Mullivaikkal cannot be traded off

Object 1

17 May 2016
Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran reiterated that

accountability for the mass atrocities committed in 2009 cannot be traded

off for politics, in remarks made in Colombo earlier this week.
Speaking at the southern capital Justice Wigneswaran responded to
questions on accountability by stating it was a legal question.
Are we going to have a proper legal machinery to look into the wrongs
that have been committed and take necessary steps with regard to that?
he said. Or are we going to make it into a political thing in order to trade
it off?
Whether it is Tamils saying it or somebody else saying it is not the
important thing - these are two different things. There is a political
question to be looked in to.
The chief minister went on to call for the victims of the massacres to be
taken into consideration.
What about the people who have lost their lives? he said. Who have
gone through so much immense hardship at the time when these things
happened in Mullaiviakkal. Are we going to forget about all of them? At
least let them have the benefit of this being tried out by an international
tribunal or forum and come to some decision.
He also commented on the current situation in the Tamil North-East
stating that trust is not born at the end of the barrel of a gun.
Nor can it flourish when private lands are occupied by military forces, he
continued.
The immediate transition to a civilian atmosphere is essential for the
building of trust, he said. There is no need for the military to continue to
be in the North usurping and using peoples land, buildings, trades and
livelihood sources.
Justice Wigneswaran was speaking at the launch of a book entitled
UNEARTHED BY Kusal Perera at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute
earlier this week. During his address the chief minister also spoke on how
alongside accountability, Sri Lanka had to undertake an exercise of
introspection
It is not only the violence that needs to be examined, he said. Violence
arises as a result of other structural defects including social inequalities.

See the full text of his speech below.

Mr Chairman, the author of UNEARTHED Mr Kusal Perera, our Co-Guest
Speaker Mr Victor Ivan, distinguished guests, my dear brothers and
sisters!
I met Mr Kusal Perera for the first time today. But I have now and then
read some of his articles and felt here is a reasonable man among the
Sinhalese willing to articulate his thoughts without reticence nor
reservation. It is the reluctance of our intellectuals among all
communities in Sri Lanka to truthfully and dispassionately review and
research ideas, concepts, historical evidences and information generally
and state their views boldly that has brought us to our present plight and
predicament. It has helped unscrupulous politicians and pseudo
intellectuals to take the upper ground. Latest market place conduct in our
Parliament is a good example of such usurpation. I am reminded of
Martin Niemller (18921984) at this stage, who was a prominent
Protestant Pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler
and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.
Niemller is best remembered for the following quotation:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade
Unionists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Trade
Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for meand there was
no one left to speak for me!
I am glad that the author has made use of the occasion to launch his
book UNEARTHED compiled from his articles and creations to arrange a
discussion on Nation Building and Reconciliation. After all, the whole
purpose of our bringing about a political change on the 8th of January
2015 was to pave way for the rebuilding of our fractured Country and to
usher in reconciliation among the several communities constituting this
Island Country.
You will realize I have purposely avoided the term Nation so far. When
we speak of Nation Building there is a hidden assumption that there is
one Sri Lankan Nation and we need to build up that Nation.

Without getting bogged down on polemics let me first flag the fact that a
group of people have lived continuously in determinable areas in the
North and East of this Island for over 2000 years speaking a common
language among themselves and following a common cultural background
and way of life that they had qualified to be recognized as a Nation
themselves in terms of the International Covenants. They had lived within
identifiable borders, established administrations within them, been ruled
by kings and had been recognized as sovereign by others within the
Island as well as by the three successive colonizing European powers.
Each of the European powers conquered this Nation and others and then
created a unified administration within the Island. So this Country is
blessed with more than one Nation. We are a multi ethnic, multi lingual,
multi religious society.
Thus when we speak of Nation Building what we are discussing is the
rebuilding of this Country with all its differences and diversities. We are
not assuming that there is already a Sri Lankan Nation which needs to be
built. On the other hand we have a Country common to various Nations
within it and we are proceeding to discuss ways and means of building
this Country fractured at this moment. So I use the phrase Nation
Building in the sense of rebuilding this fractured Country.
Nation Building like the construction of any complex building requires
proper planning and alignment. In the building construction trade,
alignment among the architects, the engineers, the construction workers,
the users of the building, the neighbours, the suppliers, the bankers and
other stakeholders is essential if the construction project is to succeed.
Nation building is no different.
But what does one do when a building has major flaws and needs repair?
When we speak of Nation Building and Reconciliation we are looking at
reconstructing a building that has had deep fissures and fractures they
could be due to structural flaws, they could be due to bad workmanship,
they could be due to sabotage, they could be due to natural causes and
many others.
We have to look at our entire exercise of nation building and
reconstruction from the perspective of having a flawed edifice. What
should we do? The easiest option would be to destroy the entire building
and hire a new set of architects and contractors to set about building a
new structure from the beginning. But how do we know if those architects
and contractors will not make the same mistakes? What if the problem

was with the ground conditions or was due to other natural causes?
The first step, therefore, would be to analyse the reason for the
problems. Without finding the cause for those fissures, fractures and
faults we cannot prescribe a solution. The process of finding the cause or
causes must be honest.
In my view, the most fundamental step in nation building and
reconciliation is to have honest introspection. To do that we have to be
able to transcend our own biases and prejudices and conditioning. A
recent survey for instance found that a vast majority of Sinhalese did not
think that there was any need for any inquiry into war crimes, while a
vast majority of the Tamils felt there was a need. Thus we are faced with
polarised communities of people. How do we set about getting the
respective communities to engage in an exercise of honest introspection?
In this respect Kusal is able to look at things dispassionately a
remarkable ability at a time when communities have become polarised
and issues have become politicised. We could learn much from his ability
to disentangle himself from parochial worldview. For instance, I read one
of his articles outside todays publication titled Exclusively SinhalaJanuary 08 Change Is Not For Tamils. In his article he makes the
powerful and cogent argument that the steps taken, both during the
campaign to establish a new regime in early 2015 and after being elected
to office, were meant for a Sinhala Nation. The remarkable piece
highlights the concerns of most of the people in the Northern Province
and when raised by Tamils draw the ire of many Sinhalese who claim that
it is not patriotic or that we are asking for separation. Kusal is therefore
able to place himself in the shoes of the other to understand their
perspective. He could empathise! This is why despite my immense
workload and other priorities, I made it a point to be present at this
Discussion cum Book Launch Programme.
We would need people like Kusal amongst both sides to encourage them
to empathise with the other side. Thus honest introspection would be
the first and most fundamental step towards true reconciliation. For
honest introspection to take place we need to ensure that where
necessary, impartial investigations are carried out. In the context of
finding out the root cause of a building defect, it would not work if we
say, for instance, my brother-in-law was the contractor and he will never
use sub-standard building materials. For then we are limiting the scope of
our inquiry. Sometimes, finding out the true causes may be very painful
or may point accusingly at popular persons. We cannot say that the

Armed Forces carried out a zero casualty war or that only permissible
collateral damage took place, without carrying out an impartial
investigation. One thing has to be borne in mind investigating into and
prosecuting officers who have violated the law does not mean that you
are unpatriotic or that you are ungrateful towards the security forces or
that you are demeaning them. The failure to investigate wrongs on the
other hand is disrespectful towards the officers who carried out their
duties with dedication and within the ambit of the law.
Let us look back to 1971, when an innocent young girl, a beauty queen in
fact, from the sacred city of Kataragama was brutally raped, tortured and
murdered by Army officers. Would anyone today consider the trial of
Lieutenant Wijesuriya and his co-accused unpatriotic? Would the call for
the trial be considered the insidious work of an imperialist Western
Government or a mercenary NGO? The Government at the time ordered
the autopsy within four or five days. The CID and the Attorney General
were tasked with swift investigation and prosecution of the incident.
The crimes that took place during the latter stages of the War in 2009 in
particular, a wanton war without witnesses, were more heinous yet why
is it that the majority of the people and the Government not particularly
concerned with them? Is it not due to the fact that the victims of such
crimes were others?
When carrying out the exercise of introspection it is not only the violence
that needs to be examined. Violence arises as a result of other structural
defects including social inequalities. We have to examine the history of
the conflict. From constitutional defects to deficiencies in the application
of the law would have to be examined. The majority community would
have to examine its conduct in the process of Sinhalisation from 1956
to the so called autochthonous constitution of 1972 which marked the
first constitutional step in creating second class citizens. Standardisation,
steps taken to change demography through colonisation and several
other steps to marginalise Tamils including the most recent Divineguma
type legislations and the undermining of the Northern and Eastern
Provincial Councils, all contributed to depriving the Tamil speaking people
of their Constitutional right to equality. The late S.J.V.Chelvanayagam in
his Memorandum submitted to the Delegates who attended the 20th
Commonwealth Conference in Sri Lanka in September 1974 on behalf of
the Tamils of Ceylon argued that post independence Sri Lankan
Governments had successfully discriminated against and excluded the
Tamils from the mainstream of public life. He referred to the

Kodeeswaran Case which successfully avoided an Appellate Court decision

on the legality of the Sinhala Only Act vis a vis Article 29 of the 1948
Constitution.
The Tamils on the other hand would have to examine if there was any
factor in their way of life until then which had provoked serious
discrimination against them. It may have been introspection on Mr
S.J.V.Chelvanayagams part when he suggested to the then Government
that he would resign his seat in Parliament and re-contest against any
Government Candidate putting forward his point of political views and if
he lost he would withdraw from politics for ever. The Government delayed
having the election for two years and when they finally had the Election
SJV won quite decisively proving that he spoke for the great majority of
the Tamils.
The process of introspection also needs to take into account the present
state of the people who have borne the brunt of the war. Their economic
and psycho-social needs would have to be examined. The continuing
plight of 90,000 war widows in the North-East is a serious issue. The fact
that a 150, 000 strong Army is occupying several thousand acres of
private land is another issue. It is tragic that an inspection by a team of
respectable Parliamentarians including the Leader of the Opposition of
this Country, of private properties forcibly occupied by the Military raises
howls of protest. Those cacophonous voices remain silent on the other
hand with regard to the propriety of the illegal and unnecessary military
occupation of acres and acres of land private and public in the Northern
and Eastern Provinces.
Having examined the causes of the conflict, the next major step is to
create the right atmosphere for solutions to be found to the problems.
The call by the Government to have proposals for constitutional
amendments is a salutary step. I found it amusing that several people
faulted the Northern Provincial Council for passing a resolution with their
views on required constitutional amendments on the basis that those
proposals were unconstitutional. In fact Cases have been filed against us.
First- every proposal to amend a Constitution is by definition
unconstitutional that does not mean that the people who propose
changes to a constitution are engaging in unconstitutional activity.
Second, the Northern Provincial Council and its members individually and
collectively have the freedom of expression. They are entitled to express
their views on any matter, and especially on any proposed amendment of
the Constitution or formulation of a new Constitution. Third, their
participation in the constitution-making exercise by putting forward

proposals is a bottom-up approach given that the NPC is the institution

that functions closest to the Northern polity on day to day basis. Fourth,
from a constitution making point of view it is important to have as much
input as possible.
Of course creating the right atmosphere is not only the work of the
Government but also that of the media. Misrepresenting statements or
quoting matters out of context to sensationalise issues hardly helps the
process. There have always been exploiters and spoilers in Sri Lankas
tragic history. Even though SWRD Bandaranaike exploited communal
sentiments in coming into power his well intentioned attempts at
rectifying his error through the Banda-Chelvanayagam pact were spoilt by
Mr. J.R. Jayawardene, who bore the communal mantle. The DudleyChelvanayagam pact met with the same fate. Decades earlier Sir
Ponnambalam Arunachalam was disappointed by the reneging of the then
Sinhalese Leaders Sir James Peiris and E.A.Samarawickreme. But it is an
amusing fact that close upon Old J.R.s exit from this world in an
interview he had stated that his regret was that he did not consider a
federal set up to solve the problems of the minorities.
It is time that all parties approach the issue of the National question with
a view to resolving problems rather than exploiting them for petty
political gain. After all how long are we going to use our political
differences to appease our personal hegemonic greed and parochial
expectations? We are even distorting history to promote our Mahawansa
mentality.
I was disappointed with the way in which the NPC proposals for
constitutional reform were described by certain sections of the media,
which painted them as proposals for separation of the country. That could
not be further than the truth. Proposals for the Tamil Speaking Peoples to
be granted equal status as their Sinhalese brethren are hardly proposals
for separation. Proposals for regions to be grouped on linguistic basis is
exactly what India has done and continues to do. The creation of
Telangana recently is an affirmation of the success of the model. We did
not make any representations on whether the Sinhala majority areas
should be divided into States or other groupings because that is a
decision that should be made by the Sinhalese. We do not seek to impose
our will on them. We ask for the same respect. Let not the Sinhalese
determine how the Tamil Speaking Peoples group themselves in areas in
which they are in a majority. The proposal cherishes our Sri Lankanness
whilst respecting our individual linguistic and cultural identities.

One Muslim leader questioned our right to speak for the Muslims. If the
Muslims of North and East were Sinhala speaking and had considered
themselves as Sinhala Muslims we would certainly have expected them to
deal with the Sinhalese Representatives and kept silent regarding their
political status. But we consider the Eastern Muslims as Tamil speaking
being aware that some of them are excellently proficient in the Tamil
Language. Their leaders cut their teeth in politics with the Federal Party in
the early days whether it was Mashoor Mowlana or M.H.M. Ashraff. In fact
my friend Ashraff compared the Tamil and Muslim villages placed in the
East as being very akin to Pittu and Coconut scrapings that follow each
other! That is why we ventured to speak up for the Tamil speaking
Muslims of the North and East.
So too we were concerned about the Tamil speaking Upcountry Tamils of
comparatively recent Indian Tamil origin. Did not the Sinhala Only Act of
1956 precipitate the communal divide? It is the non recognition of the
Tamil Language initially that brought about the subsequent impasse. That
is why linguistic divisions have been proposed by us including into the
equation the Muslims and the Upcountry Tamils who are Tamil speaking.
Recently some media outlets wrongly claimed that I was opposed to
mixed marriages. Marriages are private matters and no one, including
myself, can oppose or propose that marriages take place in a particular
way. However, what I did say is that encouraging mixed marriages as a
solution to our problems is conceptually and morally wrong. That is a
move designed to destroy collective identities. We have to learn to
celebrate different cultures not try to straight-jacket everybody to belong
to one culture or create a new generation of people who belong to a
mixed culture. Cultural mixing should be allowed to take place organically
not as political projects aimed at enshrining one single dominant culture.
Another important facet of creating the right atmosphere to enable
solutions is to create trust between parties. Trust is not born at the end of
the barrel of a gun. Nor can it flourish when private lands are occupied by
Military Forces. The immediate transition to a civilian atmosphere is
essential for the building of trust. There is no security concern that
requires the military to be retained in the Northern Province. The Tamil
people are war weary. They will not condone any attempts to revive
violence. Furthermore an efficient Police Force could handle civil time
security quite professionally. There is no need for the Military to continue
to be in the North usurping and using Peoples lands, buildings, trades

and livelihood sources. A possible revival of LTTE activities are often

quoted as the reason for the continued stationing of the Army. It is my
position that Prabakharan was the creation of State Terrorism. If the
Military were progressively diminished and during the past seven years
concrete steps to solve the ethnic question were taken we would already
have been on the Road to Recovery, Rebuilding, Revival, Regeneration
and Reconciliation. Distrusting the Tamil Community if the Government
were to continue to station the Army amidst the victims of the erstwhile
war, you cannot blame anyone if another Prabakharan gets reincarnated.
In as much as the Buddha said that spiritual discourse could not be had
when a person is hungry, it is important to understand that populations
that are fighting for their survival cannot generate solutions. The serious
economic hardships of people who have been dispossessed of their lands
and their primary means of income, who are unable to carry out their
professions such as fishing due to security sector intrusions and those
who are in a perilous state, such as war widows who are at the mercy of
soldiers, do not permit them to participate properly in the democratic
process. The immediate needs of the most vulnerable groups need to be
met urgently. They look up to the Provincial or Central Governments to
ameliorate their conditions. Since the Provincial Council Administration is
often scuttled and undermined naturally our people are wondering what
lies at the back of the mind of powers that be. Trust should be the
foundation of our relationship not doubts and suspicions.
These are the first and most important steps in building up this fractured
Country and ushering in reconciliation. Many more steps are needed such
as having a proper plan including economic plans, measures to ensure
accountability, transparency, good governance etc. At this stage,
however, we are at the nascent stage and we have a long way ahead. We
should therefore be focusing on the foundational steps.
Let me quote from my own presentation at the National Conference on
Post War Socio Economic Development organized by the University
Grants Commission on the 13th of February 2014 in Colombo. Speaking
on Accelerated Provincial Development: The Way Forward I made a
request to the academic community and the intelligentsia of our society. I
said:
Exert your influence on the Southern Polity to make them
understand the needs of the North and East in the post war
context.
Counter the false propaganda carried out in the Sinhalese and

English media by explaining that the Northern polity is

committed to non violence and a political settlement within a
united Sri Lanka.
Act as leaders across ethnic divide who could engage in and
enrich debates in the public sphere on critical issues of national
importance.
Ensure that you promote and support the Rule of Law,
democracy and fundamental freedoms.
Foster a climate to come up with innovative models of
cooperation and governance between the provincial councils and
central government to enable each province to develop, based on
its needs and aspirations in keeping with democratic governance
principles.
Use your persuasive skills to persuade the Governments to keep
their promises and commitments.
If they do Sri Lanka would become a better place to live in, I
said!
Thus building up trust among the communities is the way to
Reconciliation. The reluctance to remove Regiments from the North and
East cannot be a recipe for Reconciliation. Continued central hegemonic
attitudes towards the periphery cannot be the right road to Reconciliation.
Division of accumulated central powers devolving them to the periphery
adequately, recognizing the equal rights of majority communities and the
so called minority communities and enabling them to deal with each other
with dignity and decorum is certainly the path to the rebuilding of our
fractured Country and Reconciliation.
I thank you for inviting me and I thank you for your patient hearing.
Justice C.V.Wigneswaran
Chief Minister,
Northern Province