are taking off to India. It's probably a good place to be in, without any elections and such activities sullying the general mood.

India is now basking in the glory of the Indian addition to the pantheon of Miss World winners.

When Aishwarya Rai won the crown, there was some unkind talk that the crown was awarded to an Indian because the beauty contest had to, at some point, become politically correct. But successive wins by Miss India means either that India is inexhaustible in its supply of beauty that is worthy of global acclaim or that the judges are simply not being politically correct.

It was recently written in a critical centrist magazine that Günter Grass won a major global literary award because he was an effete left-winger; and that an effete right winger would not have had an outside chance of winning the prize.

If literary awards are politically correct, or have to be, there is some suspicion that beauty contests have to be as well; but, is being a beautiful Indian the equivalent of being, in literature, a left winger who has been? Perhaps, all arguments will be squared if the new Miss World is trained to read Gunter Grass, before she tours this part of the world.

Hulftsdorp Hill

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