The Island Editorial

Sinners stoning one another

30 September 2016

 

Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran has apparently got setting the cat among the pigeons down to a fine art. This time around, he has drawn heavy flak for some incendiary remarks he made at a recent agitation campaign in the North.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which is at loggerheads with Wigneswaran and his allies, has dissociated itself from the protest. But, the question is whether the TNA does not subscribe to Wigneswaran’s main demand—a federal set-up in a re-merged North-Eastern Province.

Big guns of the Joint Opposition (JO) also lost no time in tearing into Wigneswaran for his espousal of extremism and what they call anti-Sinhala rhetoric. There is no way anyone can justify his deplorable utterances reeking of racism and it is only natural that he has drawn so much of flak. However, where were those who are now bashing him when southern extremists unleashed ethnic violence in Aluthgama in 2014? If only they had condemned and taken action against the sick elements responsible for that incident, which was one of the reasons why the Rajapaksa government came crashing down a few months later!

Some UNP heavyweights have also taken on Wigneswaran. They have seen red because their reconciliation project has suffered a heavy blow from his campaign. Interestingly, as one may recall, these UNPers once grovelled before Prabhakaran and granted all his wishes, having shamelessly recognised him as the sole representative of Tamils. They did not utter a word in protest against his mindless terrorism which snuffed out thousands of lives and turned the entire country into a hellhole. It was also on their watch that the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom was carried out. Never have they tendered an apology for that carnage which they did precious little to stop. Now, flaying the Northern Province Chief Minister for advocating separatism they are promising to bring about racial amity through reconciliation! The JVP, which plunged the country into two bloodbaths in the name of a macabre cause, is also fulminating against Wigneswaran for his recent statements.

Here, one sees sinners stoning one another!

It is hoped that the critics of Wigneswaran will not lose sight of the bigger picture. The LTTE is active in many parts of the world in spite of its defeat here seven years ago. Its fronts are operating openly in the developed world having as they do key politicians and opinion makers in their pocket. Tamil Nadu is a hotbed of LTTE activity.

The real problem is not Wigneswaran, who is only a ventriloquist’s dummy. Maneka Gandhi, in her column in this newspaper, recently wrote about some parasites which turn their hosts into malleable Zombies willing to do as they say. Extremists are capable of doing that to mainstream politicians. Several Tamil politicians once acted just like Wigneswaran. Time was when TNA leader R. Sampanthan functioned as Prabhakaran’s de facto spokesman.

Wignewaran is only part of the problem which is a collective of separatist outfits bent on achieving their Eelam dream. This secessionist movement is far more powerful than individual politicians or even political parties. That’s why it has survived even the decapitation of the LTTE. Unless Wigneswaran does as he is told, he will lose his position to someone else. This is what the government ought to take cognizance of without barking up the wrong tree, if it is to ensure that national security won’t be jeopardised.

President Maithripala Sirisena, in his recent address to the UN General Assembly, declared that his government would never allow the county to be plunged into another war. How does the government propose to tackle a possible situation where the genie Wigneswaran et al are trying to release gets out of the bottle? It will have to remain eternally vigilant and refrain from lowering its guard and demoralising the armed forces for political reasons. Mere rhetoric and bashing Wigneswaran won’t do!