lf Political Vacuum Continues T.N.A Will Overtake EPDP and PLOTE - Dayan Jayatilleka
-an interview with Thava Sajitharan
When asked 2 1/2 months ago about Sri Lankan government’s efforts to implement a political solution, you said: Which government could be accused of non-implementation a mere 10 days after the end of a 30-year-war? What is your position now?
Dayan Jayatilleka
At the very outset let me say that the views I express here are strictly my personal opinion. The results of the recently concluded municipal election in Jaffna and urban council election in Vavuniya clearly show that now is the time for a political solution. If there continues to be a political vacuum, the Tamil progressive moderates such as the EPDP and PLOTE will be weakened and overtaken by the TNA by the time of the parliamentary election next year. If the TNA sweeps the parliamentary election while continuing to uphold its stance of rejecting the 13th amendment as insufficient and calling for “internal self determination”, the island will present a picture of clear ethnic division, polarization and deadlock. Colombo will not have a truly constructive Tamil negotiating partner that the Sinhala public and the armed forces can trust. It will be difficult to have Northern Provincial Council election and devolve power to an NPC dominated by a TNA which rejects the 13th amendment as too little.
Conversely, it will be difficult to postpone such an election indefinitely, problematic to dissolve the Council after election is held, and unwise to abolish the NPC by scrapping the 13th amendment with no alternative acceptable to the Tamils. An ethnic zero-sum game will be the result. Negotiations will be sporadic and unsuccessful. There may be a political process but that will be open-ended, while the existential situation of the Tamil people deteriorates on the ground. This means that the Sri Lankan crisis needlessly becomes intractable once again. The only way to avoid such an impasse with its tragic consequences of a renewed cycle of conflict, this time non-military but worse, civic, is to reduce the alienation of the Tamil people of the North. This can be done by giving the people some degree of local autonomy and representation, while Colombo’s Tamil partners such as the EPDP still remain a viable political option. Now the time is running out and as the election results show, Tamil disaffection is growing rapidly.
Going by the views you expressed in the media, you expected people in Jaffna to endorse the present administration’s stance in the MC election...how do you read the outcomes of polls in Jaffna and Vavuniya?
I certainly did not expect the Jaffna people to endorse the present administration’s stance, and I have never written anything which could even remotely be interpreted to mean that. I did expect that Jaffna people would opt for Douglas Devananda, and this they did, which is quite significant, though they did not do so quite as clearly as I thought. That was not Douglas’ fault. If he had been allowed to contest under the Veena sign as he was when he was a minister of an earlier cabinet, he would have secured more votes. If he had caved into pressure and joined the SLFP, he may have lost.
Do you feel that the government has let you down by asking you to return before your term ended?
My first term of two years ended on May 31, 2009 and a MFA letter in January informed me that I will have to return. However, that term was extended to May 31, 2010, in a faxed document signed by the Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which stated that H.E. the President had decided upon such an extension. This in turn was reversed by a ministry fax dated July 17th. I do feel the Government could have handled this better especially after the success at the UNHRC Special session. If I were transgressing official policy, I could have been directly informed through the usual channels which were utilized throughout my term. If I had persisted in such transgression I could have been asked for an explanation. I could have been brought down to Colombo for a consultation or briefing. None of these options were exercised.
In retrospect, how do you see the young Dayan of the 80s’ in contrast to the Dayan Jayatilleka, the ex-ambassador of the Sri Lankan state? During the 80s, you vociferously advocated the Leninist views on the State - Lenin held that the function of the State was to moderate class antagonisms, enforcing the rule of the oppressor. Having criticized Sri Lanka’s “bourgeois state” in the early 80s, you later on came to serve the very State whose “bourgeois” character doesn’t seem to have changed over all these years. Isn’t this self-contradictory?
More accurately it is the young Dayan of the 1970s and 80s, because I was first picked up for questioning by the Intelligence Services Division during the administration of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when I had just sat for my A levels as a student at Aquinas University College Colombo, over my involvement with a revolutionary group called Miti Pahara (Hammer Blow). No, I do not think it is self-contradictory, except in a dialectical sense. In the first place, in both incarnations, “the state” and “state power” were central: I opposed the state in the first phase and defended and represented it in the second. There was logic to it. When socialism collapsed the world over, I shifted from the perspective of overthrowing the capitalist state for the purpose of ushering in an alternative and radically more advanced society, to the perspective of reforming the capitalist state and using it as instrument to reform society.
Thus, I changed from a revolutionary to a reformist; a communist to a social democrat. My support for president Premadasa and his reform policies reflected and were rooted in this change. There was another factor also: the nature of the barbaric violence that was unleashed by totalitarian movements such as the LTTE and the JVP. I quickly grasped that these movements represented what political philosopher Hannah Arendt called “political evil”, and that the state, however authoritarian and repressive, could be reformed while such Pol Potist or fascist movements had to be crushed. I grasped very rapidly, that when it was choice between the state and such totalitarian movements, it is the state - even the capitalist state — one must support. This was the choice, known as the “Popular Front”, correctly made in the 1930s and 40s by Marxists and leftwing intellectuals the world over, when faced with fascism. That was my choice too.
Now that the war is over and Prabhakaran destroyed, today I may be on the verge of a third shift; of taking my distance from the state and placing more emphasis on society and the public space. However, the underlying consistency of my life is that I have been a rebel with a sense of right and wrong as indicated by my consciousness and conscience, my intellect and spirit. I have also been an internationalist throughout.
The ideological shift you are referring to, doesn’t it evince what the Communists - your former comrades by your own admission - call ‘political opportunism’? Dialectical transformation, it is said, concerns the replacement of the old and reactionary by the rise and strengthening of the new. Instead of striving for the more progressive, you have, in your second incarnation, as you call it, sought to defend the existing system which, a Marxist dialectical scrutiny would identify as being democratic in appearance yet dictatorial in essence. How revolutionary or rebellious is that in a dialectical sense?
When accused of changing his position held from 1905, Lenin in 1917, quoted Goethe saying that, “theory is grey my friend, while the tree of life grows green forever.” He was drawing attention to the fact that theory must reflect and adjust to the changing reality in order to change it still further, while reality does not adjust to theory! The old is not necessarily always more reactionary than the new.
Nazi fascism and Pol Potism were new phenomena but these were far more dangerously reactionary than the old systems, which is why Marxists defended bourgeois democracy and its restoration, against fascism. The JVP’s Second Uprising and the LTTE were far more reactionary than what existed and exists, in that these would have led to a totalitarian, slave society. You would not have been able to write and publish as you do, even with the dangers that journalists face these days. Therefore, it was quite progressive to rebel for the preservation of existing limited democratic freedoms and space, against these neo-barbarians.
What is the difference between Wilsonian and Leninist right to self-determination, and how much relevance do these concepts have to the different nationalities of Sri Lanka?
The Leninist concept preceded by a few years the Wilsonian, but there are strong similarities. Both had an aspect that was strategic, even instrumental, in that they wanted to undermine the old empires by stimulating the revolt of captive nations and nationalities in the rear areas of these empires. I think, the Marxist contribution to the understanding of the National question is a rich one, and here, I mean, the debates within Marxism. No other school of thought has been so conceptually complex and highly evolved. However, the discussion on Sri Lanka has to take into account the differences in time and space. How does the national or nationalities question play out in a context that is not that of imperialism, but an independent state in the global South, that is struggling to protect its own sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity?
The Leninist formulation on national self determination is valid today only in the context of foreign, i.e. external occupation. This is not the case with Sri Lanka. Fidel Castro has clearly said that after the Cold War and the fall of the socialist camp, what is most important today is the national sovereignty, state sovereignty. Translated this means that any solution to the Sri Lankan national question must be within a single, united country. What has been validated, in my mind, is that stand of the old generation of Ceylonese Marxists who advocated regional autonomy.
You have been positive about India’s role in Sri Lanka and pushing for the implementation of the Indian-engineered 13th amendment. Given the fact that India itself is still grappling with too many issues, (having to deal with a fascist RSS, Kashmir, Gujarat, borders, etc.) what gives you the hope that the immediate neighbour could help Lanka a great deal? Don’t you think they should be told to mind their own business?
India could have played the role of a spoiler during this war too as in 1987, but did not. This was not only because it wanted to see the end of the Tigers, which it rightly did, but also because it was given to understand on the record and at the highest levels, that a fair political accommodation for the Tamils would ensue, based on the implementation of the 13th amendment. If we regard the 13th amendment as unacceptable in whole or part because it was Indian-engineered, then we should not have promised to implement it, and if we have made international commitments not only to India but also the UN, then we should not fight shy of implementing them.
We need to keep India on side because any small state such as ours, needs the support and solidarity of its neighbours to ward off pressures from far away; pressures stemming from the Tamil diaspora. True, we can tell India to mind its own business but then it may tell us to look after ourselves if we are in trouble, now that the Tigers are wiped out. Given the fact of 70 million Tamils next door in Tamil Nadu and the new trends of Indo-US convergence, US-China rapprochement, Indo-China cooperation and Indo-South African closeness, I am not sure this would serve Sri Lanka’s national and security interests.
The Chinese and the Indian economic miracles also give us potential engines of growth and prosperity. India is indeed grappling with conflicts at its far periphery, but has proved itself and been globally applauded as a model of the handling of diversity and the transforming of diversity into a source of celebration and strength for sustained takeoff. The Indian model is one of a secular state, despite the overwhelming preponderance of Hindus in its populace; a multiethnic military; and quasi-federal accommodation of its ethnic, regional and linguistic mosaic.
You have been accused of being a RAW agent. “Dayan’s record as a spokesperson for RAW, the lunatic end of Indian foreign policy-makers who have managed to alienate all her neighbours, is well known” says Gamini Seneviratne in a recent newspaper article. What is your response to this allegation?
If anyone had an allergy to and a nose for RAW agents, it was president Premadasa. I must be the only alleged RAW agent to have been a close and prominent supporter and defender of Premadasa who restored Sri Lanka’s sovereignty to the full, by sending off the IPKF even at the cost of an open polemic with Rajiv Gandhi! I was also the only minister of a provincial council to have resigned. I quit the North East PC in less than six months, having collected a salary for only a single month, and I did so having written a critical open letter to the chief minister, Vardarajaperumal, which appeared in every local newspaper.
This was a full year before the NEPC declared a UDI! As for Gamini Seneviratne, I had thought that distraught daddies enter the fray only to protect the fair name of their teenage daughters, not their adult sons who have been evaluated by independent outside observer-commentators as having lost a debate! I was writing in public and getting involved in polemics with those who were much older to me since my teens, and my father Mervyn de Silva would have disdained the thought of intervening, just as I would have been horrified if he had waded in to defend me and sing my praises!
What are your future plans?
Initially to return to my substantive post as senior lecturer at the University of Colombo. What I would really like to do is to write an analytical book, a length study on Sri Lanka’s Thirty Year War from a comparative international perspective, and tease out its lessons for governance policy and conflict theory.
COURTESY: LAKBIMA NEWS
22 Comments
I remember suggesting that Dayan should be a Policy maker in the 'Island' Newspaper, just before his appointment as the UN representative for Sri Lanka.
My argument was with his clarrity of thought and tenacious debate of Issues in the papers is a Talent wasted.
Now that he has passed the test with Flying Colors in Geneva,I propose to test him in the next level where it matters today, 'How about Dayan Jayathilake the Foreign Minister?'
I would say this will be a gesture of doing justice to late Hon. Minister Mr. Kadirgamar.
ONLY Dayan can be fit into that pair of shoes with his eloquence, articualate debate and progressive thinking.
My only worry is he can not be the Policy maker and the public at the same time.
So Dayan you can't have the cake and eat it.!
So pick one, if you pick the right one you can serve Sri Lanka much better and go further and conqer and prevail upon higher echelons in the name of Sri Lanka.
With Dr. Kohona taking over the reins from Dayan in Geneva, it will be a rock solid Outward facing front in the foreign service of Sri Lanka.
No malice toour current Foreing minister, yet the challenges lay ahead of us need 'FIRE to fight with FIRE'
A well wisher!.
Ajith Boralugoda.
Mr. DJ
What you have not understood is that majority of the normal democratic Tamil man did not vote. Quite simply because there were no normal democratic candidates at all - TNA all agree are LTTE proxies, EPDP however white you may paint them, the Tamil man knows that they are the 'lackeys' of Hon. President. Hence 80% did not vote in Jaffna. In Vavuniya it is the same as Sinhala and the Muslim vote jacked up the vote to 50%, actually nearly 80% of the Tamil population did not vote there too.
Once again SL government callously disregarded the needs of the normal Democratic Tamil man. SL govt must create the space for the normal Tamil man to come forward as candidates. Then a alternative to LTTE, TNA and EPDP will surface.
Learned Dayan is speaking about TNA,PLOTE, EPDP, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Lenin,Sovereignty of SL given to the Sinhalese in 1948 (an independent state in the global South, that is struggling to protect its own sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity? ),and claiming it was quite progressive to rebel for the preservation of existing limited democratic freedoms and space, against these neo-barbarians, as an academic would really like to do is to write an analytical book, a length study on Sri Lanka’s Thirty Year War from a comparative international perspective, and tease out its lessons for governance policy and conflict theory ( conveniently forgetting the political and moral war the Tamil leaders unde took after 1948 and before 1948 ),and many other things.
He represented SL in UN in Geneva and advocated for the war and defended the war by the predominanly Sinhalese army and claimed it was MR regime's humanitarian mission in freeing the Tamils from the LTTE.
He is an academic, a political appointment holder ( Minister in the EP ), a diplomat, a rebel ( on the verge of thirdshift ) and internationalist, But sadly not a word in this interview , not a personal column in the last few months focusing about the 300,000 IDPs.
Even now it is not too late for the rebel dayan to speak about the IDPs or write his views on how they are being treated under unitary system now that the NE monsoon is round the corner.
What is his answer to people like the defence secretary coming with harsh words like "The Defence Secretary said that after failing to throw a lifeline to the LTTE, the Opposition and a section of the international community had now launched a fresh campaign to exploit the IDPs situation. "This is most likely to be their last triumph card,"he said pointing out that recent statements attributed to various individuals and organisations had shed light on their plan.
He said that those who did not utter a word when the LTTE held over 300,000 people at gun point on the Vanni eastern front were now interfering with a legitimate government operation. (from Island 17/9 )"
Why the defence secretary soes not talk about the aid money they recieve from this section of the international community ? Why can not he reject them and get it from some where else ?
Accordding to Dayan jayathiaka ,he is so optimistic that TNA will overtake EPDP if the time vacuum continues. My view is that TNa was given a good chance by the government to show the world that they have a bettter represention in North and East than EPDP Mahinda Rajapaksha government was so hasty in holding elctionsin North and East.They could have taken more time in holding elections. But unfortunately Mahinda rajapaksh government miscalculated the situation.they wanted to show the world that they are popular not only in south but north too alike. They did not give any chance for IDPs event to breath after ending 30 years of war.Governemtn has still chance to be popular among the tamils only one condition. That is they should be honest in whatever the action on behalf on tamils. As lond as they try to cheat tamils as they used to do in south . what Dayan says will happen sooner.It depends on how the governmment takes care of the problems of tamils. government should be able to not to let TNA attacts the people of these areas but to be with the government. In such a situation 13 th amendment will serve no purpose to the ordinary tamils.
Does Dayan really believe that tamils in SL would HONESTLY (I mean not as a interim to separation) accept 13th amendment as a political solution? If he believes it honestly, I have my doubts about his intelligence capacity.
By the way, look at the news items of today which badly reflects on 13th amenment's white elephants ..
"WPC Members spend Rs.30 million for joy ride
Aug 17 (LT) 28 Members of the Western Provincial Council led by the Leader of the Opposition of WPC Rosy Senanayake arrived in Sri Lanka yesterday after a nine day tour in China. Members of the UPFA and the UNP in WPC participated in the tour ...." --- http://www.infolanka.com/news/
Other news item regarding the LTTE connections to tamil billonaire who owns big business in Sri Lanka ... They want only a very small opening to resurrect the elam project. One opening is implementaion of 13th amendment for which Dayan fighting without resting ...
"Investigation launched into Maxis Malaysia following KP’s information
Aug 17 (LNW) A senior officer at the Terrorism Investigations Department (TID) told Lanka News Web that the Defence Ministry has given permission to investigate into the Malaysian telecommunications company, Maxis Malaysia, which owns 49% of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) shares and the suspicious political links of the company’s two local representatives.
............" ---- --- http://www.infolanka.com/news/
Dear Dayan,
We hope to see and hear more of your views on the current developments in the political arena. It is always a pleasure to listen to what you have to say. Although I and many others do not always agree with you, your in depth knowledge of political theory and contemprory political thinking is a treasure, too priced to languish in the academic sphere.
I was there in Jaffna and Vavuniya before the elections. Though Dayan physically was not there in Jaffna or Vavuniya, most of the things he wrote after the elections were correct.
As Dayan too indicated, the people in Jaffna and Vavuniya were terribly against the war and the war related episodes. The number of votes, voted in favor of TNA, should not read as pro LTTE votes or of an approval of an armed conflict. It was only a strong message to the South, indicating that they need a political solution for the problems. I also mentioned that, had Minister Devananda contested under Veena, he would have got more votes. I mentioned that contesting under the symbol of UPFA, was a kind of "Southern arrogance" on Tamil people and, instead, had the UPFA decided to contest under the symbol of EPDP; the Sinhala people could have shown the respect towards the Tamils and their identity. (See "Jaffna and Vavuniya Local Government Elections- An Eye Opener" Lalith Abeysinghe Blogger Post on 12.08.2009)
There is a very important point that Dayan proposing. That is the Government role and the commitment to come up with a political solution which is acceptable to the Tamils and how? Dayan proposes that Colombo should take immediate steps towards this and emphasize that it should be through the Tamil moderates. .
Dayan is also correct to say that Minister Devananda, Siddharthan and other moderates should be strengthened and 'honored'. In a way, the Sinhala people need a "Trusted Tamil Leader", who is also accepted by the Tamils. Minister Devananda has come a long way "with" the Sinhala people, believing that he could come with a political solution for the problems of the Tamils. He has become a 'trusted leader' for the Sinhala people as well as the Tamils. The Sinhala people too have a responsibility to support and protect such leaders.
President Rajapakse government has won the hearts of the Southern people. The overwhelming triumphs in the PC elections clearly show that. Now it is the time for the government to show the Tamil people too, that they could solve problems of Tamils through nonviolent and peaceful way.
For this, the authorities should consider the way Dayan proposed.
Lalith Abeysinghe.
way to go!
Dayan...........
This was a full year before the NEPC declared a UDI! As for Gamini Seneviratne, I had thought that distraught daddies enter the fray only to protect the fair name of their teenage daughters, not their adult sons who have been evaluated by independent outside observer-commentators as having lost a debate! I was writing in public and getting involved in polemics with those who were much older to me since my teens, and my father Mervyn de Silva would have disdained the thought of intervening, just as I would have been horrified if he had waded in to defend me and sing my praises!
">http://chandare.blogspot.com/2009/08/im-gonna-tell-my-dady-fifth-grade.html daddy complex
DEAR M THIRU,
YOU ARE EITHER IN UNWITTING ERROR OR ARE WITTINGLY LYING.
FOR MY CLEAR VIEWS ON THE IDPS, PLEASE SEE THE DAVID BLACKER INTERVIEW AND THE GROUNDVIEWS INTERVIEW.
Is this the reincarnation of a guru?
I like his idea of the 3rd move focusing on the(civil) society. (unless he found a lucrative job in one of the INGOS)
I respect his intellect and hope this time around he will use it for the actual political project in SL: Democratization without power seeking
he has not stopped teaching us, the younger students of political science even when he is on the left of the wrong camp?
all the best Dayan,
see you soon in Colombo
.
Dayan, you still don't get it:
First, there is no more EPDP,
Second, the 13+ talk was to fool the Indians (and you???),
Third, once Tamils become a minority in all provinces, TNA cannot win any provinces anyway.
Fourth, you were part of the Team, which brought this brutal dictatorship rule.
:-)
Internal self-determination of the NEP within an undivided Sri Lanka is far better from GoSL point of view than an entirely Separate State. But 22yrs after the 13th Amendment was manipulated to be ineffective and lie dormant have brought in many other issues that should be addressed with the utmost urgency. This is why some find 13th plus something worth looking into. As I said elsewhere – a view confirmed by many others - the recent polls in JMC was not representative at all of the people of the Jaffna MC. Curiously, the Postal votes earlier suggested a dominant lead by the TNA but this somehow was doctored thereafter and DD presented as having polled more votes. It is best to have a poll there at least after 75-85% of those in the JMC register of the 1990s actually present themselves for voting again for this to have any democratic credibility. As to DD’s Veena symbol, how will MR allow that and then go to the world for funds to run the Govt. In the absence of a Govt win the world community will refuse help stating Tamil people have voted for someone outside the Govt coalition. One hopes DJ is allowed to offer his political knowledge to policy makers and the President because from the looks of it and the slow movement of the President towards enabling the Tamil people to run their affairs, it is becoming increasing clear a weary India and world community will soon settle for a 2-State solution in the light of indecision by GoSL to give the Tamils their due to run their own affairs finding one excuse to another from time to time.
ISS
I am surprised a man who represented us in UN and supervised over massive civilian carnage among Tamils and at the same time desperately attempted to hide the civilian casualty figures from the world, is now trying to offer political solution to Tamils. For him the TNA is "extreme" and EPDP and PLOTE are "moderate".Who is he kidding? Does he think Tamils are idiots to vote for the government lackeys and sycophants like Douglas,Karuna or Pillayan.The little votes that Douglas won in Jaffna is by throwing money to a starving and fettered Jaffna masses. Douglas made sure that every dissenter is carefully abducted and eliminated from the scene before the election. No Jaffna man can ever dicuss politics. Is this the democracy Dayan Jayatilake wants?
Dayan and some of the Sinhala posters to this story still do not get the point. Tamils do not want war but they want self-determination. Tamils will never accept Tamil "leaders" like Devananda and Pillayan, selected by Sinhalese. You call them "moderates" because they serve the Sinhala agenda but the Tamils see them as puppets, quislings and sycophants. And the Tamils will not forget the murders of MPs Raviraj and Maheswaran even though you put the label "moderates" on their killers.
The Rajapaksa regime cannot meet the basic humanitarian needs of the post-war Tamil population let alone the long-term development of Tamil areas and political demands of the Tamils. Tamils are not fools, they are already aware of this. So why would they vote for the regime's Tamil puppets?
Dear Anonymous,
I was arguing and writing in public for a political solution even before Anton Balasingham wrote his booklet in 1980!
If the Tamils choose not to vote for Douglas, and iether boycott or vote for the TNA, and if the TNA does not shift to endorsing the 13th amendment, they will be in the same boat as the Palestinians who voted for Hamas. The world supports devoltion as per the 13th amendment. It will push for such, but no one will push for more. The Tamils should , in their own enlightened self-interest, vote for parties which cannot be ruled out as partners. This means not just the EPDP but also the PLOTE.
Dear aratai,
I was a proud part of the team which beat (your) LTTE and the Western plus Diaspora effort to save it. How on earth can Tamils become a minority in the NORTHERN province? and if there is such a danger, shouldn't they vote for Douglas and Siddharthan who can stop it through securing 13 with Indian support,rather than opt for the TNA which will accomplish nothing and move no one in the South?
Dear ISS,
haven't you learnt a thing from the fate of the Tigers? Despite all the demonstrations and self immolations, there was no US Navy humanitarian extrication, no Hillary Clinton came to their aid, no Susan Rice to move for action in the Security Council. No Indian restraining hand. And now, an IMF loan despite a quarter million behind razor wire. No state in the neighbourhood will shift to a two state solution, because of the "precedent setting implications" as all the major Asian players ( some of whom the west is dependenmt on for economic wellbeing) said in private, in New York and Geneva, and to Washington as well. In any case, the demographics and the arms mean that there will be unacceptable casualties done to anyone who attempts to back such an adventure. The only solution is one state plus ( autonomy). the only choices are One state plus or Palestinianisation.
RE Dayan's comment "Progressive moderates like EPDP and PLOTE" Dayan should have said "progressive murderers and kidnappers" He thinks he can fool Tamils!! But unfortunately unless the majority sinhalese realises the true colours of the ruling class, Tamils do not have a future in Sri Lanka. Will the sinhalese realise that the lawlessness which is mainly directed against the Tamils will affect them also very soon. Already some incidents have shown them how things are going and very soon the victims will be all Sri Lankans!!!
Thanks for people like Dayan who are upholding a solution for Tamils.
I got an email today with Sinhale campaigners on ther website fonseka2010 totally opposed to any solution and looking to make Foseka the president. What does Dayan think of that?
Suddenly For DJ former terrorists such as PLOTE & EPDP became the Tamils democratic reps. What a funny joke?
Senguttavan & Co.
All your repetitive and boring rhetoric is falling on deaf ears... and those of you who have been saturated by your own BS can no longer can absorb any more. What you Tamil Nationalists say...NO LONGER MATTERS TO US... what you cry and whine about MEANS NOTHING TO US.
Dr. J. is correct in identifying that there is a going back on what was told to India about the 13th Amendment and that is fine with me. Just like the LTTE and the Tamil Commies told the West what they wanted to hear in order to dupe them into feeling sorry for these Tamil Terrorists and their Separatist Agenda, we Sinhalese have done the same to India. At the end of the day India will not treat us any worse for it as they will be looking to the future of increasing Economic ties with Sri Lanka. The only fools who will fester on the betrayal is that of Tamil Nadu ... but then.... who really gives a Damn what those Clowns think anyway? Even India plays those Jokers like Prize Fiddles when the time comes to gain seats in the house. Tamil Nadu is so easily Manipulated as they are a bunch of Disorganized Jingoistic Morons who dupe their own masses to keep them docile and complacent. Tamils will NEVER get Autonomy in Sri Lanka, they will NEVER Get a Separate State, any attempts at such will be met with Overwhelming and Deadly Force. There is now a ZERO TOLERANCE LEVEL among the Sinhalese for TAMIL TERRORISM. Let the TNA try to gain power, they will only marginalize themselves as they did before as the PROXY SOCK PUPPETS of the LTTE... and worse of they will make the Tamil people Suffer more. If these IDIOTS are going to continue to beat the Drums of Separation then they will reap the Ill-Effects for Decades to come... And no one will care...
So Senguttavan, You can keep harping on nonsensical catch phrases like "Self Determination" but does it really look like we Sinhalese care? LOL! Seriously old man... you backed Separation and you lost... admit it. I suggest you give your mouth a rest, ... try to enjoy what few years you have left with a modicum of serenity and peace of mind... don't die a bitter old fool...
It is very strange that some commentators are calling Douglas and Sidharthan as moderate!! I suppose anyone towing the line of the sinhalese are thought to be moderates, even if they murder, torture, kidnap and demand ransom (from Tamils)at the behest of their sinhalese masters!!!Is this democracy Sri Lanka style!!!
There is no vaccum of any nature....
Political results & Rayappu & his mens behaviour in Madhu was an indication that Northern Tamils are opportunists.
They will act in a manner they will reap.
At Madhu we saw a sevant of God for his people act as the boss. It was similar to the history of the fall of Laguedoc in the 13th century.
SL underwent one Albinesian Crusade & Rayappu and Northerners are preparing for another.
This time around Sinatra won't be their for his rendition " I did it my way".
I just happened to see this blog.
What the IMF gave was a loan with strict conditions – and that too more to honour the overdue payments to the Japanese, foreign Banks and others on the long-term projects. I am glad that infusion came in and Fitch Ratings have gone up. I certainly will not rejoice if the country is declared bankrupt. But we are not out of the danger zone yet. Don’t believe Ajith Cabraal & Company. He cannot massage the economy let alone give it the necessary thallu-start for all the months he warmed that chair far too big for him. Meanwhile, look at the CoL mess around – Popular fish/Prawns around Rs1,000; Salaya fish/Rs.250/Kumbalawo at Rs400; Rice at Rs100; Parippu at Rs.100 and Coconuts at Rs27. If people hit the streets the blame will be shifted to others. Thambi Sara is threatened with death if the GSP + fails. MPs have to plead with the Supreme Court to visit their own voters in their own land. The people have to be protected from the Police. Where is the governance? A scared boss visiting the homes of the two Angulana victims paying compensation - 2 weeks after the incident will not was the sins of a regime where those with "connections" have gone beserk. And, the gullible are still inebriated with the exuberance of their own “win over the Tamil” verbosity. When the bada-kaduppuwa starts, then they will go beserk and will be encouraged to attack Tamil businesses and homes - with the usual BS excuses. Prof Francis Boyle is certain the War Crimes charges can be maintained and contradicts Palitha Kohona’s strange claim “War tribunals are not for winners.” Kohona’s main task is to prevent the War Crimes/Sanctions from the UN but the fear is intensifying. Robert Blake’s comments were just a tip of the ice-berg and the Channel-4 News today showing video footage of summary executions in Jan 2009 is a scary thought material is being assembled for the Day of Judgement – said to be not too far away. USA, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Israel and the EU are still smarting and will exact a price. If the fate of Milosevic and Robert Taylor catches up with out lot, they will be forced to remember your Geneve diplomatic “exploits” that seems to have hardened the resolve of many of these powerful countries. So do be certain, all this has nothing to do with the LTTE and I have nothing to be reminded about. Mitigation, if that is what the oligarchy wants, can be in the form of release of the unconnected civilian IDPs, whom DJ appears to be pleased are “behind razor wire” Would’nt it have been more “fun and exciting” if the wire was electrified as well. Rather than the country and the world seeing the end of the Lankan question, it looks more like the beginning of a newer and more dangerous phase unless wisely handled. The 1 State + solution you have in mind may be acceptable to the Tamils if the “2 States” semantics is once more rhetorically unacceptable to the Buddhist majority and a scared leadership. It comes to the same thing anyway. Whatever it is let us all get together and put this miserable saga behind us – Sinhalese, Tamils and all others. Its been around far too long.
ISS