| by G. Pramod
Kumar
( November 9,
2012, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) If anybody, other than the
rights-sensitive civil society of Sri Lanka, has a right to get offended by the
island nation's decision to impeach its first woman chief justice, it is India.
For, the
impeachment is aimed at getting rid of somebody who will prevent the country
from going back on its commitment to India on the devolution of power to its
Tamil areas.
If chief justice
Shirani Bandaranayake continues in her post, it won't be easy for the Rajapaksa
government to usurp power of the provinces, particularly the Tamil dominated
north and east.
India always
bragged about the 13th amendment, the instrument that will devolve more power
to the Tamils in Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised former foreign
minister SM Krishna that he would even go beyond the amendment in his
commitment to the devolution of power.
However, even
during such assurances his government's duplicity was evident in the proxy
voices that said that the country was not interested in the provinces, or more
precisely the north-east, becoming more autonomous. The proxies, at home and
abroad, said that the 13th amendment would not work because it was an imported
solution. Such imports were also an affront to the country's sovereignty, they
said.
This is where
chief justice Shirani became a stumbling block. She recently asked the
government not to take back the powers of the provinces without her approval.
She said a new bill proposed by the ruling regime for this purpose should be
cleared first by the provincial councils.
For the all-powerful
Rajapaksas, who cannot brook dissent or difference of opinion, this was an
unexpected bolt. The solution was simple - get rid of her. With a brutal
majority in the parliament, it has the numbers to strip her of her
constitutional powers and send her home. The parliament has begun the process.
For a moment,
imagine if such a situation arose in India. Or even in Pakistan!
If anybody
thought Sri Lanka would mend its ways after the United Nations Human Rights
Council resolution, they are mistaken. While the international community
continues to put pressure on the country to improve its human rights standards
and fix accountability for its alleged war crimes, it has become more defiant.
With the decision to impeach chief justice Shirani, it has once again cocked a
snook at the international community, and more importantly its own citizens.
Chief justice
Shirani is no pushover. She is highly regarded for her erudition, scholarship
and integrity. But the government thinks that her conduct and behaviour has
"affected the sovereignty of the people" because she, well within the
rights of the country's judiciary, has asked valid questions.
The Sri Lankan
government's impeachment decision is a foreign policy failure for India.
Whenever political parties and civil society groups from Tamil Nadu asked for
its intervention for an equal and dignified life to the Tamils of Sri Lanka,
New Delhi had always brandished the 13th amendment.
But now, with
the proposed bill to take back powers of the provinces and the impeachment
motion against the chief justice, it's clear that Sri Lanka was bluffing with
India.
India hasn't yet
reacted to the issue. Impeachment of the chief justice is entirely a domestic
issue for Sri Lanka, but the motive and its aftermath cannot be glossed over.
Although it is
extremely dangerous to protest or express dissent against the Rajapaksas in Sri
Lanka, the impeachment decision has aroused widespread protests. People have
taken to the streets in Colombo and independent commentators have slammed the
government because they know that this will be the last nail in the coffin of
the country's democracy.
Ever since
Mahinda Rajapaksa became the president of the country, his family has been
slowly tightening its grip on the country. Now, the four Rajapaksa brothers
literally run Sri Lanka - the oldest one is the president, while the other
three are defence secretary, minister for economic development and speaker
respectively.
Obviously, the
Rajapaksas have made Sri Lanka a better best practice, than India, on how to
establish an autocratic dynasty in a democracy.
G. Pramod Kumar, a senior
editor of Indian news portal FirstPost.com.
 If anybody, other than the rights-sensitive civil society o...){kind=link}