Kaviya =Ajith C Herath=

Mahesh Munasinghe =Kaviya=

Lasantha Wickrematunge: The man who changed Sri Lankan journalism

Hello Friends

It is six months since the fearless editor of “The Sunday Leader” was brutally assassinated in broad daylight.Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge was murdered in cold blood at Ratmalana by a killer squad of eight riding four motor cycles. He was driving alone to work on that fateful January 8th.

Six months have passed and the Police are yet to progress in their so called investigation into the killing. The only “suspect” netted by them is the man who misappropriated Lasantha’s cellular phone.

Lassie Boy as I called him was one of the bravest journalists I ever knew. It was he who single-handedly changed the nature of Journalism in Sri Lanka. Lassie belonged to that dwindling tribe of scribes who believed in speaking truth to power.

His death or the way in which he was killed has brought about a great void in Sri Lankan journalism. Yet “the Sunday Leader” follows the path chartered by Lassie “unbowed and unafraid”.

The staff remains loyal to his principles and memory and continues amid very difficult circumstances. Lasantha’s brother Lal is now the managing Editor while Frederica Jansz (another gutty journalist) has taken over as Editor.

In a bid to pay homage to his memory six months after his death I am posting on this blog an insightful, moving tribute to Lasantha Wickrematunge by Rohan Pethiyagoda.

Here is the tribute to Lassie Boy - DBSJ

I can be reached on dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com

The man who changed Sri Lankan journalism

by Rohan Pethiyagoda

Lasantha Wickrematunge often referred to the well-known warning of German pastor Martin Nimoeller-who fell victim to Nazi forces-on the consequences of inaction and passivity in the face of fascist terror.

The tragic irony behind Lasantha Wickrematunge’s foul murder is that unlike Nimoeller, he from the very beginning spoke out for one and all who were victims of the forces of fascism and all forms of terrorism. In the 1980s, some Sinhalese (JVPers) were being hunted by pro-government vigilantes, he wrote about them and earned the ire of an all-powerful personality at that time who promised him to be ‘garlanded with a necklace of burning tyres.’

He had to flee the country at that time but came back soon. He consistently stood up for ethnic and religious minorities who were victims of the war on terrorism. That was a cardinal sin in the eyes of many. He exposed bribery and corruption, nepotism, racketeering, gangsterism in all its forms, bureaucratic lethargy and corruption under which the public suffered and even judicial misdemeanours.

For one such reason or more he was cruelly gunned down on the Attidiya highway, less than a kilometre from his beloved newspaper offices of The Leader. That was the supreme sacrifice he made for independent journalism, for freedom of expression and above all the right of the people to know and say about events going on in society.

Many are those who disagreed with his views, some with great emotion. Even in his last week on Earth he and his organisation were roundly abused. But he was a man who could give what he took. That is the essence of a good journalist. He had the courage of conviction to stand by and sponsor unpopular causes, even though it would have been detrimental to the interests of The Leader publications and also in the face of dire threats to his life and limb.

Some people understood this principle of democratic journalism. Karu Jayasuriya expressed this view on the day of Wickrematunge’s demise: ‘He was severely critical of me on many occasions and so was I of him. But he was a good and brave journalist,’ Jayasuriya said. But such democratic politicians are hard to find.

The manner in which he was disposed of from life and the political scene leaves no doubt some forces wanted him permanently out of the political picture. Lasantha Wickrematunge created a new variety of Sri Lankan journalism. This was investigative journalism of a variety that left no stone unturned. This was not the kind of mild bottom pinching the so-called sophisticated journalism that some English language newspapers indulged in. It was straight, hard punching from the shoulder in the Sunday and Wednesday publications.

The bold, hard headlines in black and white-at times spread across two opposite pages-told the whole story. Not for him those coloured boxes with techni-coloured headlines that said little or nothing. In the 15 years of publication of The Leader he brought a new dimension to Sri Lankan journalism. Wickrematunge in effect became a one-man opposition to government. He warned the public of the possibility of an impending dictatorship and the need of an unfettered media to prevent such moves.

His death leaves a big void hard to fill. It is all the more regrettable because it comes at a time when other newspapers and electronic media which earlier had been impartial and independent in their news coverage have commenced singing from the same hymn sheet as the state media. The panegyrics published today about the ‘great men now in power’ and those of their favoured dead will leave a sensitive reader or viewer nauseated.

Wickrematunge, quite often was able to show that our modern day emperors often had no clothes, while having feet of clay. That is all the more important to generations growing up to be stimulated into independent thinking about their leaders, people and the country.

With English effectively removed from the school curriculum about 40 years ago, children have been fed on a diet of state propaganda all the while. The effect of Wickrematunge’s daring journalism was to make people and the children think for themselves and not be zombies praising the powers that be at any given moment.

Our education system has been mentally crippled to such an extent the children’s process of thinking has suffered. Those of earlier generations blessed to be taught in the English medium were told of thoughts of great thinkers and philosophers like Rene Descartes like: ‘Cogito ergo sum’-I think therefore I am.

Are today’s children taught that if they cease to think, they will cease to exist as individuals? Are they taught that if two people agree on everything, then only one person is doing the thinking? Lasantha Wickrematunge did not preach philosophy in his newspapers. But he did try to convey to the people that what was being drilled into their minds by state radio, TV and the pro-government press had quite a lot of hogwash that could be fatal to the nation in the long run.

He exposed ’saviours of the nation’ as pious frauds; newly arrived messiahs in various fields as absolute fakes; exposed bribery and corruption at all levels; and the duping of the poor by conmen.

Wickrematunge’s assassination came just 48 hours after the attack on the MTV central transmitting station by another gang of unidentified goons. At the time of writing these comments there have been no reports of any of the offenders being questioned or arrested. The world awaits to see the outcome of investigations into the dastardly, cold blooded killing. Killing and bashing journalists have become a popular sport in Sri Lanka. We have lost count of the many incidents of journalists that have been subjected to and even killed in the north in recent times.

The journalist world has been shocked and aghast at the killing of Sivaram, the internationally known Tamil journalist, the abduction and brutal attack on Keith Noyahr, Deputy Editor of The Nation and now the outrageous killing of Lasantha Wickrematunge. Earlier attempts were made once again by an unidentified gang to set ablaze the press of Leader Publications.

Are the Sri Lanka Police and other security establishments impotent in tracing down the perpetrators of these crimes? Can a respectable democratic government under any circumstance plead to impotence to bring these criminals to justice? What confidence will any independent journalist have in investigating any offence or crime if there is a likelihood of armed goons shadowing them?

Expressions of sadness, claims of friendship and other excuses such as attempts by anti government forces to divert attention from the military victories of the government will not even convince the faithful of the Rajapakse government. Both Wickrematunge and MTV came under virulent attack by government propaganda organs from their coverage and comments on the military offensives in the north, although no unfavourable references were made, at least by Wickrematunge or his publication, on such offensives.

Government leaders and propagandists have the right to make such criticism even though they were wrong in their assumptions but the virulence of the attacks and the attributed motives place these accusations in another dimension. No responsible democratic government can get away with assurances of intensive investigations and justice being done in the future with no tangible results forthcoming.

The many instances of journalists being bashed and the failure to bring criminals to book make the government spokespersons jokers.

Lasantha Wickrematunge in death has also placed a challenge on his journalist colleagues. What action will they take not only to see that justice will be done but that the same tragedy will not happen to one of them? Stirring resolutions calling upon the government to take action and fiery rhetoric in public places such as roundabouts are not enough. The people will want to avenge Lasantha Wickrematunge-a man who went through hell and high water to safeguard the freedom of expression of the Sri Lankan people.

pictures by: Indi.ca

Lasantha Wikcramathunga Memorial Rally

War refugees kept in Sri Lanka “welfare camps” – 06 July 09

Sri Lanka’s government has been accused of killing thousands of its own civilian citizens, war crimes, rape, torture and inhuman treatment of hundreds of thousands of refugees from its war against the Tamil Tigers.

Al Jazeera has conducted its own investigation into the conflict and spoken to Tamils who have suffered and aid workers who have remained silent until now, revealing testimonies that call into question the version of events Sri Lanka’s government wants the world to believe.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley reports.

Interview with Prof. Tissa Vitharana on the 13th Amendment, Constitutional Reform, IT and English language

I began my conversation with Prof. Tissa Vitharana, Minister of Science and Technology and Chair of the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) by asking him about the state of play in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Sri Lanka, and what exactly the declaration of 2009 as the Year of IT and English meant. We talked about work force development, business service outsourcing, the sustainability of nenasala’s (cybercafes) established by ICTA and efforts by his Ministry to promote IT across the island.

Over half of the programme was devoted to Sri Lanka’s constitutional dynamics, and in particular, options for constitutional reform that included the full enactment of the 13th Amendment. I asked Prof. Vitharana what he felt about the success of the APRC process as it was nearing its end, and also talked in depth about the constitutional architecture the APRC would propose (referred to as 13th Amendment plus).

For the Minister’s answer as to whether he had lost most of his hair on account of the APRC process and whether the 13th Amendment alone is enough to address the underlying causes of violence in Sri Lanka, please watch the video in full.

Watch the video here 

Exclusive video interview with Somawansa Amarasinghe, the Leader of JVP, in English

Two weeks after I had interviewed Prof. Tissa Vitharana on, among other things, the full implementation of the 13th Amendment, I spoke with the Leader of the JVP Somawansa Amarasinghe for his take on constitutional reform.

During the course of our interview, Mr. Amarasinghe came out strongly in favour of the rights of all minorities, the need to meaningfully look into the well-being of Tamils interned in IDP camps and the importance of a secular State. Recalling the violent history of the JVP, he suggested that it was government that pushed the JVP to violence, yet saw little parallel between this violence and that of militant Tamil nationalism. Acknowledging that inequality, the marginalisation of Tamil youth and the denial of some of their rights led to the rise of violent conflict, Mr. Amarasinghe said the JVP accepted the historic repression of Tamil youth, but that this was justification for the violence to establish Eelam.

On the other hand, he said that he was very concerned that history could repeat itself if legitimate grievances of the Tamil were not addressed after the end of the war, and came out strongly against the continuing and constitutionally enshrined language discrimination in Sri Lanka.

When I asked him about internal self-determination, he said that the JVP was strongly opposed to it. He was also strident in his opposition to the 13th Amendment, stating that it was an ill-drafted piece of legislation imposed by force after India’s invasion of Sri Lanka. He went on to clearly note that power sharing within a unitary state was impossible.

Acknowledging that most of the voters were with the President, Mr. Amarasinghe nevertheless said that many had been misled about the activities of the JVP and that anyone outside of government was today branded as a supporter of the LTTE.

I asked how this was different to the rhetoric of the JVP. For his answer and for the JVP’s vision for the future of Sri Lanka, please watch the interview in full.

Watch the video here 

Self Portrait Sri Lanka

Nimmi Harasgama for Self Portrait Sri Lanka

Kingsley Gunatillake for Self Portrait Sri Lanka

Mahesh Munasinghe =Kaviya=

Lasantha Wickramatunga: In Memoriam

Platform for Freedom met at the Town Hall in Negombo Sinhala

Mano Ganeshan, the leader of Western People’s Front(WPF) and Colombo district parliamentarian

Part 01

Part 02

Part 03

Jayathilaka Bandara

JVP to bring 2 million people to Colombo against power devolution

JVP Leader Somawansa Amerasinghe says the party would bring 2 million (20 lakhs) people to Colombo in protest against the government if it decides to fully implement the 13th amendment to the Constitution.  Addressing a JVP rally in Anuradhapura recently, Amerasinghe said, “Mr Mahinda is still afraid to bring in this amendment. He puts a feeler first by getting the Blue Yapa to make a statement and then gets the Green Yapa to follow suit. The President does not say anything.”  “It is the 13th amendment introduced by the unconstitutional and undemocratic United National Party that President Mahinda Rajapakse is trying to bring in by getting Anura Yapa and Lakshman Yapa to make statements to the effect…”       “An amendment that has been ruled against by four Supreme Court judges cannot be allowed to be implemented. This will only act to divide the country. Through this amendment, India will get the chance of robbing Sri Lanka off its resources,” Amerasinghe also observed.

Death threat on “Uthayan” news paper in heavily fortified Jaffna

“Uthayan” news paper in Jaffna has once again come under the hacksaw of the Sri Lankan regime. A new death notice has been distributed to all “Uthayan” news paper Employees, Agents, Reporters and the Security Guards working at its office in Jaffna.  Three days ago on Thursday 25th June, a dubious front by the name ‘Tamil Front Protecting the Country’ issued a notice that was forced on news papers in Jaffna and all news papers that refrained from carrying that notice were burnt in bulk.     That act of arson was the handy work of a para-military group working with State security forces, said reports from the North.  (http://southasiaspeaks.wordpress.com/category/sri-lanka/sl-media/)  The latest “death notice” issued to “Uthayan” news paper yesterday (June 27) has come without a name, but could be from the same source, says sources from North. Such acts can not be carried out in the heavily fortified Jaffna peninsula without the government security forces’ approval, where all movement is heavily restricted and no person could move about freely without carrying the “identity pass” issued by the military in addition to the NIC. With elections now scheduled for the Northern local government bodies (Jaffna municipal council and Vavuniya urban council) armed group(s) working closely with the government security forces have started dictating terms on the media, with the government ignoring all such intimidation.  Therefore these “death threats” can not be taken lightly and as mere threats going by past experience, says media sources.  Below is the full text of the death threat, translated from Tamil to English LAST WARNING  TO: ALL EMPLOYEES, AGENTS AND REPORTERS OF PROTERRORIST ‘UTHAYAN’ NEWSPAPER  From the time Uthayan started its publication up to now, Uthayan publishes news items to confuse the Tamil people and their Liberty.  Now after regaining the harmony and Liberty in the Society, “Uthayan” News items are aimed at destroying the permanent peace and causes the public to turn to terroists again. Further, these news items promote communal feelings among Tamils and cause to destroy the peace. Your news items are twisted from actual truth.  Your paper appears to be a mouthpiece of the Terrorists. Our earlier warnings have been disregarded by you. Therefore, we are compelled to take a decision not to allow the publication of Uthayan in Jaffna as it publishes news that cheat the people.  Therefore all Employees, Agents, Reporters and Security Guards should officially resign from the Organisation with effect from 30.06.2009  If this final warning too is disregarded, you will face capital punishment (Death sentence) imposed by us.

Mahesh Munasinghe =Kaviya=

Sri Lanka: Is the war really over?

The end of the conventional war in the north and the east of Sri Lanka witnessed the almost total annihilation of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) including its leadership. However, the Government forces are still carrying out clearing up operations throughout the island. Tens of thousands have been slaughtered; many thousands wounded; hundreds of thousands expelled from their habitats and many hundreds of thousands interned into camps. The deaths of the militants have been celebrated by the overwhelming majority of the Sinhalese and some of the Tamils and Muslims. The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is allegedly engaged in destroying any incriminating evidence of its culpability in war crimes. The fate of three doctors, who were earlier praised by the UN for their heroic services to the wounded during the war, serves as an example.

History
The LTTE commenced as a guerilla force and over time developed its own conventional fighting capability by having a ground force, a navy and a rudimentary air force. It had a strong local and diasporic base and a vast fund raising network. The LTTE targeted attacks on civilian, political, security individuals, religious symbols and civilian groups, particularly in the south. Its initial aim was to fight against the Sinhala discrimination and the government security forces. In the process it began to kill members of other Tamil groups and repress its own Tamil community. The LTTE was ruthless in removing diversity of opinion within the Tamil community by armed force, not by political means. Thus many leaders of the Tamil bourgeois parties[1] and left parties and groups[2] were eliminated. The ruthless repression of any political opposition to it alienated many working people in the areas under the LTTE control.

I believe that the LTTE’s defeat was brought about by its military strategy and tactics based on terror and over reliance on conventional force, its violent attempt to become the sole representative of the Tamil people; misreading of the international balance of forces and a lack of progressive economic or political policies. It simply believed that imposition of a separate Tamil state was the only response to the discriminatory policies of the successive governments against Tamils. It substituted ethnic struggle for class struggle. As a nationalist movement it could have survived by either compromising with the capitalist class or resorting to mass struggle, but it did not do either. The political support of the Sinhala workers and the other oppressed people for the nationalist struggle of the Tamil people gradually diminished. The methods of the LTTE enormously helped the Sinhala ruling elites to whip up anti-Tamil chauvinism to protect the privileges and interests of the ruling elites.

War Preparations and the LTTE
When the security forces of the GoSL went to war in 2006, they were well-trained and enjoyed superiority in firepower and mobility. They built up their force levels on land, in the air and at sea en masse to ensure success against the LTTE. Evidently, the LTTE failed to read this turnaround taking place in the capabilities of the Security Forces and adapt its military line of action accordingly. Instead, it stuck to a conventional warfare mode that was doomed to fail although it inflicted many casualties on the advancing government troops.

When the LTTE floundered in the Eastern Province in 2006, offering only limited stiff resistance, the regime made up its mind to go all the way against the LTTE.

Is the war over?
Elimination of the top leadership of the LTTE with many of their cadres assassinated or dead may not represent the total end of the LTTE. The post-Pirapaharan era of the LTTE may represent a departure from the strategy and tactics of terror previously adopted by the LTTE.

The GoSL and the LTTE have declared that the war is over. Does this mean that the GoSL will devolve political power to the North and the East? Those who lean towards the left and Tamil groups within the GoSL believe it will devolve power at least to the extent granted by the 13th amendment to the Constitution^[3]. Those who lean towards the right within the GoSL believe it will not devolve power at all. Those who are outside the government are similarly divided. Given the sorry history of devolution in the country it is hard to believe that the optimists will succeed. The extreme nationalist forces within the GoSL have already commenced their campaign against any power devolution.

The GoSL has stated that the state of emergency and Prevention of Terrorism Act would remain in force for some time to come. The eastern province has been firmly under army control since mid-2007. There are army checkpoints in the town centre, armed thugs prowl the back streets and reports of abductions and disappearances continue. To quote the Defence Secretary, “The war is like a cancer. Even after curing a cancer, there is a period for radiation treatment. It is the same with the war on terrorism.” Meanwhile the President in his victory speech has adopted a new doctrine following on the path of Bush doctrine. While inviting investments in the north and the east, while talking of a home grown solution to the political situation, there are no minorities in the island, he said. He branded the population into two categories: those who love the country and those who don’t.

Media Freedom
The GoSL’s vendetta against anyone critical of the war, particularly in the media continues. Targeting journalists for “treason” indicates a broad offensive against human rights bodies and non-government organisations, which have been branded as “terrorist sympathisers”. The methods used are not limited to arrest and prosecution as evident from the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge, editor of the Sunday Leader, who was posthumously awarded UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize 2009. As in numerous other cases, the police have made no arrests yet. Most of these threats seem to target international organisations that exposed to a limited extent the exterminationary tactics used by the GoSL. Only three days back, the Centre for Policy Alternatives[4] received a 1989 type of threatening letter demanding compliance with the GoSL programs. Disappearances seem to continue. On June the first, Poddala Jayantha, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association was abducted by a gang who came in a white van, severely assaulted and later released.

Access to camps and war ravaged areas
Despite many requests by the international community, the GoSL has continued to refuse full access to the areas destroyed by the war and to the hundreds of thousands of displaced Tamil civilians interned in the so-called welfare villages encircled by barbed wire and security forces.

The Economic repercussion
Sri Lanka spent and will continue to spend a significant part of its gross domestic product on the war effort, thus exacerbating its dependence on the world capitalist system. The very high military expenditure has significantly contributed to a weakening economy, rising cost of living, inflation, unemployment and an impending economic collapse. The GoSL hopes to survive by relying on massive foreign loans. It is using the “war victories” as a mechanism to divert attention from the crises the country is faced with. The next pretext will be in the form of “an emergency” caused by the rapid deepening of the country’s economic crisis and an eruption of working people against the imposition of new burdens. The broader fear in Colombo ruling elite is that the military defeat of the LTTE will be followed by a wave of political unrest and social struggles. The GoSL has mortgaged the Sri Lankan state to the hilt to finance massive military spending and imposed the full burden of the war on the working class. Now, confronting the impact of an unprecedented global economic crisis for which it has no answers, the regime has no alternative but to use police state measures to stamp out opposition, particularly by working people.

Key political decisions are made by a military cum political unit rather than in parliament or cabinet. Unelected bureaucrats can make outrageous threats against diplomats and journalists. GoSL operates with complete contempt for the law, the constitution and the courts. Elements of the Sinhala majority in the south now want the President to be treated as the King of Sri Lanka. The government will boost its armed force, already one of the largest per capita in the world, from 200,000 to 300,000 within a population of around 20 million. The navy and air force each have around 30,000 personnel and the home guard another 35,000. All of the above will be used against workers, peasants and youth seeking to defend their rights and conditions.

The role of China, India, Pakistan and the US
The Global political and economic balance of forces has played a significant role in what is happening in Sri Lanka. All the major powers, with the United States in the lead, have backed the GoSL while turning a blind eye to its abuse of democratic rights. Britain and other EU countries also assisted the GoSL by selling military equipment in the last three years of the war, it was reported. If the US is now raising concerns, it is only because instability in Sri Lanka threatens broader American economic and strategic interests in South Asia, in particular the growing influence of China. This is of major concern to the Indian Government also.

The US and India are intent on countering China’s strategy. Thus under the guise of humanitarian concerns, India has sent a military medical team to Sri Lanka. Earlier the US proposed to send a Marine Expeditionary Brigade to northern Sri Lanka to evacuate refugees – an offer that appears to have been turned down. None of these moves is motivated by concern for working people in Sri Lanka who have born the brunt of 25 years of war. Rather the island is being drawn into the international rivalry that is intensifying as the global economic crisis deepens and foreshadows far more catastrophic conflicts.

Military defeat and Political defeat of the LTTE
Yet, the difference between defeating the LTTE militarily and destroying the LTTE politically does not seem to have been completely understood by many.

The GoSL would require enormous amounts of human, material and financial resources to be spent on maintaining its forces in the north and the east. The psychological effects caused by the war on society as a whole, including the Tamils and armed forces of all sides to the conflict will continue to be challenging and daunting, which will make the dream of political unity an ever receding mirage.

The Tamil psyche is hurt as never before. Their feeling of subjugation has multiplied with the end of the conventional war. Most Tamils perceive this war as an invasion to grab ‘their land’. Their sense of anger and resentment will remain for a long time. The war and its aftermath have accelerated the tensions and distance between the majority of the Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil diaspora. This has also brought the Sri Lankan national question to the forefront of international discourse, second only to the questions of Palestine and Darfur. It has become embedded in the maelstrom of conflicts that are currently inflaming large parts of Asia. The desperate and deadly situation faced by the many thousands of Tamil civilians interned in the camps will become a serious international issue.

These developments do not bode well for the GoSL or the Sinhalese, though Sinhala nationalist groups and the GoSL will try to put a positive spin on the situation. Almost all Sinhala nationalist groups seem to see this phenomenon as of a transient nature, which they believe would go away when the ‘massive’ infrastructure development programs for the north and east are jump started.

My simple question is: How could the capitalist ruling elites of the island, who have never been able to engender and sustain such development in the South of the island, be expected to undertake such a development in the North and East of the island?

Link to Class Struggle
From its very origins, the war has been bound up with the class struggle. At every point of crisis, the weak Sri Lankan bourgeoisie has whipped up anti-Tamil chauvinism as the means of dividing the working class and shoring up its hold on power. The war was launched in 1983 by a United National Party government amid a horrific wave of anti-Tamil pogroms. These were being carried out in response to a growing rebellion by the working class against the impact of the government’s free market agenda. Over the past three years, the GoSL has repeatedly accused striking workers and protesting students of being accomplices of the “Tiger terrorists”. Having been strengthened by the defeat of the LTTE, the most reactionary sections of the ruling elite will soon be calling for the crushing of the new enemy, the working people.

The LTTE’s defeat is primarily a political, not a military question. Its perspective of a separate capitalist state of Eelam has proven to be a deadly trap for the working people. Its sectarian outlook and attacks on Sinhalese civilians has only deepened the communal divide and played into the hands of the Sinhala extremists in Colombo. The LTTE’s plans for a separate state represented the interests of the Tamil bourgeoisie, not the Tamil masses, and always depended in the final analysis on the support of one or other of the imperialist powers.

The atrocities committed in Sri Lanka will serve as a warning to working people anywhere in the globe. As capitalism plunges into its worst economic crisis since the 1930s, the ruling elites around the world are reaching into the tool bag of political reaction to secure their rule. Anti-Tamil chauvinism in Sri Lanka finds its parallels in anti-immigrant xenophobia, various nationalisms and numerous forms of chauvinism based on religious, ethnic and linguistic divisions. These can also become the starting point for local and international wars. The only alternative to such barbarism will be to explore the path towards socialism.

Conclusion
In Sri Lanka, as elsewhere, cultural diversity and tensions were manipulated to divide and weaken the working people to preserve the interests and privileges of the ruling elite. In the process, the fundamental democratic and social aspirations of the people have been crushed. The military defeat of the LTTE has not resolved the fundamental issues that underpinned the conflict. It has shown that the territorial unity of the capitalist state can be maintained only on the basis of ruthless repression of the people using military force. Through such repression it has reinforced its defence of Sinhala nationalism. The socio-economic problems of discrimination based on language and nationality and poverty linger on.

The LTTE’s military defeat clearly confirmed that the struggle against imperialism and the fight to secure democratic rights can only be advanced on the basis of a program relying on the support of the working people of the world. The answer to discrimination and racial oppression lies not through a separate state, but through the broad unification of the oppressed people in a common struggle against it.

As I have indicated many times before, our stand in defending the democratic rights of the Tamil people against all forms of chauvinism and racism, was neither an expression of political support for the LTTE nor for separation, nor to bring about a Tamil capitalist regime in the north and the east. Rather it is an expression of our acceptance of the right of the Tamil people for self-determination and the necessity for building unity of the Tamil and Sinhala working people to defend their interests against exploitation and repression by the ruling elite which divides diverse communities along racial, religious and caste lines.

I believe that the way forward lies in the paradigm change Sri Lanka needs to go though, which is alien to its current political traditions of exploitation through repression and subjugation. Firstly the equitable distribution of the fruits of economic development and participatory democracy are essential for the society to progress, especially, when the majority of people are surviving from one meal to the other. Internationally, there is a widespread demand for a refashioning of the world economic order, an end to the unconscionable arrogance of the wheelers and dealers and a call for governments to be more accountable for the welfare of its people. Sri Lanka needs to understand this reality and act accordingly. Secondly, while recognizing the specific problems facing the Tamil community, the injustices faced by the Sinhalese, and Muslims and challenges they all face due to capitalist globalisation also need to be recognised and addressed.

Lionel Bopage is former general secretary of the JVP and former member of the District Development Council, Galle.Associated with the JVP since 1968, he resigned in 1984.He is currently a member of the Executive Committee, Friends for Peace in Sri Lanka, based in Canberra, Australia.