Failure Of The NPC Would Spell Medium & Long-Term Disaster

By Vishwamithra1984 –September 28, 2016

“I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,
Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,
Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
Stuffed with the stuff that is course, and stuffed with the stuff that is fine, one of the nation, of many nations, the smallest the same and the largest” ~ Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

‘It has merely been a talk shop with resolutions and statements. Its notorious genocide resolution a month after regime change in Colombo last year, apparently passed to mobilize international actors, in effect polarized the country and undermined the new political space for reconciliation. The sad reality is that the NPC has lost its credibility with the local population’. So writes Ahilan Kadirgamar, a writer of no mean credentials and reputation. It’s time the Northern Provincial Council, its leaders and the Central Government in Sri Lanka took notice of what actually is taking shape in the Northern part of the land. Retired Supreme Court Justice seems to have missed his original brief and instead making instantaneous notes and the jury is waiting to hear the summation. The Central Government, on the hand seems to be oblivious of the embers that are burning under the red soil of the North, waiting for rare rains in as summer of an unpredictable landscape.

Time is a cruel customer. It will wait for no one. In a fast-paced society in which the changes that are occurring far outmatch those who pretend that they could control and master the events to come. Politicians, officials, henchmen and would-be jockeys on both sides of the ethnic spectrum are playing a dangerous game- a game that would end with no winners but only losers. The tremendous socio-political neutrality that the cessation of the thirty-year war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan security forces entailed is diminishing. The international players in this game, the Tamil Diaspora, are entangled in what might be just outside their realm of competence. Geopolitical socio-political strategies are subjects of crafty diplomats and clever politicians. Years-long experience, scholarly backgrounds, disciplined preparation and crystal-clear objectives are a reflection of a professional proficiency. Mere loyalty to a cause backed by money, reputation, power and unrelated credentials would not hold one in good stead in the sheltered alleys of international negotiations.

While not disregarding his extraordinary commitment to the cause of his Tamil brethren and unmatched credentials to be elected as Chief Minister of a troubled and traumatized province, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province and his cohorts, if there are any, must buckle down and start delivering goods instead of long ‘judgments’ as he was used to delivering from the Bench. The Supreme Court Justice Wigneswaranmust give way to the politician Wigneswaran and for that matter a rare variety of such creatures. The Tamils set an example in selecting their nominees and electing those nominees to office. Wigneswaran belong s to such select few, reminding one of those State Council and parliamentary days of a bygone era.

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