Progress and backsliding

By Tisaranee Gunasekara-Thursday, 3 December

2015

Rizana Nafeek was the first Lankan woman to be

executed in Saudi Arabia. She was beheaded after a questionable trial.
Now a second Lankan woman is on death row in Saudi Arabia. Convicted of
adultery she is to be stoned to death. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe
administration has promised to do its utmost to save her life. But this
promise sounds hollow given the execrable conduct of the newly appointed
Lankan envoy to Riyadh. Going by internet reports, Ambassador Thassim is
quite blas about the imminent stoning of a fellow Lankan, but is deeply
concerned about the criticism of this brutal sentence in Lankan media. Such
criticism, says the envoy, can harm our relationship with Saudi Arabiai.
If the media reports are accurate, its impossible to envisage Ambassador
Thassim lifting a finger to obtain even a drop of mercy for his fellow Lankan.
He will be busy bending over backwards to placate Saudi authorities.
(Incidentally, is the Lankan envoy stating the official position of Colombo or
his own opinion? If its the latter, shouldnt he be reprimanded/recalled for
shooting his mouth off? Diplomats cannot express their private opinions
publicly, particularly if they are at variance with the official Government
positions.)
Ambassador Thassims alleged statement places him on the opposite side
of not just good governance but also intelligent governance (not to mention

basic decency and humanity). Unfortunately, the upper echelons of the new
administration are teeming with appointees who seem wedded to the
Rajapaksa way. At least Tilak Marapana had the decency to resign after his
outrageous conduct over the Avant-Garde issue, but many other politicians
and political-appointees openly and shamelessly follow the worst practices
of the Rajapaksas, starting with corruption and nepotism.
There are 57 member states in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, but
antediluvian punishments such as stoning to death are implemented only in
a very small number of them. Most Islamic countries with Sharia Law do not
endorse let alone resort to such outrageously barbaric punishments. Saudi
Arabia is almost unique in this regard (its probably the only country in the
world where a man can get away with a light prison sentence after raping
and murdering his baby daughterii). Cushioned by oil wealth, strategic geopolitical location and complete Western backing, it persists in ignoring
humanitarian norms and international pressure. A concerted international
campaign has failed to save Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger, who had been
sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment and 1,000 lashes. Another
campaign is being waged to save the life of Palestinian poet, Ashraf Fayadh
who had been sentenced to death by a Saudi court, but so far authorities
have not relented. Though every effort must be made to save the life of the
Lankan migrant worker, the chances of success are rather slim.
The case of Rizana Nafeek and of the unnamed woman from Maradana
shed a disconcerting light on the reality of Lankan development. Despite all
the fancy infrastructural projects, the Lankan economy will collapse if
deprived of the earnings from our migrant workers. That is why the
Rajapaksa Government did not ban any more Lankans from going to Saudi
Arabia as unskilled workers (especially domestic workers), even after the
Rizana Nafeek tragedy.
Now the ball is in the court of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration.
Will it do what the Rajapaksas didnt and ban any more economic migration
to Saudi Arabia? Will it give priority to two goals which have the potential of
reducing economic migration in the medium term: employment generation
and reduction of living costs?
The bubble
Economics was the Achilles Heel of the Rajapaksas and nowhere is this
failure more evident than in Hambantota. Under Rajapaksa rule, the district
got a port, an airport, a convention hall, an international cricket stadium, a
botanical garden, a TV/film studio, a six-lane road and an artificial island.
But the people didnt get jobs, houses or even clean drinking water; small
country roads remained in a state of disrepair and poverty continued to be
rampant.
A tragedy which happened to a family in Tangalle in November 2015 is
symbolic of this Rajapaksa developmental failure. A seven year old boy in
Ranna, Tangalle died after complaining of stomach pain. He had to be

carried for more than a kilometre on a rural road (which was in a state of
disrepair); the resultant delay in getting him to a hospital may have
contributed to his death. Even the boys funeral became a problem because
the familys wattle-and-daub hut was so miniscule. The family had been
promised Rs. 100,000 by the previous Government to build a new house,
but received only Rs. 30,000. The father is a radio mechanic but cannot
earn enough in the economically depressed community. The mother is
unemployed.
All this is in the Rajapaksa heartland, the area which supposedly
experienced exponential development in the last nine years. Families like
these are faced with a choice beggary or going abroad as migrant
labourers.
In his Budget speech, the Finance Minister acknowledged the existence of
three interrelated problems which, if left unattended, can destroy whatever
good that has been achieved since January 2015: a looming debt trap; a
youth unemployment rate bordering on 20%; and 20% of populace
subsisting on less than two US dollars a day (around Rs. 280).These are
politico-economic landmines which can make Sri Lankas future as bloody
as her past.
A de jure breakup of the SLFP is
unavoidable and is likely to happen
before the upcoming Local Government
elections. The pro-Rajapaksa breakaway
group is bound to embrace racist and
religious extremism as its main banner.
This new Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist
entity will turn to unemployed young
people for foot-soldiers and people
subsisting on less than two dollars for
supporters/voters. If the Government
keeps some of its economic promises,
neither foot-soldiers nor voters will be
available in sufficient numbers and the
SLFP breakaway group will dwindle into
politico-electoral irrelevance. But if the
Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration
fails to deliver on its economic promises,
if it succumbs to signature Rajapaksa
evils such as massive corruption and
limitless nepotism, the politicopsychological landscape of the country
can change in favour of extremism.
That is why the new Government needs
to take seriously the precarious condition

of migrant workers in places like Saudi Arabia. Next time a Sinhala-Buddhist

woman is sentenced to death in the obscurantist kingdom, Sri Lanka might
be in the throes of a severe economic crisis. In such a context, ordinary
Sinhalese might be responsive to attempts by the likes of BBS to use the
death sentence in Saudi Arabia to incite hatred against Lankan Muslims.
And another Aluthgama might become possible.
Learning from the Sobitha example
In his statement on the death of Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero, former
President Mahinda Rajapaksa made pointed references to their shared past,
including their presence at the Pettah rally against the Indo-Lanka Accord.
Ven. Sobitha Thero was once a leading exponent of Sinhala-Buddhist
extremism and a tireless campaigner against any attempt at reaching a
political solution to the ethnic problem. Mahinda Rajapaksa still wallows in
that same racist mire, but Ven. Sobitha Thero escaped it almost two
decades ago. And in the last years of his life he stood with rock-like
steadfastness against extremism of every variety and for an undivided Sri
Lanka which belonged to all her people. During a time characterised by
despair, he was a beacon of hope not only to the Sinhalese but also to
Tamils and Muslims.
President Premadasa once observed that the expectations of ordinary
Lankans are modest; they dont mind others going about in cars, so long as
they have at least a bicycle. Its when governments fail to ensure that
necessary minimum to the people at the bottom of the economic totempole, an environment conducive to extremism develops. It happened during
the second term of the J.R. Jayewardene Government. It could have
happened in 2014, but didnt. Ven. Sobitha Thero played a leading role in
guiding the oppositional forces away from extremism and along the path of
tolerance and sanity.
Almost 11 months after the ousting of the Rajapaksas, that mood of
tolerance and sanity continues to prevail. That was why the recent attempt
by northern and southern extremists to create a Nagadeepa-Nainatheevu
issue failed. The extremists up north behaved as if the very existence of the
Tamil people depended on changing the name of Nagadeepa to Nainateevu.
The extremists down south acted as if any such a name change would
cause the immediate disintegration of Sri Lanka.
But the people, ordinary Tamils and ordinary Sinhalese, refused to take the
bait. The screaming, burning, pillaging mobs northern and southern
extremists were hoping for have failed to materialise, so far. The popular
response to the Nagadeepa-Nainateevu issue has ranged from indifference
to bemusement, but never anger.
The absence of rage is due to the refusal of the UNP and the SLFP to
become embroiled in this inane non-issue. History shows that mobs
sprouted whenever the UNP or the SLFP used the race card. But this time
both parties desisted from flame-throwing. President Sirisena and Premier

Wickremesinghe deserve some credit for this much-needed display of sense

and sensibility. The hybrid Government has its uses.
Interests of extremists often coincide. It was in the interests of the LTTE and
Sinhala hardliners to prevent a political solution to the ethnic problem, to
keep the pot of suspicion and hate boiling. On the issue of Syrian refugees,
Donald Trump and the IS (Islamic State) stand on common ground. What
the IS loses with the exodus of Syrians is immeasurably greater than what it
would gain by getting a few of its operatives into Europe and America,
disguised as refugees. The IS offered people their very own Caliphate and
ordinary Muslims in their millions responded by fleeing the Caliphate. When
the choice is between Raqqa (the self-styled capital of the new Caliphate)
and Paris, Paris wins every time. Given an option, ordinary people prefer
places where they can lead their ordinary lives in peace.
The Syrian exodus is not just a severe loss of face for the IS. Far more
pertinently, it is loss of invaluable human material, without which no war
can be sustained, let alone won. If instead of fleeing, the Syrians in their
millions decided to support the Caliphate, to become its fighters, breeders
and human-shields, the task of defeating the IS would have become difficult
to the point of impossibility.
That was what happened with the LTTE. The Tigers had money and
weapons, but they lacked soldiers. Like ordinary Syrians, ordinary Tamils too
voted with their feet. Had those Tamils who demonstrated in European
cities in 2009 stayed back in Sri Lanka and fought for the LTTE, the Tigers
may not have suffered such a comprehensive, annihilating defeat.
Extremism is not an inborn trait of ordinary people. Their natural instinct is
to live and let live, because in any conflict, they are the main sufferers.
Outbursts of extremism always have a pre-history consisting of years of
patient hard work by political parties/organisations seeking to craft a path
to power through rage and hate. And such incendiary efforts are more likely
to succeed in times of economic hardships, times when present is devoid of
relief and future devoid of hope.
In his speech to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Selma and
Montgomery marches, President Obama called the US a work-in-progress
and identified the demonstrations as a clash of wills, a contest to
determine the true meaning of America.iii The nature of a country is not
cast in stone; it is something which changes constantly. In this sense, every
country is a work-in-progress and this is true for Sri Lanka as well. So far, a
majority of Lankan continue in their rejection of the Rajapaksa way and
their endorsement of the Sobitha way.
But this is not an immutable condition; it is something which needs to be
nurtured and protected. The struggle for the soul of Sri Lanka like the
struggle for the soul of any nation is a continuous unending one. It is a
struggle which forces of sanity and reason must keep on winning. Failure is
not an option, because the past is not a place we can afford to return to,

even for a short visit.

Footnotes:
1 http://asianmirror.lk/news/item/13142-sl-ambassador-to-saudiarabia-approves-stoning-to-death-of-house-maid
2 http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-preacher-getslight-sentence-for-killing-daughter-1.1141045
3 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-pressoffice/2015/03/07/remarks-president-50th-anniversary-selmamontgomery-marches
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