The West, Prabhakaran and their ‘Baila’

"Let us hope that the local foreign correspondents are not following the local Machiavellis who pretended to be Kautilyas. Why cannot the government invite journalists from news media such as National Post in Canada and brief them on the situation in Sri Lanka? Though they are not living in five star hotels and other lodgings in Colombo they seem to be more knowledgable about the LTTE than most of the foreign correspondents in Sri Lanka."

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by Prof. Nalin de Silva

(The views expressed are writer’s own)

(February 11, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The saints in the west and the foreign correspondents in Sri Lanka do not appear to be happy with the decision of the Sri Lankan government not to reciprocate the so-called ceasefire declaration by Prabhakaran, that was violated subsequently. It is not known whether these foreign correspondents are "foreign" foreign correspondents or "local" foreign correspondents. Most of the foreign foreign correspondents cannot be very much different from that BBC reporter who after a couple of drinks wanted to lecture to the "Sinhala Buddhist heathens" on how to treat the Tamils who are having "innocent aspirations".

Let us hope that the local foreign correspondents are not following the local Machiavellis who pretended to be Kautilyas. Why cannot the government invite journalists from news media such as National Post in Canada and brief them on the situation in Sri Lanka? Though they are not living in five star hotels and other lodgings in Colombo they seem to be more knowledgable about the LTTE than most of the foreign correspondents in Sri Lanka. The idea behind inviting such journalists is to inform the voters of those countries the games played by their governments with the LTTE and not to convince the western powers who arrogantly dictate terms to the poor countries under the guise of a non existing international community. It is futile to attempt to convince the western powers and their diplomats here, who created, baptised and nourished Tamil racism in Sri Lanka as an integral part of their imperialist policy.

We have to congratulate the government, especially the President, the Prime Minister, the minster of foreign affairs and the deputy minister of defence for their decision not to give in to the pressure exerted by the western powers. Prabhakaran made his declaration of "ceasefire" in the aftermath of the meeting of the Sri Lankan aid forum in Paris thinking that he could pressurise the Sri Lankan government through his friends in London and Oslo. More than anybody else he is aware of the precarious position the government is placed after his patron saints had decided to tie aid to Sri Lanka, to the so-called peace talks. The government has taken its decision knowing very well that, as a result, the chances of getting aid from the aid forum would be diminished. It appears that the thinking of the government is that aid or no aid from the aid group there shall be any ceasefire. However, with all due respect to late Mr. Kadirgamar, I cannot understand why the minister of foreign affairs should get involved in issuing statements on so-called peace talks and ceasefires. The Tamil racist problem is an internal matter, though the Tamil racists are assisted by the west. Why should the government help the Tamil racists and their patron saints in the west to externalise the problem?

I am sure that the Machiavellis who pretended to be Kautilyas would murmur from their graves that the matter is already externalised. It is true that the west has tried to externalise the Tamil racist problem but a government with a strong will, unlike the weak kneed J. R. Jayewardene government, should be able to resist all these pressures.

We should not imagine that the Tamil racists are sympathised in the west because of their propaganda. The western powers and most of the western media like the BBC helped Tamil racism from the very beginning. Tamil racism is their baby and naturally they had to look after it. Even the pro western policy of the J. R. Jayewardene government could not get the west to abandon the baby. That policy was counter productive as it only antagonised the Indian government. It is true that our diplomats did not do their best to promote the Sri Lankan government‘s point of view. However in fairness to them I must also add that there was no well defined official Sri Lankan position on the Tamil racist problem. For that matter even today the official position is vague to say the least.

Even if the Sri Lankan government had a well defined position that would not have helped us as the western powers were already "convinced" that the Sinhalas, especially the Sinhala Buddhists were the culprits. There was no necessity for Tamil racist propaganda to "convince" the western powers. In 2001 an interview given to an Indian television network by Mr. Solheim, the Norwegian "facilitator", establishes beyond any doubt on whose side his so-called impartial country has been with while talking "peace". He has said that the Sri Lankan government should adopt the federal system of those countries which delegated powers to the provincial authorities and that the country should respect the aspirations of the Tamil community at large. Mr. Raymond Johansen may say that Norway has not and will not impose herself on any of the parties and that it is not their role to find solution to the conflict. But we know that these are mere words. The west is very good at issuing such statements, which in colloquial Sinhala are referred to as "baila". I am sure that there are enough Sinhalas, especially in the "piece brigade", known to the Norwegians, who could explain the meaning of the word "baila" to Mr. Johansen.

While the western governments have been nurturing Tamil racism in Sri Lanka, the so-called experts on Sri Lanka in the west have lectured on Sinhala Chauvinism and on the "Yamapalla" syndrome that made the Sinhalas a violent people and also on multi culturalism, multi racism and the hegemony of the Sinhala Buddhist majority, forgetting the hegemony of Judaic Christian culture not only in politics and economics but also in knowledge systems. The Sri Lankans who went to learn about Sri Lanka at the feet of these "experts" came back not only with post graduate qualifications from the western universities but also with their theories and concepts, and established the Tamil racist school of imitators that repeat the thoughts of their masters and mistresses. This school has become an instrument in the hands of Tamil racism and the western powers. Other than those imitators there are a few who genuinely think that by his declaration of a "ceasefire" Prabhakaran has sought to create the impression that he like a saint wants peace whereas the Sri Lankan government appears to be against peace. But one has to ask the question whom Prabhakaran has impressed. The answer to that question is quite obvious, it is the so-called international community. This is another term for the western powers and the friends of Tamil racism in the west, and they are in any event "impressed" with Prabhakaran. Whether Prabhakaran issues statements announcing ceasefire to be violated within a few days or kill innocent villagers in Kurulubedda they are impressed. After all he is their "boy", though he is now threatening to throw a few firecrackers in London, and until he resorts to such action he has to be projected as a peace loving person. He is only the end product of a line of Tamil racists described in "Prabhakaran, Ohuge Seeyala, Baappala Ha Massinaala", translated into English as "An Introduction to Tamil Racism in Sri Lanka". It is the Sri Lankan government that is always against peace in the eyes of this biased community. They question the Sri Lankan delegation at the aid forum on the Bindunuwewa incident, but has any of the Hains or the Solheims ever questioned the LTTE on the Kurulubedda massacre. We cannot be fooled by the crocodile tears shed by them when the Dalada Maligawa was attacked by the fascist Tamil terrorists. The Aranthalawa, Sri Maha Bodhi and many other attacks were simply ignored by those western reporters who took photographs of women seated on the lap of statues of Buddha.

Why should the government take all the trouble to show to the western powers that they want peace. The west has never been interested in peace in the world since Vasco de Gama left the shores of Portugal. The west may be all powerful and we as a poor country have been "compelled" to depend on the aid from them. But it has to be reminded to them that they are not the only countries in the world with resources. The western powers so far have failed to dictate terms to Myanmar, another poor Buddhist country, even after sending Ms. Suki, married to a Britisher, to resurrect "democracy" in that country. The horror stories spread by the western powers and their "impartial" media have not helped them. It is only the west and those who have been either brainwashed or bought by them who are worried about the "democracy" in Myanmar. We know that by "democracy" in a country the western powers mean a state of affairs where the "elected government" in that country acts according to the plans set out by them. Buddhists are worried of what the west is trying to do to Buddhist culture in Myanmar and not of western democracy and of Ms. Suki, the agent of the west. It is clear that the west has lost the battle and is now thinking of sending Ms. Suki around the world to tell us how bad and undemocratic the Myanmar government is. It is true that some of us who were brought up with an overdose of red riding hood "baila", in the schools set up by the British, find it difficult to not to dance to the tune of baila. However the average Sinhala person can see through all these thanks to the "vibhajjavadi dhamma" that is still prevalent in the country even after more than five hundred years of world imperialism under Christian western powers.

We should learn from Myanmar how to stand upto the pressures exerted by the policemen of the so-called global village. Sri Lankan government has never acted against peace. It is not the Sri Lankan government that started this "war". There is no war in this country. A group of terrorists with the blessings of the western powers, the high priests of the Christian and Catholic churches have taken up arms against the legally elected government and the state to establish a separate state. What do the western powers want the government to do? Preach to Prabhakaran and the LTTE? What did the west do when the JVP took up arms? Nobody called it a war. Nobody wanted "peace talks" with the JVP. There was no "discourse" on conflict resolution and there were no facilitators/mediators. Everybody wanted to defeat the JVP militarily. Was it because the JVP, in spite of all their Marxist slogans, consisted mainly of Sinhala Buddhist youth that the west helped the then governments to crush that movement? Why do not the western powers help the present government to crush the LTTE, if they are really peace loving? The Sri Lankan government does not have to prove their "innocence" to anybody however powerful they may be. It is the right of a government to defend the sovereignty and the integrity of the state, defeating militarily any movement that takes up arms against the state. Peace can be achieved only by defeating the LTTE militarily. If the west is really interested in peace, they should ask their "boy" to surrender arms and should not try to use Tamil racism to weaken and then destroy Sinhalathva in this country. If the west is really friendly with India they should help to capture Prabhakaran and hand him over to India instead of sending Solheim to pay courtesy calls to that murderer who has killed two heads of government. Peter Hains and Kenneth Fernandos can continue to issue testimonials to Prabhakaran but these do not make him a peace loving person in the eyes of the non Christian countries in the world.

The Sri Lankan government not having reciprocated Prabhakaran’s ceasefire "baila" will come under extreme pressure from the western powers to agree to "peace talks". If not it is very clear that Sri Lanka will not get much aid from these countries. The western powers may even try to replace the PA government with a UNP government with Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe as the prime minister. Mr. Rathnasiri Wickremanayake has become a thorn in the flesh as far as the west is concerned. Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga has not played the role of the little red riding hood of Sri Lanka to the satisfaction of the west. In their eyes the big bad wolf of the Buddhist culture is still found to be alive and kicking. The west may have to turn to the pied piper in Mr. Wickremasinghe, who could march to the tune of baila and end up in a confederation, as a last resort. One should not forget the fact that former minister Mr. Karunasena Kodithuwakku did not waste time to welcome the ceasefire "baila" of Prabhakaran. We should not forget that it is a clash of civilsations that is taking place in Sri Lanka. The western Christian civilisation is using Tamil racism to weaken the Sinhala Buddhist culture.

The moment the Sinhalathva is weakened the western powers will turn their guns towards the Hindu culture in Sri Lanka. We have to remind ourselves and the west that there are countries such as India, Pakistan, Russia and China, though some of them under pressure from the west, belonging to other civilisations and that the Sinhalas are not alone in the world.