The ongoing Indian elections have thrown up many examples which this country would do well to emulate in ensuring a level playing field at the hustings, what with major elections only a few months away. The Elections Commission of India has come down hard on any candidate who fails to play by the rules.
Some of the candidates playing the communal card have been taken to task and asked for explanations on pain of disqualification. Among them is Maneka Gandhi. Raids have already been carried out on the homes of candidates and campaign offices in search of money bags that may be used for vote buying.
A prominent Bangladeshi film star who was campaigning for a regional party in Bengal State has been asked to leave the country. In contrast, here in sunny Sri Lanka a red carpet welcome was accorded to Bollywood heartthrob Salman Khan by the then first son to campaign for the re-election of his father while local artistes staging a roadshow in support of the Common Candidate was roughed up by Government sponsored goons.
However, the most salutary feature in the Indian poll has been the ban imposed by the Elections Commission on the use of that country's Security Forces by the candidates for election purposes. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pulled up and explanations called for when he brought up the topic of the recent exploits of the Indian Forces on the Pakistani border in the aftermath of the Kashmir incident and also other comments identifying the Indian Armed Forces with the BJP, while on the campaign trail. The retired veterans of the Indian Army had also written to the Elections Commission to have a tight rein kept on candidates using the country's Armed Services to garner votes during the campaign.
This is as it should be. No one party can lay a proprietary claim on a country's Armed Forces who are bound to defend the country at times of peril irrespective of which political party is in power. This is exactly what the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had been doing right throughout the 30 year separatist war under different Governments. While Mahinda Rajapaksa presided over the final victory achieved, though admittedly a herculean feat, on no account can the former President claim a special lien on the Armed Forces, and, what is more, use them for political mileage.
But this is exactly what he and his acolytes and the band of pro-Rajapaksa Buddhist clergy have been doing for the past decade since the conclusion of the war. How the achievement of the Armed Forces was exploited to the hilt by Rajapaksa and his followers was evident, when, at the Provincial Council elections that immediately followed the conclusion of the war, pro-Government candidates erected “bunkers” as campaign offices in the rural areas in a clear attempt to ride the wave of the pro-nationalist hysteria that prevailed at the time.
The symphony continues to this day with the Armed Forces brought to the fore at every turn, whether warranted or otherwise, if the Joint Opposition’s current refrain of Ranaviruvo Paava Deema (“betrayal of the war heroes”) is anything to go by. What is more, while the retired officers of the Indian Army have taken exception to political party candidates using the Defence Forces to bolster their campaigns, here we have retired service personnel themselves, in the thick of the political campaign of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, addressing meetings and events such as Eliya and Viyath Maga to promote the latter's possible candidature for the Presidential race.
Chairman of the Elections Commission Mahinda Deshapriya, who now has substantial autonomy following the passage of the 19th Amendment, like his Indian counterpart, should not hesitate to implement a similar ‘campaign code’ banning comments that incite communal passions and the exploitation of the deeds of the country's Armed Forces for political gain. With around seven months left for nominations for the Presidential Election, the Chairman should already prepare the ground work in this connection and if need be the laws amended to facilitate the process. Those objecting to such laws will run the risk of exposing themselves as communalists and opportunists. This would also have the effect of restraining the Tamil parties in the North from using their own brand of communal politics during the election campaign.
Typically, the Rajapaksa camp is bound to exploit the Forces to the maximum at the Presidential poll which is being contested for high stakes. The parading of disabled soldiers will be a much preferred strategy, going by preceding events where they were brought onto the streets to whip up anger and resentment against the Government. With the 10th anniversary of the war victory falling next month and a Ranaviru Varshaya (Year of War Heroes) already declared, this, no doubt, is going to be grist to the mill of those waiting to milk the achievements of the Security Forces, hoping for a comeback. Perhaps, this is the only country where Armed Forces are being used in such a shameless manner by power hungry politicians.
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