“We hailed the 1956 revolution as a Social Revolution, but today it has to be re-interpreted to read Social Reversal— religion overran state, the language shift aroused racial animosity, employment opportunities for the minority shrank, the university system got mixed with pirivena education with adverse results.”___________________________________
by A. P. S. Galapata
(March 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Never before have we seen sensational idiom, academic jargon, and catch phrases fly around the need to preserve unitary status, territorial integrity, escape foreign forces etc. We have gone through several constitutions: 1931, 1947, 1972 and 1978. They have had their strengths and weaknesses. Constitutions must change with time. The last Presidential Election, 2005, debated unitarism, Buddha Sasana, patriotic ideals, and the public sector. That Buddhism had suffered under colonialism, and therefore re-dress was needed, was the cry from around 1948. That cry continued to gain strength. Nationalism was the fuel that drove the electoral machine to victory in 1956; running too fast it got overheated and back-seat drivers ordered the driver at pistol point, claiming the first political victim though the undercurrent was economic. Subsequently blood scenes marked our land. Street scenes were enacted, one on Galle Face by Northern MPP in Gandhian style, another by monks on Rosemead Place. The latter was also a "first", surprising, and not Buddhistic. We note painfully that the post-1956 leadership took many imprudent steps; which if avoided; would have changed our destiny. The Buddha Dhamma does not empower Buddhist monks to partake in lay matters, far from becoming law-makers, akin to shifting allegiance from Buddha to Machciavelli and from the Dhammapada to Erskine May!
We hailed the 1956 revolution as a Social Revolution, but today it has to be re-interpreted to read Social Reversal— religion overran state, the language shift aroused racial animosity, employment opportunities for the minority shrank, the university system got mixed with pirivena education with adverse results. The rural vote-bank voted en-bloc in 1956 but benefits accrued only to a FEW. Power shifted from village to town. Demography changed and democratic institutions shifted to towns. What Donoughmore gave to the villager in 1931, became a spiritless, dehumanised, digitalised Pencil Mark.
The north/eastern, southern and mid-country people are linked together in poverty. The Northern Youth in particular were disillusioned with their own leaders as well as with the post-1956 leadership in Colombo and responded violently unlike the docile southern and mid-country people. The insurrections of 1971 and 1989 failed because the JVP leadership could not match the consistency of principles displayed by the LTTE. Though the LTTE as well as the JVP sprouted from the same soil of poverty, the JVP allowed the fertility to erode, hoping that gigantic banners, poster and propaganda stunts are substitutes for statesmanship. The LTTE has refrained from uprooting themselves from their soil. We have moved from 50/50, Federalism to separatism today. When we gave concessions we gave them too late.
The style of management by leaders not politicians alone has determined the destiny of every nation. Our problems were a purely internal affair but by 1995 about 13 nations were directly involved. Pre-1948 leaders managed the minority problem satisfactorily. The Indian Citizenship issue caused little stir. D. S. Senanayaka is credited with superb management skill in handling our twin problems of agricultural development with the minority representation issue. If only we mustered the varied talent then available to us as the pre-1948 leaders did, without rabble rousing we would by now be sitting with the G8 nations. Sir John Rotalawala was a fearless leader who held high the nation’s self-respect. He would not sacrifice the nation’s interests for petty benefit. He called a spade a spade no matter where he was. Dudley Senanayake who was no fighter, would withdraw with the least indication of ill wind. It was very unfortunate that the best chance available to solve our ethnic crisis—the BC pact and the DC pact—were torn up by extremist elements. Dudley was at the butt end of many jokes, but he took them in good spirit. A clever debater; with intellect and education combined; once at a debate on the language issue the House roared with laughter when he remarked "Sinhala by day, and reasonable use of Tamil by night". SWRD landed himself in the thick mire of chauvinism by failing to control the crown he collected in haste. A lesson for the 5th President too! SWRD regretted very much the Rosemead episode as he saw the dark era that was to follow. The 1970s saw far-reaching and adverse changes with the 1972 constitution. We envisaged development through structural change. The changes were disastrous as economic problems too intensified. Administrative change generated the unholy alliance between politician and administration with prudent financial management going with the wind. The demise of SWRD brought Mrs. Bandaranaike as no. 1 citizen, literally from housekeeping. She took over confidently and earned the admiration of the world community. However the murky forces that emerged after 1956, used Mrs. B as cat’s paw to convert the governmental structure into a bureaucratic empire. The talent of young efficient men like Felix D. Bandaranaike got overshadowed by mediocre talent. The public service got packed with businessmen as state employees. The Marxist contribution to the 1972 Constitution was surprising and as unproductive as the record of the entire history of the Left movement in the island politics. We saw Left parties mushrooming overnight horse-trading for ministerial or diplomatic positions, conditions operating to date. After seven years of bureaucratic hegemony the tough guy JRJ had to introduce strict discipline to the once prestigious Public Service. He placed public servants and monks in their place.
Some of JRJ’s decisions seemed too harsh and the outcome was adverse but we cannot blame him for taking those decisions in the circumstances. May be his initial attempt to crush insurrection in the north and the banning of southern political parties proved failures. JRJ’s constitution of 1978 has a mixture of good and evil. The electoral system is the worst, where the voter is a mere slave at the beck and call of the political party. President Premadasa inherited the separatist problem amidst the JVP revolt. He befriended the JVP as well as the LTTE, the latter emerged the winner. Premadasa talked peace with the LTTE very cordially, giving them all recognition. Did he fail in negotiation because of his over-reliance on himself and a few retired top brass for advice? CBK re-started negotiations in 1994 on an euphoric note. Did these talks fail because negotiations were entrusted to officials while the elected presentatives fought shy? We have to conclude that the separatist problem with the poverty problem traceable to poor leadership—political, religious, academic and civil society. Some soul-searching by the majority and corrections thereon seem essential.
Some areas for attention by the Southern majority:
Avoid:
*provocatice references like "Terrorists" or separatist rebels,
* writing by academics bent on demolishing the Traditional homeland Theory or Self determination claim
*Rabble Rousing by propaganda tycoons
Recognise:
* The minority right to present their case for Federalism, as they live in a distinct geographical area, they have their district legal code, they speak the Tamil language, they have their Hindu religion.
by A. P. S. Galapata
(March 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Never before have we seen sensational idiom, academic jargon, and catch phrases fly around the need to preserve unitary status, territorial integrity, escape foreign forces etc. We have gone through several constitutions: 1931, 1947, 1972 and 1978. They have had their strengths and weaknesses. Constitutions must change with time. The last Presidential Election, 2005, debated unitarism, Buddha Sasana, patriotic ideals, and the public sector. That Buddhism had suffered under colonialism, and therefore re-dress was needed, was the cry from around 1948. That cry continued to gain strength. Nationalism was the fuel that drove the electoral machine to victory in 1956; running too fast it got overheated and back-seat drivers ordered the driver at pistol point, claiming the first political victim though the undercurrent was economic. Subsequently blood scenes marked our land. Street scenes were enacted, one on Galle Face by Northern MPP in Gandhian style, another by monks on Rosemead Place. The latter was also a "first", surprising, and not Buddhistic. We note painfully that the post-1956 leadership took many imprudent steps; which if avoided; would have changed our destiny. The Buddha Dhamma does not empower Buddhist monks to partake in lay matters, far from becoming law-makers, akin to shifting allegiance from Buddha to Machciavelli and from the Dhammapada to Erskine May!
We hailed the 1956 revolution as a Social Revolution, but today it has to be re-interpreted to read Social Reversal— religion overran state, the language shift aroused racial animosity, employment opportunities for the minority shrank, the university system got mixed with pirivena education with adverse results. The rural vote-bank voted en-bloc in 1956 but benefits accrued only to a FEW. Power shifted from village to town. Demography changed and democratic institutions shifted to towns. What Donoughmore gave to the villager in 1931, became a spiritless, dehumanised, digitalised Pencil Mark.
The north/eastern, southern and mid-country people are linked together in poverty. The Northern Youth in particular were disillusioned with their own leaders as well as with the post-1956 leadership in Colombo and responded violently unlike the docile southern and mid-country people. The insurrections of 1971 and 1989 failed because the JVP leadership could not match the consistency of principles displayed by the LTTE. Though the LTTE as well as the JVP sprouted from the same soil of poverty, the JVP allowed the fertility to erode, hoping that gigantic banners, poster and propaganda stunts are substitutes for statesmanship. The LTTE has refrained from uprooting themselves from their soil. We have moved from 50/50, Federalism to separatism today. When we gave concessions we gave them too late.
The style of management by leaders not politicians alone has determined the destiny of every nation. Our problems were a purely internal affair but by 1995 about 13 nations were directly involved. Pre-1948 leaders managed the minority problem satisfactorily. The Indian Citizenship issue caused little stir. D. S. Senanayaka is credited with superb management skill in handling our twin problems of agricultural development with the minority representation issue. If only we mustered the varied talent then available to us as the pre-1948 leaders did, without rabble rousing we would by now be sitting with the G8 nations. Sir John Rotalawala was a fearless leader who held high the nation’s self-respect. He would not sacrifice the nation’s interests for petty benefit. He called a spade a spade no matter where he was. Dudley Senanayake who was no fighter, would withdraw with the least indication of ill wind. It was very unfortunate that the best chance available to solve our ethnic crisis—the BC pact and the DC pact—were torn up by extremist elements. Dudley was at the butt end of many jokes, but he took them in good spirit. A clever debater; with intellect and education combined; once at a debate on the language issue the House roared with laughter when he remarked "Sinhala by day, and reasonable use of Tamil by night". SWRD landed himself in the thick mire of chauvinism by failing to control the crown he collected in haste. A lesson for the 5th President too! SWRD regretted very much the Rosemead episode as he saw the dark era that was to follow. The 1970s saw far-reaching and adverse changes with the 1972 constitution. We envisaged development through structural change. The changes were disastrous as economic problems too intensified. Administrative change generated the unholy alliance between politician and administration with prudent financial management going with the wind. The demise of SWRD brought Mrs. Bandaranaike as no. 1 citizen, literally from housekeeping. She took over confidently and earned the admiration of the world community. However the murky forces that emerged after 1956, used Mrs. B as cat’s paw to convert the governmental structure into a bureaucratic empire. The talent of young efficient men like Felix D. Bandaranaike got overshadowed by mediocre talent. The public service got packed with businessmen as state employees. The Marxist contribution to the 1972 Constitution was surprising and as unproductive as the record of the entire history of the Left movement in the island politics. We saw Left parties mushrooming overnight horse-trading for ministerial or diplomatic positions, conditions operating to date. After seven years of bureaucratic hegemony the tough guy JRJ had to introduce strict discipline to the once prestigious Public Service. He placed public servants and monks in their place.
Some of JRJ’s decisions seemed too harsh and the outcome was adverse but we cannot blame him for taking those decisions in the circumstances. May be his initial attempt to crush insurrection in the north and the banning of southern political parties proved failures. JRJ’s constitution of 1978 has a mixture of good and evil. The electoral system is the worst, where the voter is a mere slave at the beck and call of the political party. President Premadasa inherited the separatist problem amidst the JVP revolt. He befriended the JVP as well as the LTTE, the latter emerged the winner. Premadasa talked peace with the LTTE very cordially, giving them all recognition. Did he fail in negotiation because of his over-reliance on himself and a few retired top brass for advice? CBK re-started negotiations in 1994 on an euphoric note. Did these talks fail because negotiations were entrusted to officials while the elected presentatives fought shy? We have to conclude that the separatist problem with the poverty problem traceable to poor leadership—political, religious, academic and civil society. Some soul-searching by the majority and corrections thereon seem essential.
Some areas for attention by the Southern majority:
Avoid:
*provocatice references like "Terrorists" or separatist rebels,
* writing by academics bent on demolishing the Traditional homeland Theory or Self determination claim
*Rabble Rousing by propaganda tycoons
Recognise:
* The minority right to present their case for Federalism, as they live in a distinct geographical area, they have their district legal code, they speak the Tamil language, they have their Hindu religion.
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