There’s been a whole slew of posts on the recent evicting of Tamils from Colombo with both pro and con views on the action by the government. In general, the effect of this extreme action has been one of muted criticism by other governments (but criticism nonetheless), although Human Rights groups have been vociferous in their absolute condemnation of the decision. A majority of the bloggers on kottu believe that the action is inhumane, a gross violation of the constitution and of individual human rights and a stupid move by Rajapakse and his advisors. A few bloggers had opposite views with regard to the violation of human rights, preferring to see it as a necessary move for the protection of the city and those within it. But although the bloggers that wrote justifying the move were relatively few, the commentors that made no bones about their support of Rajapakse’s move were many and more than a few of them were strident in their views. The term ‘ethnic cleansing’ was also bandied about generously, which led to exercises in semantics, advice on its appropriate use and the inevitable comparisons with the Tigers’ ethnic cleansing of the north and east. The there was also someone whose research unearthed data on ethnic cleansing of the Muslims and Tamils by Sinhalese in the hill country earlier in the last century.
‘Patriotism’ also took a beating, with some who viewed being ‘patriotic’ as somehow being the privilege of the majority and so anyone that dared to think differently to what the government decides is best is, in their view, being ‘unpatriotic’. My own view on ‘patriotism’ was discussed in an earlier post (‘Patriotism’ on November 4, 2006) and it opened with the following quotes:
Samuel Johnson’s quote on ‘patriotism’ is perhaps the most famous of them all “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”. Theodore Roosevelt, one of the better loved American presidents said in 1918, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is also morally treasonable to the American public”. Mark Twain said, “Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You can not shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let them label you as they may”. Howard Thurman – “During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism”. And finally, Hermann Goering (he should know!) “Naturally the common people don’t want war, neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country”.
So it seems to me that the first question for those who see themselves as being ‘patriots’ is to decide if the president is doing a good job at governance with the Chinthanaya that was professed to be the way that things would go should he win the election. Never mind the fact that much of what was professed has not seen the light of day, are the bloated cabinet, the appointment of his brothers to positions of the highest authority, the attitude to international allies in the fight against terrorism, the decisions to build the airport at Wiralwila disregarding the immeasurable damage to the environment in general and the wildlife in particular and several other decisions that haven’t even been passed in parliament, good for the country? If they do not think that this is good governance on the part of Rajapakse, will they say so? Or would that be considered by them to be ‘unpatriotic’?
It seemed to me that many of the ‘patriots’ assumed that the folk that opposed the bussing of Tamils out of Colombo were somehow condoners of Prabhakaran and the Tigers and didn’t write a word about the eviction of the Muslims from the area in their control. I have no idea if this assumption is true or false, but somehow it doesn’t seem to me to be a logical assumption. I, for one, thought that the recent eviction was inhumane, illegal and a very stupid move on the part of the government, but I also think that Prabhakaran is someone who needs to prolong the war as much as possible to suit his own ends and hang on to power – much like Rajapakse. I also think that Prabhakaran can’t very well handle peace, as he is wanted by India for murder and if the Indians don’t get him, someone else will as he has murdered so many other Tamils in his quest for power that it is most likely revenge will find a way.
As one commentor pointed out, not only is the country divided on ethnic grounds, it is also divided among the Sinhalese. And I would agree. It seems that our only hope for a better future would be for sanity to prevail and for the people to decide if the country is being governed desirably and to make their voices heard – somehow.
So now what?
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June 10, 2007 at 10:18 am
Sumi
Will you spare a thought for the Sinhalese and Muslims and other non-Tamils who are barred from areas of their own country and have been so for decades? Where are tears and blogs for them?
June 10, 2007 at 10:24 am
javajones
Sumi – My thoughts are wholeheartedly with any one of any ethnic origin who is denied what is a fundamental right under the constitution we are supposed to be governed by. Nowhere in this post is anything that could be construed to be to the contrary. And there were no tears – the blogs, however, may well appear.
Oh, and by the way, what do you think of the governance?
June 11, 2007 at 1:14 am
justmal
Hey matchang is your name Heshma by any chance?
June 11, 2007 at 1:23 am
javajones
No machang, it ain’t – but I do dance!
June 11, 2007 at 3:16 am
justmal
With the ol maestro? lol…
June 11, 2007 at 5:12 am
javajones
Nein! With his daughter. Them dances with the ol Maestro were limited to the consciousness expanding realm – if you get my drift.
June 11, 2007 at 9:40 am
drac
I’m just pondering if the kneejerk “it’s all fair” comments are a response or are in some way shaped by the kneejerk comparisons to Hitler and Stalin and Pinochet and Darfur and all other manner of atrocities by those with an opposing view.
That doesn’t make the supporters of the eviction right, in my view.. but they’re still entitled to their opinion. I’m just glad the people who were responsible for those ghastly evictions got hit with a massive cluebat – because they handled at least the dissemination of information following (if not the actual evictions) terribly.
Hey, I’m even happy that officials of this government issued an apology – something that I thought they’d never do. I personally thought they’d be unrepentant.
Is it possible to decry governance on one issue (or a slew of issues) and yet grudgingly give them some credit for how it handles others? Because that is where I am – and I find this frequently places me at loggerheads with those who would criticize the government at any and all costs.
Patriot? I don’t know. Don’t think I am.
June 11, 2007 at 10:10 am
Theena
“As one commentor pointed out, not only is the country divided on ethnic grounds, it is also divided among the Sinhalese”
And divided among Tamils too. Surprise!
June 11, 2007 at 12:09 pm
justmal
Maybe so Theena, but unity and consensus are enforced at gun point. Perhaps Sinhalese need the same. All hail Wijeweera. *sob*
June 11, 2007 at 12:52 pm
javajones
Drac –
“….how it handles others”? Try as I might I couldn’t think of any “others” to give credit where it is due (grudgingly or otherwise). And the ‘apology’ – come on man, even the most naive of us know that it was just posturing from the backlash.
June 11, 2007 at 1:05 pm
javajones
Theena
No surprise! I personally know of die-hard Tiger supporters, ‘moderates’ and those that despise the Tigers as well. They all have their own reasons of course, and who are the rest of us to pick apart their reasons for their views? It’s the same with all the others (us folk) – we all have our individual views which make a whole lot of sense to the individual, the problem is putting together the fragmentation to create a sustainable and self-respecting whole.
June 11, 2007 at 1:43 pm
javajones
JM
Get your tongue out of your cheek bro, it looks lewd! But seeriassly – Wijeweera … oh shit! I should know better than to get going on this (like I said – words fail!) …
June 11, 2007 at 2:40 pm
drac
JJ, I’m pretty sure you see it differently – but I think the government got elected on a war ticket because certain sections of the populace were tiring of what they saw as appeasement of the LTTE. Unsurprisingly, those sections of the populace are not represented online 🙂
I’ll take your word for what you think is the government’s true stance on this matter – but they still have to walk a tightrope between appeasing the rabid nationalists on one hand (and don’t tell me they don’t matter. Count the number of seats they hold in parliament, track their gains over the last few elections and you’ll find cause for concern as I do) and the international community on the other.
I’d ask you in turn. How would the apology have had to be phrased before you accepted it as genuine? If (hypothetically speaking), MR himself grovelled before you; would you accept it ? 🙂 I think most people’s minds were already made up before the fact by earlier events which had nothing to do with this incident. Pity, that.
About that sustainable and self respecting whole … I’m personally rather alienated by the depths to which people will sink to score points off the elected government. Doesn’t mean I hold any torches for this government; but when I see hyperbole – I have to wonder what the dramatic excess is actually trying to conceal. Cuts both ways 🙂
June 11, 2007 at 4:12 pm
javajones
Shite Drac, I was hoping you weren’t going to pursue this!
Aannyway – cw holds it that the government got ‘elected’ through foul means (I guess the story is in the unraveling process, but strange to say no denials yet), so the ‘war ticket’ thing won’t hold (unless cw is in error, of course).
Granted that they have to do the balancing act – but it is oh so gauche (par for the course?)
Apology – the phrasing aint the point. From where I see it, it was something they figured had to be done (and they woke that guy up to have him do it too – apparently!) Do you really think Mahinda and Co., are ‘sorry’ about it? I truly hope they are, in which case there may just be some hope.
The ‘whole’ – I’m not entirely sure that it’s about ‘scoring points’. I know I’m not on that trip. I’m deeply concerned that the way of life as we know it is fast eroding and fear that the consequences wouldn’t allow me to live freely here. So any negative views expressed are from the heart.
Cheers buddy!
June 11, 2007 at 4:45 pm
drac
Perhaps the government did rig votes (*shrug* aren’t there accusations each and every time by the side that loses?). The fact does remain that a significant chunk of the populace voted for him, knowing full well what that would entail.
I personally don’t think they’re sorry either, but two things are pertinent.
If they are as willing to ride roughshod over dissenting opinions as many people online have been protesting, I don’t see how any sort of apology would have happened in the first place. And to be fair, they did make an effort – they did more than a government painted as black would have done under normal circumstances. Never attribute to malice etc etc.
Heh. I wasn’t referencing you in the point scoring business – we’ve had this conversation before, haven’t we? 🙂 It was a general comment on the deep and abiding skepticism I feel for political commentary online.
I recently saw a genius (I use that term loosely) dribble on and justify the means by which the JVP uprising was quelled in order to make a party political point. That pretty much summed up the idiocy for me.
Excuse the rant, old chap. I just needed to vent and you happened to be the most convenient blog at hand 🙂
June 12, 2007 at 1:22 am
javajones
“Perhaps they did rig votes..” the guy that paid off the Tigers on Mahinda’s orders has now spilled the beans (confirming the accusations that were made by another one that was recently incarcerated – without bail to begin with – for ‘misuse of a state vehicle’!!!) and has implicated Basil, Jayasundera and the Pres’ Secretary in having had discussions with the Tigers (jailable offenses). The JVP ploy of scrubbing voters names off some of the Colombo areas was well documented, so ‘perhaps’ they did – rig votes that is.
Drac old buddy, you really ought to come over here and stay for a while. It’s all very well trying to play fair from a distance, but somehow it seems to me that when one is caught up in the middle of a mess such as the one we are in, the stark reality of what’s going on can never be compared to what opinions you sift through to get at whatever conclusions you may arrive at from the comfort of your living room over there. You really ought to experience what takes place when one of the brothers has to go somewhere in Colombo.
I am also sceptical about much of the stuff online but what I experience in real life is too stark to dismiss too easily.
I have more responses to your recent comment in my head, but I’m sure you will agree that going back and forth here may not be exactly what this post was hoping to achieve (maybe elsewhere?).
Funny thing though is this – no one commented on whether they thought the governance was good for the country or not – which really was the point of the post.