Patriotism, Nationalism & Dayan: Fracturing The Sri Lankan Identity?
Romesh Hettiarachchi
Calls for former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to be appointed as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka continue to grow. One vocal supporter of these calls has been former diplomat and current academic, Dayan Jayatilleka whodescribed this movement as standing for a Sinhala nationalism that forms the core of Sri Lankan nationhood and Sri Lankan patriotism. Dayan elaborates on this stance in his previous article Smart Patriotism and the Marginal Majority (“Smart Patriotism“), asserting that Smart Sri Lankan Patriots must acknowledge the central role of Sinhala nationalism. Any failure to recognize Sinhala nationalism is characterized by Dayan as being ridiculously artificial and dis-organic.
The Duty of the Patriot is to the Country not to Former Elected Officials
Given Dayan’s admitted soft spot for Mahinda Rajapaksa, Dayan’s agreement with Wimal Weerawansa that “Mahinda is not a name, Mahinda is a country!” should not be a surprise. However equating a former elected official with a whole country is hardly the behaviour of a patriot. As United States President Theodore Roosevelt said:
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.
Characteristics of Nationalist Thought
As astute and intelligent as Dayan may be, Dayans’ writings tend to dwell on the victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations of the past. Such tendencies are described by George Orwell in his essay Notes on Nationalism (full essay here) as being essential for the nationalists quest to secure more power and prestige for “their nation.”:
The nationalist does not go on the principle of simply ganging up with the strongest side. On the contrary, having picked his side, he persuades himself that it is the strongest, and is able to stick to his belief even when the facts are overwhelmingly against him. Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also — since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself — unshakably certain of being in the right.Read More
