Anandasangaree
writes to President Mahinda Rajapaksa
|
by V. Anandasangaree
Secretary
General, TULF
(
December 6, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Being a true
patriot who loves his country and all the people in it, I have a sacred duty to
bring to your notice, the disturbing trend in the country that may sooner or
later precipitate a big crisis. The country expects every citizen to put his or
her interest in the country above all the other interests, one may have.
I
am prepared to make any sacrifice for the sake of my country. Although three
years have passed since the war came to an end, peace and tranquillity has not
returned to the country. People live in constant fear and tension, both in the
North and the East. However much you may boast that the country is now back to
normal, I am sure that in your own mind you are not convinced so. I speak on
behalf of the minority communities. I am convinced more than anybody else that
the minorities now feel discriminated more than ever before.
In
a country where many people are prepared to make any sacrifice merely to gain a
seat in Parliament, I am one who, knowing the consequences fully well, took a
bold stand in condemning the unpleasant or unacceptable activities of the LTTE,
for which I was 'ordained' as a 'Traitor' and was deprived of my seat in
Parliament for two successive terms. But unfortunately some, who are yearning
for seats in Parliament or in their anxiety to retain their seats cause a lot
of embarrassment to you. Without knowing the history of the ethnic problem,
they create a lot of new problems for you and for the country. I am in
particular referring to the sudden demand by some to do away with the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution. If you do not try halt to this new development,
it may turn out to be a Frankenstein monster, which you yourself will find
difficult to control.
At
this juncture, I wish to quote from your Independence Day message to the Nation
on 4 February 2006. This is what you said, "As I stated at the inauguration
of the Moragahakanda Maha Samudra, I wish to re-emphasize that the most
reliable weapon against terrorism is to do justice by the innocent Tamil
people. I know that the Sinhala people in the South are ready for this. We are
not ready to give into the demands of the LTTE. However, at the minimum we
should be reasonable and honest enough to agree with Mr. Anandasangaree or the
Hon. Douglas Devananda". Up to now no one had either disputed or objected
to your claim. This programme was broadcast and telecast on the same day and
was also reported in the newspapers the next day. Then and now I stick to my
proposal of adopting the Indian Model as a solution to the ethnic problem.
Holding
scales evenly
It
is now your duty Your Excellency, to sit in judgment as the only Head of the
State, holding the scales evenly. Please analyze with a clear and broad mind as
to why the Tamils in this country, although born as equals along with others
and living in Sri Lanka from time immemorial, undergo so much of hardships over
a period of over sixty years, since the country gained its independence in
1948. Please consider all matters referred to in this appeal with the sympathy
Tamils deserve. Start from 1948 and move forward by taking the reins of power
in your hands, and undo all wrongs done to the minorities hitherto by the3
three successive Governments. It is you to whom the mandate was given by the
people to rule the country guided by your Mahinda Chinthanaya. Please don't let
anyone else to usurp your powers and smuggle their own Chinthanaya in to yours
and sell them as Mahinda Chinthanaya.
A
unique feature in the Cabinet system of Government is the concept of collective
responsibility in which all members of the Cabinet are collectively and
individually responsible for the decisions of the Cabinet. Running a government
is no joke, like some think. Each one ought to be satisfied with what he or she
gets and not encroach into others' rights and cause embarrassment to the
parties concerned. Both of us entered Parliament together in 1970 and you were
the youngest member in Parliament but my entry into politics is now more than
half a century. Hence I believe that you will take my advice seriously and not
as an insult. Please do not allow anyone to meddle with the 13th Amendment and
firmly stick to it.
Your
Excellency, we must get to the past first, to make the people understand the
present situation properly, since most problems are created by over
enthusiastic new-comers from all communities who try to show their supporters
that they are more capable to deal with problems than the seniors who are
already in the field. When the Constitution drafted by Lord Soulbury was
debated in the State Council in October 1946 prior to Independence, the
Chairman of the Board of Ministers the late Rt. Honourable Don Stephen
Senanayake, who was to take over the reins of the government as the first Prime
Minister of Independent Ceylon, asked the members of the State Council "Do
you want to be governed from London or do you want as Ceylonese help to govern
Ceylon?" Concluding his speech, he stated like a Great Statesman, "on
behalf of the Congress and on my own behalf I give the minority communities the
sincere assurance that no harm, need you fear at our hands in a free Lanka.
"
This assurance by no less a person than the late Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake, who
was later acknowledged as the Father of the Nation, convinced the Tamil members
of the State Council. Taking his word as gospel truth, they all unanimously
voted for the adoption of the new constitution of Lord Solbury that was to come
into operation on the country attaining independence on 4 February 1948. As I
see today, none of the Tamil members who voted for the adoption of the new
Constitution without any compulsions did realize that they were signing the
death warrant of the Tamil people whom they were representing in the
Legislature, known then as State Council. They neither realized that they were
losing the last chance to do anything to protect their people nor that a united
opposition of the Tamil members would have easily won them all their reasonable
demands. The Sinhala leadership was in a mood, at that time, to concede
anything and everything reasonable. They were not unaware that any opposition
at that stage by any minority group would further delay the country gaining
Independence.
Furthermore,
the Tamils at that time had full faith in the late Hon. D.S. Senanayake, a
highly respected freedom fighter and gentlemen who mustered the support of
leaders from all ethnic groups to liberate our country. They also never
expected that the future leaders of the Sinhala community that was very much
liberal-minded fair and just, will one day dishonour the assurances given by
one, acknowledged as the Father of the Nation. There were no specific
safeguards in the much boasted Constitution of Lord Soulbury, for the
minorities. Instead there was a general provision under Section 29 against the
'Enactment of any law which would make persons of any community or religion
liable to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of other communities or
religions were not liable or to confer advantages and privileges on any
community or religion not conferred on others.' While including these
provisions Lord Soulbury boasted that he had entrenched all the protective
provisions for minorities that the wit of man could devise.
Safeguards
of less importance
There
were some other safeguards of less importance that could hardly be described as
safeguards for minorities. You are not unaware of the fate of the Second
Chamber provided as safeguard for the minorities, for the abolition of which
you and I too voted, and how it turned out to be a real second chamber for the
defeated parliamentarians and a strain on the government's coffers. Above all
there were a number of flaws in the Soulbury Constitution that were to open the
way for a series of measures that proved detrimental to the interest of the
minority communities.
Ultimately,
as I see it now, the Soulbury Constitution and its provisions turned out to be
a total betrayal of the trust and confidence the Tamil minorities had on a
section of the Sinhala leadership and the British Government that had a moral
duty and a common obligation to the various ethnic groups, to allow them to
live in peace as equals with the other groups. Although it was far too late now
things could have been sorted out within a reasonable period, from the day the
country gained its independence. The problems the country faced soon after
becoming Independent, such as the issues like the National Flag, citizenship
rights, adoption of official language, appeals to the Privy Council and so on,
could have been amicably and peacefully settled with the co-operation and
goodwill of the British Government. It is very unfortunate that neither the
British Government nor the author of the Constitution and the first Governor
General Lord Soulbury, did not intervene and as a result the country is paying
for it now.
The
question now is whether the Tamil legal luminaries in the State Council, some
of whom were holding very prestigious titles like 'Kings Counsel', had been
outwitted or got swayed by sentiments or in the alternative, the father of the
Nation the late Right Honourable Don Stephen Senanayake, who solicited the
support of the Tamil members of the State Council to support the new
Constitution, assuring that no harm need the minorities fear at their hands in
free Lanka, had been betrayed by a stronger section of the Sinhala leadership,
by demoting him from the highly elevated position as Father of the Nation
covering all ethnic groups in the country, regrettably to a lower position,
merely as Father of the Sinhala Nation only.
Irrespective
of any ethnic groups
There
are many among us, irrespective of any ethnic group, who do not know the proper
history of the country, some even the geography. How many of our people know
that only 22 miles of a strait separate Sri Lanka from India. The most
important event in the history of Sri Lanka but little known or spoken of, is
the arrival of Prince Vijaya and his seven hundred friends. Vijaya managed to
win over the Pandiyan king to the extent of agreeing to give in marriage his
daughter and finding seven hundred maids to be wives of his friends. Apart from
this, along with various valuable gifts, several craftsmen and one thousand
families were also sent to Sri Lanka by Pandiyan King. The good gesture of the
Pandiyan King in agreeing to give his daughter as the wife proves beyond any
doubt, that a very good relationship prevailed between the two.
A
lot of goodwill would have been built between the Tamil and the Sinhala
communities and the history of the country would have been different today,
only if the Tamils had known that the umbilical relationship they have with
Tamil Naad is similar to the type of relationship the Sinhalese have with the
Pandiyan Kingdom, which is a part of Tamil Naad. I do not see any valid reason
as to why these two communities could not treat themselves as children or
descendents of the same parents and live as equals.
Even
the weak provisions for the protection of minorities provided in the Soulbury
Constitution did not find a place in either of the two Constitutions of Hon.
Sirimavo Bandaranaike and of Hon. J.R. Jayewardene. It is a series of betrayals
that the Tamils had to face right throughout since Independence. There had been
a number of backlashes between 1956 and 1983, big and small, at which there
were killings, shooting, arson and thousands fled to the North and the East.
Government also moved them to the North and the East. The economy of the Tamils
was repeatedly destroyed. The worst was the one of July 1983, popularly known
as the Black July. The war that lasted for more than a quarter of a century
cost the country several thousand lives of innocent men, women and children of
all communities. The number of lives lost during the last lap of the war has
not yet been accounted for and the value of the properties lost or destroyed
amount to several billions.
So
far not a cent had been paid as compensation, neither for the lives lost nor
for the property lost or destroyed. According to some reliable statistics, one
in ten IDPs has some physical deformity. Nearly one hundred thousand widows and
thousands of orphans in the North and East, apart from the other districts had
been created. There are men, women and children who had lost their eyesights,
in some cases both eyes, some, both their legs and limbs. Thousands carry metal
pieces of shells in their bodies, some in their heads and close to the spine
and living with permanent agony. A lot of men had lost their wives and wives
their husbands, children and grandchildren, uncles and aunts. I have lost many
of my good friends and their families. The horrible incidents some witnessed
still haunt them. Many hardly have one proper meal a day. Thousands of houses
had been razed to the ground and many still without roofs. Several thousand
tractors, many with trailers, two-wheel tractors, cycles, motorcycles, cars and
lorries are weather beaten and not in running condition. All their lifetime
savings and properties collected during two, three generations are all gone.
The
weepings and wailings are still heard in many homes more particularly in the
Districts of Killinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar and in parts of several
others, the disabled, many of whom can't move from place to place without
assistance. They may be looked after for some time but what will happen to them
after those who care for them are no more? The outside world does not know of
the situation prevailing in the villages. The agony some undergo cannot be
described in words. No one seems to bother about their future. Totally disabled
persons should be taken over by some charitable organization. Permit some
foreign NGOs to take charge of those disabled ones. They are all innocent
victims of war.
I
have no more tears to shed. So with many others, some live with the hope that
their missing ones will return home soon. Some believe that their children in
jail will be released without delay. I know the mentality of the average
Sinhala man more particularly the women folks. I still remember how an aged
Sinhala lady, after most of the coastal roads were washed off after the tsunami
of 2004, walked many miles with food packets on her head to feed hungry victims
of the tsunami. All of them were strangers to her and did not belong to her
community or religion. This is the typical women folks of Sri Lanka. I have
brought all these to your notice partly for your information and action, and
through you, to the Sinhala village folks for them to know that the Tamils had
been undergoing so much of agony for no fault of theirs. Let these Sinhalese
mothers rouse the feelings of sympathy in their young ones, who do not know as
to what had happened and what is happening in this country to their Tamil
brethren. No Sinhalese common man wants special privileges. Every right
thinking person wants equal treatment for all born and bred here.
