by Dushy Ranetunge in London
(June 16, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) In the run up to the PC polls in August, Opposition politicians are being branded ‘traitors’.
Personalities in the two main parties have been accusing one another of being ‘traitors’. As to how effective it would be as an election strategy is yet to be seen.
Those who accuse others of being traitors find themselves in interesting company.
Adolf Hitler resented Germany's defeat in the First World War and sought to blame it on ‘traitors’. Traitors, according to him, were the men of the left and the democrats who had accepted the Versailles Treaty forced on Germany by the Allies.
More recently, Robert Mugabe has branded the democratic Opposition of Zimbabwe as a bunch of ‘traitors’.
Then there was Slobodan Milosevic, who also branded his opposition as traitors, before embarking on a disastrous war, resulting in the break up of Yugoslavia.
While some may perceive branding others as traitors as an effective election strategy, it is not clear if the accusers really know what they are getting into and the fallout of their accusations on Sri Lanka’s parliamentary democracy.
In Sri Lanka, the LTTE has branded thousands of innocent Tamils as traitors and assassinated most of them, including Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamer.
TULF Leader V. Anandasangaree, too, has been branded a traitor by the LTTE. At 75 last Sunday, he is perhaps the oldest Sri Lankan to be branded a ‘traitor’. The LTTE is zeroing in on him.
Branding of adversaries as ‘traitors’ in the Sinhalese community is a dangerous sign and will contribute to a culture of impunity and abuse, as it sends out the wrong signals to the Sturmabteilung or the "brown shirts" of Sri Lanka.
It also sends the wrong signals to the world at large and reflects badly on Sri Lanka.
The politics of ‘traitor’ will add to the human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and those who use it should be aware of the consequences and legal implications in case of a law suit.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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