THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SINHALAS
It is clear that the President is under pressure from the western powers. When I say the western powers, I do not mean that the pressure comes necessarily from the western governments. There are "agents" of the western powers among the so called advisors to the President and they would always make sure that Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga acts to please their masters. These "agents" are not appointed by the embassies nor it is necessary that they have any connections with the employees in the western diplomatic missions. The education and the training that the advisors have received would "direct" them to give the advise that the westerners themselves would have given.
The President, who gave the impression that she was determined to take action with respect the involvement of the Norwegian ambassador in importing radio transmission equipment on behalf of the LTTE, has backed out. Westborg, who with the connivance of the "government" (Is it his government that we have in Sri Lanka?), imported the equipment without paying any taxes had clearly used his privileges as an ambassador to help a terrorist group banned in countries including India, USA and UK. He and the "government" later claimed that he had acted in his capacity as the so called facilitator in the "peace process". However, that statement is not correct as the "facilitator" does not have the privileges of an ambassador. In any event Westborg, the former head of Red Barna that settled Tamils in Vavunia and the surroundings, had not acted in the interests of the country and had interfered for the umpteenth time in the internal affairs of the host country. He had violated the Vienna convention and it was time for the President to take action. There was only one action she should have taken and that was to declare Westborg a persona non grata and to deport him.
However, she did not do that. Instead she wrote to the Prime Minister of Norway, complaining how naughty Westborg had been. This was in the tradition of the leaders given to us by the British, who were interested in only sending petitions to the British governments on the behaviour of some of the British governors. It appears that the President, to the liking of the Prime Minister, is thinking that we are governed by Norway. There was no need to send petitions on the behaviour of the ambassador to the Norwegian Prime Minister, when the President had the power to send the ambassador himself back to his Prime Minister.
The greatest misfortune of the Sinhalas is that they do not have leaders of their own in the two main parties. After the 1917-1818 freedom struggle of the Sinhalas against the British, the latter massacred most of the traditional Sinhala leaders and appointed new leaders after giving them titles, land and other privileges. These new "leaders" were Anglicised in culture, and had become Anglicans in religion. They were separated from the masses, the vast majority of whom were Buddhists. The new elite were made leaders by the British and not by the Sinhala people. These leaders appointed by the British were so subservient to their masters that they never organised any mass independence movement. They were interested in demonstrating to the "Suddas" how Anglicised or "Suddafied" they were. They thought that unlike the Indians they spoke English with the "correct" accent, and took pride of the fact that they did not know their Sinhala. More than anybody else it is this set of "Kalu Suddas" that prevented the others from learning any English, with their emphasis on pronunciation and superficial "suddafication". I am not saying that each and every person in Sri Lanka should have learned English. It is not correct to say that the majority of the youth are not employable because they do not know English. There are millions of unemployed persons in African countries who know their English while most of the employed people in Japan do not know any English. It should have been left to the individual to take a decision on learning English depending on what he or she wanted to do in life. However, the "Kalu Suddas" while emphasising the importance of English, by laughing at "mispronunciations", and Suddafied social practices such as table manners of the majority, discouraged most of them from learning English. Even today not more than 6 or 7 percent of the Sinhalas could speak English, in spite of all the attempts to teach them English by various "authorities". The very same Sinhala youth speak French and German by speaking with the tourists who do not laugh at their pronunciation and "grammatical mistakes".
The "Kalu Suddas" who were separated from the masses never attempted to build a mass independence movement against the British. Anagarika Dharmapala did not succeed in his attempts, not because he spoke to the Sinhala people only, as some of these "Kalu Suddas" try to misinterpret, but mainly due to the action of the "Kalu Suddas" against him, with the connivance of the British. It was only Anagarika Dharmapala who wanted to build a mass independence movement. He went round the country in his "vehicle" " sobana maligawa", in his attempt to build a mass movement. However the leaders appointed by the British worked against him and finally he was defeated. Anagarika Dharmapala had understood the "policy" of the "Kalu Suddas" and had warned the Sinhala people way back in the twenties of the "leaders" that they would get.
"Kalu Suddas" were interested only in sending petitions to the British and they were of the view that they could win a limited independence (The "Kalu Suddas" never wanted full independence or "swaraj" as was the case in India.) The British were so impressed with this set of people (They belong to the "Naga" stream of the Sinhala culture that is prepared to imitate anything that comes from foreign countries in contrast to the "Yaksha" stream that would first study and then absorb anything if it is only necessary.) that they decided to give "universal franchise" to the Sri Lankans long before the other non whites in the empire were given that "privilege". The British would have known by then that the leaders that they had given us would be elected by the people as the latter had no other alternative and with the election of the "Kalu Suddas" the status quo would remain the same. By 1931 Anagarika Dharmapala had been defeated and there was no "enemy" of the British.
It is unfortunate that even at present most of the so called leaders of the Sinhala people are descendants of the leaders that the British gave us. Unlike Mr. R. Premadasa who was not a descendent of a leader given by the British, the other so-called leaders always try, not to displease the western powers, if they are not capable of pleasing their masters. Mr. Premadasa had the courage to declare a grandson of the British Prime Minister Gladstone, a persona non grata, and deport him. Ms. Kumaratunga unfortunately, descends from the set of "leaders" appointed by the British and she knows only the tradition of sending petitions. She does not know the strength that she has, being the executive President elected under the JRJ constitution, and does not know how to precipitate action. If she had deported Westborg the masses would have rallied round her and the JVP would have been relieved of its duty to organise "Janatha Balaya". What the President is not prepared to believe is that the "Janatha Balaya" is with her and some of her advisors would make sure that the "Peoples' power" recede from her eventually.
The so called peace process, as we have said from the very beginning is a process of capitulation, that attempts to equate the "government" with the LTTE, and the army with the LTTE terrorists. They have so far equated GL Peiris with Anton Balasingham which in any case was not a very difficult task, and are moving in the direction of giving equal status to the LTTE, as admitted by Bradman Weerakoon. By inviting the Secretary General of the UN to meet the terrorist leaders in the jungles in Vanni the "government" with the assistance of the west has moved further to "legitimise" a fascist dictator and his gang of murderers. However, the army still resists the attempts by the "government" as could be seen from the outcome of the high security zone issue. Major General Sarath Fonseka and his men have so far succeeded in preventing the hand over of the high security zones to the LTTE on a platter. As a result the LTTE has decided not to take part in the discussions of the "sub committee" on de escalation and normalisation.
As far as the LTTE is concerned normalisation means handing over the northern and the eastern provinces to them after chasing out the armed forces from those regions. The so called MOU and the Norwegians only facilitate that process, with the westerners knowing very well that the LTTE is not capable of winning those regions through "war". However, the army has become an obstacle to them not only in "war" but also in the "peace process" and the LTTE would want the army out of the picture completely or if it is not possible to do so, to have officers such as Major General Sarath Fonseka out of Jaffna. Already there have been demands by the LTTE sponsored groups to transfer the Major General and as we mentioned last week the Bishops are not far behind their "followers". It is a case of the sheep, black as well as white, leading the shepherds, which the latter approve as they are only interested in depriving Sinhalathva, that includes the Sinhala Buddhist culture, its rightful place in the country. The Catholic church and Catholic Chinthanaya which have lost respectively to the Reformist Churches and the Judaic Christian Chinthanaya, world wide, are assisting the latter in Sri Lanka not to gain power but to weaken the Sinhala Buddhist culture.
The LTTE boycott of the "sub committee" on de escalation and normalisation is a victory for the courageous stand taken by the officers. However, neither the LTTE nor the American backed Norwegians would keep away from the "sub committee" for long. They would make demands to participate in the "sub committee" in the present form or in a different form and one of the demands would be the transfer of the Major General Sarath Fonseka out of Jaffna. What would the President do under such circumstances. She is the Supreme commander of the armed forces and she has the power to say no to these demands by Tamil racism. However, it appears that she with a history of "Sudu Nelum" and "Thavalam" has been pressurised by many people including some of her advisors not to upset the "peace apple cart". It is only the JVP and the MEP in the opposition that have correctly identified the so called peace process and are not afraid of upsetting the "apple cart". The SLFP rank and file is against the "peace process" but the leadership that is controlled by "vijathika chinthanaya" and by the NGOs in the case of certain individuals, is still "gauvas" behind the membership. It is up to the SLFP to educate its leadership that descends from the westernised Anglican Christian leaders given to us by the British and make it representative of the Sinhala masses of the country. Mr. Bandaranaike took a turn in the fifties and it is up to his offspring to go further and identify themselves with the history and the future of the country.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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