A timely overture

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's appeal to all Lankan “asylum seekers” in Australia to return home with no questions asked would we welcomed by all those who lay great store in the country's honour and dignity. Sri Lanka earned a blackened image for itself as another country of Boat People in the same way as the Cambodians who fled their country to escape the Khmer Rouge in the late seventies. Though the Lankan exodus was nowhere near the same magnitude, it was nevertheless a slur that the country could have well done without.

True, a majority of those who fled were Tamils, in the aftermath of the ethnic war, fearing persecution at the hands of the state or majority reprisals. This was also the time of the dreaded White Van where Tamils were said to have been abducted for ransom with the full knowledge of a powerful defence official. There were also the “Economic Refugees” who fell victim to human smugglers and rounded up at the other end to be banished to Australia's off shore islands for a vetting process. These “asylum seekers” are still being held in these islands pending deportation.

Like the Premier said, these unfortunates, who braved the rough seas, risking their lives, some fleeing persecution while others seeking the pot of gold, had entered the Australia illegally and liable for punishment. But the Premier had chosen to overlook the offence and invited them back to the country with the promise to ‘forgive and forget'.

Not just in Australia, we have had ‘asylum seekers’ who were streaming out of the country in their thousands at the height of ethnic war who have now settled down in Western countries which were more accommodating than Australia. A good many of them were professionals and skilled workers, lost to the country. These are the people who today form what is known as the Tamil Diaspora. On an earlier occasion Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera wanted to invite the members of this diaspora, as a gathering, in Sri Lanka, a move that was viewed with a jaundiced eye by the nationalist elements of the Joint Opposition who forget that even former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in the first flush of the war victory, invited ALL Sri Lankans domiciled in the West to return to the country to help rebuild the nation.

President Sirisena too has time and again made overtures to the Lankan community living abroad to return and be partners of the development process. However a climate conducive for the return of these Lankans should be created if the country is to avail itself of their skills and expertise once again. The current spate of strikes and the resulting dislocation of public life is certainly not going to inspire these Lankans to return to their motherland. Nor will the chauvinistic slogans and nationalist rhetoric beckon these people to come back. If even they are to consider returning, the government should make it worth their while. This could be done by offering them attractive terms in the professions and the many fields that require the special skills of these folk.

One should also consider the fact that the older generation of the Tamil minorities fled the country due to a sense of discrimination they harboured after Sinhala Only became official government policy. Their progeny too may be of the same mindset. This is why we should at least now try to end this senseless rabid nationalism that is being practised by some which will not only put off those willing to take on the President's offer but also drive away others from the country.

To her credit, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga strove to undo her father's legacy while she was at the helm of affairs, going to the extent of even attempting to introduce a constitution which was all but Federal in name. Had such a spirit been nurtured following her departure from office the Tamil minorities living abroad would certainly have been encouraged to return to their roots.

GL’s selective amnesia

The General Secretary of the newly formed “pohottuwa” party Prof G.L. Peiris has lashed out at the government accusing it of trying to interfere in judicial appointments. His grouse is the undue appointment of a High Court judge bypassing those with seniority. Peiris has from time to time displayed this tendency of selective amnesia.

The former law professor was a powerful Minister in both the CBK and MR governments when the country's judiciary was plagued with scandalous appointments. Peiris was not concerned about seniority when Sarath Silva was elevated to the post of Chief Justice bypassing the more senior Mark Fernando. Neither did he give a tuppence for seniority, when he, on his personal initiative, brought his student, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, from nowhere to be planted as a Supreme Court Judge. Peiris also had no qualms when Mahinda Rajapaksa overlooked Appeal Court President the late Justice Sri Skandaraja for appointment to the Supreme Court, all because the latter gave a judgement in favour of the selfsame Shirani Bandanayake in the infamous impeachment matter. So much for seniority talk.