Sinhala hegemony taking a hold

The recent provincial council elections show the nature of the consolidation of the Sinhala nationalist state. One could extrapolate from each district, and indications will show the consolidation of Sinhala hegemony throughout Sinhala areas except perhaps in the Western Province. This has intensified repression.

Mano Ganesan maybe charged for “assisting” the LTTE. An attempt is being made to track down all those responsible for the Hiru publication. Hiru was a Sinhala weekly that defended Tamil autonomy. However, there are some oppositional forces that directly or indirectly challenge Sinhala hegemony.

Firstly the Tamil resistance in the north is still forceful. In spite of government claims of LTTE losses, the latter is continuing to be a formidable resistance. It is true that they have lost important avenues of resources but they appear to have overcome these setbacks. The most important gain has been the sympathy of the Tamil masses.

In spite of the appeals of the government through leaflets and messages sent through the administrative mechanism involving GA, AGAs and gramsevekas, refugees have not come back to Sinhala army controlled areas. Even the social services’ appeals of international agencies have failed to break this determination of these hungry and miserable people.

Even in the Tamil diaspora the sympathy for the resistance has grown. In other words Tamil resistance has taken a wider meaning. The Sinhala army’s attempt to takeover the heart of the Tamil homeland has aroused strong feelings among all Tamils.

Secondly the teachers’ boycott of A/L examination work became a problem for the government. At a time when even the oppositional political parties, the UNP and the JVP, succumbed to Sinhala nationalist pressure, the stand taken by the teachers is remarkable.

The Mahinda regime accused teacher union leaders of collaboration with the LTTE.

Indirectly, it was taken by the government before the Supreme Court and the CJ ruled that the government should come up with a feasible solution. In effect the Supreme Court ruling accuses the government of negligence and playing with the future of students!

Trade union movement

In the meantime there are three tendencies within the trade union movement.

Bala Thampo has convened a meeting of all trade union federations to organise a delegate conference of workplace leaders on the issues of war and inflation. It has attracted some of the pro government trade unions as well, indicating the dissension within the ranks of old left parties.

Then there is the August 4 movement that proposed a protest day on the same issues. While the debate about the importance of a delegate conference before any island wide action programme is still going on, Lal Kantha of the JVP is still going on with their proposal of a three-day general strike.

However, the JVP leadership is strongly influenced by the hegemony of Sinhala nationalism. It is doubtful whether Lal Kantha could go ahead displacing the Sinhala chauvinism of the leadership.

We cannot underestimate the influence of the media freedom campaign against the authoritarianism of the government. Media personnel became targets of the government automatically when they displayed the truth about the war: corruption, Sinhala chauvinism and grave human rights violations. The media freedom movement is capable of calling together all parties and unions committed to the defence of media freedom and human rights and continue the campaign it started before the election.

Apparently, a proposal for a common protest meeting in Colombo is under consideration.

What is the attitude of the international community? This is basically governed by the stand of the Indian rulers.

Delhi leaders are more frightened of the LTTE than of the Indian left or the Tamil Nadu agitations. They expect the Sinhala army to gain control over the Tamil homeland, before any meaningful steps are taken to persuade the Mahinda regime towards real power sharing or autonomy for the Tamil homeland.

This position has been accepted by the world powers in spite of the liberal remarks that they make here and there. However, international left and far left movements have stopped believing government and the JVP propaganda. The former has taken a strong stand for devolution.

Tamil liberation

They have recognised Tamil liberation as an authentic movement against oppression. The left in India, particularly the communist parties, have taken Tamil autonomy as a serious demand and both parties have dropped their special connection to the JVP.

In this scenario there is a strong tendency developing for a way out challenging the Sinhala hegemony of the government. Left currents from many directions are coming together to put together a common programme to struggle against not only Sinhala hegemony but also the pseudo opposition of the UNP. The need of the hour is to make democracy and freedom a reality.