Tamils Within The Circuit Of Power Or At The Habitual Barricade?
By S. Sivathasan -January 9, 2015
S. Sivathasan
The hour produced the man. The nation endorsed his credentials. The leader of choice Maithripala Sirisena, who scored a resounding victory is now President by right.
The nation has spoken loud and clear. The mandate is unmistakeable. Cleanse the past and build anew. All join in the process the Government would say. Respond positively, Tamils would urge of the TNA.
Change of Tack
The caption of the article, is the critical question for the Tamil leadership. A response cannot be evaded after the common collective has scored a landmark victory. Tamils have made their contribution, setting aside their past disappointments. When a community, very much in a mellowed temper thrusts its tested leadership into the corridors of power, it certainly has an expectation that their trust be respected.
Can the leadership veer from the circuit of power and opt for the habitual barricade? The time is now to redeem a pledge, though unwritten it may be. The ethnic question vexing the nation for so long needs to be resolved by the TNA, with goodwill prevailing all round. It is constrained to do it, not by being with the government, but by being of it.
At a moment when right has triumphed, should weird doubts arise? Tamil leaderships have been weighed down for decades by unfortunate experiences. Distaste for power developed from independence to now, much among the Tamils, though not with the forceful and the percipient. Leaderships sensitive to mass sentiment and unresponsive to compulsive needs paid a price. Both leaders and led were badly affected for at least two generations.
Patience for Incremental Advance
One generation lost itself in the sedate philosophy of non-violence. The other wasted away in impetuous violence. No results were yielded by either. The next has to veer from both and the onus is on the leadership. Strategy and tactic, with diplomacy for kinetics and TNA as the vehicle, have now set out on this arduous journey. The first mile is covered in the last five years. Destination is a generation away. Impatience is not a sorter of matters. By being in a hurry neither the young nor the mature can do much.Read More
