Logic Behind The Actions & Politics Of The NPC
By Mylvaganam Sooriasegaram –December 30, 2015
Mylvaganam Sooriasegaram
It is essential to try to go deep into the actions and politics of the NPC, led by TNA’s breakaway group centred around the Chief Minister, C.V. Wigneswaran and assess the inherent dangers. Separatist ideology and an attempt to return to the barren politics of the LTTE can be seen in every one of their actions. If this is not identified and exposed, once again the Tamil people will be forced to take the road to disaster and Sri Lanka will be plunged into another civil strife for decades. One such painful experience in our history is too many – we have to mobilize ourselves and act together to prevent its repetition. Otherwise we will sleepwalk into another disaster like the one we had to endure during the last 30 years. I am not a nationalist but if we have to choose between the nationalism of the TNA and that of the Federal Party, the latter is a tolerable one. Neither is my choice provided we can collectively work for a truly democratic Sri Lanka where all the different communities can enjoy equal rights, opportunities and privileges, irrespective of their religion, language and ethnicity.
The actions of the TNA rebels headed by the CM cannot be seen as isolated actions of madness. They are interconnected by the dogmatic philosophy of an inward looking separation and isolation, giving false hopes to people in desperation. Another dangerous aspect to the politics of separation is the inclusion of cultural and religious fundamentalism. CM’s lamenting over cultural degeneration and his posing as the guardian of Tamil Culture, if not correctly understood and checked, can lead us on a slippery road similar to Islamic fundamentalism. His resemblance to Ayotola Humani of Iran is not a comforting factor either. His going to India to meet Modi through the back door to have his Swamigi (who was charged and found guilty of child abuse by all the courts in India including the Supreme Court of India) released from imprisonment in India is symptomatic of his religious fanaticism. If his group secures political power and Eelam, the Tamil people will definitely be subjected to religious, cultural and political dictatorship.
We have seen the Chief Minister glorifying Prabakaran as a hero soon after his election to power. Since then he and his faction have joined hands with the pro-Eelamists within and outside of Sri Lanka to take on Sri Lanka once again.
We can see their incessant cry of not enough powers devolved to the NP even though many important devolved powers and the unusually large government funds allocated to the NP have not been effectively utilized to serve the immediate as well as the long term needs of our people. This is because they want to keep alive the suffering and desperation of the Tamil people to justify the separatist agenda, to which people can again be swayed easily due to government’s failure to restore the legitimate rights of the Tamil speaking people. Sri Lankan government also must not fail to do what is fair, right and just to the minority communities so that they can also happily and proudly embrace and celebrate their Sri Lankan identity. Doing what is fair, right and just cannot be a difficult thing at all in a predominantly Buddhist country. Government failing to do this will not only be offensive to Buddhism but also be foolish enough to give the separatists all the excuses they need to take the separatist line of politics. Government should never be party to strengthen the separatist agenda.