Lanka Citizen

It was that government, of which Ranil was a Minister almost throughout, that created the LTTE monster, by the high-handedness with which it dealt with Tamils, in 1977, in 1979, in 1981 and in 1983. It was that government that banned the JVP in 1983, when it had earlier tried to enter the democratic framework, and was indeed the main opposition party in the first attempt at devolution, through District Development Councils in 1981. And it was that government which initiated a reign of terror, against Tamils first, and then the JVP, though that latter has been forgotten and it is the brutality against Tamils only that is remembered (and somehow now associated with the SLFP and the JVP, even though it was the UNP that was in power throughout the period of pogroms).

Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha

“….But people believe what they want to believe. So we are told that Mahinda is chauvinist and populist, whereas when Ranil’s manifesto declares that he will build the largest dagaba in the world, in a clear sop to what he thinks is Buddhist sentiment, no one complains. All the subsidies he is offering, the banning of paddy imports, are ignored, but Mahinda is accused of favouring a closed economy.

All this would be funny, if one did not recall what JR did with the absolute power he won in 1977. I had thought, when I voted for the UNP in the 2001 parliamentary election, that Ranil had changed. But when he tried to amend the constitution, to allow opposition MPs to cross over to the government, while preventing the opposite, by the same means as JR had used in his first amendment to the constitution, I realized that nothing had changed. It was that government, of which Ranil was a Minister almost throughout, that created the LTTE monster, by the high-handedness with which it dealt with Tamils, in 1977, in 1979, in 1981 and in 1983. It was that government that banned the JVP in 1983, when it had earlier tried to enter the democratic framework, and was indeed the main opposition party in the first attempt at devolution, through District Development Councils in 1981. And it was that government which initiated a reign of terror, against Tamils first, and then the JVP, though that latter has been forgotten and it is the brutality against Tamils only that is remembered (and somehow now associated with the SLFP and the JVP, even though it was the UNP that was in power throughout the period of pogroms).

But Colombo thinks of JR as a great democrat, and a pluralist, despite 1983, despite his opposition to the first attempt at Regional Councils in 1958. People believe what they want to believe – and in countries like ours, we end up getting what we deserve. I can only hope the electorate is wiser, though the drawing rooms of Colombo remain unchanged.”

Courtesy Lanka Academic Network.