Scots Have Voted! When Will Eelam Tamils Vote!!

By Rajasingham Jayadevan -September 29, 2014 

Rajasingham Jayadevan

The conduct and the outcome of the Scottish referendum for a separate state of Scotland has taught us many lessons. Beyond the outcome, peaceful campaign and management of the referendum are far reaching and is a lesson to be learnt by the pseudo democracies world over.

It is the will of the British parliament to accommodate a peaceful referendum for secession that must praised. The process was handled with mature sense throughout which is praiseworthy. There was no anti-Scot hate feelings let lose in the media or in the campaign. There was no police baton beating, not a bullet or tear gas being fired, there was no white vans or kidnaps or any form of physical violence. Instead all these were translated into responsible political debates and campaigns, paving the way for free and fair voting.

It was a very respectable campaign for a country that manages its affairs with an unwritten constitution. Respect for the views of the aggrieved, common-sense, mutual trust and to face the outcome with the broader shoulder were evident in the entire process of the referendum.

For the Scots, two issues were fundamental. Their Gaelic identity as a nation of people and their desire to govern themselves with their own fiscal strengths, as the heavily centralised financial control by the Westminster was an issue that were elementary to the campaign of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

The British media played a laudatory role to invoke mature debates on the Scottish separation. From the politicians and political pundits to ordinary civilians, all argued their views sensibly. When the first opinion poll gave a point lead to the ‘Yes’ vote, there was a sense of sadness amongst people in the South and it did not any way turn into highhanded anti-Scott/SNP tirades or animosities anywhere.

There was general fear that a ‘Yes’ vote will have serious consequences in political and economic sense for both the divide. The opinion poll in favour of the ‘Yes’ camp sent the initial shock wave through the financial market. If the ‘Yes’ vote had prevailed in the referendum, there would have been serious financial turmoil for the UK economy that could have led to unimaginable consequences.

Whilst I am writing this piece, one thought that overshadowed my thinking was why didn’t the tin-pot leaders of absurd democracies like Sri Lanka did not engage as spectators in the referendum process to understand the way a democracy should function on a very sensitive issue that involved parting of territorial sovereignty of a region.                                                                            Read More