ANURA BANDARANAIKE AND THE LTTE
Mr. Anura Bandaranaike, who recently crossed over to the SLFP from the UNP, has given an interview to the ITN. Mr. Bandaranaike claims, that unlike those who crossed over to the UNP from the PA, he changed sides on principles. According to him there is neither a mafia nor the big mudalalis behind his decision to come back to the SLFP. However, sources close to the defectors to the UNP from the PA claim that it all started with the decision of Horagolla to get Mr. Bandaranaike back to the SLFP, so that he could be the PA candidate at the next presidential elections as Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga would not be able to contest due to constitutional constraints. The non national forces who were waiting for an opportunity to topple the PA government that did not deliver the goods to them and Tamil racism in the form of a federal government grabbed with both hands the situation created by the Horagolla decision. The Horagolla decision makers had made up their minds before the "probationary" government was formed and in that sense they have played into the hands of the non national forces.
In the interview with the ITN, Mr. Bandaranaike had made it clear that the PA and the UNP should have agreed on a set of proposals and offered them to the LTTE. In other words Mr. Bandaranaike is for talks with the LTTE and in his opinion the so-called Sinhala parties should agree among themselves what they could offer to the LTTE before any negotiations. This is in contrast to Mr. George W.Bush, Mr. Blair and company who do not even imagine any possibility of having talks with al Quaeda of bin Laden. It may be that Mr. Anura Bandaranaike is more liberal and more democratic than Messrs. Bush, Blair and company.
It is unfortunate that Mr. Bandaranaike refers to the UNP and the SLFP as Sinhala parties. They are not Sinhala parties, though the SLFP after 1955 could claim to be the party of Sinhalathva. However, the present leadership of the SLFP does not represent Sinhalathva, though the rank and file of the party still recognise it to be the party of Sinhalathva and social justice. The leadership is not in a position to claim that the SLFP is a Sinhala party and Mr.Anura Bandaranaike rejoining the party does not help any body to identify the SLFP as a Sinhala party either. The UNP has never been a Sinhala party or a party of Sinhalathva and these two parties though they may obtain more than 90% of the Sinhala vote could not claim to be Sinhala parties. If they were Sinhala parties Sri Lanka would have by now finished off with the Tamil racist problem and the associated Tamil terrorist problem. The national forces among the middle and lower middle classes together with the peasants and the workers (there is no so called working class) vote for parties like SLFP, MEP and the JVP. [Sihala Urumaya is a party of few middle and upper middle class Sinhala educated people (not intellectuals) who have taken an interest in "open" "Sinhala" politics after 1995 and of an opportunist gang of terrorists who are only after power and who changed their politics from pro Tamil racism only after seeing that there was a "rella" (wave) against the package. Fortunately for the Sinhala nation, at the forthcoming elections this gang will fare worse than they did an year ago.]. There is a difference between most of those who vote for the SLFP and the JVP and the leaders of those parties. The leaders are still guided by western liberalism or Marxism and have failed to come to grips with the Tamil racist problem. Mr. Anura Bandaranaike has only strengthened this band of leaders.
I am not sure whether Mr. Bandaranaike subscribes to the view that has been expressed by his elder sister Ms. Sunethra Bandaranaike to the effect that their father is responsible for the present status in the country. Her argument was that if Mr. SWRD Bandaranaike had implemented the Bandaranaike - Chelvanayakam pact, this problem would have been solved then. It is clear that Ms. Sunethra Bandaranaike does not know what the problem is and probably does not understand the Vellala syndrome even though she counts many friends among this clan now found in Colombo, London and Toronto. They are no more to be found in Jaffna as Prabhakaran has seen to it that Hindu Vellala doctrine together with leaders have been replaced by a Karaivar Christian ideology and leaders. I also tend to agree with the conclusion of Ms. Sunethra Bandaranaike that Mr. SWRD Bandaranaike is responsible for the present state of affairs, as if he had implemented the Official Language Act (policy) as they do in UK, USA, Canada, France, China, Malaysia etc., Tamil racist problem would have been solved in the fifties, some forty years ago. If Ms. Sunethra Bandaranaike still does not know what the problem is, all I could do is to repeat it for the nth time. The Tamil racists, with the connivance of the western powers and other non national forces work to deny the rightful place being given to Sinhalathva, that is Sinhala nation, Sinhala language, Sinhala culture and Sinhala history in this country. What is wrong in making Sinhala the only official language in the country? By making Tamil also an official language, probably at the insistence of India that has not made Tamil an official language in that country, the JR Jayawardhane government gave into the Tamil racists who had wanted to deny Sinhala language the rightful place of being the official language of this country. A section of Tamil racists encouraged by Muslim racists like Mr. Ashraaf were not satisfied with that and they wanted the national anthem to be sung in Tamil as well. These racists should have first asked Malaysia to make Tamil an official language and sing the national anthem of that country in Tamil also. The non national forces got hold of few "Sinhala" scholars with "open minds" (whether they were open chested is not clear) to criticise the Sinhala culture and Mahavansa. There may be some weaknesses in Sinhala culture and few short comings in Mahavansa but who would attack them when the whole world especially the western non national forces are up against it. Criticising Sinhala culture (and Mahavansa - very often with wrong interpretations) at this juncture is not going to do any good for the Sinhalas. It serves only two purposes. Firstly it will make "porawal" (porabodies) out of some so-called intellectuals (from nobodies to "porabodies") and bring them "recognition" among the other "intellectuals". Secondly it adds fuel to Tamil racism. This should not be compared with the criticism of western civilisation by western intellectuals. To begin with the western intellectuals who have done so are intellectuals of proven creative ability and not mere educated people who apply other peoples' theories. Secondly western civilisation is the hegemonical civilisation in the world and its position is not being challenged even by Muslim civilisation for the time being. Terrorists such as bin Laden only help western cultural hegemony, in the final analysis. On the contrary western civilisation during the last five hundred years or so is engaged in the project of establishing its hegemony over the entire globe. Globalisation is only the modern form of this imperialism associated with the western civilisation. Thirdly any criticism of western civilisation is done with the intention of not weakening but strengthening it. As far as Sinhala culture is concerned what kind of criticism could be made in a context of globalisation? All that anybody who wants to be a "porabody" has to do is to write a "piece on peace" criticising some aspect of Sinhala culture or Mahavansa. All criticisms by the educated "porabodies" are hell bent on weakening the Sinhala culture. It is nothing but destructive criticism.
The Tamil racist problem is not something that was created in 1956 and it has been in existence since 1833. Bandaranaikes and others without discrediting 1956, could read "An Introduction To Tamil Racism in Sri Lanka" for details. The Tamil racists, especially Mr. Chelvanayakam and his colleagues had adopted the policy of "little now, more later" and were entering into various pacts and agreements to achieve their objective. Prabhakaran has only accelerated the process. For him it is not a case of little now and more later. He wants everything right now. He is not prepared to postpone "bigger things" for a later date. Prabhakaran is an off shoot of Tamil racism and the so called moderate Tamils in Colombo, whom Ms. Sunethra Bandaranaike meets are the political cousins of Prabhakaran. He and the other Tamil racists, including the so called moderates have been insisting on the "Thimpu conditions". Now Mr. Anura Bandaranaike wants the UNP and the PA(SLFP) to agree on a set of proposals that could be given to Prabhakaran to initiate a dialogue. If Mr. Bandaranaike knows the "Thimpu conditions" then he should know that the Sinhalas could not agree to them. People like Mr. S.L. Gunasekera left the UNP, and then the SLFP on these specific issues (he did not go back to the UNP) and not on vague "proclamations" on "democracy and high morals", and that too not just before elections. Prabhakaran has laid down "Thimpu conditions" as the bottom line for negotiations and according to him these conditions are "unnegotiable". Any negotiations have to be based on these conditions and they have to be conceded even before the negotiations start.
If the Sinhalas cannot agree to the so called Thimpu conditions what is the purpose of having talks with Prabhakaran? Mr. Bandaranaike should be reminded that though the Sinhala people vote for his two parties UNP and the SLFP, they are not Sinhala parties. The two parties cannot speak for the Sinhala people and agree on some kind of proposals, purported to be coming from Sinhalas to Prabhakaran. If Mr. Bandaranaike wants he could find out by secret ballot what the Sinhala people think of the "Thimpu conditions". Tamil terrorism has to be defeated militarily as any other terrorism should be. It is unfortunate that some people (not Mr. Anura Bandaranaike) use the word terrorist as a synonym for a guerilla. Whether we agree with the objectives of guerrillas they are not terrorists in general. One may have discussions with a guerilla organisation but not with a terrorist organisation. In the case of Tamil racism no government should have discussions even with Tamil racists in Colombo (the so-called moderates) as long as they adhere to the so-called Thimpu conditions. In any event these "moderates" are puppets in the hands of Prabhakaran as revealed by the role they play at the forthcoming elections. They support a political party that would lift the ban on the LTTE, withdraw the army into the barracks and start negotiations with Prabhakaran's representatives. Mr. Anura Bandaranaike could have easily stayed back in the UNP.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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