Challenging enforced self-deceit

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 May 2013, 11:38 GMT]
A former UN official and a key witness to the Vanni War admitted to a diaspora gathering last Sunday that it was genocide that had taken place. But he didn’t want to be quoted, for it would not help his current mission. He advised the Tamils to be ‘pragmatic’. Why is the advice? Is it because Tamils have to learn to live with genocide, as it has been pre-determined by the ‘all-powerful’ and cannot be changed, or is it because the elements that are ultimately responsible for the crime occupy and will continue to occupy the Establishments of the world, asks a diaspora Tamil activist, adding that the deceit of the ICE is bold now, telling: Yes, it is a deceit, it will continue to be a deceit and if you don’t want to be deceived by us then you should deceive yourself by ‘auto-suggestion’ that there was no genocide, there is no genocide and there doesn’t exist a territory of Eezham Tamils. 

Further comments by the diaspora activist follow: 

Does ‘pragmatism’ means Eezham Tamils have to say that nothing happened to them, nothing is happening to them, if anything has happened that is all because of their own fault and they have to silently sulk to become a mentally ill nation forever or a nation not existing in future history?

This kind of ‘pragmatism’ is not in the making of Tamil culture, in which even God Siva was challenged that even if he shows his ‘third eye,’ capable of destroying the entire universe, a mistake committed by him is a mistake (Nettik ka’n’naik kaaddinaalum kuttam kuttamea).

But a more pertinent question is why the kind of ‘pragmatism’ advised by the former UN official, when there are no signs of any hopeful or positive results in the last four years, but all the signs that come only portent more and more deception.

In their nature and political making, the Eezham Tamils as a nation never operated against any power or country. Their struggle was only with the Sinhala State. In fact, they were always particularly looking upon India and the USA, first in finding political justice against the perpetual deceit of the Sinhala State and then in facing its State terrorism and genocide.

But it turns out that the ultimate deceit now comes from Washington and New Delhi.

It comes with a difference. Now it is boldly told: Yes it is a deceit, it will continue to be a deceit, if you don’t want to be deceived by us then you should deceive yourself by auto-suggestion that there was no genocide, there is no genocide and there doesn’t exist a territory of Eezham Tamils.

Added to the attitude is the claim openly coming from the militaristic sections of the adversaries that the Vanni War, not shunning even genocide, was the first decisive counterinsurgency victory of this century. 

If that is so, the first people’s struggle of this century nullifying such a ‘victory’ of the ‘counterinsurgency’ of the international oppressors and would go into history is the sacrifices of the people in Vanni, who refused to betray the cause, refused to get deceived, refused to listen to the villains of humanity, but chose to face the consequences.

Again it is the people’s mobilisation in Tamil Nadu that has now challenged the ‘counterinsurgency’ pundits of imperial terrorism.

The diaspora is yet to prove the credentials.

There are views that the strategy should begin from Tamil Nadu pressurising New Delhi and if New Delhi demands, the USA would have no objection but would yield in. 

It may prove wrong. The ultimate adversary would be left free to sabotage at lower levels, even at the level of Tamil Nadu. Only when the ultimate adversary is exposed to the public and people start addressing at it directly, sabotage at lower levels could be averted or contained. Begin from the top, if you want to face the junior partners, agents and sub-agents. 

Pragmatism for Tamils is realising the realities, realising the ultimate adversaries, addressing at them directly and steadfastly, letting them know without pretensions that we know what they are doing and are not prepared to be deceived, and if they are not listening, the people’s power and the Gandhian method of non-cooperation are always there.

Ostrich-ism, imagining ‘virtues’ in the name of diplomacy even in explicit ‘counterinsurgency’ conspiracies of the adversaries such as the case of Geneva Resolution, is not ‘pragmatism’ in people’s politics.

@TamilGuardian Twitter account suspended

Message from the Tamil Guardian team:-10 May 2013

At 17:00 GMT today, our Twitter account - @TamilGuardian - was suspended. We have reason to believe false allegations were made against us. We will of course be appealing this suspension and will update @TamilGuardian readers in due course.
We are deeply concerned by this suspension, and feel it represents an extension of the repression of Tamil media that takes place within the island of Sri Lanka. In particular it echoes recent attempts to undermine the presence of other Tamil social media accounts such as @JaffnaPressClub.

Follow TG writers on Twitter: @sivakami_r @thusi_kumar @marioarul @abi_nathanx

Laying To Rest Hopes Of Reconciliation And Harmony

By Shanie -May 11, 2013 

While in this fight to guard our rights

and our country to defend,

Here grim and gay we mean to stay

and stick it to the end.

adapted  from a schoolboy song, quoted by Francis Wheen in ‘Strange Days Indeed’  (first  published 2009)

The freedom to hold an opinion and to express them is a fundamental right of an individual in a democracy. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the member states of the United Nations in 1948, makes this clear. However, like all rights, this right too is not an absolute one. If free speech infringes on the rights or dignity of any other individual or group, then it has to be tempered. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights does this when it states that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence should be prohibited by law. In our country, unfortunately, ever since independence, many of our people, including politicians, havbe been doing just that. The target has generally been the minority communities, racial and religious, but there have been minority groups which have indulged in indiscriminate hate speeches and action against the majority community and even against another minority community. With the ending of the latest and long bout of violence, followed by the admirable recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the country was presented with an opportunity to turn its back on discrimination, hostility and violence. But alas! That opportunity is being lost not only by the non-implementation of the LLRC recommendation but, worse, by the support being given to the purveyors of hate.

The post-apartheid Constitution adopted during the Presidency of Nelson Mandela is one of the best examples of the protection given to the several racial, religious and tribal groups that form this ‘rainbow’ nation. The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, 2000 contains the following clause:

No person may publish, propagate, advocate or communicate words based on one or more of the prohibited grounds, against any person, that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to:

be hurtful,

be harmful or to incite harm;

promote or propagate hatred.

The “prohibited grounds” include race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth. Intentionally and seriously impairing the dignity of another may and has been  used to prosecute hate speech. ome years ago, the Courts banned a song that was termed demeaning and offending the dignity of the minority Boers.

Commonness of our shared culture

In Sri Lanka, the purveyors of hate seem to enjoy a charmed life. Dr Liyanage Amarakeerthi, the well-known academic who teaches Sinhala at Peradeniya,in a recent essay stated that he recently heard speakers at aBodu Bala Sena rally in Kandy make ‘savagely racist’ speeches. Amarakeerthi further stated: “Groups like BBS are too dangerous to ignore but too parochial to take seriously. While watching what they are doing, it is better for us of all communities to understand our shared history and  shared everyday life. The week Bodu Bala Sena came to Kandy I started my lectures on Comparative Literature at Peradeniya, and my first reading assignment was three stories by Sri Lankan Muslim writers from the collection Asalawesi Api, edited by Professors Carmen Wickramagamage and M. A. Nuhman. In those stories, the feelings of attachment to certain villages, soil, farmland and so on in those Muslim villagers were very similar to ours. Those students who read them rejoiced in the discovery of commonness found in them. Yet again, I heard there were so many university students at the BBS rally, cheering the racist speeches. It is very easy to instigate communal feelings and it does not take a whole lot of learning to do so. To understand how communities collectively create cultures and civilizations, one needs some effort and learning. We can either take up that challenge or sadly observe a country that has a great cosmopolitan history and culture to disintegrate into fragments from which we will never find our cultural or human wholeness and wholesomeness.”

Arrest of Azath Salley

It is this context that we find another blatant abuse of power in the arrest of Azath Salley, a former Deputy Mayor of Colombo. The Asian Human Rights Commission has called the arrest the result of paranoia by the ruling family. The government is alarmed at its growing unpopularity A drowning man will clutch at any straw but he must beware of clutching instead at a serpent which will sting him back. Mahinda Rajapakse must realize that consorting with racist elements may lead to short term gains for himself and his coalition but he will be throwing away an opportunity to re-build our country as a rainbow nation, similar to what Gandhi and Nehru in India and Nelson Mandela in South Africa attempted to do for their countries and succeeded to a large extent.

We do not believe that Mahinda Rajapakse is a racist or authoritarian in his mental make-up. We believe he was sincere when he was a champion of human rights and went to Geneva to expose the excesses of the then government and to plead for justice for the victimized youth during the UNP regime. But the same cannot be said of some of those close to him. Mahinda Rajapakse obviously has a limited vision and he finds it convenient to go along with those who boost his ego but at the expense of the future of our country. He has been vested with undemocratic powers but does not see or is unwilling to see that the abuse of such powers will ultimately lead to the downfall not just of himself but of the SLFP that he represents. In this, he is like his counterpart in the UNP today, who will not let go to re-vitalise the Grand Old Party of the Right.

The government spokesperson has said that there were charges against Azath Salley, including that of financial irregularities. Like in the case of Shirani Bandaranayake, against whom we were told that there were twenty-four charges, also including financial irregularities, we can confidently presume that there will not be a trial in terms of the rule of law. In the case of Shirani Bandaranayake and Sarath Fonseka before her, they were tried by hand-picked tribunals. A special tribunal cannot be set up for Salley. If he were to be tried in the normal courts, God only knows how he can be convicted, in terms of the law, of charges which have yet to be disclosed. The more likely outcome would be the President ordering his release saying that he was responding to appeals made by the family. The state media will no doubt hail this as another instance of the humanitarianism of the President.

One of the finest statements that have come out in connection with the arrest of Salley has been from the Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka, an organization that has been consistent in its efforts for over forty years to uphold democracy and human rights in our country, The CRM statement dated 8th May and signed by Suriya Wickremasinghe, its Secretary, states: “Of extreme concern is the context in which this arrest of a prominent member of a minority community has been made.  We refer to the alarming hate campaign against this same minority currently conducted by elements claiming to represent the majority Buddhists, which campaign has reportedly at times been accompanied by highly inflammatory actions and speeches which in some instances have resulted in violence. The law enforcement agencies have been conspicuously absent or ineffective. On some occasions they have simply remained bystanders. A vigorous and principled counter-campaign by the government emphasising values of tolerance and inter-religious harmony has been called for by many but remains no more than a fervent hope.

To now use the inhuman provisions of the PTA against Mr Salley is not merely an act of injustice perpetrated on one individual. It sends a most dangerous message to a community already feeling unfairly under attack, and may act as encouragement to the extremist forces mobilised against minority groups, raising a spectre some of us fondly dreamed had been laid to rest.”

LLRC and Reconciliation

It is now exactly four years since the security forces killed Prabakaran and thus ended the conflict. The country’s hope was that we would then have peace and the government would initiate positive steps towards reconciliation. The government-appointed LLRC, under the chairpersonship of former Attorney-General C R de Silva, pointed out that the ending of the protracted and bloody conflict had opened many opportunities for bringing about reconciliation between the different communities, especially among the Sinhalese, Tamils and the Muslims. The Commission urged the necessity of promoting a common vision of an inter-dependent, just, equitable, open and diverse society. The development of a vision of a shared future required, the LLRC said, the involvement of the whole of society. Acknowledging the losses and suffering of the past and providing mechanisms for recompense, social justice and for restoration of normalcy and expressions of empathy and solidarity, are steps aimed at redress. Relationship – building following violent conflict, addressing issues of lack of trust, prejudice, and intolerance whilst accepting commonalities and differences, is the essence of reconciliation. The culture of suspicion, fear, mistrust and violence needed to be removed and opportunities and space opened up in which people can hear each other and be heard. A culture of respect for human rights and human diversity needed to be developed creating an environment where each citizen became an active participant in society and felt a sense of belonging, of being Sri Lankan. For this purpose the social, economic and political structures which gave rise to the conflict and estrangement needed to be identified and addressed.

The LLRC report further stated: “The Commission however wishes to emphasize that the responsibility for being the prime mover of this process lies squarely with the Government. Since reconciliation is a process and not a onetime event, the efforts towards that objective should be continuous and broad based whilst being fully supported by the elected Government.”

Mahinda Rajapakse and his advisers did not need the LLRC to adevise on these steps for reconciliation. It was common sense and every thinking Sri Lankan would have shared the sentiments of the LLRC. It did not need the Azath Salleys to tell them that ignoring the steps recommended towards reconciliation by the LLRC was opening the doors towards another conflict. The purveyors of hatred towards a minority community should be reminded of another observation in the LLRC report: “The political leaders and the country as a whole should take a cue from the disabled soldiers who expressed their sentiments that they have no hatred or rancour against the LTTE combatants who attacked them. If the political leadership on all sides do not shed their parochial interests, electoral or other, and find a consensual way forward towards achieving these objectives of critical national importance at this juncture of unprecedented opportunity, the country will regress and future generations might be called upon to bear the brunt of another crisis “

In the course of Sri Lanka’s long history, various communities – racial, tribal, linguistic and religious.- have contributed to the richness of our history and culture. Each of them has retained its own identity and its own distinctiveness of language, literature, art, culture, beliefs and institutions. All Sri Lankans need to be proud of their contribution to the richness of our diversity.

Bahu Opposes trade union action with JVP

Saturday, 11 May 2013 

The broad trade union front that declared May 21st as day of protest with the trade unions deciding to go on a Token Strike against electricity price increases, have run into unexpected opposition from Dr. Vikramabahu and his United Federation of Labour deciding they will not support strike action, if the JVP is there in the front.

Dr. Vikramabahu is in alliance with Health sector unionist Saman Ratnapriya and Education sector unionist Joseph Stalin, who have also decided to oppose the May 21 token strike, saying they have no time for decisions taken by JVP.

Meanwhile these same union leaders have discussed with UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe to join the political party led opposition protest “Vipakshaye Virodaya” on 15th May. This would be a march from Borella to Fort Railway station.

Speaking on anonymity, a trade union activist affiliated to Dr. Vikramabahu's UFL in Ratmalana industrial area, said they would join the May 21 token strike, as they do not want to become traitors to the working class and be seen as supporting the Rajapaksa government.

A spokesman for the University Teachers' Union said they are not affiliated to any political party, but do not oppose other trade unions with political party affiliations getting support for the May 21 token strike. He stressed that even the FUTA campaign for 6% allocation for education was supported by opposition political parties.

Full Text: Letter By Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake To DG Bribery Commission

May 11, 2013 

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption was in possesion of enough evidence pertaining to ex-CJ Shiranee Bandaranayake to prove bribery and corruption allegations against her, state run Daily News today (11th) reported.

“The charges include the amassing of wealth beyond the means of an ordinary public servant and the submission of falsified reports regarding her assets and liabilities. The Commission had subject these allegations received several months ago to an initial investigation since prima facie evidence revealed that there was truth in the charges proferred before the commission. The commission summoned the ex-CJ to obtain a statement. Ex-CJ Shiranee Bandaranayake who raised objections to the investigations obtained a further date to make submissions. The ex-CJ who dodged making submissions on two earlier occasions yesterday appeared before the commission and made a statement after making written submissions. The commission is now due to consider the statement and submissions made by the ex-CJ within the next four days and decide whether to proceed with the case. If the oral and written submissions made by her are found insufficient to exonerate her, the commission will conduct further investigations in keeping with its powers irrespective of whether she assisted the investigations or not and if she is found guilty, the commission will file a case against her on bribery and corruption charges. Meanwhile, the Immigration and Emigration Department has impounded the ex-CJs passport at the request of the Commission, to prevent her from going abroad.” the state run daily further said.

We publish below the letter sent by CJ Shirani Bandaranayake to the Director General of the Commission to investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption;

Director General

Commission to investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption

Colombo 07.

Dear Madam,

I have been noticed by the Director General of the Permanent Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption to be present before the Commission to make a statement on purported allegations against me. I attended the Commission on the 18^th March 2013 on which date I informed that I would be raising a preliminary objection to the Commission. Thereafter on the 1^st of April 2013 I informed the officers of the Commission that I will be making a statement on the next day both on the objections and on the question of bank accounts which I was informed was the scope of the inquiry. I have not been given a copy of the complaint, but was specifically informed that the scope of the inquiry was my bank accounts.

Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake

At the outset I state that I am surprised to have received your letter of 2.4.2013 in that it was clearly understood that the objections and statements would be made on the 17.5.2013; the date was specifically agreed upon for inter alia the reason that my lawyers were not available prior to the 6^th of May. Knowing this, you have now asked for objections to be filed on the 10^th.

Before dealing with the contents of the letter under reference, I draw your attention to the fact that I have received a letter dated 18.4.2013 from the Director General Immigration and Emigration to the effect that in terms of an order given by your commission I have been prevented from travelling abroad.

Please note that the last time I travelled abroad was on 25.12.2006; at no time thereafter have I ever attempted to travel abroad, I have never applied for a visa to any country and save and except to Singapore I cannot travel abroad without visa

I am surprised  Justice Balapatabendi violated the law of Confidentiality by giving various statements to the Press regarding the matter. Justice Balapatabendi could not have been unaware of Section 17 which reads as follows

 Read More

Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi to take up Tamil genocide issue

12-May-2013

By P C Vinoj Kumar Chennai

Posted 11 May 2013

Anti-corruption activist and political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has lent his support to Sri Lankan Tamils, who are living in hostile conditions under a Sinhalese racist government that massacred an estimated 1 lakh Tamils during the last stages of the 3-decade long civil war with the Tamil rebels that ended in May 2009. Aseem said he is convinced that what took place in Sri Lanka was genocide and his mission now is to create awareness on the issue among North Indians. Aseem Trivedi: A new voice for the Tamil cause For this purpose, he has joined hands with Chennai based activist Srinivas Tiwari and Bihar MLA Som Prakash Singh. He said he is planning to do a series of paintings and cartoons on the Tamil genocide and take the message across India. Aseem is likely to visit Chennai soon with Som Prakash Singh to take matters forward. Som Prakash Singh has already been to Chennai earlier to take part in pro-Tamil meetings and is a familiar figure in Tamil circles. He was in the city recently to express solidarity with college students, who were on an agitation in support of Eelam, a separate country for Tamils of Sri Lanka. Talking about the trio’s plans, Srinivas said the team had a 10-point demand that included many socio-economic issues facing the nation, besides foreign policy failure of the UPA government, the agrarian crisis, threat of internet censorship, and the Chinese security threat.

Lanka used for other’s benefit

May 9, 2013

External Affairs Minister Professor G.L Peiris says Sri Lanka is being used as a stage by some countries to gain the support of the United States.

Speaking at an event organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Colombo today the Minister said that Sri Lanka was aware that most countries who voted in support of a US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) recently did so with other intentions.

He said that they voted for the resolution not because they had concerns about Sri Lanka but because they did not want to go against the US.

The Minister said that most of the countries which backed the resolution had a lot to gain from the US and so had no choice.

He said that the Sri Lankan government was concerned with such a situation and that such moves were unfair on the part of Sri Lanka.

The UNHRC in March adopted the US sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka with 25 in favor, 13 against it and 8 abstentions.

The US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, in presenting the resolution to the Council, said that there were 41 co-sponsors to the resolution.

The resolution had as the co-sponsors Austria, Canada, Croatia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St Kitts and Nevis, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America. (Colombo Gazette)

Sri Lanka’s CB cuts key monetary policy rates

Saturday, 11 May 2013

Sri Lanka's central bank (CB) unexpectedly cut its key monetary policy rates by 50 basis points on Friday, following some of its regional peers, to boost economic growth in the face of subdued demand.

It reduced its repurchase rate to 7.00 per cent and reverse repurchase rate to 9.00 per cent, to their lowest in more than one year after cutting them by 25 basis points in December from three-year highs.

Analysts had expected the central bank to keep policy on hold on Friday but predicted it could lower borrowing costs at its next meeting in June.

The rate cut comes despite comments from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week which said Sri Lanka must not ease monetary conditions as inflation remains a concern, even though the prices rose at a slower pace in April than in the previous month. The central bank said in a statement there was now a need to stimulate the domestic economy after a slower-than-expected pick-up in economic activity in the first few months of 2013.

"Credit growth has been rather slow," Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal told Reuters. "So there was a need to give impetus to stimulate growth and we decided to cut the rates. Inflation is also well under control."

The island-nation's economic growth slowed to a three-year low of 6.4 per cent last year, easing from a record high of 8.2 per cent in 2011.

The central bank has estimated 7.5 per cent growth this year, much higher than IMF's 6.25 per cent forecast.

Annual inflation eased to 6.4 per cent in April from a 7.5 per cent a month earlier, but May inflation is expected to accelerate due to sharp increase in electricity tariffs, the state-run Department of Census and Statistics has said. The central bank held commercial banks' Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) steady at 8 per cent, but increased their reserve maintenance period to two weeks from one week from June 1 to give them greater flexibility in managing liquidity.

IMF concerned as Sri Lanka cuts interest rates

10 May 2013

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank has decided to cut the reverse repurchase rate to 9 percent from 9.5 percent and the repurchase rate to 7 percent from 7.5 percent, a bigger reduction than expected by analysts.

"[T]here is now a need to stimulate the domestic economy, particularly in the light of the gradual moderation in headline inflation and subdued demand pressures in the economy," the Central Bank said in its May monetary policy review.

Economic growth slowed from 8.2% in 2011 to 6.4% in 2012, after a fall in demand for Sri Lankan exports, including tea and textiles, but the treasury has bizarrely forecast growth of 7.5% for this year.

Sri Lanka: why the unexpected cut? - Financial Times (10 May 2013)

The International Monetary Fund yesterday warned Sri Lanka against further easing of monetary policies.

“With inflation elevated and growth slowing, monetary policy is facing a challenging task,” the International Monetary Fund said in a statement.
“Further stimulus should be on hold until inflation pressures decline.”

The governor of the Central Bank Ajith Cabraal said there wouldn’t be any further cuts for a while, but also suggested that the cuts were due to internal issues rather than international conditions.

“We made a fairly steep cut this time because we think that would give a very strong signal,” Cabraal said to Bloomberg.
“That will also make the overall conditions rather stable, so that people will not be looking at new rate cuts in the near future.”
“We have seen a slight slowdown in our economy, which has been rather disconcerting, and we believe some impetus and some kind of support needs to be given to economy to kick start it once again,” he said.

Sanjeewa Fernando, head of research at brokerage C T Smith in Colombo, told the Financial Times that the move comes in anticipation of further bad news.

“I think they are not happy with the first quarter GDP numbers, which they already have access to as policymakers, even though they are not out for the rest of us yet,”
“There have been massive drops exports and imports recently, and so the next quarter could even be below 6 per cent,
“It seems once you’ve slammed on the brakes, it’s not so easy to get things going again.”

Letter From Taipei: Reality Is More Complex Than Youthful Prejudices

By Kumar David -May 12, 2013 

Prof Kumar David

The majority of Lankans, of all hues, have not been favourably inclined to Taiwan (formerlyFormosa) since the early 1950s. The love affair with the Peoples’ Republic commenced with the Rubber-Rice Pact (1953) and continued through Non-Alignment, notions of Peaceful Coexistence and Non-Interference in each other Internal Affairs (meaning non-interference in each others human rights violations) and the gift of the Bandaranaike International Conference Hall. Recently the Rajapakses have tried to cosy up to Beijing, run up debts that will inundate future generations, and they have swelled the illusion that Beijing will protect GoSL from international penalties for human rights abuses. (They will learn the hard way that Xi Jiping will not hesitate to cut Lanka adrift and let it sink if the going gets hot).

Conversely, for the last fifty or more years,Taiwan(self styled Republic of China) has been an object of aversion to Lankans, seen as an American client, and a die-hard outpost of imperialism and capitalism. Chiang Kai-Shek has invariably been projected as an arch reactionary. This is all reflex for Lankans since Taiwan has been a closed book for most of us for decades. There is a rational element in this; the Peoples’ Republic is a giant force in Asian power play and global economics, and naturally Lanka linked its star to Beijing, recognising it diplomatically.Beijing doggedly bullies the world into snubbing Taiwan and unsurprisingly successive Lankan governments have grovelled. The ignorance of the Lankan public, yours faithfully included, about this impressive little dragon economy and its affable people, however, is less forgivable.

A four day visit to Taipei, spent roaming the streets, the public transport facilities and two museums, one marvellous, one impressive, helped dispel my ignorance. I was educated and enchanted by the visit. I am only too familiar with Chinese people in China, which country I have criss-crossed more than a dozen times, and of course Hong Kong, where I worked for twenty years. The Chinese are an able people with much to be admired, but not even their greatest admirers will say folks in the Mainland and Hong Kong are charming (I know an exception!) or helpful to strangers. Conversely, Taiwanese are courteous, invariably going out of their way to show the way or provide directions. Sometimes, perplexed on the streets, I was greeted by something I have never ever, in three decades, once experienced on the Mainland or Hong Kong: “Can I help you?” Over here the usual response to a query on the street is a ruff off-putting gesture and a brusque turning away. Hence it is not true that all Chinese do not give their seats on busses and the metro to pregnant women or the infirm (London and New Yorkare a little better). The commuting public of Taipei, over 90% ethnic Chinese, are very much an exception. So culture and behaviour are more varied and complex than race or ethnicity.

Culture

The National Palace Museum houses, as museums go – I have visited many in the Mainland – in my layman’s view, the best collection of artefacts and treasures of China’s history and archaeology. True the Kuo Min Tang under Chiang Kai-Shek carted away (Mainland people say looted) trainloads and shiploads of artefacts to Taiwan when it fled under American protection in 1949. In defence it can be said that these riches have been protected from the ravages of nature and the attention of culturally unlettered philistines. Those who have witnessed the ignorance, decadence and iconoclasm of Islamic fundamentalists who smashed the Banyan Buddha statues and cleaned out the Baghdad and Kabul museums, and the bovine dogma of Cultural Revolution Red Guards, will discover in these museums, something to be grateful for.

This correspondent in front of his Taipei hotel

The museum staff have employed Taiwan’s IT expertise to put on dazzling demonstrations, varied displays, digital presentations and holograms, to bring a stunning display to the visitor. It really is a very impressive show case. True of course Chiang Kai-Shek could not ship out the Forbidden City and the Xian Terracotta warriors, so the big and heavy stuff still sits in the motherland!

The second museum I went to was the natural history section of the Taiwan Museum which provided an overview of the earth and the history of life on the planet. It houses an impressive dinosaur fossil collection (and full size replicas) including a gigantic brachiosaurus skeleton and a tyrannosaurus replica. It was pretty deserted on the weekday on which we went round, but I do hope it bustles with school kids on holidays. The third location I visited was a huge architecturally imposing memorial hall to Chiang Kai-Shek, housing a large collection of photographs and artefacts of the late leader. Unfortunately, political and historical commentary is stonily silent; well he lost, did he not?

An efficient and well oiled dragon

Taipeiclearly rivals Seoul for the title of world’s best networked city; Taiwanese companies many operating out of mainland China, are also the world’s leading digital chip makers. I used to say that Hong Kong had the world’s best public transport system; I have to change ranking now;Taipeiis better (equally comfortable, more frequent and efficient, better networked, and surprisingly, cheaper). The service is smiling, staff and public more patient with the old and the infirm.Taiwan’s rail, metro and bus systems are owned by state corporations. Let me remind you that Lanka’s CTB provided a better service than the private mafia now does and British Rail was superior to the lousy privatised rail system that the near-fascist Thatcher put in place.

Taiwan/Lanka are of comparable population (23 million/21 million) but somewhat different in size (36,000 sq km/65,000 sq km). However, economic development is vastly different; GDP ($470 billion/$65 billion) and per capita GDP ($20,000/$3000).Taiwanis a bustling immensely successful economy, Lanka a mess, on a steep downward slope – shove the government’s “Wonder of Asia” fiction in the bin.

Why did things turn out differently? There are three reasons. First,Taiwan adopted a dirigisme (directed by the state, but with a role for private enterprises growth track) as opposed to Lanka’s market prostitution (come and do as you will with me) beginning with JR. Second, Lanka, except briefly when NM was finance minister, never had a deep economic strategy; it has been shallow, lacked perspective for fostering value-adding manufacturing foundations.

Thirdly Taiwan, like South Korea, was not seduced by bogus intentions of transforming itself into an Asian financial marvel. Colombo, as a financial hub, can never be more than a seenibola outpost, and has missed a berth in the Asian manufacturing century stakes.Taiwan is a power house of high-tech industry – less of heavy industry, hence complementing China nicely – and only 2% of its GDP comes from the agricultural sector.

The right to self-determination

There is one point on which my Hong Kong and of course Mainland friends and I strongly disagree; that is the right of the people of Taiwan to be masters of their own fate. Politically, I have always supported the One-China stand to the extent that dismembering China was, at one time, a U Spolicy objective, in the heyday of its anti-communist crusade. My stand was never intended as a holy grail to be employed against the people of Taiwan. If they want to go, let them go I say! But it may never happen; a Taiwanese (or Tibetan or Xingjian-ese) declaration of independence is probably the only issue on which China will go to war, even with the US. Taiwanese politicians well understand this; even pro-independence parties only talk, but will never walk the talk even when in office. This is the realism with which Taiwan will have to live for the foreseeable future.

Actually Taiwan is in nearly all respects an independent country which runs itself just as it pleases in political, economic, social, cultural and defence matters. Its de facto independence is constrained only in international diplomacy; no UN seat or representation in UN agencies, and no diplomatic relations in all but a handful of countries, since Beijing will suffer apoplexy if anyone formally recognises Taiwan. The stupidity of nationalism I call it, but nationalism is a stupidity with we have to live in Chinaas much as Sri Lanka, the USA or Timbuktu.

Do the people of Taiwan want reunification or separation? The old nationalists stood for reunification, they just wanted the “bloody communist bandits in Beijing” driven out first. They are still around but a minority. A significant number want a formal declaration of independence, “but not yet” they say, like St Augustine.  The majority seem to be emotionally mixed up, a state unrecognised by their own consciousness. The truth is that political reunification will not happen so long as the Communist Party rules China; that is, not even in my grandchildren’s life time.

It would be better for all if Beijing recognises the right of the people of the Taiwanese people to self-determination, knowing that this will facilitate the emergence of Taiwan as a new member of the community of nations. That’s fine, it‘s the way things are going all over the world. Globalisation facilitates secession into smaller nation states which then cooperate in a myriad new ways – the European Union, ex-Yugoslavia, the North American trade federation, the loose association of the ‘-stans’ in a linkage that includes China and Russia. An economic union and a two nation political formula of Chinaand Taiwan only formalise prevailing reality and validate an inevitable future. The opium of narrow nationalism is what stands in the way.

Salley released following denial of Indian magazine report

By Shamindra Ferdinando and Lal Gunasekera-May 10, 2013

President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered the immediate release of leader of the Muslim-Tamil National Alliance (MTNA), Azath Salley, after the latter denied a report in India’s Junior Vikatan magazine that he had asked the Muslims to take up arms against the Sri Lankan state. The directive was given before President Rajapaksa left on an official visit to Uganda.

Salley was detained by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on suspicion of having committed offences under the Penal code and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Under the PTA he was to be detained for three months.

Having admitted that he was interviewed by the magazine, Salley, in an affidavit dated May 9, handed over to President Rajapaksa, alleged that Junior Vikatan had misquoted him and therefore he shouldn’t be penalized.

The magazine published the interview under the heading "Muslims too will take up arms ... Colombo’s Azad Salley".

The MTNA leader urged President Rajapaksa to secure his release.

Authoritative sources said that President Rajapaksa, having consulted relevant authorities ordered that Salley be released.

Referring to the recently concluded three decade war, Salley said that he would never back any community taking up arms against the state as he had realized the catastrophic consequences of such action.

Commenting on government allegations that he had been involved in an Indian organization called Popular Front of India (PFI) allegedly acting in a manner inimical to Sri Lanka’s interests, Sally said that he had recently participated at a conference organized by the organization without knowing its background.

Authoritative government sources said that the conference had been organized under the theme of ‘Freedom of Rights for Sri Lankan Tamils’ at the Singapore Palace Hotel in Egmore Chennai on April 16, 2013.

When the controversial interview and Salley’s participation at the Chennai conference were brought to the notice of the Defence Ministry, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, ordered an investigation. The Defence Ministry told The Island that Salley evading arrest had finally been taken into custody on May 2.

Gota ‘Backbone’, Mahinda’s ‘Ability’ And Gemunu’s Pragmatism

By Malinda Seneviratne -May 12, 2013 

Malinda Seneviratne

The President of the Private Bus Owner’s Association, Gemunu Wijeratne, has demanded that the Ministry of Private Transport Services be taken off C.B. Ratnayake.  He wants President Rajapaksa to handle it himself.  Wijeratne, moreover, has opined that only the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urband Development, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has the backbone to resist political interference and vanquish what he calls ‘transport terrorism’ .  He was prompted, he said, by the prevalence of corruption, mismanagement and numerous other problems that beset this sector.

With that request, Gemunu Wijeratne has offered a nutshell description of all things political in Sri Lanka.  Let us elaborate.

First of all it indicates a notion of where power really resides.  If, for example, all power is concentrated in a particular individual, position or administrative apparatus, and if those individuals or institutions so endowed are not in the practice of delegating authority, then it would be a rank waste of time to address grievance or proposal to lesser entities.  One has to query only those who can or will answer, those who have decision and directive.

Thus, in this instance, Wijeratne’s is not just a no-confidence motion on the relevant subject minister, C.B. Ratnayake but a pragmatic recommendation consequent to an honest appraisal of prevailing political realities.

In an earlier instance, when several students of Jaffna University had been arrested on suspicion of trying to resurrect the LTTE, President Rajapaksa ordered them released, following an appeal by their parents and a verbal guarantee from them that their progeny would ‘behave’ thereafter.  TNA MP M Sumanthiran welcomed the decision at the time, but made the pertinent observation that it should not have come to a point where the President had to issue a directive.

A few years before, a hitherto unknown individual, climbed atop a tall post in Vihara Maha Devi Park, demanding that the President intervene to resolve his various problems.

More recently, i.e. on Friday, the matter of the controversial arrest and detention of former Deputy Mayor of Colombo Azath Salley, was resolved in a similar manner, with Salley, in a sworn affidavit, explaining his position (including ignorance about the organization that had invited him to speak) and appealing for presidential intervention.

Wijeratne, thus, has condemned all politicians and public servants as being incompetent and/or corrupt. Only the President can sort things out, he concludes.  The flip side of the ‘cannot’ and ‘will not’ of official and minister, then, is the ‘can’ and ‘will’ of the President and his brother.

Wijeratne’s statement raises certain questions. Is it a question of competence, sloth, fear or not having authority (which could have been wrested formally or informally)?  Is this state of affairs a product of constitutional provision (or lack thereof) or politico-administrative culture/realities?  Has the President (and his brother), in order to get things done or because he has the power and the will or because he wants to impose will on each and every matter, subverted institutional processes, rendering institution and official irrelevant?  Is this the ‘full manifestation’ of the powers vested in the office of the President by the 1978 Constitution?

The truth is that when Gotabhaya Rajapaksa takes on a task (eliminating terrorism, cleaning up Colombo) he goes about it in a methodical and relentless manner.  He will not let politicians re-draw game plans.  Being the brother of the all-powerful executive president helps in a big way, no one will disagree, but that indicates feudalism if not anything else which perhaps what Sri Lanka has been post-Independence, the plus point being that Gotabhaya (as Wijeratne and many others believe) gets things done.

But can one man (or two) do everything?  Is fear inhibiting officials?  Does this indicate that our entire institutional arrangement is a non-performing behemoth?  Are we individual-focused and system-dismissive?  If so have we always been like that or is this a post-1978 issue?  Or is it a ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa Regime’ peculiarity (both the dependence, structured or on account of charisma and assertion, as well as the ability to deliver)?

There’s obviously a lot of power and a corresponding magnitude of dependence.   The only problem is that both the President and his brother are human.  They can err and they too can get exhausted.  What then?  What ‘thereafter’?  When systems are not used, they first become irrelevant and then they perish.

Wijeratne has not elaborated. He’s a here-and-now kind of operator.  But he has said it ‘as it is’, at least the ‘what matters’ in the business of getting things done.  But President Rajapaksa can only do so much and that holds for Gotabhaya Rajapaksa too.   Some might cheer the fact, some might worry. Either way, the indictment on institutions and officials is cause for concern, not applause.

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of ‘The Nation’ and his articles can be found at www.malindawords.blogspot.com