Harim Peiris

By Harim Peiris

(Published in the Daily News of June 19th 2017)

The BBS, Gotabaya and the rise of the politics of hate

June 14^th and 15^th marks the third anniversary of the ant- Muslim violence at Dhurga town, Aluthgama in 2014, which left four Muslim men dead, over eighty injured, some seriously and massive property damages, to Mosques, Muslim owned commercial establishments and Muslim private residences. The attacks, then were a culmination of a process of anti-Muslim propaganda, carried out by extremist organizations, which sought to instill fear and loathing of the Muslim community among the majority community. To counter the fact that they were unable to whip up generalized communal violence, goon squads, like the brown shirts of the Nazi’s carried out attacks with absolute impunity. The police were silent onlookers to this tragic drama. The political fallout of this situation was that the Rajapakse regime lost any vestiges of support, they had with the Muslim community and in the elections of 2015, the Muslims were the single most monolithic bloc supporting President Maithripala Sirisena and the Yahapalanaya rainbow coalition. Which is why even in the August 2015 general election, the UPFA / SLFP election campaign under Mahinda Rajapakse, failed to elect a single Muslim MP to Parliament and SLFP Muslim leaders, M.H.M Fowzi, Hizbulla from the East and Faizer Mustapher, had all got to be accommodated on the National List.

The BBS and Gotabaya

The organization most often named as responsible for whipping up communal disharmony and hate mongering against religious minorities, is the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS). Its spokesmen deny they engage in violence, though their vitriolic hate speech, which can be construed as instigating violence is in the public domain, easily accessible to the police and the Attorney General’s Department. The politics and tactics of the BBS are worth an analysis. The BBS contested the 2015 General Elections to Parliament and even in their bastion of the Kalutara district, only secured about five hundred votes in the entire district and fared even worse elsewhere. Clearly, they have no electoral appeal among the Sri Lankan public and overestimate their public appeal, at least electorally. It is to the credit of the Sri Lankan voter, that we generally reject extremes and strengthen the more moderate center.

After the most recent wave of anti-Muslim violence, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a contested political heir apparent of elder brother President Mahinda and an aspirant to the SLFP leadership was surprisingly quick to disassociate himself from the anti-Muslim violence. It was surprising because at the time of his denial, no one had accused him of any involvement. So, one wonders, why he chose to put the hat on. However, in refutation of the denial, Cabinet Minister S.B. Dissanayake was to state that “Gotabaya Rajapakse formed, bred and maintained the BBS”. What is known about the BBS, in the past, is certainly that they had overt state patronage under the Rajapakse Administration. From a foreign policy standpoint, the BBS had established links with the 969-anti-Muslim movement in Myanmar and when the BBS chose to have a high profile national convention during the Rajapakse years, they received the Sugathadasa indoor stadium for their hate festival and invited Ven. Wirathu, the demagogue of Myanmar as the Chief Guest. All this was done with full state patronage, including PSD security and other state courtesies. Such was the Rajapakse regime.

Reconciliation and the rise of anti-Muslim violence under Yahapalanaya

On the contrary, reconciliation has been a key aspect of the Yahapalanaya Government’s agenda. Dealing with the effects and causes of our violent and conflict ridden past while ensuring non-recurrence and a sustainable and durable peace has been repeatedly a stated objective of both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickramasinghe. None doubt their sincerity and it is further reinforced by the rather obvious political dimension, which is that the minorities, both ethnic and religious, look up to, depend on and are a key constituency of the Yahapalanaya Administration. Hence, it is in the Government’s own enlightened self-interest to not allow the rise of anti-minority political violence on its watch.

It is only the Joint Opposition (JO) and the Rajapakse comeback project which stands to gain from a new wave of anti-minority violence. Domestically, hate speech, conspiracy theories and fear mongering within the majority community could radicalize the majority driving them in greater numbers towards the Rajapakse JO and its agenda of social division and its barely concealed racism, for partisan political gain. It is only the JO which stands to politically gain from the BBS hate mongering.

Furthermore, in the event that minorities are attacked and harassed under the current Yahapalanaya administration, they will lose faith in and grow disillusioned of the current government leaders, resulting in a loss of minority political support for Yahapalanaya. Hardly, what one needs when provincial council elections are due later this year. Internationally Sri Lanka is closely watched, because of our past history of decades of conflict and our stated commitment to turn a new leaf and chart a new course. It is certainly not in Sri Lanka’s best interest internationally, when we seem either unwilling or unable to nip in the bud and nab the purveyors of hate and the perpetrators of anti-minority violence.

A critique of Sri Lanka’s criminal justice system, in the past, has been our failure to protect our minorities. Whether it has been the perpetrators of the Aluthgama violence, the Trinco five (school children) or the seventeen ACF workers, violence against minorities has not really found judicial redress. During the war years, society perhaps accepted this in the rationale of ancient Roman Senator Cicero, that in the “fight of good against evil, the laws are silent”. However, post war, Sri Lanka can and must reform and have a new social compact between her government and her people, that the rights of all citizens, irrespective of their race or religion would be protected and promoted.