THE MANGALA EPISODE
The best news I heard after that of the President Premadasa making a former British High Commissioner a persona non grata is that of sacking of Mr. Anura Bandaranaike from the portfolio he held, by the President Mahinda Rajapakse. Both Presidents, though from different political parties had taken decisions against the wish of the western powers. Gladstone was a grandson of a former Prime Minister of Britain, and Anura Bandaranaike is the grandson of a gate mudliar and the son of two prime ministers. It is very unlikely that Anura Bandaranaike would become the leader of the SLFP or the UNP and lead the country, and it is very likely that Anura Bandaranaike and his class mate Ranil Wickremesinghe would have to bid farewell to Politics in the not so distant future. With that the elite politics in the legislature commenced after the Colebrook - Cameron recommendations to turn Sri Lanka into a "modern" state, implying a western Capitalist state would end. However, it does not mean that Sri Lanka would become an ideal democracy soon. It only implies that the rulers in Sri Lanka would be drawn from classes different from the elite class.
What made the President to sack the trio led by Anura Bandaranaike, is clear. The reasons such as the speech made by Anura Bandaranaike in the Parliament could at best be described as the immediate causes. It is well known that Mahinda Rajapakse did not like the Bandaranaikes in general for some time though Anura Bandaranaike had been a friend of Mahinda Rajapakse for more than three decades. Whatever may be the reasons given by the President for the sacking of the three ministers, it is the sovereignty of the country that would have been in his mind since he came to power little more than a year ago. The sacking is not totally disconnected from the arrests of the three Sinhala "journalists" recently who have apparently been trained by the LTTE. Before the arrest of the three journalists a female journalist who had worked for the "Mavbima" newspaper owned by Mr. Tiran Alles, a good friend of Mr. Mangala Samarawera, had been taken into custody.
Taking a journalist, or anybody else for that matter, into custody is a grave act, and the authorities should have good evidence when they arrest somebody. However, simply being a journalist one does not become a person above the law, and the normal course of action applicable to any other person has to be taken in the case of journalists as well. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka a group of people who call themselves journalists think that they are above the law, and that they can do anything in the name of freedom of expression. Sometime ago in the eighties if one were to speak or write on the human rights of the JVPers and others who were arrested one would have been suspected of being a JVPer oneself. Today that fear is not there and anybody could raise the issue of the human rights of the LTTE terrorists or of those who are suspected as such, without being suspected of being a LTTE terrorist. However, it does not mean that all those who agitate on behalf of those who have been arrested for alleged LTTE activities are innocent people, and one has to be very vigilant when demonstrators take to streets demanding the release of the alleged LTTE suspects.
In Sri Lanka there are groups who are a threat to the sovereignty of the country, and very sympathetic towards the LTTE. The terrorists operate under many covers and that of a journalist is one of the easiest that could be "bought" , as in this country it is not difficult to parade as a journalist. The journalists are not above the law of the country to undermine the sovereignty of the country and to get away with it. The "mavbima" journalist and the "akuna" journalists who have been taken into custody have to questioned properly, and if there is evidence for them being LTTE supporters, then they will have to be treated under the law of the country. At least one of the "akuna" journalists has been associated with the "hiru" group, which is well known for its stand on the so called ethnic problem. On the other hand an associate of Mr. Mangala Samaraweera by the name Ruwan Ferdinands has been linked with the "mavbima" newspaper. Messrs. Mangala Samaraweera and Ruwan Ferdinands have been associated since "mathota" days, and have been encouraging a kind of "postmodernist" politics for sometime.
Mr. Tiran Alles who has been the man behind "mavbima" had been associated with Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, and there is speculation that the decision of the LTTE to boycott the last Presidential election, thus enabling Mr. Rajapakse to become the President, was made at the insistence of Mr. Alles. We do not know whether this story is true or not but it is clear that the decision of the LTTE to boycott the elections helped Mr. Rajapakse. If Mr. Mangala Samaraweera wanted to defeat the UNP and Mr. Ranil Wickremesingha at any cost it is understandable if the LTTE was contacted through Mr. Alles. Mr. Samaraweera was responsible for the parivasa (probationary) government with the JVP, though he had not been known to be a well wisher of that party, and had supported the candidature of Mr. Rajapakse for the Presidency, in the SLFP. Mr. Samaraweera had been anti UNP and anti Ranil on one hand, and pro devolution on the other hand. These have been the two main characters of the politics of Mr. Samaraweera, and it is very likely that he wanted Mr. Rajapakse to become the President, unlike the Bandaranaikes, but to give a so called political solution after negotiating with the LTTE.
Mr. Samaraweera the tempered politician would have thought that election manifestoes are mere statements and having come to power one could easily ignore the promises. He would have thought that a unitary state was a mere election promise and negotiations with the LTTE could be commenced soon after coming to power. He was the chief organizer of "sudu nelum" and "thavalama", and would not have given up his federal solution simply because the JHU and the JVP insisted on a unitary state, in addition to the MEP and other nationalist parties. Mr. Samaraweera could have been excused even if he had assumed that the JHU and the JVP could be bought over to the federal solution after the election. After all some of the leaders of the JHU, then in Janatha Mithuro had joined hands with Mr. Samarawera at the 1994 elections under the leadership of the federalist Candrika Kumaratunga At that election neither the JVP was for a unitary state, and it was left for the MEP to campaign lonely to defeat the UNP as well as to limit the power of Chandrika Kumaratunga. It was this formula the JVP took over later, and wanted the people to give them the "remote controller" to "tame" the SLFP. Mr. Samaraweera may also have thought that the SLFP is similar to the other political parties where the decisions are taken by the leadership and then passed over to the membership and the general public. He could be forgiven for thinking so as he would have seen how Chjandrka Kumaratunga was able to change the policies of the party from a nationalist line to a non national tendency.
However, Chandrika who was "imported" by the non national forces to change the policies of the SLFP, using her pedigree, was only successful partially and was a temporary phenomenon. If she succeeded even partially it was due to her pedigree and nothing else. The average SLFPer would have tolerated her because she was the daughter of Mrs. Bandaranaike, and saw somebody who could defeat the UNP. However, though perhaps unknown to people such as Mr. Samaraweera the membership did not tolerate the federal policies of Chandrika Kumaratunga and were waiting for an opportunity to change those non national policies. The people not only got their opportunity but saw in Mahinda Rajapakse a leader who could stand up to the western powers. By this time the JHU (as an evolution of Janatha Mithuro) and the JVP also had taken up nationalistic policies and the unitary cry was not merely another election promise. It was THE policy of the national forces and the Presidential election was fought only on that issue. What is best remembered in Mahinda Chinthana is also the unitary policy and the Sinhala people are now rallied around this policy as never have been in the recent past. It could even be said that Mahinda Chinthana is Unitary and Unitary is Mahinda Chinthana. A corollary of this policy is the "war" against the LTTE, and the Sinhala people have shown that they are prepared to undergo difficulties if the "war' continues. The rising cost of living is not considered as a burden as long as the armed forces are given the encouragement to fight and defeat the terrorists.
The so called invincible LTTE is running for its life and those journalists and pundits who preached us from the altar that the LTTE could not be defeated, and therefore the so called political solution should be implemented are now not in a position to explain the defeats of the LTTE. The LTTE can only envy Ranil Wickremesinghe in the number of defeats that have been accrued. What the recent past has shown is that if the people are united and if they have a strong political leadership then they could stand up to any power in the world. This is what Castro and the Cubans have shown during the last fifty years or so and exactly what Sadam Hussein could not achieve. Sadam Hussein would have been a very strong leader, but unfortunately he was not able to unite the people. Mahinda Rajapakse has to learn not only from Castro and Sadam but also from Palestinians whom he knows for more than three decades. It is the unity of people, strong leadership and convictions in the policies that give strength, and not so called historical materialism or liberalism or any other western ism.
Mr. Samaraweera did not see the changes that have been affected in Sri Lankan politics since Chandrika came to power and was more influenced by western ideologies. His lifestyle and his convictions are more with the UNP than with the SLFP. He is the typical anti UNP leadership UNPer who had to take refuge in the SLFP long before Karu Jayasuriya and others did so. It is not for nothing that he abstained from voting at the UN on the Palestine issue, a subject which is very close to the heart of the President. It is clear that at the time of this particular incident the President was still struggling to find his feet, and Mr. Samaraweera got away even without a warning. However, now we have a more confident President who could stand up to the non national forces including the western powers. If Mr. Samaraweera is thinking of uniting with Chandrika Kumaratunga and perhaps even Ranil Wickremesinghe to defeat Mahinda Rajapakse with the blessings of the western powers he is sadly mistaken. The Bandaranaikes are a spent force after so many years in politics, and so is elite politics in general. There are Royalists and blue blooded Royalists among those who attended the school by the old race course and while Anura and Ranil belong to the second category Mangala should not be in the same boat. He has time to learn and should not depart so soon. He should not be an agent even unconsciously of the western and other non national forces. The SLFP is not the party of Bandaranaikes and neither it will be the party of Rajapakses. It remains the party of the people, and one should not be misled by temporary Chandrika type phenomena. Mr. Anura Bandaranaike departed active politics long time ago and he was only a passenger in Sri Lankan politics until he was sacked by the President. At present he is not even a spectator. Mr.. Mangala Samaraweera should realize that unitary cannot be changed and the "war" against the LTTE has to continue. Any minister cabinet or non cabinet, who advocates stopping of the "war" is a threat to the sovereignty of country and any such person has to be treated as a liability. If those who joined the government recently can learn anything from the Mangala episode it is this fact.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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