Movement for Equal Rights rises against racism

Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Movement for Equal Rights early this week held a public seminar at the Public Library Auditorium calling people to unite against racism. Following are excerpts from the presentations from the guest speakers

Leenas Jayathilaka (United Workers’ Congress)

A big catastrophe was initiated in Beruwala and Aluthgama on 15 June which reminded us of Black July. Therefore the Movement for Equal Rights organised this program to show our resistance. Actually 1983 was the beginning of a similar catastrophe. Tamils were herded in camps for internally displaced. The J.R. Jayewardene Government unleashed suppression against left parties simultaneously. Furthermore they arrested left activists for attacking their open violence. Tamil people who lived here went to Jaffna. We have to take this attack on Muslims in 2014 very seriously. This is not a majority Government; this is a weak, minority Government. Their majority in Parliament is a result of cheating. This is a weak Government. We saw the same thing in Indian Modi. His Government does not need the support of any political party. This victory is only based on Hindi speaking areas of India. Also this Government does not have any cooperation from South India. Nehru’s and Gandhi’s Government was supported by the whole of India but Modi’s Government does not enjoy that support. Everybody knows that Modi was behind ethnic violence against Muslims in Gujarata in 2002. Mahinda Rajapaksa had ended 30 years of Tamil Tiger resistance war. Although a large part of the Tamil community was displaced as a result of the war, the Government did not try to create unity between the people and the Government does not have the ability to create peace for the sake of humanity. They could not even implement the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The people of this country are divided because the regime cannot unite the people. Therefore the Movement for Equal Rights must work looking at both sides of the story any without any allegiance or alliance with any racism or nationalism. Movement for Equal Rights with all kind of forces against racism organised a picket in front of the Fort Railway Station on 18 July after the Aluthgama catastrophe .Muslims have the feeling that at least some people are here for their protection. We must resist the crawl of Sinhala Buddhist statism towards racism. On the other hand the government is restructuring the economy in line with neoliberal policies. We must resist this. We must resist their attempt to restructure the economy to meet the needs of global capital.

Dharmasiri Bandaranayake (dramatist)

We must study history; how does nationalism, religious extremism, how does this madness start? Some news branded me as a Tiger in the past. I staged the drama ‘Trojan Kanthawo’ in southern areas. The drama was about the negative effects of war. Then they asked, ‘Why do you stage here, why can’t you stage your dramas in Jaffna?’ So we staged in Jaffna too. But northern persons never attacked us. We truly fear for the Muslim people of this country. Although there was 30 years of civil war, no one won. In election season the Jaffna Library was set on fire in 1981, burning 90,000 books. It was the barbarism of our people that was shown. Poet Nuhuman, who was also a Muslim professor, wrote a poem about this named ‘Budun Gaathanaya Kireema’ – killing the Buddhist. According to this poem, the killer came from darkness and saw Buddha dead and laid on a staircase. He asked, ‘Why did you shoot him, he was not on our list?’ and an unknown gunman answered, ‘Buddha taught us non-violence and patience; we can’t kill another in the list before Buddha is killed. So we killed him first.’ Afterwards the killer ordered the unknown gunman to burn the body discretely. They burned the Buddha’s body with 90,000 books. Nahuman says that the ‘Dhammapadaya’ also burned among those books. I visited there later and met the librarian of the Jaffna Library. He asked me, “Did you see the inside of the library?” and gave me the opportunity. He showed me the Sinhala collection of the Jaffna Library. Books by Gunadasa Amarasekara, Martin Wickramasinghe and Sarachchandra were there. He told me that they protected those books during the fire. That is the quality of a great nation. We must pay attention to how do we talk ‘pinwatha’ as well as ‘tho,’ ‘yako,’ ‘paraya’. I appreciate the Movement for Equal Rights’ effort to change Sinhalese attitudes.

Ravindra Mudalige (Convener of Movement for Equal Rights)

We knew 30 years ago in the month of July of many Tamil brothers’ lives and property being burnt and the smoke spread all over the sky. After 31 years, the same fire is fanning the smoke of racism across Beruwala and Aluthgama. Although most of us were silent when Black July happened, various forces are raising their voices against the violence against Muslim people in Aluthgama and Beruwala. That is a better beginning. But we have a difficult path ahead of us. The burden of production is carried by the working class irrespective of whether they are Sinhala, Muslim or Tamil. However, the benefit of that production is enjoyed by a privileged class of a few. The lower classes have never achieved broadness of culture and language. That kind of backwardness fuels racism and religious extremism. Authoritarian power used that kind of nationalism and religious extremism ideologies to further their own political projects. These extremist organisations are formed in this fall towards barbarism. It is the Government that nourishes these extremist organisations. Thos organisations are cradled in the Government’s lap. The Government is trying to keep those organisations within their control. Nationally and internationally such muppets of the ruling classes are resorting to extremism. However, behind those puppet governments, lie backwards socioeconomic systems. We believe there are many things to resist in our society. A Samurdhi development officer tied to a tree by Mervyn Silva. The Sri Lankan working class remained silent in that situation. When a minister had made a school teacher kneel, society kept silent. Our famers are weeping over their inability to sell their harvest irrespective of being Muslim or Sinhala. They are suffering instead of enjoying life. People accept this suffering without any resistance Where we must disobey things, we obey silently. However, what we should tolerate, the difference in race, religion and language, we resist. Governments set people against each other. Real antagonism converts differences into antagonisms. This is a trap set by the ruling classes throughout history. Are we going to fall in that trap again? Neo-liberalism, nationalism, tribalism and religious extremism cannot win anything for this society. There is conflict in front of us against deep-rooted prejudices. We must block this trend. History has assigned us an unavoidable challenge. We have a burden, which is the responsibility of the future of 20 billion people. Don’t perceive this situation to be mere madness of Buddhist monks. This is a social problem. This situation can only be won in a struggle of the working class in which the Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil oppressed take part.

Ahilan Kadiragamar (political critique)

There is a deafening silence in the aftermath of the Aluthgama incident. The people there are scared. Ethnic violence against the Muslim community there was a Government-sponsored project. After independence since the 1950s, governments started repressing the rights of Tamil people. Bandaranaike used racism to distract the people from the impending economic crisis and got elected using racism. After being elected J.R. Jayewardene introduced the exploitative open economy economic policy. To prevent progressive people from rising against those reforms he used racism. Black July was a result of that. It paved the way for a war that lasted for 30 years. After that long war, another tragedy is enacted in the Beruwala and Aluthgama areas. However, various forces are speaking out against what happened in Aluthgama and Beruwala. After antagonising the Tamil community, now the Muslim community is being antagonised. We must stand against as a united force against this racism.

Najith Indika (Convener of Inter University Students’ Federation)

Barbarianism is roaming the streets once again. After a war that lasted for 30 years, racism and barbarism that was lying low in society has raised its head again and it has started slaughtering people. Racism can bring nothing more than barbarism to a society and that is the only thing it leaves behind. Black July in 1983 only left us with hatred and unbearable memories. Sixty, 70 years ago, Nazism caused great damage which led to a discussion about the harm of that destruction and the essence of that discussion is that racism can leave behind nothing but barbarism. However, the question is, if we all know this, why do these tendencies of racism and religious extremism emerge again and again? What is the secret between that? This destruction did not fall on Dharga Town from the skies; it has been a continuous practice which has enjoyed the sponsorship of the ruling class. From attacking a mosque in Dambulla in 2012, through the Halal problem, it has reached a point of killing people today and the rulers have sponsored this process by not implementing even the existing laws. Why do the rulers do this? There are problems that you and me and everybody in society faces and the root cause of those problems is this socioeconomic system that is profit-oriented. The ruling class is prepared to let thousands die to distract the people from struggling against these real problems. Some claim that it is wrong to kill Muslims but refuse to admit the wrong in racist propaganda. We insist that there is no division in racism. Racism is racism and a racist is a racist. There is no use in objecting to the final consequences. From the Halal problem to attacking mosques, this problem has a sequential progression and everybody who contributed to that progression is responsible for the catastrophe that happened. For decades we have been fighting for the right to education. We have been fighting for equal right in education. Our objective is to win this right without any race or religious divisions. Added to that, there are so many anti-people reforms being instituted. Water bills, drug bills and seed bills are brought in. Water, health service and seeds are being turned into commodities. Everything is being priced. We have to face the loss of right to education irrespective of whether we are Sinhala or Muslim. When fees are charged in schools and universities, it is charged from the Sinhalese and the Muslims. When water is sold, it does not matter whether the farmer is Sinhala, Muslim or Tamil. However, what happens when racism is brought in? When people are divided on the lines of race and religion, people don’t talk about these real problems. Like we used to count the dead bodies during the war, various news is created and the people forgetting the real problems start talking about them. Therefore we insist that the fight against racism should be led by the workers, students, fishermen and farmers who struggle for people’s rights. These problems cannot be taken separately. Those organisations which fight for people’s rights must understand the threat posed by racism and take the fight against it into their own hands.