The hunger strike carried out by Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera in front of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic concluded a few days back. It is an undeniable fact that this act added more complexity to our already complicated political arena following the deadly attack on Easter Sunday. Those who took it for granted at the beginning seem to be shattered now, with the unexpected impact it created. Given the circumstances, I thought I would pen down a few of my observations on the incident and on the common resignation of all Muslim MPs following it.
First of all, it’s a commonly known fact that Ven. Rathana Thera has always been sensitive to the political developments of the country, and the Thera has now shifted the interest of his political project accordingly with the demands of the time.
Starting with student union politics in 1989, Ven. Rathana Thera had to face numerous hardships owing to the implications of being a member of that political front.
Following that, around 1991, the Thera worked with a new student political movement called “Janatha Mithuro” through which he got involved in the politics of “Hela Urumaya” during the elections of 2004. Rathana Thera has represented Parliament for three consecutive terms since 2004, and the noteworthy fact is that all three times, he has represented three different political projects with different intentions. Rathana Thera represented “Jathika Hela Urumaya” in 2004 and the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in 2010. At the 2015 general elections, Rathana Thera was selected to represent the National List of the United National Front (UNF). Despite his track record, the important fact we should take into consideration when arriving at a judgment on Rathana Thera’s political practice is that he has always come forward at all politically critical junctures of this country.
During the 2015 presidential election, Ven. Rathana Thera presented a strategic development plan titled “Pivithuru Hetak” (an unblemished tomorrow) which later developed the platform for the critical sociopolitical movement “Sadarana Samajayak” (a just society).
As per my understanding, at the time this programme was presented, Rathana Thera only had a somewhat distorted picture of the country’s future. When it was first presented, no political power base was behind him; yet later, certain forces who were waiting for an opportunity to grab the power project forcefully took over the ownership of the programme. In fact, it is a lesson that we all should learn from history.
Within a context where the 2015 Yahapalana project has pushed this country into the ground and citizens are forced to face not only economic failure but terrorism as well, Rathana Thera has returned to the political stage, playing a different role.
However, the latest situation has earned immense attention from the common masses of the country; so, Rathana Thera’s role cannot be simply diminished, considering him just another political stooge. More strategic reading of the scenario is required not only to manage the situation but also to understand it. The Yahapalana Government is trying to undermine Rathana Thera’s engagement in the current political dynamics without making a strategic reading in understanding either the underlying cause or the possible outcomes of his actions. Their reaction is somewhat similar to the reaction of the Government back in 2015 towards the changing dynamics of the political landscape.
However, as representatives of the opposition faction, we should focus on the way in which we must understand this situation. An emotional engagement with this course of action or an emotional rejection of the same will only result in political blunder. As the opposition faction, it is essential that we move into a political practice where these types of events could be handled in a more pragmatic manner. Failing to do so would definitely result in strengthening the Government in an indirect manner, as it happened in a few instances during the past four years.
In my opinion, space in our political domain for Rathana Thera’s current engagement has been created due to one main reason.The irresponsible or the unreliable manner in which the main political factions responded to the Islamic extremism which erupted with the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks created tension within the majority Sinhalese community.
After becoming victims of the terrorism which is a direct product of Islamic extremism, the Sinhalese community developed a zero-tolerance level for Islamic extremism; but unfortunately, mainstream political actors, especially the Government, failed in assuring them that firm actions will be taken to counter Islamic extremist forces.
As a result, the majority community (Sinhalese) seems to have arrived at the conclusion that all political actors in the mainstream are trying to protect the Muslim fundamentalists while pretending they are taking efforts to curb Islamic terrorism.
Protecting fundamentalism?
An important fact we must consider in this context is that the Sinhalese community in general believe that Islamic religious extremism is being nourished by Muslim fundamentalism. Thus, when mainstream political actors failed to react in a reliable manner against both the above factors, naturally, the Sinhalese community started to doubt their actions.
Their distrust and distress are demonstrated in various retaliations against the politicians of both factions, including displaying banners reading politicians are not allowed to come back to their respective electorates unless they vote in favour of the No-confidence Motion against Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.
The same mistrust and distress has created a wide acceptance of Rathana Thera’s current intervention within the majority Sinhalese community.
At this juncture, the insensitivity of mainstream politicians in addressing the concerns of the Sinhalese community has brought the situation to a point where the Sinhalese are willing to take a decision in favour of the country while sidelining their political affiliations.
It was an accepted fact since 1994 that the UNP was a party which undermined the Sinhala-Buddhist identity. Minister Mangala Samaraweera’s recent statements against Sinhala-Buddhists once again confirmed that; it seems that they are an open demonstration of hidden thoughts of most UNP politicians as none of the party members have denied those statements so far.
The main lesson the opposition faction must learn in this whole series of events is that the Sinhalese community expects them to take a firm stand against both Muslim fundamentalism and Islamic extremism without taking middle ground, thinking of the possibility of gaining Muslim votes in the upcoming election.
All Muslim MPs resigning as a response to Rathana Thera’s demand for Minister Bathiudeen to step down from his ministerial portfolio is a solid example displaying how powerfully fundamentalism operates in safeguarding extremism.
For example, Minister Kabir Hashim is the UNP Chairman, and most probably, his voter base in Kegalle could have comprised a majority of Sinhalese UNP voters. Nevertheless, his joining the rest of the Muslim MPs is a clear demonstration of the fact that he only represents his ethnicity/community and Islamism, irrespective of who has elected him as a representative to Parliament. The Sinhalese community, however, strongly believe that this display of fundamentalist politics is a wrong practice. They have now arrived at a point where their preference is for politicians who will not bend their heads to any form of fundamentalism in exchange of political benefits.
Last but not least, the role the opposition faction must play in seeking a solution for this catastrophe must be rooted on firm ground where we can address both factors – completely eradicating Islamic fundamentalism and preventing the possibility of the Sinhalese community getting pushed towards fundamentalism.
The main challenge we have to face in the upcoming presidential election is finding the correct political strategy to address the above.
(Dr. Charitha Herath is a senior lecturer at the Peradeniya University. He can be contacted via Twitter on @charith9)
No comments:
Post a Comment