14 Responses to “Is Wigneswaram fit to be Chief Minister of Tamils?”

1. Lorenzo Says:
   July 18th, 2013 at 2:03 pm

   The MOST disgusting wins the MOST Tamils votes, ALWAYS.

2. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:
   July 18th, 2013 at 2:50 pm

   OH ! SO this was a second class Tamil with a WIG ? Neswaram ! Neswaram!.

3. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
   July 18th, 2013 at 7:18 pm

   C.V.Vigneswaran was educated at Royal College and his son is married to the daughter of Vasudeva Nanayakkara

   When the LTTE is on its last legs, C.V.Vigneswaran defended of its separatist ideology, by claiming that the LTTE is the offspring created by successive mono ethnic parliamentary majorities

   C.V.Vigneswaran also claimed that “It is not devolution or sharing of powers” that the Tamils seek. “They seek the restoration of their rights. Rights which were snatched from them by virtue of a mathematical innovation where the majority in two provinces were added to the majority in seven provinces and thus made into a minority in the nine provinces” . What he meant by this is that he regrets these provinces being considered part of the country as a whole implying that they had a continuous separate political existence before the coming of the colonials. The fact is that the small Jaffna Kingdom was limited to the Jaffna and Mannar peninsulas and the Portuguese pointed out it was broadly subordinate to the Sinhalese kingdom.

   C.V.Vigneswaran also accepted as truth the fictional Tamil traditional homelands in the following words “right throughout history, the Dravidians had occupied the present Northern and Eastern Provinces and even more lands surrounding them. This cannot be disputed. The Buddhist remains in the North are the remnants left by the Demala Bauddhayo not anybody else”.

   C.V.Vigneswaran also defended the LTTE stating “There are no terrorists who are born into this world. They are made”. For C.V.Vigneswaran, it was state terrorism that created the LTTE. This ignores the fact that resort to terrorism was a conscious act. As for his supporting and defending the Constitution, he is against the 1972 Constitution and consequently the entire edifice based on it including subsequent amendments.

   C.V.Vigneswaran’s complaint of “a mathematical innovation”, the rule by the majority is a return to the absurd antidemocratic G.G.Ponnampalam’s demands of the 50-50 kind, namely that the majority Sinhalese be given the same number of parliamentarians as the much smaller minority of Tamils. The Soulbury Commissioners considered this an “attempt by artificial means to convert a majority into a minority” and added that this is “not only inequitable, but doomed to failure”. .

   C.V.Vigneswaran has internalized much of the Dravidian racist baggage invented through the DMK and its ideological allies. C.V.Vigneswaran implicitly believes in the Dravidian-Aryan racist dichotomy of the 19th and 20th centuries rejected today by most scholars. C.V.Vigneswaran also accepts and eulogizes the mythical Lemuria Continent – again rejected by scholars. His version is based on references in Tamil literature to a sunken continent. This is like today’s Sinhalese believing in the Uturu Kuru Dvipa as a real continent because it is referred in Buddhist literature.

   C.V.Vigneswaran never mentioned anywhere about LTTE horrors including its ethnic cleansing, attacks on Buddhist sites, attacks on democratic Tamils and child recruitment. Justice is depicted as blindfolded and having a balance. C.V.Vigneswaran may be blindfolded but never had a balance.

4. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:
   July 19th, 2013 at 4:39 am

   Greatly appreciate your input, Nalliah. But where are those Demala Buddhists Now ? Where have they left to ? Also why did they leave ?

5. Indrajith Says:
   July 19th, 2013 at 5:02 am

   Once again an excellent article in response to Dr. Dayan De Silva (Jayatilake)s letter in the Island a few days ago tittled “Wigneswaran factor”. All of Dayan’s justifications for Judge Wignaeswaran to be the CM in the NP become
   null and void by these counter arguments.

6. Fran Diaz Says:
   July 19th, 2013 at 5:40 am

   It’s “lemming time” again for Northern Tamils – over the cliff and against the law of the land, thanks to inept and visionless Tamil politicos.

7. Fran Diaz Says:
   July 19th, 2013 at 5:56 am

   We like to thank HLD for his relentless efforts to bring out the truth of matters, no matter what the topic is.

   ——————–

   Among other factors, the INDIAN ELECTIONS ARE DUE NEXT YEAR – placating of the Tamil masses in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka & the Tamil global diaspora, has begun yet again with the Tamil Separatist call ! Do we Sri Lankans want to go through this exercise year after year whenever some Indian or western ‘need’ is placed on our laps ? Is placating Tamil Nadu masses the duty of Sri Lanka citizens ? No. Our Sri Lankan duty is to take care of the citizens of Lanka first.

   Remove the 13-A once and for all as that is what gives hopes of Tamil Separatism. ACTIVATE the 6th Amendment to the full and confiscate all property plus a prison term for those advocating Separatism in Lanka.

8. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:
   July 19th, 2013 at 6:54 am

   MOST POLITICIANS WERE TALKING THE TALK. SUDDENLY THEY HAVE BECOME PANUWAS, WRIGGLING IN INDIAN NIGHT SOIL.

   PSC, 2/3rd Majority, absolutely no clout. Politicians who said they will resign, where are they ? Are they in the morgue, awaiting an autopsy on their brain ?

   I said it earlier most emphatically, I say it now:- REFERENDUM, THE ONLY ANTIDOTE TO 13TH AMENDMENT.

9. Ananda-USA Says:
   July 19th, 2013 at 12:20 pm

   I have submitted the following as a stand-alone Article to be published at LankaWeb. I am presenting it here as a comment because the issue is important and needs to be urgently addressed.

   …………………….
   STOP the PC Elections NOW: Census 2012 Data Shows Massive ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION of Indian Tamils into Sri Lanka during LTTE control of the North & East in the last 30 years!

   By Ananda-USA
   July 18, 2013

   The 2012 Census indicates NO REDUCTION in the Tamil Population of Sri Lanka, after allowing for the net natural population increase due to greater births than deaths.

   If 1.5 million Sri Lankan Tamils EMIGRATED, legally and illegally, to foreign countries, over the last 30 years, and hold Sri Lankan passports, why is the EXPECTED REDUCTION in Sri Lankan Tamil population not reflected in the 2012 Census figures?

   The only explanation is that during the Eelam War years about 1.6 MILLION Indian Tamils illegally entered Sri Lanka with the connivance of the LTTE and Tamil Nadu.

   Were the 300,000 Tamils herded by the LTTE as a “human shield” actually some of the ILLEGAL Indian Tamil Immigrants brought into Sri Lanka who would be DEPORTED back to India if the SECRET of their ILLEGAL Immigration status was revealed? Were they WILLING participants in the human shield for that reason?

   The article below by IRIN bemoans the difficulties faced by “war returnees” due to the lack of National ID cards, The reason why they don’t have Sri Lankan National ID cards may be because many of them are ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS who were never citizens of Sri Lanka, and NEVER HAD Sri Lankan National ID cards issued to them.

   This should be INVESTIGATED IMMEDIATELY by the Government of Sri Lanka to IDENTIFY and DEPORT these 1.6 Million ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS from Sri Lanka, as soon as possible!

   Now it becomes clear why the TNA, the Tamil Nadu Politicians, and the Government of India are in SUCH A HURRY to hold Provincial Councils Elections and install the TNA in the Provincial Government, and Devolve Police and Land powers to them.

   If the TNA is endowed with Police & Land Powers, they can easily FALSIFY REGISTRATION RECORDS, issue documents certifying Sri Lankan citizenship to these ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, and COVER UP the MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION that has taken place!

   If this MASSIVE Immigration SCAM is allowed to take effect, the DEMOGRAPHICS of Sri Lanka would change INSTANTLY to favor the Tamil Community, with the induction of 1.6 MILLION new citizens!

   Until this ISSUE IS RESOLVED, NO PC ELECTIONS should be held, and NO POWER should be DEVOLVED to these CROOKS! There is NO ISSUE OF GREATER IMPORTANCE to Sri Lanka’s National Security than the protection of the legal status of native Sri Lankans by keeping illegal immigrants out of Sri Lanka.

   STOP THE PC ELECTIONS … NOW!

   ……………
   No ID, no security, the dilemma of Sri Lanka’s returnees

   ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

   July 17 (IRIN) COLOMBO- Close to 100,000 returnees in Sri Lanka’s north lack national identity cards (NICs), more than four years after the end of the country.s decades-long civil war.

   “Many people cannot resume their lives as NICs are the passport to accessing multiple services and were made mandatory for voting in 2006,” Suresh Premachandran, a member of parliament (MP) with the Tamil National Alliance, one of the largest national parties representing minority Tamils from the north, told IRIN.

   According to the United Nations, more than 460,000 displaced persons have returned to Northern Province – which is home to more than 1 million inhabitants – since government forces declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.

   In Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts alone, an estimated quarter of the districts’ 200,000-plus inhabitants are without national IDs.

   Without such documentation, many residents struggle to access public services such as health and education, and well as government assistance programmes.

   They also face the risk of questioning and delays by police and security officials.

   Not a priority

   Under the law, NICs are compulsory for all Sri Lankans 16 years or older, and authorities may detain suspicious individuals who fail to show any form of legal identification – a legacy of the war.

   “Without an NIC, you are always at risk,” said Shereen Xavier, a north-based lawyer and executive director of the Home for Human Rights (HHR). “Without it, the impediments can be many.”

   Even to enter many government buildings, one must produce an NIC, people complain.

   But moving ahead on this issue is proving a challenge.

   Despite the identity cards’ importance, the government has yet to prioritize the issue, with much of its effort focused instead on large-scale infrastructure and development projects in the north.

   Many returnees do not have the required documentation to apply for an NIC, and with no local offices for issuing NICs, applications can take several months to process.

   “The processing of papers can prove time-consuming,” Shanthi Sachithanandan, chairperson of Viluthu, an organization promoting good governance in the north, explained.

   Temporary IDs

   After the war, the government was keen to have its voter lists updated.

   When these lists were updated ahead of presidential and local polls in 2010 and 2012, temporary IDs were issued to over 40,000 people to allow them to vote, a process that continues today.

   At that time, around 90,000 people from the north failed to indicate their NIC number, Deputy Elections Commissioner M.M. Mohammad confirmed.

   “Temporary IDs were issued to many, especially to facilitate their participation in the presidential and local government elections that were held,” he said.

   But many returnees say such IDs are looked down upon. Those holding temporary ID have difficulty accessing government services and are sometimes treated with suspicion by officials, they say.

   Now, with the first provincial council election in Sri Lanka’s former war zone scheduled for September, returnees and politicians alike are again urging the government to improve the issuing of NICs.

   “The government has started issuing temporary IDs, which is a time-consuming process. People have to contact the local government officials and process papers, which is not easy for returnees,” MP Premachandran said.

   But according to the department responsible for issuing NICs, given the amount of time and documentation it takes to process such applications outside Colombo – and specifically in the former war zone – temporary IDs may still be the best option available at this point.

   “This is the best solution to the present problem,” maintained M.S. Sarath Kumara, commissioner general of the registration of persons, noting that temporary IDs issued to facilitate voting could also prove useful to people without any other form of identification.

   “A temporary ID is a practical idea, and it can be revalidated through reapplication,” agreed Rohana Hettiarachchi, executive director of People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections, an election monitoring body that has been helping eligible voters to obtain national identity cards through a mobile clinic effort.

   But for those returnees without an NIC, still struggling to establish some semblance of normalcy in their lives after years of conflict and displacement, the idea of anything temporary offers little solace.

   “A temporary ID is useful for those who wish to cast their vote at the forthcoming northern provincial election. [However,] for us former IDPs [internally displaced persons], returning home after being displaced for a decade, there are much bigger issues than getting involved in a political battle,” explained Muttuvel Kadirmani, a 46-year-old father of three from Mullaitivu. He urged the government to issue NICs instead of temporary forms of identification.

   “It will be useful in every aspect of life and provide us with a sense of security,” he said.

   Read More:: IRIN (Source)

10. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
    July 19th, 2013 at 2:11 pm

    Dear Susantha!
    You have ask C.V.Vigneswaran !

    Full Text of speech made by Justice C.V.Vigneswaran, Retired Supreme Court Judge-at the Book Release: “Senator Tiruchelvam’s Legacy”-a Vijitha Yapa Publication on February 01, 2008 at the New Kathiresan Hall in Colombo, is as follows

    Madam Chairman, my dear brothers and sisters!

    Closing in on the psalmist’s three scores and ten years, age wise many of us are legacies from the past. As a student and then even as a young legal practitioner at the time Senator Tiruchelvam was a Minister, I remember myself firmly believing that the future of this Country was going to be all rosy and happy. The tomorrow was going to be better than the today of those yesteryears, I thought. But alas! It had got worse and worse so much so, from a political perspective those few years of Dudley Senanayake’s stewardship as Prime Minister appears as an oasis in the midst of a long stretch of barren desert soil.

    The release of “Senator Tiruchelvam’s Legacy” is timely. It reflects the staid sobriety of a by-gone age during our own mundane human existence, quite out of step with the belligerent,blithering,bullying,barbaric and boorish outfit of today boastfully though beguilingly referring to itself as benignant and beneficient,benevolent and even blessed. Those of us bred in the Western public school traditions yet having also imbibed the perennial virtues of our Eastern values find it difficult to classify the negative norms and superficial standards of the present era into anything worthwhile Eastern or Western, traditional or modern, national or international. A hybrid new culture alien to Western and traditional Eastern culture though possibly borrowed from the seedier sides of those two cultures, seems to be taking root in this country. Naked selfishness, rank self interest and the spirit of self aggrandizement, conceit and egotistic imperatives seem to motivate today’s possessors of power and authority. Holding on to the reins of government at any cost has become the principal dogma and doctrine to be pursued. Destroying one’s opponents using any means or modes has become a cult. Dead men do not talk has become the principal motto of their outlook.

    Just forty years ago it was not so. Democracy had a meaning. You could discuss your differences without despising your opponent. Today even the heads of organs of State carry venom and vituperation in their veins however much they camouflage their nakedness with high sounding patriotic and religious epithetic garbs.

    It is amazing to see the change of values, norms and standards since forty years ago. May be we who were born during British times and bred after Independence are considered today as anachronisms to be tolerated since we will be no more in a few years’ time.

    I like to show the difference in perspectives between the time of Senator Tiruchelvam and the present era. If you take today’s Parliament none seem to be interested in what is taking place there except to the extent as to what benefits, attendance in Parliament, could bring upon them. Arguments in Parliament in comparison to the earlier period are puerile and often borders on personal vituperation.

    The by gone era of Senator Tiruchelvam discussed in a dignified way the most distressing political problem that beset them at that time. No white vans took valued relatives of Parliamentarians as hostages to manipulate voting pattern in Parliament. Crossing the floor for Ministerial benefits was minimal.

    I like to quote late Mr.J.R.Jayewardene,who later became the first Executive President of this country, when he paid tribute to Senator Tiruchelvam on his demise.JRJ was a contemporary of Mr.Tiruchelvam at the Ceylon Law College and a colleague of his in Dudley Senanayake’s cabinet. Having said that Mr.Tiruchelvam was a Minister of great acceptance, he continued thus-(I quote) “He never obtruded in our discussions .When he intervened it was acceptable and civilized”.(unquote) This civility is missing today amidst our Parliamentarians. Each appears to be a bull in his own China Shop.

    I sometimes wonder whether we could ever visit the earlier intellectually stimulating period of Parliamentary debates, our Parliamentarians in recent times having tainted themselves with brutal prejudices and boorish pretensions.

    Dr.Colvin R. de Silva had this to say about Senator Tiruchelvam.(I quote) ‘He had of course even in political discussion, a certain tenacity in respect of decisions to which he had already come in that field and which decisions he was seeking to pursue. But he did even that in an extremely agreeable and pleasant manner so that one could after a discussion that might have turned heated, terminate the discussion as good friends who had had a discussion on a matter of utmost difficulty” (unquote).

    Such a quality was of utmost necessity in the field of Parliamentary activity where members had to face each other daily. However agitated the generation of Tiruchelvam and Dr.Colvin R.de Silva were,they hardly ever transgressed acceptable behavioural patterns of dignified Parliamentarians. One wonders whether in today’s Parliament the atrocious behavioural practices are staged for the consumption of their TV watching constituencies. After their unacceptable boorish behaviour we find Parliamentarians showing a rare camaraderie outside the Chamber. May be birds of the same feather but of different political hues are cahoots in deals which give them each personal benefits. The show in Chambers may be a cover for their nefarious activities.

    Another quality of Senator Tiruchelvam portrayed in the publication under review today was his conviction that this country belongs to all its citizens. He was individualistic when wanting to uphold the rights and privileges of a particular ethnic group among the denizens of this Island of ours. But he was at the same time nationalistic and viewed the country’s citizenry as one composite whole and therefore willing to co-operate and inter- act at the public and national level. In fact he was resolutely in favour of a united and plural Sri Lanka and therefore opposed the 1976 Vaddukottai Resolution that demanded a separate State of Thamileelam and advised Mr.Chelvanayagam against it. Obviously he still had faith in the humaneness of those politicians among the Sinhalese who drove the Tamils to pass that Resolution as a last resort much against their innate wishes.

    There is an unfortunate tendency today among many of our Sinhala Buddhist brethren to view and consider those who speak up for the rights of the Tamil speaking people as traitors and terrorists. What is amazing in this perspective is that many of them believe in such trash. When I made my acceptance speech, on being elevated to the Supreme Court in the year 2001, in all three languages including Sinhala, referring candidly to the problems of the Tamils of Sri Lanka there were many of my colleagues who were otherwise well disposed towards me who were shocked and looked upon me like a visitor from an alien planet. It took some time for them to realize it was the same old Wigneswaran because I showed no difference in my day to day behavioural pattern. If my right to express my views about the community to which I belong to, is considered traitorous and terroristic, I used to wonder how justice could be expected from some of these colleagues in cases in which minorities were before Courts. Did it not mean that these gentlemen had fallen prey to prejudices and predilections? They simply could not take the trouble to understand what I said and if necessary vehemently argue with me rather than being at once prejudiced.

    Mr.Tiruchelvam refers to a similar incident with regret in his maiden speech in the Senate on the 30th of April,1965.Speaking about the introduction of the Language of the Courts’ Bill in Parliament he said unfortunately Mrs.Bandaranaike was out of the Island on that date and it fell upon the then Minister of Justice to introduce the document.Mr.Tiruchelvam then went on to say as follows-(I quote from the publication under review)-”I regret to say this but I have to say it for the purpose of record-Although he was the Minister in charge of the subject ,that is the official language,(he) had not read the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact. He did not know the principles enunciated by Mr. Bandaranaike on this matter. Indeed, even at a later stage during the Satyagraha movement, when we had negotiations for the purpose of settling matters, to my utter consternation and horror I found that he had not read the Bandaranaike Chelvanayagam Pact. I thought to myself that the destinies of this country, the destinies of hundreds of thousands, nay, of millions of people are entrusted to people of this type who did not have even the elementary responsibility of familiarizing themselves with that important document or at least one section of it “.(unquote).

    May be the then Minister of Justice was an exception at that time. But today his types are the order of the day. Prejudices, predilections, apathy and indifference affect most of our politicians today. A craving for power and money drives them. Make hay while the Sun shines they seem to be saying. What happens tomorrow is not our business they seem to be thinking.

    How stupid would it be to think that militarily overcoming the LTTE or killing its head would solve the ethnic problem of Sri Lanka.The LTTE is the offspring of the ethnic problem itself created by the successive mono ethnic parliamentary majority in Sri Lanka. It was State terrorism on their part which created the Liberation Tigers. The ethnic problem concerns the denizens of the Northern and Eastern Provinces who had lived in their areas for centuries from pre historic times. True there were influxes of Tamils at various stages of our history. But the fact that right throughout history the Dravidians had occupied the present Northern and Eastern Provinces and even more lands surrounding them cannot be disputed. The Buddhist remains in the North are the remnants left by the Demala Bauddhayo not any body else. Buddhism flourished in South India too at that period of history. Even though students join a College like say Royal College from Royal Primary or after passing the Scholarship exam or at the level of GCE Ordinary Level or even at some other class they are all called Royalists. You don’t call them by any other name. Similarly whatever may have been the period at which Tamils may have arrived in Sri Lanka we cannot dispute the fact that always the Northern and Eastern Provinces were occupied by Tamil speaking people including the Muslims.Whether the East came under the suzerainty of the Kandyan King was irrelevant.If it is relevant then the fact that the Tamil King Elara wielded power over the entire Island would also become relevant.I hope you understand the connection.

    From the time of Independence large majority of the people of these two provinces have shown their preference for a live and let live policy by supporting parties which declared a federal form of government as the best for this Island. When federalism was jettisoned by the so-called National Parties then only the Vaddukoddai Resolution was passed in 1976 despite opposition by Tamils like Mr.Tiruchelvam . From that time emerged the military arm of the Tamils however imperfect or perfect they may be. By destroying the military arm you don’t destroy the aspirations of the people who had been deprived of their legitimate rights. And you are dealing with Tamils whose literature and culture are as old as or older than the oldest civilization in this world. Once the civilization of the Lemurian Continent comes to light much of the information about the antiquity of the Tamils now shrouded in mystery would be brought to light. I say this only to point out that you cannot trifle with people who are heirs to civilization and culture of such antiquity. Let us not forget despite China annexing by force the land of the Tibetans their problem is still kept alive by Dalai Lama and others .Killing Pararajasingham,Raviraj or Maheswran or any other Tamil Politician or political agitator or even Prabakaran will not silence the Tamil people whose whole existence as an ethnic and linguistic unit from ancient times is being jeopardized by successive insensitive Central Governments.

    There are no terrorists who are born into this world. They are made. Mostly by persons in power and authority ,the mighty and the powerful, due to their selfishness and insensitiveness which give rise to resistance and reaction. Such mighty conveniently call those unable to accept their dictatorial dictates by names. Earlier they were called Communists, then Fundamentalists and now Terrorists. It is the terror tactics of those in power and authority which creates such antagonistic opposition and hostility. Those in authority who lack humanism or who have personal and selfish agendas of their own take cover behind such loaded terms such as Terrorism and Terrorists. The period of Tiruchelvam fortunately was devoid of such persons though not too later the 1971 JVP insurrection took place. There again it was the insensitiveness of successive governments towards the needs and aspirations of the poor and downtrodden people of the South which gave rise to such insurrection. It needs to be said in favour of Dudley Senanayake that he was prepared to discuss and adjust matters with those having opposite views instead of taking cover behind such terms as Naxalites and terrorists.

    Yet Mr.Tiruchelvam could not continue to be in the cabinet on account of certain disputes that cropped up with regard to the Koneswaram Temple in Trinco and also due to the chauvinistic attitudes of many in Dudley’s party in power who prevented the implementation of the Senanayake-Chelvanayagam Pact. Mr.Tiruchelvam resigned in September 1968.

    His last months were spent in successfully defending Mr.A.Amirthalingam and three others charged with sedition for peacefully defying the 1972 constitution. Two seniors led him in Court-S.J.V.Chelvanayagam, K.C. and G.G.Ponnambalam, K.C. the leaders of two opposing Tamil political parties. For a wonder Tamil birds of different feathers joined together. As expected they were successful. God made the Tamils disunited for the same reason that he denied horns to horses. They could be invincible if united. But I doubt their ever uniting. The verdict at the Trial at Bar was a triumph for the rule of law as stated by Mr. Ram Balasubramaniam in his introduction to the book under consideration.

    Even before the 1972 constitution was enacted Mr.Tiruchelvam had warned with regard to its legality. In the course of his speech on the 30th of June 1970 after the new United Front Government under Mrs.Sirimavo Bandaranaike was sworn in he pointed out that the Constituent Assembly which was due to be set up by the newly elected Government was illegal. He said as follows-”There was not one single speech, not one single talk indulged in the election campaign that there was going to be a Constitutional Assembly. How can there be a constituent assembly when the Government Parliamentary Group does not have a single Tamil elected representative to represent them and carve out a constitution?” Continuing he asked “How can you talk of a constituent assembly formed by a mere Resolution of the House? By a mere Resolution how can you make it a constituent assembly?” At page 281 later on he pointed out that sovereignty was vested with the people. Therefore unless those elected were people who were elected or selected ad hoc for that purpose such constituent assemblies would lack the necessary legal authority. The Constituent Assembly in India was an ad hoc body, he pointed out. He said it was specifically elected to exercise the sovereignty of the people and to create a constitution. But here what they are seeking to do, he said, is rather an amusing piece of effrontery- that is for the other House to arrogate to itself the power to frame a constitution and to make that constitution to work. He pointed out as per page 285 of the publication under review that we cannot adopt and operate a constitution unless you have it as a legal document, unless we are vested with the legal power. That legal power he said can only be vested in us by an Act of Parliament may be with a two thirds majority.

    I was in Court when the late inimitable C.Suntharalingam brought an action before the Supreme Court stating that Section 29 of the then Constitution was in danger of being done away with. Chief Justice H.N.G.Fernando said it may or may not happen.Mr.Suntharalingam said it would be too late to come into Court if the entrenched Section 29 was arbitrarily done away with. The Chief Justice was impassive. The section was done away with. Again Mr.C.S was before Court. The Chief Justice said we are working now under the new Constitution. We cannot under it question the legality or otherwise of any provision. That was the end of the journey for Mr.C.S.The 1972 Constitution lacked legality.

    Similar dramas are being effected in the North and East today. Without the consent of the people affected, without the consent of persons lawfully elected by the people, certain institutions are being set up. State thuggery seems to be the name of the game. Men and institutions remain free only when freedom is founded upon respect for the Rule of Law and if grievances are redressed by constitutional methods. But if all constitutional methods fail to redress grievances of sections of society who have been subjected to innumerable hardships due to callousness and indifference and may be even partiality of successive Governments in power, how are they to redress their grievances by constitutional methods? Let us not forget that East Pakistan became Bangladesh on account of the indifference of the then West Pakistan to the real grievances of the people of East Pakistan.

    It is to be said in favour of Mr.Murugeyson Tiruchelvam that until he breathed his last he believed in the goodness of all men. I wonder whether the pendulum would have swung to the other extreme if he was living today. I thank you for your patient hearing. “

11. Nalliah Thayabharan Says:
    July 19th, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    Susantha
    As I mentioned it was C.V.Vigneswaran’s statement.
    You have to ask him what happened to the Demala Bauddhayo !!!

12. aloy Says:
    July 20th, 2013 at 2:05 am

    Ananda-USA,
    Thank you for your piece. Perhaps this is the game plan. Are all our Sinhala parliamentarians sleepwalking?.
    I have been reading in this forum the estimated number in the human shield as 125000, from Shenali’s write ups. At the end it turned out to be an astounding 300,000. Were all these people brought from India for the specific purpose of forming a human shield. In that case, did they not fool our defence people?

13. Fran Diaz Says:
    July 20th, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    Lot of things are forced on Lanka to please India & the west ?
    What about the Sri Lankan Constitution to protect the country & the People ?

14. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:
    July 20th, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    THANKS NALLIAH, Iam enlightened. Many will concur what he has said in the second paragraph about the present day Parliamentarians. It is the truth. Gentleman Dudley days are no more. When he was Prime Minister, often he drives home in his Humber Hawk for Lunch. There were no thugs around him for protection, because he was a Gentleman. he did not need any.

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