{"id":106739,"date":"2013-09-22T00:13:26","date_gmt":"2013-09-21T18:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=106739"},"modified":"2013-09-25T02:49:08","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T21:19:08","slug":"think-globally-act-locally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/think-globally-act-locally\/","title":{"rendered":"Think Globally, Act Locally"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Emil van der Poorten<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Emil van der Poorten<\/p><\/div>\n

The slogan that is the title of this column is one that was very popular many years ago at the time of the first awakening of North Americans to the need for attention to the environment, global warming and acid rain.<\/p>\n

It comes to mind in a Sri Lankan context for two very different reasons, the first of which is the predilection of those supporting the most violent and corrupt government in Sri Lanka\u2019s history for trotting out the \u201cThey did it first!\u201d rebuttal every time some international or even local agency concerned with human rights points out (yet) another horrendous incident where, once again, the rule of law is treated as a dead letter rather than the cornerstone of democratic practice and civilized conduct which it is in any civilized, democratic country.\u00a0 It\u2019s yet another excuse for inaction.<\/p>\n

The fact that the western democracies have a bottomless well of hypocrisy into which our sycophantic horde dips its collective bucket for fresh supplies of material to throw at those critical of the regime they serve so assiduously should not, in any way, impede the need to continue to draw attention to the parlous condition of quasi-democracy in Sri Lanka<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

I will never tire of saying that just because Hitler<\/a><\/span> visited genocide on a minority group does not give us and ours the right to do so.\u00a0 Just because Mao and Stalin murdered millions of people in pursuit of some irrational scheme for economic modernization or because of paranoia or megalomania doesn\u2019t give us an excuse to overlook something similar in our circumstances.<\/p>\n

We need, as Sri Lankans to fall back on a (Buddhist<\/a><\/span>) culture that completely rejected violence in any form,<\/strong> leave alone the exercise of brutality as the prime tool of governance.\u00a0 What is being suggested here is not some form of simplistic Judaeo-Christian precept of \u201cpeace to all mankind, love thy neighbor\u201d and \u201cwe are one nation,\u201d but a rejection of violence in any and all of its forms, particularly in the matter of governance of this country\u2019s population.\u00a0 That calls for honesty in examination of of what has transpired, particularly in the history of this country since independence in 1948 and a public acceptance <\/strong>of the crimes and injustices that have been perpetrated, no matter by whom.\u00a0 South Africa\u2019s reconciliatory rather than retributive model is the obvious one to follow.\u00a0\u00a0 Until and unless we do this, we will not even begin any kind of national healing process, leave alone create a nation united as it goes forward to the economic success that is a sine qua non for its very survival.\u00a0 If we lose or further delay the opportunity of following that model, we are courting nothing less than disaster.<\/p>\n

The other fall-back I have kept hearing ever since my return to the land in which I was born is \u201cthey\u201d are soooo.. \u00a0powerful and we are so few in numbers that we can do nothing about their behaviour.\u00a0 Let me, for the umpteenth time, fall back on the timeless words of Margaret Mead which are more than appropriate in rebuttal:\u00a0 \u201cNever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

With the advent of means of communication as fast as the speed of light, it seems, the tools are available to a wide swathe of the community to get the word out that the pillaging of this country is simply not acceptable, must stop and, in the event that it does not, that the community at large will ensure that it does.\u00a0 Standing up against the banditry in our country is not the daunting task it was when I was first involving myself in political activism and (need I say it?) even up to 15 or 20 years ago when there were very few media outlets in Sri Lanka: remember that, when one spoke of \u201cmass media\u201d in Sri Lanka it used to mean government-controlled radio and daily print publications you could count on the fingers of your two hands and have a few digits left over?\u00a0 All of these were also completely controlled by those whose class-connections left no doubt as to what they wished printed (or not printed!)<\/p>\n

I have had the opportunity to be politically active on two continents over many years (sometimes more than I care to remember!) and I do know what it means to canvass support in villages in the hinterland of our country, served by little other than footpaths, and in single constituencies larger than all of our Resplendent Isle with populations smaller than the total Voters\u2019 List in a Municipal Ward in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Times have changed and the nature, extent and reach of media has grown exponentially, but the basic factors have remained the same.<\/p>\n

In circumstances where it is still \u201cone person, one vote,\u201d the bottom line is getting as many as possible to the polling station on election day or to mass public protests as share the beliefs I am talking about: basically that the rule of law should prevail and there is transparency in all the actions of government and the private sector.\u00a0 \u201cGood governance<\/a><\/span>\u201d cannot but follow on the heels of the establishment of those principles.<\/p>\n

In the matter of the practicalities of what we are talking about, you need to ensure that the beliefs just mentioned are shared.\u00a0 That should present no challenge because they are as basic as \u201ckavun and kiribath at New Year\u201d as one might say in this country.\u00a0 However, this is obviously a process that needs to precede the any actual campaign leading up to an election or organizing mass protests and needs to be approached on the practical basis of \u201capplying the resources available to the maximum effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the primary excuses for inaction advanced by the \u201cThey are soooo powerful\u201d brigade is the corollary claim that \u201cThey have control of the media and have the money and muscle to make all our efforts futile.\u201d\u00a0 Take a good hard look, my older friends in particular, wasn\u2019t this the \u201creality\u201d way back then as well?\u00a0 Lakehouse used to be the dominant newspaper group and Radio Ceylon the only game in town insofar as the ether was concerned.\u00a0 Both were dominated, if not absolutely controlled, by the United National Party, and espoused the philosophy and policies of that party in unmistakable terms.\u00a0\u00a0 Among the advantages that they held, the wealthy political parties (read again as \u201cthe UNP!\u201d) were the only ones with the ability to provide transportation to voters to the polls, in addition to the money to print and distribute paper publicity in a variety of forms.<\/p>\n

Yet Wijayananda Dahanayake, running, if I remember right, for the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in that first election, a doctrinaire Trotskyist party, with not so much as a bicycle, leave alone buses, at his disposal, asked his supporters not to hesitate to get to the polls in free transportation provided by his UNP opponent, H.W. Amarasuriya, and vote for \u201cDaha.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ve guessed right: W. Dahanayake beat one of the UNP\u2019s giants in the Southern Province.<\/p>\n

Among the others performing similar \u201cgiant-killing feats\u201d (in the Central Province) at that time of our history was T. B. Ilangaratne and his wife, Tamara, in Kandy.<\/p>\n

When Mrs. B seemingly bestrode the Sri Lankan political field like the proverbial colossus, not hesitating to use State resources to advance her party\u2019s cause, and Tamara Kumari Illangaratne had metamorphosed into the Amazon of the Galagedera electorate, a lowly small-village mudalali<\/em> called Tikiri Banda succeeded in defeating her by dint of hard work and determination on his part and that of his unpaid volunteers, in 1965.<\/p>\n

Times might have changed, the means of \u201cgetting the word out\u201d have doubtless been revolutionized, but as long as the will is there, political change can be affected.<\/p>\n

In all reality, the massive exercise of the current militarized Sri Lankan state\u2019s power has changed the old democratic equation significantly.\u00a0 But new challenges simply call for new responses.<\/p>\n

We have the means of \u201cgetting the word out\u201d even in a country where the media falls into one, two or all three categories not conducive to expression of opposition or dissent: it is directly owned by the government, it is completely controlled by government sycophants or paid lackeys, it self-censors to the point where its \u201cnews\u201d falls into one or more of the categories reading \u201cirrelevant,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cgarbled,\u201d or \u201cuntrue.\u201d<\/p>\n

We need to go over or around this travesty of \u201cfree media.\u201d\u00a0 We have the means to do it and we need to exercise those means.\u00a0 The massive, revolutionary capacity of communication methods outside what used to be the \u201cmainstream\u201d were more than amply demonstrated in the Maghreb, irrespective of whether the outcome was completely desirable or not.\u00a0 We can do the same in Sri Lanka which certainly has far deeper roots in democratic practice than Libya, Tunisia or Egypt EVER had.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, the present regime, through its minions in such places as Deraniyagala<\/a><\/span> and Rathupaswela<\/a><\/span> have provided ample evidence of what it is capable.\u00a0 But, nobody said you could make omelettes without breaking eggs and some of us could well end up being the \u201chen\u2019s fruit\u201d in this equation!\u00a0 Considering that the alternative is a living death under the dispensations of this regime, the status quo doesn\u2019t offer too many alternatives for the future, does it?<\/p>\n

We need to look outside our shores and outside our time for historical precedents to ensure that decency and democracy return to our land.\u00a0 The first stirrings of such a movement have begun from among those considered least likely to show resistance: the rural poor of the Sinhala heartland.\u00a0 It is our responsibility to build on this and return Sri Lanka to what its democratic foundation promised not so long ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":93580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThink Globally, Act Locally - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/think-globally-act-locally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Think Globally, Act Locally - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/think-globally-act-locally\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-21T18:43:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-24T21:19:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Emil.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"356\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"433\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/think-globally-act-locally\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/think-globally-act-locally\/\",\"name\":\"Think Globally, Act Locally - 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