Daily News Editorial

Wimal eats humble pie

15 September 2016

Wimal Weerawansa may have expected a pat on his back when he called on the Most Venerable Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter to apprise the prelate of the perils faced by the nation from the proposed new Constitution. Instead what the garrulous MP from the Colombo District got was a rap on the knuckles. Weerawansa was seen on television literally pouring his heart out to the prelate on the prospects of the country being divided, if the new constitution drafted at the whims of the Tamil diaspora and NGOs sees the light of day.

He also spoke of a move by the drafters of the new Constitution to do away with the clause that protects Buddhism - a Constitution he said that was to be put together at the instance of Geneva to appease separatist elements.

Giving an attentive ear to the loquacious MP it was now the turn of the Most Ven. Mahanayake Thera to put things its proper perspective. The new Constitution, said the prelate, was still in the making and in any event it will be placed before the people at a referendum before passage. Hence it was not correct to instill fears in the minds of the people prematurely nor create anxiety among the populous about a threat to the country’s territorial integrity.

The Most Ven. Mahanayake observed that he did not think that both the President and the Prime Minister will under any circumstances allow the country’s territorial integrity to be compromised. Both of them had given this assurance to him. Even the Asgiriya prelate who is generally very sensitive on such matters did not respond to Weerawansa but said he will issue a statement after consulting with the Sanga Karaka Sabha.

Wimal Weerawansa made this pilgrimage to Kandy with the full knowledge that his colleagues in the JO, including Udaya Gammanpila, too were members of the Parliamentary Committee set up to draft the new Constitution. He cannot expect the Mahanayakes to be unaware of this fact. The new Constitution is still on the drawing boards with inputs coming in from across the board. The President and the Prime Minster has time and again said that nothing detrimental to the preeminent place enjoyed by Buddhism would included in the new Constitution nor clauses that threaten the country’s unity and territorial integrity. Besides, the Yahapalanaya government would not survive one day if it acts contrary to the wishes of the majority community by dethroning Buddhism or introducing measures to divide the country. This would be plain to even a child.

Hence it is clear that Wimal Weerawansa is flogging a dead horse and his only reason to keep the topic on the boil is to deflect from the numerous charges facing him before the Bribery Commission and other investigation arms (his brother too is now in custody in a misappropriation case). No doubt the proposed new constitution will be a well thought out document that would cater to the demands of the modern age. There are many features in the 1978 Constitution that are obsolete, particularly those which relate to human rights and the prevailing legal system. The JRJ Constitution came in for heavy flak due to certain obnoxious features in it that were passed using the steamroller majority by the late President. The proposed new constitution will now offer an ideal opportunity to redress the situation. 

Books on the war

Hot on the heels of another book written on the 30 year war by a retired Major General comes the news that former Army Commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka too is going to put pen to paper. Prior to this, there was the famous book “Gota’s War”, written by a pro Rajapaksa newspaper columnist cum author of a book on the second JVP insurgency, and launched at a five star hotel. That event was graced by all the Who’s Who of the Rajapaksa regime, which raised eyebrows as to who funded the project although the name of a Foundation named after a departed UNP strongman was mentioned. The title was also the cause of hilarity among the then UNP Opposition who contended that the main protagonist in the book was away from the country for the best part of the war. Last week we saw the launch of the book titled “Road to Nandikadal” by retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne who is said to have led the 53 division that killed Prabhakaran. This event too was graced by hardline Bikkhus, JO politicians, columnists and retired members of army, well known for their pro Rajapaksa leanings. Field Marshal Fonseka’s book which is due to come out somewhere next year too no doubt will be a political event more than a book launch. We have not read the latest book but the one before that was extremely biased towards the Rajapaksas, for obvious reasons and the second book, one presumes, will not be far behind. In the end what the public will have to contend with will be a distorted account of the war and the actors involved, with different writers giving different versions, coloured by their political prejudices.