Dr. Sudath Gunasekara (SLAS) 28.6.2010

The 13^th amendment is the biggest political blunder ever committed by any government in the political history of this nation. At least it is so in recent history since the Kandyan Convention entered upon between this country and the British Empire on the 2^nd of March 1815. Though temporally, the Kandyan Convention marked the complete subjugation of this Island nation to a foreign power since its historical beginning in the 6^th century BC. The 13^th Amendment on the other hand marked the beginning of a long march towards complete and permanent subjugation to the Indian super power in the region. If the authorities decide to go ahead with the 13^th Amendment without heeding good counsel by patriotic people, this country will end up first, as another southern State of the Indian subcontinent. Then second, the Tamils in Sri Lanka will declare the EELAM and third, they will join hands with Tamilnadu and finally, the whole of the Indian subcontinent will also be brought under the EELAM flag thus teaching a good lesson to those Kautilyan and Machiavellian politicians in Delhi.

Three major things happened as a sequel to the 13th amendment of 1987. They were unprecedented in our political history and critical too, in the context of the political future of this Island Nation.

They are;
1 SettingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ upƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 8ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ProvincialƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  CouncilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (thusƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  providing theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ foundationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ futureƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  autonomousƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ separate communal TamilƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ state).
2 Making Tamil also an official language (perhaps the only country in the world with two officialƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  languages)
3 Granting citizenship for nearly 500,000 Indian estate Tamils who should have been otherwise sent to India under the then prevailing laws.

There are many more burning and controversial issues like land and police powers the Provincial Councils which are being debated and argued on both sides of the EELAM divide at the moment.

The consequences of the implications of the 13^th Amendment have been debated enough by many eminent people over the past few years since its introduction in 1987. I myself have written about ten articles on this subject. They all have clearly shown how detrimental and critical its implementation would be for the political integrity, unity and stability of this Island nation. Already the establishment of the Provincial Councils as required by this amendment has made a classic mess of governance in this country. It has almost brought about a period of interregnum in this country, I think. But it appears that the 13^th Amendment still continues to haunt the political sky of this Island nation as both India and many other foreign countries with vested interest in their local politics and perhaps with a deep seated vengeance towards this country seem to continue to bully and pester this country over its implementation. The utter blindness and ignorance of local politicians on this issue is clearly demonstrated in the irresponsible public statements they make from time to time to local and international fora. The latest I read by Douglas Devananda who has declared that the Northern Provincial Council will be established within few months in Kilinochchhi. The very SLFP that opposed the Amendment in 1987 also appears to have made a complete about turn by supporting its implementation

The EELAM cat was actually officially out of the Indian Bag in 1987

As proof of this I quote below a recent news item that appeared in the local press for the information of those Sri Lankans who still have not properly realized the dangers of this dangerous and nefarious piece of legislation that is going to decide the destiny of this Island State.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ RajivƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  GandhiƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Indian ParliamentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  on July31, 1987.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The implementation of 13th Amendment is the beginning of implementation of the Thimpu demands (distinct nationality, traditional homelands, self-determination) as claimed in the following statement of Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi to the Indian Parliament on July 31, 1987.

” The Agreement meets the basic aspirations which have animated the TamilsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ struggle, namely, the desire to be recognized as a distinct ethnic entity; political autonomy for managing their political future; and appropriate devolution of governmental power to meet this objective, the recognition of the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka as areas of historical habitation of the Tamils and the acknowledgment and designation of Tamil as an official language of Sri Lanka.

The Agreement constitutes the Eastern and Northern Provinces of Sri Lanka into one administrative unit with an elected Provincial Council; and a Chief Minister. Powers would be devolved… to ensure a full measure of autonomy to the Provinces in Sri Lanka.”

On August 2, 1987, Rajiv Gandhi told a public meeting in Madras that “The Agreement secures everything that the Sri Lankan Tamils had demanded, short of breaking Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s unity. In fact, it goes well beyond the initial demands of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Under the Agreement, approximately one-third of Sri Lankan territory will be made into a single province where the Tamils will have a clear majority. They will have regional autonomy comparable to State governments in India … “These are the words that came from none other than Rajeev Gandhi the father of this diabolical constitutional amendment.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I do not think one needs further elaboration than this to explain the basic intentions of the Indian Government in imposing the 13^th Amendment on the Government of Sri Lanka in 1987 and nakedly continues do so even now.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In my view what is required for this country today is definitely not a political atomic bomb like the 13^th Amendment which will lay the permanent foundation for the irrevocable division of the country on ethnic grounds where we will have two countries and two nations; one an autonomous mono Tamil country and a Tamil State in the North and the East covering 1/3 the area of the Island (22,000 sq km)with 2/3 the coastal belt for a bare six percent (6%)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of the total population of the country and the other 2/3 (44,000 sq km) to be shared by all Sinhalese (75%), 13 percent of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Tamil population, 7% Muslims and all other minority groups comprising 94 percent of the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s total population. With the possibility of the hill country Tamils also joining the NE Tamils in the event of such one being formed the area occupied by Tamils will expand and the area available for the other South Western state will further shrink. Once this is done it will be like a scrambled egg that could never be unscrambled there after. I warn all patriotic citizens of this country, if we pursue with the 13^th Amendment the day that this country becomes a part of the Tamilnadu is not that far.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ What we need for this small Island nation is one stable and strong political entity that could restore Sri Lanka that was devastated by the Chola invasions in the 13^th century AD and mobilize all the people of the whole country as one nation and one country without separating them as Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims or any other. This could be done only by a strong government that exercises its authority over the entire Island and its resources, both human and physical. This needs a new Constitution in place of the 1987 weekly.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now that we have successfully defeated the LTTE (thanks mainly to the dedication and deep commitment of the present political leadership and the armed forces), the so-called undefeatable terrorist gang in the world, which has ruined this country for thirty years, the next step should be to restore good governance that could bring back law and order and all round prosperity for all the people of this country irrespective of creed, ethnicity or language they speak. In order to achieve this target I list below few areas I see as sine qua non for the serious consideration of the policy makers and all responsible and patriotic citizens of our motherland.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 1 Scrap the Provinces introduced by the British to achieve their divide and rule policy in this country and go back to the ancient geopolitical divisions namely, the Tun Rata (Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya), which formed the solid foundation of governance in this country from 427 BC to 1815 (such continuity unseen and unheard any where in the world).

2 Scrap the Provincial Council system that has proved a dead weight and a white elephant to his country and establish three Regional Councils instead of the present nine Provincial Councils, a tragic legacy of the 13^th amendment.

3 Ban all political parties named after ethnicity, language or religion etc and also ban future ethnic segregation.

4 This should be followed by a drastic reduction of political office including the reduction of the Cabinet and government institutions that will enable to reduce public expenditure almost by two third of the present. This will result in the reduction of the number of MPP in Parliament, government corporations, statutory bodies and even departments and their overloaded and utterly unproductive staff. What I mean here is a complete restructuring of the entire machinery of governance in this country.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I reproduce here a proposal in which I have highlighted many times through the media during the past few years for the benefit of those who want to know the details of my proposal.

ProvincesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ProvincialƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Councils

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-It is high time that we drop this curse and political cancer, the trap laid by the colonial masters by demarkating them on ground as well as in the minds of the minorities and that was given political and legal meaning and substance by India in 1987, at least now, and go for some pragmatic and meaningful system like the ancient ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tun RataƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ concept which will not only once again bring back political stability and ethnic harmony but also economic and social prosperity to this Island as one nation. I think Sri Lanka has already established an unbeatable world record as the country that has the highest number of Ministers, politicians and public officials, political and administrative institutions per person and that spends the highest percentage of the national income to maintain them, compared with all other countries in the whole world. This also means the biggest burden to the public coffers adding very little or nil to national development.

The Provincial Council system and proliferation of unwanted and superficial public institutions are two of the biggest burdens we face today as a nation. Arresting proliferation of both political and administrative institutions therefore is a sine qua non, if any one is serious in good governance that marks efficiency, honesty and economy, in governance. The existing system only accelerates negativity in nation building and distances us far and further away from positivity. Why should this country labour the luxury of maintaining unproductive 874 politicians (including 9 Governors and 155 Ministers) when it could be run more efficiently with about 280 politicians, 27 Government Agents and about 15 Cabinet Ministers as shown below after devolution of power to Three Regional Councils (Rata Sabhas) and decentralization of administration to 27 districts. See the following table for details.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is on the assumption that the country will be governed by one government at the centre with a Parliament headed by a Prime Minister, three Rata Sabhas, Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya and 27 districts with nine districts for each Rata.

As it is Sri Lanka has the highest number of politicians and political institution (Ministers, Ministries, public servants and public institutions) to its size in the whole world. I think we have the world record for this achievement. The additional expenditure incurred on this machinery therefore in my opinion is a criminal wastage the posterity will never pardon the present day politicians. If the above proposal is implemented the expenditure could be reduced at least by 2/3 the present expenditure and that could be gainfully diverted to national development.

In this backdrop my view is that not only the 13th amendment should be scrapped but the 1987 Constitution itself should be replaced with a new one that could implement the above proposal and bring about politicalƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ stabilityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ balancedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  development in the country.

Simultaneous steps should also be taken to

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 5 Cut all unnecessary government expenditure such as those wasted on organizing meetings to hand over letters of appointments to public servants (these letters could be sent by ordinary post as it was done earlier)

6ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Do away with all extravagance and criminal wastage of public money presently being wasted on things like extra privileges to politicians and higher public servants like the duty free vehicle permits given once in every five years (which they never use for public good but make a fortune by illegally selling the permits)

7 Reduce ministerial foreign trips to the bare and get the Ambassadors and High Commissioners to attend to those functions. If any such officer is unable to deliver the goods then replace such officers with professional people who can do the job.

8 Stop appointing defeated candidates at elections to public positions and man all public office by professionals who should be give definite targets and responsibilities. Make them accountable for every red cent spent under their signature.

9 Depoliticize the Public Service and make meritocracy and service to people the corner stone of all seats of public Office.

10 Spend more on sustainable social and economic development

11 Restore good governance and strict discipline at all levels of Public Office where the Rule of Law will prevail. (this should include all politicians including the President and Prime Minister, judiciary, armed forces, entire public service both local and foreign services and even the general public)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If at least these few suggestions could be accepted and implemented by those who are in power, making Sri Lanka the Miracle of Asia very soon, want be a miracle at all. If they donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t pay any heed the dooms day for this island nation will be at the door step within few moons. I think it is time for the whole nation to wake up. Wake up you patriots from that deep slumber and utter indifference. Let wisdom be dawned upon you to save Mother Lanka and its 2500 year heritage by defeating this diabolical conspiracy hatched against her. I also wish and hope the co called national leaders of the country will direct the politicians with correct advice in time without confining to the so-called blessings as they dole out freely to every body at present.

Should we leave the monopoly of governance completely in the hands of politicians any more?