Democratic terrorism and devolution

The theatre of war has truly shifted from the jungles of the Wanni to the North Western Province. A new kind of democracy (or is it terrorism?), Democratic Terrorism is now raging in this province. Every politician who motors into this province each day is screaming for peace, democracy and non violence. And if we are to believe that the violence is being committed by hirelings of politicians then it has to be presumed that our politicians are preaching non violence on political platforms and practicing violence off stage. This is Democratic Terrorism, in full flower.

Some said that all this mayhem and murder was created in the diabolical minds of journalists-- of course not from the state media. An officer bearer of the UNP had to be killed to prove that this was not the dirty work of a section of the members of the Fourth Estate. Things are getting ‘ curiouser and curiouser’. UNPers are said to be discarding their green shirts, donning SLFP blue shirts and assaulting UNPers to blame it all on the SLFP. Undoubtedly UNPers will be saying that things are happening the other way around. But who then killed the UNPer? UNPers killed their own member to blame it all on the PA ? A CID investigation is on and maybe the truth will out. But when ?

Neither the combined force of the Buddhist and Catholic clergy appealing for peace, the undetermined number of policemen sent into the province nor those ivory tower academics now monitoring the hi- jinks of the local yokels of the Wayamba, have been able to quieten things down. The carnage will continue even after the results are announced.

A dispassionate observer may ask: What's all this for ? It's good to remind ourselves that this is being done to elect a provincial council-- a council to which the central government has devolved power for good and better governance of the people of the province rather than they be governed by the central government. Considering the bloody way in which the prospective councillors have got about in getting themselves elected, is there even the slightest possibility that they can work together as the representatives of the people for the benefit of the people?

Who asked for provincial councils ? Not the people of the Wayamba. These councils were conceived in super minds of some academics who still think that devolution is the ' kokatah thailaya' to communal strife and sold to former Indian premier, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. The story is well known but its summary needs to be stated. Mr. Gandhi did not want the Sri Lankan army to enter Jaffna which was held by terrorists and decided to bombard Sri Lanka with parrripu et al from Indian Air Force planes that made a reluctant Sri Lankan president Jayewardene agree to an Indo- Lanka Accord under which provincial councils were set up. The idea was to devolve power to the North and East but constitutional pundits thought otherwise and decided on such councils for all the provinces.

Politicians of all parties loved it. There would be eight or nine mini-parliaments with all the perks of MPs attached to it. If one couldn't be an MP he or she could be a PC or at least the brother, sister, son or daughter too had political offices to enjoy. There were political and bureaucratic offices galore-- chief ministers, provincial ministers, secretaries to them, private and official, police forces, courts, government departments. Naturally, devolution is the name of the game of all Sri Lankan politicians.

Do the people of the Wayamba want a provincial council? With the experience they are going through we doubt it very much. Its almost ten years since these councils were established and is provincial administration any better in any province today ?Proponents of devolution will say its not working because the proposals have not been implemented in their entirety. But if elections to these councils will result in the carnage and mayhem such as what is going on in the NWP, can such councils ever rise to the expectations of the people? Are we going to have repeat performances of the NWP election violence in every other province in the near future ?

This NWP election campaign should make our political leaders rethink the idea of devolution of power to all the provinces. Since the North and East have asked for devolution, certainly such powers should be devolved to those areas. But why have provincial councils which results in extreme polarisation in areas which have never asked for devolution ?