KAUNA MUHUDE NAAMU GILEELA
Are we being entertained to uninterrupted teledrama (with interruptions only by the paid advertisements) in the electronic media in the evenings? The news telecast is very often concentrated on the JHU episode, Ravi Karunanayake episode, SB & GL episode, Karuna episode or some other episode and is very often more dramatic than what is presented in the routine teledramas, before and after the telenewsdrama. Karuna episode took a serious turn with the resignation of the UNP national list MP Mr. Moulana who was appointed overlooking heavyweights such as Mr. Tilak Marapone and Mr. Tyrone Fernando.
How serious is Karuna episode? It is said that Karuna had been helped by the UNP and the army to come to Colombo from Batticaloa through Dambulla where the party had dinner in the Dambulla guest house. Did Karuna and Mr. Moulana expect the guest house staff not to identify Karuna? The staff would not have known Mr. Moulana but Karuna's photograph was in all media in early April and many people just not one or two would have identified him and the guest house staff would not have been an exception. If Karuna was hungry Mr. Moulana could have easily brought something for him to eat to the vehicle in which they were travelling, from any night boutique along the road. Why did Mr. Moulana expose Karuna to the general public while the latter was running away from the terrorist Prabhakaran? Was it for the benefit of the media scriptwriters who are always on the lookout for dramatic events?
It has been said that Ramesh the agent of Prabhakaran had given the green light for Karuna to leave for Colombo. It is very likely that Ramesh knew that Mr. Moulana was taking Karuna and the party to Colombo. The army was also aware that Karuna was leaving Batticaloa according to a statement by Mr. Mangala Samaraweera. To be fair by Mr. Samaraweera what he had said according to the script was that a few army individuals would have had some knowledge of Karuna's travel arrangements. Where was the SLMM? Did they know that Mr. Moulana was taking Karuna to Colombo?
Having come to Colombo with Karuna, some members of the party including four female terrorists have gone back to Batticaloa. Most of the male terrorists who returned had been taken to Vanni and killed but the humane Prabhakaran, as one Bishop described him sometime ago, had apparently not touched any of the females and allowed them to tell "their" story to the news scriptwriters. They came out with the Moulana story and for some reason or other the MP decided to resign. The story became more dramatic as Ramesh who had been declared killed by the Karuna faction came before the media people to announce that he was alive.
The JHU had all along said that the Army should have given protection to Karuna in spite of the fact that it was he who was responsible for the killings of Bhikkus at Arantalawa and number of other murders. Perhaps it was a case of "nahi verena verani" for which JR Jayawardhane who wanted to practice it with respect to the Japanese is more well known than the Buddha himself. JR Jayawardhane of course did not practice "nahi verena verani" in the case of the JVP and JHU seems to be following JRJ in this respect.
In any event where is Karuna now? Apparently he is thinking of entering so called main stream politics, as if Prabhakaran is not in main stream politics, and probably thinking of ending his political career in Diyawannawa. What can we expect from him? Karuna was defeated in early April when the LTTE terrorists were allowed by the SLMM and the government of which Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga had been the minister of defense not only after April but even before that, come to the eastern province violating the so called MoU for the umpteenth time. It is difficult to say what would have happened if the LTTE was not allowed to take the upper hand in April. It is not known whether Karuna had the forces to take on the LTTE terrorists or Karuna was expecting the support of the Army to defeat the LTTE.
It appears that the followers of Karuna are determined to fight the LTTE terrorists even without the leader living in the province. They have resorted to guerilla tactics against the LTTE and shown that the eastern province is different from the northern province. What is important here is that they have demonstrated to the world and Sri Lankan politicians and the so called intellectuals in particular that it is wrong to merge the northern and the eastern provinces that have historical, geographical and demographical differences. The eastern and northern coastal belts from Mannar to Kumana, though not in the present form of the two provinces as demarcated by the British, were considered first as a unit by the Dutch as a judiciary division and not even as a administrative division as was shown by the late Mr. Gamini Iriyagolla. The so called Tamil homeland was created by the Dutch and reinforced by the British. The present eastern province had always been part of the Ruhunu Rata and belonged to the Kandyan kingdom in the later periods. The Sinhale king by means of a treaty leased the coastal area of the present eastern province to the Dutch who "governed" the region violating the treaty. From the time of the Portuguese up to the present the Sinhala people have been cheated by the westerners with various treaties, conventions, pacts and MoUs.
The majority of the Batticaloa Tamil population descends from people who were brought by the British in contrast to the Jaffna Tamils who mainly descend from the people who were imported by the Dutch. The Norwegians have been given the task of making a Tamil nation from these two sets of people but the history and the geography are against them. Those "intellectuals" who talk of unmaking nations and western intellectuals who think that nation is a myth should take note of these developments. In addition to the historical and geographical differences there are demographical differences as well. The eastern province as demarcated by the British has all three communities almost in equal proportions. It has to be emphasised that before the British period the Sinhalas were in a majority in the region that became the eastern province and it was colonised with Tamils by the British after massacring the Sinhalas when the latter rose up against the colonialists in 1817-18 independence struggle. Karuna has only brought the differences between the northern and the eastern provinces and all that the President has to do now is to demerge the provinces.
Apart from bringing the differences between the Jaffna Tamils and the Batticaloa Tamils to the surface, it appears that there is hardly anything else that Karuna can achieve now. His followers will engage in guerilla attacks and would keep the eastern province san most of the Trincomalee district for themselves even without Karuna for sometime. However Karuna has no option but to enter into the "main stream" of politics as they say.
What was the role of Mr. Moulana in the Karuna episode? It is clear that Karuna had got the "karuna" of Prabhakaran and had been allowed to go abroad and keep quiet. It is most probably on that understanding Ramesh asked Mr. Moulana to take Karuna to Colombo and make sure that the latter left Sri Lanka as soon as possible. The UNP and probably some army officers knew what was going on and Karuna left Batticaloa with their blessings. It is very likely that the President and some of her close associates also had knowledge of the plans. After all the situation has not changed since Ms. Kumaratunga took over the ministry of defense and the LTTE continues to be a threat to the so called peace that she wants to achieve. Ms. Kumaratunga who probably gets "lessons in history" from the likes of Keerawellas and Gunawardhanes who incidently advise her on matters connected with the University Grants Commission as well with disastrous consequences, knows only the "Thaperian versions" of history in the western "left of centre" tradition. The "left of centre" is not that much different from the "right of centre" after the collapse of the USSR and Ms. Kumaratunga is only too happy to carry out the policies of Mr. Ranil Wickrenesinghe. The taking of the ministry of defense by Ms. Kumaratunga has not improved the security situation and both Karuna and Prabhakaran would have been aware of the politics of the President.
Karuna was expected to leave the country but he did not do so and the problems started after he and the party left the JAIC Hilton where Mr. Moulana dropped them. The UNP. Mr. Moulana, the President and her close associates are now in a soup or as said in Sinhala they have taken a bath. (na gaththa). In fact they are taking a bath in the "Karuna Sea" (Karuna Muhude Namu Gileela). The terrorist leader Prabhakaran is not happy with what UNP has achieved and Mr. Moulana lost his membership in the parliament as a result.It appears that Karuna has had other plans and used Mr. Moulana, the UNP and also the LTTE to come to Colombo. The terrorist outfit that goes by the name LTTE knew that Karuna was going to Colombo with Mr. Moulana and did not make any attempt to capture him as he had promised to go abroad and keep out of politics. The fact that Mr. Moulana had been brave enough to take Karuna and the party to the Dambulla guest house amply demonstrates that a safe journey had been assured to the Batticaloa group. In this age of teledramas it was "Karuna Muhude Namu Gileela" for the UNP and the President and a "Kadavunu Poronduwa" for Prabhakaran.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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