Choke on definitions

DEMOCRACY

Demos = people +  Kratia = power, rule

The modern definition of democracy is “Form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law.”

Therefore the key elements of a Democracy are:

• Guarantee of basic Human Rights to every individual person vis-à-vis the state and its authorities as well as vis-à-vis any social groups (especially religious institutions) and vis-à-vis other persons.

• Separation of Powers between the institutions of the state:

Government [Executive Power],

Parliament [Legislative Power] and

Courts of Law [Judicial Power]

• Freedom of opinion, speech, press and mass media

• Religious liberty

• General and equal right to vote (one person, one vote)

• Good Governance (focus on public interest and absence of corruption)

The U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) defined democracy as: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

The Sri Lankan style democracy can be defined as “Form of government appointed by the people, where a constitution is just a piece of paper, governing body decides the rule of the country as the ignorant people are duped to accept all that is dished out to them by the anointed governing body”.

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka even the governing body is ignorant of the meaning of a democracy…the country is somewhat a monarchical oligarchy…!

await for more…

In these times of victory…

The whole senario of a long war coming to an end is indeed a cause for celebration, however thinking of the civilians and soldiers that were killed in the process of achieving this rather “premature” victory is daunting. Although I do not mean to disrupt the whole festive atmosphere and attitude, true peace can only be achieved when all Sri Lankans can live together without any discrimination on ethnic, racial or religious grounds.

It is hard to celebrate while fellow Sri Lankans are displaced from their homes, living in camps under very harsh conditions without adequate food, medicine and other basic essentials. While we celebrate we should also make this triumph of the soldiers worthwhile by extending a generous hand of help towards the displaced fellow Sri Lankans. To achieve peace one needs to change the perceptions and attitudes towards the “other”. What better way is there than extending a helping hand to those in need and proving not to anyone but ourselves that Sri Lankans are capable of taking care of their own. Through our actions we can change the perceptions and slowly contribute to the healing of all wounds and pave way to a lasting peace in the country. This effort needs to be supported by proper political solutions and actions of politicians. All the while effort must be taken to talk to the diaspora as well.

So we are at the brink of a decisive moment in time where everything depends on our actions and perceptions. As political beings humans can shape, change and transform the future.

Shunning the Swedes

The conspired decision of the Sri Lankan government through the foreign ministry to deny entry visa to the Swedish foreign minister at this crucial hour will tarnish the humanitarian image the government is trying so hard to portray. This image has been tested so many times over the last few weeks and months. For example, after denying the use of heavy weapons for so long the government recently announced it had given orders to the army to stop using heavy weapons from now on – which suggest that the army did use these weapons amidst the vehement denials. The initial count of people trapped in the “Safe zone” has been proven wrong by the numbers that crossed over. These are subtle things that point fingers at the negligent behaviour of a responsible sovereign state government. The latest issue of denying entry visa to the Swedish foreign minister only casts doubt at the government further. There is a lot at stake here which the government needs to reconsider. The government has so far been successful in rescuing those innocent people amidst the cries of the diaspora and to prove the capability and determination of the government to protect and safeguard its citizens. Why put all the efforts at risk?

Given the conflict management and resolution expertise vested in the Swedish foreign minister it is definitely worthwhile to lend an ear to his suggestions. There is no hard and fast rule that the government of Sri Lanka need to exercise these suggestions as these are merely “suggestions”. Even if the government did invite the Swedish foreign minister for a different function in May, considering the prominence of getting an opinion as well as showing representatives of the international community the efforts the government has put in place to accommodate the IDPs, it is a smart move to extend an invitation to the Swedes together with the British and French delegation.

After all if the government can give these delegates as well as a few international media personnel access to the IDP camps and the battle field(I know it is pushing it a bit what with the governments no outside media policy) it might actually support the governments image rather than tarnish it. If what we see and hear on National TV where the rescued people talk about the atrocities they suffered at the hands of the LTTE and the negligence of human life by the LTTE is in fact true then the government should indeed let some of these delegates and international media in and let them talk to these people. They should witness the rest of the country pulling together to support their fellow citizens. This might help not only to depict that the government is not trying to commit genocide etc that the diaspora are portraying but that it is actually doing it’s duty to it’s people as a responsible state government.

By extending a grant to visit the country to the Swedes or any other country does not necessarily mean the government is bowing down to the international community or that the government needs to implement whatever they are suggesting. It is merely to show that the government is open for suggestions. Note “suggestions”. In a globalised world a country cannot be an island.Instead of pointing fingers at other international media outlets and leaders for being supporters of the LTTE why not prove the point by granting some of these international leaders and media access to the country and showing them the truth.

After all it is a wise move to keep the international community at hand now that we are close to phase ii, development and rehabilitation which is a costly affair by itself.

The Tamil diaspora: Solidarities and realities

Nirmala Rajasingam, the sister of late Rajini Thiranagama, and former LTTE member, talks about the Tamil diaspora and the recent demonstrations in “The Tamil diaspora: Solidarities and realities” article in Sahasamwada. Here is an excerpt of the article found in Sahasamwada:

“…

The frenzied demonstrations have begun only when the military defeat of the LTTE appears a real prospect. Again, the confusion between humanitarian protest and political solidarity with the LTTE is evident. But this still leaves open the question: what explains the widespread support that the LTTE enjoys in the diaspora despite its declining fortunes in Sri Lanka, and the atrocities it commits against ordinary Tamil people there?

…”

Tamil diaspora demonstrating political solidarity with the LTTE while hundreds and thousands of innocent Tamil people in the Wanni are being forcefully kept as human shields is just appalling. As this blog noted earlier the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora seem to have conveniently forgotten that saving the lives of the innocent is far more important than saving the life of a leader who has brought nothing but grief, death and suffering to these fellow Sri Lankans. The uproar in the streets of Paris, London and Toronto displays the reality of a dream being lost for the Tamil diaspora and ironically the diaspora lived this dream on the expense of the thousands of fellow Sri Lankan Tamil citizens forcefully trapped by the LTTE.

Flames of dissent

“This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love
And will at last break out into a flame.”

- William Shakespeare

It boils down to the end now, this war of almost thirty years. Yet the end seem to be very decisive. The soldiers have a grave task ahead, what with the last of the terrorists hiding among the civilians and turning their weapons against the poor people trying to escape these clutches of madness. There is no easy way at least that is certain. Given the use of civilians as protection in the past there is a possibility that the sadist terrorist leader might attempt to pull off an eleventh hour battle amidst the innocent civilians.

Although it is easier said than done and most people have doubts whether a theory of dissent can be realised in a situation as such. It is apparent however that there are traces of dissent among the civilians who have gone through atrocities that none of the other Sri Lankans have gone through. The stories of the people who escaped from the reigns of terror hints of dissent. These ashes kindled to a soft flame can burn bright when the time is right. An uprising combined with the brave effort of the soldiers will give the innocent civilians as well as all Sri Lankans hope that this war could end soon.

Just pondering…

In the recent post titled “Will Tamils and Sinhalese “never lose an opportunity to lose an opportunity?”" in Transcurrents, Dr Dayan Jayatielleka summed up his article in this manner:

“To sum up then: On the part of the Tamils, the choice is whether they opt for a moderate leadership which the Sinhalese will be willing to share power with, on a basis that the Sinhalese are willing to accept, or whether they wish to live in permamnt confrontation by choosing a leadership whose immoderate demands will be unacceptable to the Sinhala majority.”

If Dayan is referring to the current leadership in Sri Lanka to be the “moderate”leadership to govern this country in a post-war scenario, I wonder if we will have the backing of a majority of Tamils let alone the “moderate” Sri Lankans (Note In the use of “Sri Lankans” here I refer to the rest of the population in Sri Lanka eg Sinhala, Muslim etc). Although we do agree that the initiative to stop this war instead of milking it is one of the greatest deeds of this government simultaneously we need to observe the rest of its character record as well. The government propaganda spells out nationalism without doubt. The killing of prominent media personnel, mysterious disappearances and abductions of numerous other journalists and the iron hand over the rights of not of just those trapped in IDP camps but also of the general population who are frankly in my humble opinion brainwashed by the government propaganda. This is why people end up dumping media reports like the recent SBS report “Hunting the Tigers” as pro-LTTE. Frankly the reaction of the Defence Secretary in this clip is very disturbing. It leaves us to the conclusion that he is taking the business of securing the country to a personal level!

Then there is the question of whether the Tamil people who are being harassed daily on the streets as well as in the IDP camps and war stricken areas would be able to work or live freely under this sort of government attitude, where imho all Tamils are seen as LTTE? Of course there needs to be a compromise between the Sinhalese and the Tamils but for it to happen we need to first give reassurance to the Tamil people that the Sinhalese are willing to go one step further and drop the nationalist agenda as should the Tamils who need to stop feeding terrorist leadership like that of Prabhakaran and realise that there is a possibility of finding a solution without killing lives of innocent Tamils and Sinhalese. It all comes down to an issue of trust and good leadership.

This is where we get disappointed by the likes of Dayan and Rajiva who are two great intellectuals with the capability of opening avenues to enlighten and inform the Sri Lankan expatriates, specifically the Tamil diaspora that are being misled by LTTE propaganda. We need good leaders to close the gap between the Tamil-Sinhala divide not those who further separate it.