LANKA © 18TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE @ SGA nat yas) ries reco Registered at the GPO, Sri Lanka ye SIRIMA BANDARANAIKE AN ENDURING CONTRIBUTION EIGHTY (settee: L.S.S.P : FROM RADICALISM TO LENINISM — Regi Siriwardena RUSSIA: NO ZERO-SUM GAME — Dayan Jayatilleka PHILIP Lakmali Gunawardena | SAARC John Gooneratne WHITHER INDIA? Mark Tully JAFFNA Mervyn de SilvaICES PUBLICATION JUST RELEASED! “SRI LANKA: THE DEVOLUTION DEBATE” Articles: Appendices: ICES, 1996, 232pp, Introduction by Regi Siriwardena Towards Effective Devolution, by G. L. Peiris Some Thoughts on the Devolution Package, by Lakshman Marasinghe Devolution and Power Sharing, The Means to Peace and Development, by Bertram Bastiampillai Devolution of Power. The Problems and Challenges by Neelan Tiruchelvam Towards A Compromise Solution, by Sumanasiri Liyanage Breakthrough in Sri Lanka, by S. Guhan Control of State Land — The Devolution Debate, by Sunil Bastian The Structure and Content of Education: Policy Choices and Problems of Implementation in the Context of Devolution Proposals, by Sasanka Perera President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Address to the Nation, August 3, 1995 Text of Government's Devolution Proposals of August 3, 1995 Text of Government's Devolution Proposals of January 16, 1996 A Commentary on the Devolution Proposals of the Government January 16, 1996, by G. L. Peiris The Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact The Senanayake-Chelvanayakam Pact Annexure C Text of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of July 29, 1987 The Interim Report of the Mangala Moonesinghe Parliamentary Select Committee, 1992 Excerpts form Gamini Dissanayake’s “Vision for the 21st Century” Price: Rs, 250 U.S. $15.00 for SAARC countries (Airshipment) U.S. $20.00 for other countries (Airshipment) All orders to: ICES, 2 Kynsey Terrace, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka. Telephone 685085 /698048; Fax 696618NEWS BACKGROUND THE LIBERATION OF Mervyn de Silva D2, Defence Minister General JAnuruddha Ratwatte has kept his promise. By the Sinhala-Tamii New Year 1996, he seid, Jafina will be “liberated”. Thus, OPERATION RIVIRESA 2. Has the steady advance of the amy into LTTE. — held arees forced the “Tiger” nits to abandon several heavily fortified positions? More significantly, the offical spokesman also claimed that “a sefe passage” had already been established for Tamil civilians displaced from Valika- nam to return to their homes. from Thenmaarachichi. and Vadarraarachi, their present locations. I this is indeed the common response of these dsplaced Tamil familias, OPERATION RIVIRESA 2 has made gains on the ground that could represent a signiicent victory, more importart psychologically perhaps than miliariy. After all the LT-T.E. does claim that it is a “liberation movement”. This is “peoples war’ in that sense. Now BRIEFLY... the amy has “reed” those thousands of families that left (or were compelled to leave) Jaffna, the capital of “the tradtional homeland". Some diplomats and foreign observers however remain sceptical. Perhaps they have their own sources of information. Meanwhile the wellknown REPOR- TERS SANS FRONTIERES, an inter- nationally known monitoring body, com- mitled to pross froodom, hae citicised Sri Lanka's censorship rogulatione. But this is a poltical-niltary problem. Both vctorles and reverses mustbe seen from that perspective, The anny has liberated” thousands of Tamil families but the main Tamil padiamentary party = the Tamil United Liberaton Front (formerly Federal Party) issued the follo- wing statement: JAFFNA “The TULF views with alarm and with the utmost concern the commencement of anew military offensive in the north. RIVIRESA 2 is apparently aimed at THENMAARACHI and VADAMAARA- CHI which have @ high concentration of civilians. The TULF strongly objects to RIVIRESA operation conducted with heavy weaponry in an area with a high Givin concentiation..... We urge both partes to de-escalate the armed con- froniation and help bring an end to human suffering”. Continued on page 2 GUARDIAN Yol.19 No.1 May 1, 1996 Price Fis. 10.00 Published fortnightly by The Russel Affair While the British High Commission has discussed the issue with the relevant authorities, WOMEN FOR PEACE said’ in a statement released to the media that it was “outraged and appalled to witness the arbitrary arrest, detention and subsequent, forceful deportation of Dr. Jane Russell on April 17 when the government was celebrating the birthday of the Prime Minister. ‘We, at WOMEN AND PEACE, therefore urge the government, to redress the wrong done to Jane Russell and ensure her early retum to Sri Lanka to continue her academic work...” Lanka Guardian Publishing Co. Ltd, No. 246, Union Place Colombo - 2. Editor: Mervyn de Silva Telephone: 447584 Printod by Ananda Press 8285, Sir Ratnajothi Saravaramuttu Mawatha, Colombo 13. Telephone: 435975 Tawakkal Inquiry OES How many full moons must pass before the Peoples Alliance Meee, 2 decides to appoint an Independent Commission of Inquiry into ingen role “ tho Tawakkal transactions? ‘The Opposition Leader, Mr. Ranil Hemernpsanve ‘Wickremasinghe and cthors in the opposition have urged the poses it us government which stands for “Transparency, Accountability and Crete ot Mane (9) Ay Good Governance” to prove that it takes its own credo seriously, Maing a6 Revousonsty: ua SAARC 18 And that ean only mean an independent investigation and report.News in Brief © Prosidont Chandrika Kumaratunga was told by President Jiang Zemin that the Peoples? Republic of China appreciated the P.A. gov- ernment’s proposals io resolve the islan ethnic conflict. The Chinese leader described the P.A’s devolution proposals as “iimely, prudent and just”. TheP.R.C. leader noted that ‘Ms. Kumaratunga had visited China in 1974, and had chosen China for her first State visit. Sri Lanka will receive a billion rupees, about 20 million dollars as a grant and loan. © No Sri Lankan has been killed or injured in the recent Isracli blitz in Lebanon. A few Sri Lankans living close to the Israeli border have been moved to safer parts of Lebanon. The Sri Lankan authorities have imposed a “temporary ban on housemaids” leaving for Lebanon or Jordan. ® A Defence Ministry communique claimed that “lakhs of people” in the L-T-T-E. controlled areas have been “liberated from the clutches of the Tigers” Displaced families are returning to their homes, the communique added. The Liberation of Jaffna (Continued trom page 1) The TULLF. was once known as the Federal Party, When the FP. led by SulV. CheWanayakam QC. could not succeed in persuadng the S.LFP. or the U.NP. to implement the Ben- daranaike-Chevanayakam pact or the ‘Senanayake-Chelvanayakam, the creti bility of Taril pariamentary parties drop- ped steadily — certainly in the estimation of a new generation. That generation formed rew groups, all challenging and denouncng the FP. (TULF) and waving the flag of “iberaton’, word made fashionable by Third World lisera- tion movements, Soon hey were trained and armed — by a big neighbour that deplored the manner in which Jayawar- dene abandoned Sri Lanka's tradito- nal non-alignment, cerainly the foreign policy of Mrs. Bandaranaike, Sad to say, some of these basic facts of recent history are ignored. And now the T.ULLF. “tino” has resulted in an immediate response from five of the smaller organisations, all former rlitant groups — TELO, PLOTE, EPHLF, EPDP, and EROS. Hepresenia- tives from these groups have met dipio- mats (including ambassadors) from the E.U. The diplomats were evidently plea- sed that these parties were committed to a poliicel settlement. 2 Waiting — 21 Kumbukkana Channel Yes, i walked alone along the channel The water was millc tea brown with the rain on far hills I dippled my hand in the water, thinking, may be This is the brown earth you trod on Washed down a myriad winding valleys For my hands lone reverence. The Oya roars with rain fell your way On far btue stopes, so far ‘That the thought of distance is pain. Pain hustles me where the channel leads away From the river down to the weir where we walked last May. Then, the leaves screened us from the sky And, as we hoped in our haste jrom the glancing sunlit eye Of the jungle. And the water conspired to shut out other sounds As it gurgied at the weir. Now, at an years full circle I tay alone Saw the sky through the leaves And the leaves kept falling down. I closed one eye and watched them floating past Falling and floating like the leaves of Time And I thought, love, if we ever come here together again These leaves will be falling and floating But will all else be the same? U- KarunatilakeMRS. B. AT 80 Neelan Tiruchelvam is House is today endeavouring ‘correct a resolution of Parliament which deprived a Member of this House ‘of her civil rights, which included the Tight to vote, the right to contest an lection, and the rightto hold pubic office including Membership of Pariament. As ‘2 consequence Nrs Bandaranaike was deprived of her seat in Parliament from October 1980, until her pardon on the 4st of January 1986. She could rot contest the Presidential Elections held in 1982 nor any other elective office unti she recelved an executive pardon. No political leader could suffer « crucler fate which cought te obliterate her very identity 2c politcal person. Mrs Bandaranaike was ro ordinary Member of Parliament. She had twice become Prime Minister of this country from 1960-65 and egain irom 1970-77. She was the leader of the Si Larka Freedom Party, and as the Head of Non-Aligned Movement sho had an intomational_visisilty and recogniton which no other SriLankan of our time has been able to rival Sri Lanke has been described as one of the few countries in South Asia wnich has had an effective two party system Where political power alternetes periodi- caly between the United National Party ‘and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. This two sysiem was critical to Sri Lankan demecracy in presenting a genuine altemative to the electors through a clash of ideologies, programmers and politcal ideas. This two party system came under a cloud particularly curing the peitod 1877 10 1983, when the Sti Lankan Freedom Party's Parliamentary strength hhed boon reduced to a mere eight seats In my view Mrs Bandaranaike's enduring ‘contribution to the poliical history ofthis courity is that she had she alone ensured the surival of the two party system when every effort was made to demoraise and even to coopt poltical ‘opponents. Her stubbom refusal to com prorrise even she was subjected to political humiliation and intrigue, her jorce loyalty to her party, and her refusal Di Trucheliam, MP. is a member of the Tamil United Lberation Froct (TULF). to be coopted has ensured the survival and the revival of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party. This Inu ensured that the two Party system would survive, In rocating Nrs Bandaranaike political record |_do not wish to. imply that it was entiraly without blemish. To do so would be to falsify history and none in this House would want to deny history on a day when we seek to uphold the principles of truth and justice. Opportuni- ties forethnic accorimodation were eadly missed. | reeal as a schoolboy accom panying my mother in the early sities fo vist Mr. M. Tiruchelvan and other Federal Party leaders who had been unjustly incarcerated in Panagoda for democratic agitattons for equality. No charges were ever framed against these poitical prisoners. Similarly in the seven- fies there was a failure to fame a ‘consensual consiitution which would genuinely address the demands. for equally, fundamental rights and the sharing of power. | recall these events without any bitemess or acrimony as ihe pain and discomfiture of our family was minisicular compared to the subse- quent sufferings of others. However we Teed to come to gips with the realty Of our troubled Fistory if are to find the strength to frame an ennobling future. We are here to suppor this Resolution not _merely because it concerns an important_and eminent citizen of this country. This House views with concern that a legislative scneme was devised to subvert the democratic will of the ‘Attanagalla electorate, Mrs Banaranaikke ‘wes duly electod by an overwhelming majority of electors, and in our system of representative democracy its wil and legitimate expectation ofthe electors that their representative will serve her full tem without impediment, The fist step in the legislative scheme was the Special Presidential Commis- ‘sions of Inquiry Law which was enacted 4978. Human rights activists and ‘concamed lawyers were critical of seve ral features of this law. First the law empowers the Special Presidential Commisson to inquire into ‘any act of victimization, misuse or abuse of power, corruption or any fraudulent ‘act, in relation to any court or tribunal ‘or any public body, or in relation to the adrrinistration of any law or the admiri- stration of justice. There was concem that tems such as abuse of power hed no precise legal meaning and were vague and nebulcus. ‘Second the law was made retrospecti- vo and the Commission was not a mere fact finding body, but one that couid make recommendations which had puni- tive consequences. Third the law provided no procedural guidelines and the Commission was froo to deve ite own procedures. Fourth section 7 (1) of the law permit: ted the Commission to ignore the rules of evidence. It was considered particula- ily disturbing that there was no right of appeal and that the seal of finality ‘would be conferred on a rocommenca- tion based on testimony which could be in contravention of the evidentiary safe ‘guards appicable to ordinary cases Fifth even though the Commission was ‘composed cf siting judges, this provided no Safeguard as their judicial outlook was often trancformed when thoy sat as Commissioners. In evaluating the faimess of the proceedings that were instituted agalnst Mrs Bandaranaike itis important to recall, the words of Lord Diplock In Reg vs Commission for Racial Equality, Ex p. Hilingdon B.C. (1982) AC. 79 at 787 F-G, that a Commission which is, public authority must exercise its Powers in accordance wih well known principles of legality, rationaity, and procedural propriety. We do net believe as Amnesty International pcinted out in its statement on the Criminal Justices Commission, that these principles are safeguarded where the judicial process is ‘diuted to serve pollical purposes. ‘As the Chil Rights Monement pointed out, “The mere fact that judges of @ superior court are appointed to a tibunal is no guarantee that is functioning will be feir and correct or command public confidence.”‘There were otheraspects ofthis matter which offened are sense of iaimess and Of procedural justice. The Court of Appeal issued a writ of prohibition on the Commission on the ground that it had not been expressly conferred power to investigale matiers relaling 10 the period prior to 10th February 1978, On 20th November 78, the govemment introduced an amendment to the Gonsti- tution which retrospectively negated the ficct of the Court of Appeal, and translerred its wit jurisdiction in respoct of these matters to the ‘Supramo Court, Further the day after Mrs Bandaransike had bean expelled from the House amendments were introduced to the Parliamentary Elections and Presidertial Elections laws prohibiting persons dapri- ved of civic rights from speaking or ‘canvassing at elections. The Civil Rights Movement again protested against these bills on the ground that they sought to limit an efiective Opposition campaign at the next Parliamentay and Presi- dential elections, Much as already been said: of the eloquent speeches made in defence of ‘Mrs Banderanaike by the then Leader of the Opposition Mr. Amithalingam end by Mr M Sivasithambaram, During the Vole there were 139 voles in favor of the motion and 19 votes against. This included 14 members of the TULF who within three years of this event were to suffer a similar fate when the Sih ‘Amendment was introduced in the after- math of the July 83 pogrom, The Sixth Amendment by requiring Members of Parliament to subscribe to a new oath of allegiance effectively disenfranchised the North-east and deprived most of this region of its Pariamentary. representa tion. No doubl the TULF had opposed the Referendum and the extension of Patiament, but the Sxth Amendment was a supervening event which had immediate impact on their reprasenta- tion, Many politcal scientists have writtan on the disastrous poltical consequences of the Sxth Amendment, but | wish to briefly recall the terrible personal trage- dies that followed. Of the fourtesn Members who forfeited their Paria mentary seats four were brutally murce- fed, while two others died in exile in Ganada. Two faded out of poltics and had more peaceful deaths, while a third died of a heart attack cn the eve of 4 Veit abroad. | recall these sad develop- ments to make the point that no act of regret or apology for past wrongs ean hola us rocover the lest lives or ‘again the wasted years. Similarly nelthor the pardon of January 1st 1986 nor this Resolution can aive back fo Mrs Banda- ranaike those painful and wasted years. In pacing this Resolution we do rot corfer ary benefit on Mrs Bandaranaike but in humility acknowledge the falibiity of this representative body. If thig debate has any meaning we must do everything within our power to estore pubic confidence in the judicial process. If the Govarnment intoducos @ Bill 0 abolish the Special Presidential Commissions Bill and the related provi- sions in the Constitution, we will support such a measure. INDIAN POLLS The Cassandras are prophesying again Mark Tully he Cassandras are uttering their dismal prophecies. again, so it must be election time in India. This time. they have plenty to be dismal about. All the partes are in a shambles, there seems to be no chance of a clear-cut result, there is no leader in sight with the charsma to camy the country with him, the World BankiMF-insprred econo- mig reforms, almost universally accepted as essential for India to achieve a high growth rate, have ground to ahalt, share prices are down, and so is the rupee, But Cassandras have been very good at prophesying Indic's future, There were those who wamed that Indra Gandhi's first election in 1957 Would be India’s last. The resuits were The author was BEC Delhi Camispandent for ‘more than Wenty veers snow a fealance writer ‘and broackaster living jn Dol. 4 indeed slamming. The Congress party, generally considered at that time the only party able to provide stability. won the atiamentary election but did not emer- ge with control of a single state govem- ment in the Gangetic plain. The Con- gress spit, but Indira survived, and so did democracy. When she declared a State of Emergency in 1975, many ‘commentatcrs again shook their heads gravely, saying: ‘We warned you demo- racy wouldn't in nda.” In less than two years, Indira Gandhi called a general election and accepted the resuli, which went against her Nore recently, when Rajly Gandhi was ‘assasinaled just before the final round of poling in the last general election, the Congress party was left leederless and without an absolute majority. The last two shortlived govemments had shown that the Janata Dal andits splinter groups were so tom by internal strife that they could not rule the country. ‘There was a political vacuum which only the right-wing Hindu Bharatiya Janaia Party (BUP) seemed poised to fil. The BJP was at its most stident then, and many feared that India was heading for Hindu fascism, In fect, since Flajv Gandhi's assass- ration India hes enjoyed five years of stable govemment under Congess. It hhas beon lod by tho 75-year-old Navasi- mha Rao, who was not given a chance of seeing out his term of office whon he was elected simply because ha was the least controversial candiate to suc- ceed Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao had ‘not even contested the general election because he had just recovered from an operation and thought his undistingu- ‘shed politcal career was over. He had never been moce than a faithful lackey of Inia Gandhi and her son.The edifice crumbles Sois inda going 10 prove the Cassan- dras wrong again? The poltics do not ook hopeful. Whatever Nerasimna Rao's ‘svocesses have been, nurturing the Congress cannot be considered one. Wall betore the enc of his term in office it had become clear nat Faliv Gandhi had become an electoral liability, yet when | asked a Congress veteran why they dic not got rid of him, he roplisd: "The Nehru-Gandhi arrilyis the keystone. of the Congress party. Take them away and the whole edifice will come tubing down’. That is what has happened — the edifice has not tumbled down, but it has crumbled away. Narasimha Rao has presided overa series of disastrous State Assembly elections, leaving only wo ‘major states in the hands of Congress. He has made no effort to rebuid the party in the states where it has been humiliated, His fallure to prevent Hindu fanatics from pulling down the mosque in Ayo- dhya means the usim vole is lost to him foo. He himselt is not a charismatic ‘campaigner, and he has no, national image fo pull tha crowds. It is difficult, therelore, to see how he is going to fight the campaign with a demoralisec Congress or with leaders inside the party whose loyally is suspect and some of whom have already deserted him. The magic of the name ‘Those Congress politicians who have been hoping that Rajiv Gandhis widow ‘Sonia will emerge 2s their saviour seem destined to be disappointed. Although she must fear that a non-Congress government might order her to move ‘out of her official residence, remove her security and take away the othar privilo- {ges the Narasimha Rao administration hhas given her, she has so far rejected ‘ll suggestions that she or one of her children should lend the magic of the Nehmu-Gandhi name to the party's ‘campaign. ‘There is, of course, in theory no reason why it should be the Congress. party which goverrs india — indeed, Indian democracy would be heallhier if there ‘was an alternative national party. The BJP believed ii was emerging as national allernative because of is raputa- tion for discipine and cohesiveness. But the EVP hes paid a high price for ts expansion and now looks very litle different from all the other flabby and fissiperous paris. Ithas allowed corrupt and selfseeking poiticans to jumo on ils bandwagon, and iis reputation for discipine has been shattered by the Unsoemly wranging over the Gujarat chiof ministorship which almost brought down its government in that westem Indian state, ‘The top BUP lezdership is divided over whether to softpedal Hindu nationelism, or give the voter the impression of a responsible national alternative, or mount another strident campaign. Now the party presigent, L.K. Advani, faces corruption. charges. Recent form is not encouraging either. State election results show that the BJP has been unable to extend its base beyond the North and the West, and there it cannot win enough seats to come anywhere near an absolute mgjorty. There is much talk of the Third Force’. By this is meant a ragged cllection of parties with a base among traditionally deprived castes, regional parties, and communists. twas this combination which formed the unsiabe Janata Dal goverment after Rajiv Ganchi was deieaied in 1989, It is stil eo unstable that no can yet tell how the various patties in the so-called ‘Force? will fine Up in this election. I have managed to read all previous Incian general elections | have wines- sed, That goes tack neatly thirty years — but | am not betting this time, Earlier elections have al tumed on the issue of whether the Congress. will win on the issue of whether the Congress vill win or not. At present the almost universal wisdom is that the Congress has no hope of winning an absolute majorty in this election, but neither does any other party. Much will depend on the final ine-up, what alliances are made in the different slates, raking ths an lection which has to be read state by state. That is what makes any predictions 0 dificult, The final outcome could well be a govemrrent cobbled together by deals between different party leaders. There wil. almost certzinly be schisms and defections — hardly a receipe for political sstabilty. Yet this would seem to be a time when Inda needs a very stable government. When he became Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao found he had inherted @ bankrupt incia and realised he would have to swallow the medicine prescribed by the World Bank end the IMF to beil him out. The license-permit Raj The regime they ordered was an end to more than forty years of socialism, and an economy open to international compeilion. Rapid progress was mad at first. Wester diplomats in Delhi talked of a revolation, as the Finance Minister, the economist Manmohan Singh, started to unravel the ted tape tied around the ‘economy. It looked as though India was, at last seeing the end of what had become known 25 ‘the licensepemrit Raj Indien industriafste wore allowed to make investment decisions wihcut see- king government clearance, and foreign investors were actively encouraged for the first ime. The rupee was partially freed and the share markets were ‘opened tointernational investment funds. Foreign businessmen filed the five-star hotels of Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Bangalore. Even Galcuta, wit iis com- munist government, starled to atract interest from abroad. But the process gradually slowed down. The comparatively easy decisions, were taken, butthe Prime Minister balked. at the changes which tequired real poliical courage. The resultis that India's poliicians, ils bureaucrats, its ermy of ‘goverment employees, ard its pampe- Ted industriel labour force sill have a lot mote of that biter medicine to swallow before the course prescribed by the IMF end the World Bank is complete. If it is not completed, burearucracy will creep back. ‘The politicians and bureaucrats. will have to surrender the patronage which the govemment’s involvement in almost every acivty provides. Organised la- bour, and in particular goverment employees, can no longer enloy the absolute right of job security, The grossly overmanned government-owned indus- ties will have to be privatised, or at least allowed to operate wilhout miriste- tial and bureaucratic interference. Tex payers wil have to accept thal they must make realistic returns.Discipine has to be restorod in the services the government must continue to supply — doctors will have to attend the health centres they are paid to attend, and teachers their school. In a recent book, the two distinguished economists, ‘Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze, produced Copious stalistical evidence to show that there was a drect connection between India’s economic backwardness and its failure to provide education and heaith services. These and many other reforms will need a very firm government But a Convincing majority in India does not ecessafily mean firm or good govem- ment. In 1971 Indira Gandhi won an Overwhelming victory. By 1975 her back was to the wall and she had to declare a State of Emergency, without any Notable achievements to her credit beyond the Bangacesh war four yeers eater. Her son, Rajiv Ganchi, hed an even bigger majority. He promised to bring India into the twenty-first century and to end the influence of the power-brokers, in his own patty. India's administration, a legacy of the Raj, remained unrefor- med. The economy siayed tied up in ted tape. The Congress continued to be a paity of seltseeking opportunisis, ‘Although Narasimha Rao's reforms stil have a long way to go, he has done more to ater India than any prime minister since Nehru, without even an absolute majority when he started A clear game-plan So a week Narasimha Rao does rot necessarily mean no more liberal His game-plan is clear. He calculates he can win enough seats to be in the runing to be prime minister, even without anything near an absolu'e majo- fity. He will therefore demand absolute Control over the cistibution of the Con- gress party nominations for the general election, so that MPs elected on the Congress ticket will owe .their loyalty antroly to him and will not be tompted {o offer thor support to any other leader. They will form a solid base for his ost-electoral manoeuvring. It is a dan- ‘gerous game which could endin disaster before the race for the prime ministership even staits, but Narasimha Rao has no altemative. Luckly for him, no other leader of his own or any other party '5 playing a stronger game yet. 6 Itis diffout toassess Narasimha Rac's chances of euccess. Although he is often. known as the ‘Old Fox’ because of the skillhe has carronstrated in ott-maroeu- ring his rivals over the past five years, he has never shown any aptitude for planning and winning elections. There- fore there must be a possibilty that the Congress under his leadership will not win even enough seats to give him the base he needs to form a minority government, or lead a coalition. Waiting for others to make mistakes On the other hand, Narasimha Reo is a man of great patience who has survived by waiting for his tivale to make mistakes. He allowed the BUP supporters to destroy the mosque. in Ayodhya, knowing that they were xiling the goose that leid the golden egg — the issue which breathed fe ino their strident Hindu campaign. He gave Arun Singh, the only leacer in the Congress to openiy chalenge him, a very long rope, and sure enough, his rival cid hang himselt in the end. In the run-up to this election he has ‘onea again waited for others to make misiakes. He knows that it is not a uestion of how well he does, but of how badly the other parties. do, begnning to look as though the wait game may produce the winner agai The Supreme Cour, which is now a very active watchdog over the admin stration, has insisted thet the police charge some of the politicians whose names have appeared in tho diay of @ man running a Hawale, or toreign- ‘exchange racket. Politcians in India have worn teflon ‘Kuras, and no one quite knows how the Auras have been stained ths time. ‘Some argue itis another Machiavellian plot by the, Prime Minister. Others sey he had to offer up some victims when the Supreme Court insisted on action. But whatever the tuth, the charges havo resulted in the unprecedented rasigna- tion of three Cabinet ministers, which has conveniently quashed yet another incipient revolt within the Congress party and removed the man most taked of as an alternative prime minister. ‘At the same time tne BYP, which has ‘always clalmed itis the only honest party, has found is president charged wit feceiving @ very large sum of money ilegally. This has not exacily helped its campaign to make govorimant corru- ption the major electoral issue. The other ‘opponents of the Congress are sill arguing about alliances and the shering ‘of seats, end show no sign yet of forming an effective ‘Third Front. The beneficiary of disarray There is only one slight probiem for the Prime Minister. He has been named by the accused illegal forelgn-exchange dealer in a statement he gave to the police, This is rot as serious as appee- fing In that diary, but the Supreme Court has ordered the police not to spare anyone. it is therefore possibie that Narasimha Rao could find himself char ged too, in which case he would have ‘no altomative but to resign. Provided he is not charged with corruption. Narasimha Rao will be the beneficiary of the disarray in both his ‘opponents’ camps. ‘He may also win more seals than expected by forming strategic alliances wih different parties in diferent states. So itis possible that, In spite of al the uncertainties of this election, India will emerge with a primo minister who knowing that aga is against a third term, will want to go down in history as the Great Reformer. He would then be prepared to take the polifcal risks Invoved in remiaving more of the hurdles In the way of economic growth. He right ‘even take advantage of the fear the Supreme Court has created to start cleaning the Augean stables that Incia’s pubic life has bacome. That would truly be the task of a Hercules, not a natural tole forthe elderly, indecisive Narasimha Rao. If Narasimha Rao does not relum to power, the general election will. bo another — and perhaps the last — nai in the coffin of te Congress, and there will almost certainly bean unstable ‘government, Then the Cassandras rright al lest be proved right, because there will be no Congress party to pick up the pieces as it did when the previous hon-Congress governments collapsed. It is sobering to remember that al non Congress govemments in Delhi have collapsed.Remembrance of Politics Past The LSSP. Documents of the ‘Thirties and Early ‘Forties Regi Siriwardena Tie, suboct fis pane ie the collection of documents relatir to the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in the pre-war and wartime years down to 1942, edited by Wesley S. Muthiah and Sychey Wanasinghe, and recently published’. The greater part of this -colection has been transcribed from the hitherto confidential documents in the Public Record Office, London, which hhave become open to the public aftor S0yoare. Those include communications between the Govemor in Ceylon and ‘the Secretary of State for the Colonies, intemal documents of the Colonial Office, ‘as well as police reporis from Colombo. The ediors appear to have made an effort to supplement the documents available in Lordon with party docu- ents obtained trom local sources. We must be grateful to the editors for the labour they have devoted to the edllaction and editing of these docu- ‘ments, thus making generally accessible a ‘of valuable and interestng ‘material, Its, however, @ pity that the editing and presentation of the docu- ments fall short of the importance of their subject-matter, What might have been adequale ff the book was merely ‘a party souvenir forits sixieth anniversa- Ty is not good onough for a compilation ‘which will naturally be consulted by students of colonial policy and admini- stration and of the political history of that era. Even though the editors are ot professional historians, some effort should have been made by them to meet the norms generaly maintained in the publication of such documentary mate- Fial. The book doesn’t distinguish syste- matically between the documents der: ‘ved from tho Public Record Office in Londen and others; nor, in the case Of the former, are fila numbers given: this customary practice in qucting such source material would have assisted fulure researchers. It is not stated whether the documents bearing on the LSSP in the London records have been reproduced comprehensively or select- vely. | shall refer later to one document that! have been told exists in the colonial recomds but iss there in the book. Many ‘of the documents are undated, and while in some cases the originals in the Public Record Office may not have carried a date either, there are others where dating should have been easy, but hasn't been done owing to edtoria indiference. For Instance, Dr, Colvin A, de Silvas presi- dertial address to the scoond annual parry confarence is dated by year, month and day, but hie address to the third such conference doasen't cary even the year, though this is given as 1938 on page 22 of the editors’ introduction. On the same page the editors state that they have reprinted three of Dr, de Siva's presidential addresses, and refer 10 Document No. 2 a6 the Tirst of these. However, on turing to the text of that document, we find that itis an article tiled ‘What is Communism?’ by Dr. de Silva, reprinted from the Ceylon Daily ‘News, in which the author thanks the ‘editor for the opportunity to place the Communist or Socialist view before the public, This artide, t00, is undated, though this deficiancy could have been eliminated by a search in the back files of the paper. At the end of the book (pages 257-259) there is reproduced what seems lo be a party document in Sinhala, but this is neitier numbered nor identified Another editorial fault is that explana- tory matter is sometimes inserted in parentheses into the body of 2 text instead of being given in footnotes or endnotes, or at least marked off by square brackets, as Is the scholatly Convention In respect of interpolated ‘matter: falling this, the reader may be left in momentary confusion whothor the explanation is part of the original text ‘Apart from the one contradiction between, introduction and text that | have already noted, there is another serious inaccura~ ‘oy in the editors’ introduction. This is the reference on page 31 to the resolu- tion moved by George . de Siva in the State Counci in May 1941 regarding the detention of fourleaders of the LSSP. ‘The inoducion says: ‘The resolution ‘was worded as follows, “In the opinion of thie Courcil, the four detenus at prosent detained in Kandy should be forthwith released”. However, on turing to the text of the debate included in the body of the book, we find that whlle the form in which the resoluton stood ‘on the order paper was indeed as stated in the introduction, George E. de Siva, fon ‘ising to move #, asked. for and obtained leave to amend it. In its ‘amended form the resolution read: That this Council requests His Excellency the Governor to release the four cetenus at present detained in Kandy under the Defence (Miscellaneous No. 3) Regula- tions dated June 3, 1940. This repre- senied a watering-down of the original wording of the resolution, pethans duo 40 poliical prossures, and the editors should have taken ncta of this. Although the introduction states on page 92, that ‘the entire debate has been included, a reading of the text suggests that there are on pages 243 and 244 brecks and ‘omissions, maybe of less important mater, Iniemuptions and crosstalk, per~ haps, but these hialuses should have been explained. Afurther point regarding the shortsominge of tho’ book concerns. the incompleteness of the collection. It doesnt containa single party programme — neither the one wrich the party issued at the time of its inauguration and which. bore a reformist character, nor the later ‘one, adopted, | believe, in 1941, which was based on a Marist analysis and commitment to socialist revolution. The absence of these documents would seem to indicate that the party hasn't boon as successful in koepingitsrecords, intact as the former imperial rulers! In His preface to the book Mr. Bemard Soysa says: A general reader cannot be expected to see a living pattem of history in. these documents. However, the sponeors in their narrative do to a ‘small oxtant erable the reader to glimpse the living reality. ‘in spite of the qualifia- tion, to a small extent’ | thinkthe editors’ introducton in inadequate to perform this function. Their narration of the history of the LSSP gives the impression that, with the exception of the expulsion of the Stalinists in 1940, that history was a seariess whole, while actually it was 7marked by several breaks and transfor- mations, some of which fell within the petiod covered by the book. | should therefore like to trace whal | see as four phases in the history of the LSP, 80 as to provido a contoxt in which the documents can be placed. The significance of the pre-war LSSP was thatit represented the first attempt, inceed, the only one, to build @ militant aniFimperiaist mass movement on a ational scale in Ceylon. AE. Goone- sinha's Labour Parly had preceded in rousing working-class consciousness and leading major strike actions. Goone- sinha's role in almost sinclehandedly agtatng for and securing universal franchise atthe time of tie Donoughmore Commission has scarcely been given the recognition that t deserves. But Goonesinhe lecked a coherent political perspectve, and by the time of the foundation of the LSSP, he had dectined into racist politics. In Jafina the Gandhian agitation for Swaraj found its response in the polities of the Youth League and the boycott it organised in 1931 of the Donoughmore Constitution, on the ‘ground that nothing short of indepen- dence was accepiable. The Jatina Youth League was more radical than any poitical grouping in the South af that point of ime; ts leader, Handy Perinpa- nayagam, was later to work with the LSSP. Bat the'halional leadership which ‘occupied front stage at the time the LSSP entered the poitical arena — the Ceylon National Congress — had not even a faint echo ot the ant-imperiaist commit- ment of their Indian counterparts. AS the Ceylon National Congress avowed in ts memorandum to the Donoughmore ‘Commission: Ceylon is one of the few British possessions in which the demand for pollical reform has never passed from Constitutional agitation to hostile de- monstation. But the gentlemen leaders. of the Congress, some of whom are sti rtuelly celebrated every year as national he- toes, were not only incapable of leading a popular movement against imperialism: they were against even universal franchi- 8, which they opposed, 10 a man, at the time of the Donoughmors Commis sion. Marxists, in analysing the failure of the Coylonese politcal leadership to promote a milant anti-mperialist move- ment, have emphasised the absence of an industrial bourgeoisie and the depen- 8 dent role of the indigenous landowning and mercantile Glasses in relation to imperialism. But tt seems to me that cone should also lake into account the total cultural colorisstion of these clas- 0s and thoir political roprosontativos. Itwas laftto the new generation of young poliicel intellectuals who formed the LSSP, themselves by origin of the English-educated elte, to bring back from the West the theories of socialism and Nanism which were to stimulate new political development in Ceylon. | think we should be especially thankful to Messrs. Muthiah and Wanesinghe for reprinting from the pages of Hansard the 1941 State Council debate on the LSSP detenus to which I have alreacy referred. i's a docurrent that iluminates Glaningy the pdltical temper of the leadership of the so-called nationalist movement. Clearly, a large proportion of the membership of the Stale Council was more frightened of the ‘subversive’ politics of the LSSP than of ary violation of civil lterties by the colonial govern- ment. Indeed, the Minister of Home Affzirs and his Executive Commitee, composed of State Councilors, had approved of the defence regulators \hich authorised the Govemor to detain persons without tral, and the Minister had concurred in the order for the detention of the four Sama Samaiss. During the debate, which took place nearly a year after the detenton orders were made, G.G. Ponnambalam moved an amendment whose purpose wes 10 make the request for the release o! the detenus conditional cn thelr undertaking ‘not to engage in activities inimical to the successful prosecution of the war to subversive ofthe slability of the State’ ‘This amendment, which was seconded by AE, Goonesinha, was lost. Eut oniy a few members, like Georce E. ce Silva himself and Sirpala Samarakkody (who had a brother under detention), would even lake the liberal position that they disegreed with the polites of the LSS? but would cefend their right not to be detained without trial, Utimately, the resolution, in the form in which it had been adulterated by the mover himsol, squeaked through by a-majorily of a single Voie, with nine abstentions, ‘The LSSP had germinated from the ‘Surya Mal movement, which was an amorphous association of progressive nationalist cloments (two of is leatlots and articlas ara in the book, one of them wwritlen by Doreen Young, tater Doreen Wickramasinghe). The party's public propaganda and agitation were originally, On @ broadly populist radical platform Ithad thom its beginnings a firm commit- ‘ment to full national independence, but its popular base was aso built up by ite opposition to the headman systam, its sland against police repression and Violence, its advocecy of welfare meesu- res and the leadership it gave to workers struggles. However, there was apparen- tly an inner croup within the. leadership whose aim was to_propel the party in the direction of a Marxist revolutionary organisation. But the LSSP's develop- ment from the condition of an open, radical populist movement to a Leniniat- style revolutionary party wasn't consum- mated untl warime arrests and restric. tions drove it underground. This second phase of the party's life was marked by the expulsion of its: Stalinist wing, the adoption of a new, explicty Marxist programme and the reconstitution of its membership on the basis of selected cadres. The period documented by the book fells within these two phases that Ihave outlined. | should like, forpurposes ‘of comprehensiveness, to indicato briefly whal I regard as the two subsequent phases of the party's history. The third phase began with the resumption of open public ife by the party alter the end ‘othe war. During that thrid period there wasa gracual shiftin the centre of gravity of the party from revolutionary to partia- meniary activity, bringing it closer, in practice though not yet in theory, to the charactor of a social-democratic poliical ‘organisation. That shits, in itself, not to ba regretted, since the earlier goal of proletarian revolution was a ctimera If nothing else had changed, the LSSP. right have emerged as the effeciive ‘social-cemocratic altemative to the UNP. But the dominance of Sinhela ethno-na- tionelism in the micfittes and the ascen- dancy of tie SLFP presented the party with new challenges. Once dass was overshadowed by etmicity as the main basis of political mobiisation, tho LSSP. went into decine as an independent political force. This was the matker of the fourth phase of the partys He, as is evidenced by its twists end tuns on the ethnic question in the last three decades, in tesponse to extemal pres sures. In 1955-56 the party had stood valiantly against ‘Sinhala ony’; it suren- dered to that policy on entering the first coalition with the SLFP in 1964, and in 1985-66, it made a 180-decree tum from its position a decace earier,lining up behind the SLFP. to oppose Dudley Senanayake's language regula- tions. In 1972 Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, (on behalf of the United Front gover- ment, wrote Sinhala as the only official language into the Constitution. This meant thal where the legal validity of ‘Sinhala only’ hed until then rested on an Act of Parliament, which could have been amended by a simplo majority, it now had a status that could be altered only by a two-thirds majority. The 1972 Constitution aiso gave Buddhism prima~ cy ofiplace, and made no concessions to Tamil demands. To lament these shifts on the part Of the LSSP is not jusi to make a felsh of consistency. In the ‘fities and early clities the Tamil poole could stil look fon the left movement as the significant political force in the south which defen- ded their rights. In abandoning them, the LSSP (and CP with #) accentuated the elhnic polarisation of ourpoitcs, and thus contributed to the triumph of exire- ‘me nationalism end of separatism in the north. The 1972 Constitution, it may be recalled, was the procurser to the Vaddu- kedai resolution in whieh a leading Teril party for the first time put separatism on the poltical agenda. In recert years severel people have ‘quoted approvingly the dictum attributed to Dr. Colvin R. de Siva in 1856, Two languages, ono country; one languago, two countries’. Well, | suppose prophets should be honcured even when they have gone back later on their own prophetic insghis. But if it has now become respectable toquote that cictum, it's baceuse the two major Sinhala-based parties Nave themselves shifted trom their original uncompromising positions: the Jayewardene government in 1987 ‘enacting tho 13th and 16th Amondments land the Provincial Councils Act, and the present President making since 1994 more extensive moves towards devolu- tion. On both these occasions the LSSP supported the new initiatives, but one can hardly say thal the'r political agitation of activity made a big difference in bringing about the changes. In the first case, il.was Indian pressure thet was decisive; in the second, it was the outlook of the new leader of the SLEP. Having brought the history of the LSSP up to date — from my own point of view, of course — | wish to go back now in tie tothe year 1840 and discuss the first ‘major transformation in the orientation of the party. In that year the Executive Committee of the LSSP, by a majority of 29 votes to 5, adopted the folowing resolution: In view of the failure of the Thid Intemational to guido itself by tho reeds of the international revolutionary working class movement, the Lanka ‘Sama Samaja Party, whie re-affiming iis support for and solidariy with the ‘Soviet Union, the first workers state, declares that it no longer has confide- fee in the 3rd International. ‘That resolution tod to the expulsion of tho Stalinist group in the LSSP, who Decame the nucleus of the future Co- mmunist Perty. In his great three-volume biography of Trotsky, Isaac Deutscher noted the fallure of Trotsky’s adherents successt- lly to build mass pares anywhere, ‘wih the pecuiiar exception of Ceylon’. | had a personal conversation with Deutscher in London in 1952, in which he expressed his curiosity about how that ‘exception’ could be expained. | should like to suggest thet the triumph of Tretskyism inside the LSSP was more than a fortuitous crcumstance. Both Stalinism and Tro'skyism have now receded in the perspective of history. The LSSP of oday no longer pays even lipservice to Trotskyiom, while the fact surviving admirer of Stalin in Sti Lanka is probably Mr, Dayan Jayatileke. But | wish to eraue that the question of Trotskysm vs. Stalinism was in 1940 a question that had very direct implications for the practical poitics of a left party in Ceylon. The gravitation of the LSSP leadership ‘away from the Third International, or ‘Comintem, had taken place in. the context of the Popular Front policies ‘which the Intemational had imposed on all Communist parties. With the dift towards an European war, the Comin- tems efforts had been concentrated on building up bread alliances of ant-fascst. parties which would favour, in the inter national arena, an alliance between the democratic Western powers and the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. This line, which reflec ted the defensive needs of the Soviet Urion, had, itis true, been temporary submerged by the time the LSSP rroved. its anii-Comintern resolution. Stalin had starled the world, and indeed the Gom- Mmunist pares themselves, by signing the noraggression. pact with Hiller’ Germany on the eve of the war. But the Popular Front line would be revived two years later once Germany attacked the Soviet Union. ‘What wore the implications of this fine for socialist partios in cclorial counties like India and Ceylon? Once Britain became a warime ally of the Soviet Union, the line involved suspension of the ant-imperiaist struggle and support of the war effort in the interests of the ‘defence of the Soviet Unon. The Communist parties of India and Ceylon proved this by changing thor attitude to tho war, proclaiming that the imperialist war had been transformed inio a ‘peo- e's war, and, in Indie, opposing the “Quit Indie’ movement of 1942, ‘The LSSP's dissociation of itself from the Comintern was, therefore, farsighted inthe contextof the international situation andite possible repercussions on Ceylon politics. But there was another factor, more direclly related to the character ‘of class forces in Ceylon, which must have contributed to the LSSP's repudia- tion of the Cornintem. In the Popular Front petiodie, the Comintarr’s poly for colonial countries was that Communist parties should support the national bourgeosis in ther countries in furtherance of the strategy ‘of building broad national fronts. Against both Sialinisis and Trotskysts, | would hold today that the question of the characier of the national bourgecisie, its tole in relation to imperiatsm and the degrees ofits progressive or reactionary nature, is one to which the answers had {0 vary from country to country, and even ethaps between one period and anc- ther. In India, for instance, there was indeed at his time a nationel bourgecisia laying an oppositional role to imperia- lism. But in Ceylon, where the bourgeo-. sie and its poliical leadership were interested only in bargaining for javours from the imperial rulers, the Comintem line was politically stultiying. This was fully demonstrated in 1947 when the Communist Pay, docilely looking round. for a national bourgaois leadership to ‘support, codid find one only in he United National Party! (fa be Continued) Notes 4. WesleysS, Mubiah and Sydney Wanasinoh (eds), Briain, World War 2 and the Sama ‘Samajss (1996: A young Socialist publica- {on}, Fs. 300.CRISIS OF MARXISM PART (3) Waiting for Zyuganov Dayan Jayatilleka “Socialism must be the realisation of the banner of the French Revolution on which is inscrbed sberly, equality, fratemty”. — Karl Kautsky. ‘Die Blutige Revolution’ p 961 (1933). tall seamed to come. together, for the first time, at the inception of the French Revolution. The main emancpa- tory yeamings of the oppressed were summed up in the slogan Liberty, Equa- lity, Fretemity. There has been nothing before or since which encompassed so fully, the wishes and stivings of humanity for a diforont and better world. The three key terms of this slogan correspond, to my mind, to three great psychological impulses of human beings. The tragedy of all revolutions from the American to cate, has been the absence of one or the other, or the spitting up, ‘the divergence, of these three neble impulses. The subsequent evolution of the French Revolution itself is stark testimony to this. The 20th century has been an ideological Century par excelence. True, there have been centuries in which wars have been fought between those viho nad different ideas, bul these were often ‘ot fought over those ideas; the excep- tion being of course, religous wars. The Napoleonic wars were examples of conflicts between those who had very ditferent governing ideas. and philoso- Phies. However, no century nas been ‘as dominated as ours by conflicts driven by secular ideas and belief systems. Furthermore, in no century have there been such elaborately worked out end Powerful idoologies. Thus, the 20th century can be best defined as the century of ideological contestation, the ideological Century. What were the main ideologies at play in our century? Democracy, National Independence, Selt Determination, So- cialism, Communism, Fascism ard Fe- minism. Of these Democracy and Self Determination could be said to have been the most powerful, since even Socialism and Communism mey be inierpreted as emphasizing social end economic democracy, in a radlcalised for, as distinct from and most often, opposed to politcal democracy. In tis sense, the siniggle between thise who upheld poltical demosracy and those ‘who championed socio-economic demo- racy, can be said to have boon one of the main — # rot indeed the main — ideological confct of this century. National independerce, national libe- ration, sovereignty and even forrinism ‘could be said lo stom from and emphasi- se tha right to self-determinaticn, The dominance of the idea ‘of demo- racy is demonstrable in nagativa, rever- se fashion in that fascism, the other strong ideology of the century was a reaction to and the polar opposte of all forms of democracy — poliical and socio-economic — and to those palitical Movements besed on these two variants of democracy. Democracy and Seff Determination are thus, arguably the parent ideologias of this ideologeal century. I would advance the hypotheses that firsly the main contending ideologies of this century — Democracy, Socialism, Communism, Sel-Determinalion & Fa: sscism, correspon to diterent psycholo- gical aspecis, characteristics and impul ses of humanity. Therefore, a history of ideas of the 20th century has to be @ psychohistory of the 20th century. Socondly, these ideologies are formed when the paychological impulses inter face with unovon development. Thirdly, the ebb and fall of the psycho- logical impulses themselves are rooted in uneven development. The Paris Commune, the Russian revolution of 1917 up until the dissolution in early 1918. of the Constituent Assembly, the Allende years in Chile, the Nicaraguan: revolution until it chan ged its economic strategy — all these Were moments when the troika of slo- ans held together, But these moments Were few and far between. The nom. was. thal some. continued to uphold ‘ertewtile cracking down on those who stood for egalte, while in other cases, the egalitarian or. social radical thrust ‘was at the expense of indvidual liberty. In order for social justice to be realized, i was folt that individuel rights and democratic tberties had to be jettisoned — not only those of the old oppressors but also of thoso who were opposed to the implementation of a more radical programme. Either of these two ott ‘comes meant that the /ra/emite within the revolutionary ranks was also a casuaty. Nost explanations of the unfreedom under the Socialism that ‘really existed’, source it in scarcity, itself due to the hettoization of the revolution ‘in back: ward Russia. Nomadic — pastoral socie- ‘ies are however a demonstration that unfreedom does not inevitably result irom scarcity. The unfreedom under socialism, stems perhaps from two. other factors being present together with that of scarcity, oF more correctly, two cther factors operating upon that of scarcity. These were the attempt to achieve rapid development of the forces of production Le. tapid growth to eliminate backward ness, while simultaneously eradicating Inequality and the od class structure. ‘There was no way to acrieve both these objectives, in a contest of backwardness, ‘and postwar chaos — Lenin expressed 1mote than once, in 1917, his fear of anarchy — other than through dicta- torship.. A factor thet is sometimes acknon- edged, but never attributed anything akin to its true importance, is the impact that the defeat of the Paris Commune had on the Bolsheviks. True, the Commune was upheld as 2 model and true, the Commune operated on the’ elective principle, but it was crushed. its crus- hing was attrisuted by Marx and Lenin, to its excessve democratism, to its excessive moderation (‘they should have marched on the Bourse”). Lenin and the Bolsheviks were haunted by the possibilty of the same fate befalling the Russian Revolution and they were determined, for the seke of the world proletariat, that this would notbe allowed to happen again, whatever the cost. ‘Though there are no explicit reterences that prove it, t is also highly probable that the Bolsheviks considered the direct democracy of the Commune to have been unwieldy when it came to decision making in the context of bloody warfare. Mar seemed to have been of this viow too when he said, in a letter dated April 1871, that the Central Committee of the National Guard ‘eurrendered its power too soon to make way for the Commune’. (K. Marx fo L Kugelmann, 12th Apri 1871 SC p. 319 cited io Ralph Mifband ‘Marsism & Pollics’ OUP. p. 135), Centralsation was necessary. Hence, even the Soviets were not felishized or absoluised — and indeed were considered: secondary and. ex- pendeble. Stil, it does not answer our question as to why the abandonment Of poltical and individual liberty was not regretted as a relreat. Surely the expla- nations, regrets, debates and ambiva- lence thet attended the NEP would have bean as much waranted as concems democracy? Apart irom the class analyses of these revolutionary processes, which have explaned these trade-offs in terms of class or fractional struggles, there seems to have been psychological fectors at werk, which made the pollical actors heirarchise these emancipatory causes; which made them downgrade some and 12 even see them as choices — as a zero sum game. Why the readiness to saciifce one ceuse for the other, to feel that this sacriico was necessary; thet it somehow made one purer, tuer to one’s cause? Why tha incapacity to 560 tho thro great causos as interde- pendent, indeed as a eymbictic trinity? What psychological mechaniem ce- mes into play here? In othor words, what ware the peycho- logical factors which contributed to tha split betwaen those who upheld poltical democracy and those who privileged socio-economic democracy; batween those who valued and defended liberty and those who advocated and fought for equality and fraternity? Fer the political democrats, indiv- dual iberty was the cornerstone and this extended to private property. Any inroads info private property for the sake of ‘greater equality was seen as the begin- ning of despotism and those who advocated it were perceived as highiy dangerous to civilization, For the radical egalitarians, political democracy, since it did not address the issues of unjust socal and economio. structures, was seen as a sham, a hypocrisy. Social ‘and economic issues were ‘teal’ indiv- dual liberty and politcal democracy was not. ‘These came to be seen as something ‘worse —a device for delay and dilution; a diversion, a trap. Due to these mutual misperceptions, polafizetion set in and the proponents of ihe two wings or faces of cemocracy became deadly enemies, On the left flank (even of the Let) gathered those who valued speed, rap progress in tackling the ‘real’ Issues of material injustice and poverty. Radica- lism, extremism wes fet 0 be an indicator of purity. Poverty was visible, material, its effects tangible; the conse- ‘quences of the sccio economic structu- fes allected laige numbers. No worder then, thal this dimension was seen 2s, more teal. Especially in the wake of the First World War, acherence {0 norris and values of pluralism and consensus, were, understandably, seen as a criminal delay. The two ideologies that promised to athere to all three tenels have failed. These are Anarchism and Social Demo- ‘racy. (A third, Libertarian Communism, never feally developed as a serious ceurrant). They have both broken on the rock of ensuring economic. progress. Humanity’s impulse for the new end for more, together with the far mora munda- no necesstios of providirg employment, for instance, have placed eccnomic growth and modemisation inescapably on the poliical agenda The Communists were able, for many decades, not only to meet the challenge but to credbly claim that they could do it better. The Anarchists have been manifestly and chronically unable to. This, together with their inebilty to forge an efficient cisco: ‘ned fighting force in those situations where warfare had become necessary, demonstrated that the Anarchist synthe- sis of liberty, equally and fratemiy had litle practical utility. Indeed this failure reinforced the sense that the three slogans were incompatible. The Social Democrats merely manages the existing capitalist system, adapting to t and introducing reforms that were cosmetic of al least made no qualitative strides inthe direction of equality and fraternity Those Social Democrats who strove to do otherwise — the Left Social Demo- crats — either met wih such fierce resistance as to cause their ouster or ‘mellowing, or mismanaged the economy 80 badly as to wind up with one of the same outcomes. The critiques of Left ‘Social Democracy made by those to the Right and Lett of them, failed to address the problem of holding. together the concerns of liberty, equally and fra: emily. For instance the Chilean CPs citique of the lettwing of Allende’s party, held that a more moderate economic ‘course, which would have made possible alliances wih a sector of Christian Democracy and the bourgeoisie, could have saved the regime. Whether true ff not, this would have placed on the back bumer, the quest for greater social Justice and equality. The converses rue f the Chilean MIRs entique and, propo- sals, Sutfce to say, Mey strove — ‘unsuccessful and perheps unconsciou- sly — 0 be the Jacobins of the Chilean experiment. Quite the same set ofchoices can be eeen to have boon in ‘operation in the (often violently) conten- ding fires during tho Spanish Republic of tho 1906. Perhaps the lesson then is that a synthesis is not possible when in power, cor at war. Since itis usually the case that genuinely progressive and. radical experiments meet with attempts at armed counter revolution and blockades i.e. finds iisef under seige, the trade-off between the slogans is also usuel, while in the ease of @ peaceful assumption ‘of power, the economic stake holders ‘re so entrenched that the dice isloaded against any attempt that goes beyond welfarism in the direction of equality and. fratemiy. Thus, the readiness with which the various currents of a liberatory movement dverge, each privileging one or the other of the three great slogans, is perhaps simply a recosnition of ne- cessity, of inevitability — and cannot be fauled. Nor can one fault the social radicals for contempt and hosilty to- wards the liberals (bourgecisie or the inteligentsia) and the latter’s hypoorisy.. This does not fully explain the disregard for liberty. The absence of any regret over these choices, the lack of any pubic recognition of a retreat from the ideal, the assertion that what is taking place is an advance, the zeal with which the new course is prosecuted — all these point beyond structural ineviabilty, or, beyond that alone, to the existence of a psychological mechanism at work. Is It possiole to sustain the combina- tion of these three macro-values, for any significant period of time, be it out of Power? | would submit that the answer lles In a study of the 1960's which witnessed, in the counterculture, the longest sustained upholdng of hese three commitments. Incividual freedom, a sense of fralemily and a socal egalitarianism; a high degree of indivi- dualism, a high. premium on individual expression, went hand in hand with a certain collectivism, a sense of brother hood and generational solidarity for over a decade, in what Charles A Reich called Consciousness Ill — and provided the best description of in his book ‘The Greening of America’. The ‘Woodstock Nation’ of 1968 was the highwaler mark. ‘and. most shining symbol of this con- sciousness. An important point to note jg that the "60s consciousness had an Intemationalism that was almost axio- ‘matic, It was transmitted and perhaps evencreatad in large meesure, by music. In the vanguard of the new intemationa- lism were musicians, traveling trouba- ours who, this time, used jet planes. This internationalism's identity was mai- nly generational, but not exclusively so, as the strong anti-Vienam War protests ‘and the invocation of Ho Chi Minh (and Nao) showed. The ani-Vietnam War protests — which were not limted to the USA where the draft was in oparation — proves that the internationalism was ‘ot simply musical, but also very much politcal. It was as if the slogan of the naw intemationalism was “Youth and ‘oppressed peoples of the world, unite!” The dominant forms. of organization, the vanguard forms, of the 1980's were root trade unions and partes, but the guerrila tand end the rock band But, of course, this consciousness came, stzyed and went. Its ending, is incapabilty to aifect ne economic siruc- tures of Iniquity, show its limits. came Into beng dua to, or against he becktrop dt, cerain. crcumstances. I's falure to deal with State violence and to effect economic — structural change caused the emergence from the broad Move- mert, of many hard Left groups, who were no longer committed to the three major valves of iberty, equality, fraternity — and, it must be added, were compiete- Jy unsuccessful al tackling those pro- lems that brought them Into existence, though they did pose a psychological ‘and symbolic challenge to the Stale at sore poiats, A number of dissident socialist move- ments, or movements in their invarabiy early) dissident socialist phase, such es Solidarinosc, upheld the three values, ut at a laler stage, embraced quile Rightwing postions, Tilo's Yugoslavia, no movement but a fully fledged slate, was once upheld by Trotskyisis as incamating the values of democracy and socialism, but of course it did not. A fairly low premium on individual and politcal liberty went hand in hand with a tilt towards the West in word affairs, which hardly consiltuted testimony of {fealty to social equality ard the fraternity of the oppressed! Does all this mean thatit is impossible to sustain the three great slogens of liberty, equality and fratemity if taken together? It seems so, at least in power. ‘Aiso in corditions of warfare, though the Sandinistas and the Zapaiistas of Mexico in the 1990s may be exceptions that do not prove the rule but rather provide a glimmer that possibilities exist for @ synthesis. Tha youth movement of the 1960's deserves serious study since I censiitutes perhaps the longest persis- tence of this synthesis at the level of consciousness, though its limita- tions, failures and eventual repercus- sions provide ample material for & ‘Critique of Pure Consciousness’. What then are we left with? The ex-Communist paries coming back to ower in Easter Europe ard the former Balle Republics seem to be fotowing the path of the Western Social Demo- rats or the Brtish Labour Party, with some of them (¢.g. Polanc) wishing to Jon NATO. For the first ime in Russia though, we aré facing the possibly of a Communist Party, one which has not renounced Marx and Lenin, demo- cratically assuming power in a major independent county, either on jis own of at the head of a coation. (In India of course, CPs have been in power in nor-independent States), We shall see witether the party wil go the od way of downgiading political and individual fiberies in favour of ‘real issues of social ‘equality, or place social concems on the back bumer whie attempting to manage the fledgling capitalism or whether it wil be able to avoid the Great Trade-off and hold up, equally high, the banners of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Per haps for the first lime, there is a reel structural possibilty and pressures for doing so, anc structural constraints against coing otherwise. Everything hinges on whether there Is an economic ‘embargo (a la Cuba) or armed counter revolution (a la Gaile, Spain) or more simply, a return to the Cold War. NEXT: CHINAA Selection of the ‘Finest International Brands. CHEESE DIAPERS: BREAKFAST CEREALS. HUGGIES Maxwell ‘SUNSWEET. House ae DIAPERS PRUNES (omer) pore DENTAL CARE Ardmona Palmolive ‘CANNED FRUITS GNIGKERS] PERSONAL CARE LURPAK DMI ee BUTTER BOUNTY SOUPS AND PASTA FooDs TOMATO PRODUCTS TOBLERONE ee ENVIS FLA — ce @ Sole Agents PURE FRUIT JUICE CANNED MEATS 833, Siimavo Bandoronaike Mawatha, P.O. Box 1970, Colombo 14. Tel: 522671-2, 622630, 522822, 522934, £22155, 622873. Telex: 21418 Tasetedt CE, 21991 Selpro CE, 23426 Solloc CE. Cable: Tassted. Telefax: (941) 522913. Quality and Variety within your reach.MAKING OF A REVOLUTIONARY Philip the Exile Lakmall Gunawardena I am pleased to have got an opportur early years. {to add a few words to this short biography of Philip Gunawardena’s When I was busy writing “The History of Buddhism in Ceylon’” I spent a good deal of time at Samanabedda as the guest of Capt. D.S. Gunasekera, At that time his nephew Philip was a student in America. Tt was quite obvious to me that uncle Gunasekara thought very highiy of his nephew Philip. ‘When Philip returned from USA I met him at Samanabedda and we became at once intimate friends. 1m political and social activities we were together. T can never forget the three days I enjoyed with him at Welikada prison when we were detained there for the “‘sake’ of law and order” during a strike. One of Philip's important contributions to the political life may be his adapting Marxism to suite the traditional culture of our county. During my close astociation with Philip { caw that he was really a leader. Prof. Dr. Walpola Sri Rabula Chancellor, University of Kelaniya, ‘The Young Anandian Coylon, before and aftr the first World War had been under British colonial rule for over a century. Although covered byan English governor and administered by the Bilich cil service, with a plantation economy that fed the Pai there was a conscientious and militant ‘group of educated Ceylonese, forming themselves into @ national movement. ‘Among its leaders were F.R, and DS. ‘Senanayake, AnhurV. Dies, 0.B. Jayati- eke, Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Pon- nambalam Ramanathan, Victor Corea, ‘and writers Rev. S. Mahinda and Piya- dasa Sirona. Several Buddhistschools, inclusing Ananda and Nelanda College for boys, and Visakha Vidyalaya and Musoaus Collage for gits, had been founded in the nationals cultural revival. Popular plays written on themes based ‘on Buddhism and Ceylonese history, ‘such as John de Silva's Sirisangabo and Vessantara, bagan tobe siaged.at Tower Hall theatre. The Mzhabodhi Sociaty founded by a broakaway group of the Buddhist Theosophical Society, was enlarging iis membership under the direction of the Anagarka Dharmapala. The British administration seemingly folerated al this but was prompt in quelling any disturbance of the peace with ruthless miltary foreo. This was evident in the riots that arupted in 1915, in protest againet colonial rule, rosulting in the impriconmont of several loading nationalists, which undoubtedly steng- thened the zeal of the thair movement for aif rule. ‘The year was perhaps 1917. In the ‘Ananda Collage hostel, the older stu- dents who had been in the habit of frequenting Tower Hall music plays around the comer, had invited some of the musicians they had befiended, to a variety entertainment. As the event had continued into the night, and the drummer lived too far to retum at that late hour, the question came up of where he could be housed. A difference of opinion arose about putting him up for the night at the hostel, and the principal's permission was sought, He nuled that the drummer should find sleeping ac- ‘commodation outside for the night. Two young students sneaked him in and allowed him to'sleep in thelr dorm. Some irate hostellers, piqued by a tow caste! being lodged in their dorm, reported the two brothers, Hamry and Philip Guna+ wardena to the principal. ‘The principal of Ananda Collego, Mr. P do Kularatne, a strict disciptinerian, incensed at the defiance of the Gunawar- dena brothers, called up their guarcien and uncl, Captain DS. Gunasekora who was teaching at Nalanda Colleg ‘and informed him that the boys would have to be removed from the hostel immediately, and found fodging else- where. Itwas arranged that they room at the rasidence of a friend of Captain Gurase- era, Mr. TB. Jayah, then a teacher at Ananda College, who was in the nationalist struggle for solf rule and later becarre a cabinet minister in the govern- ments of independent Ceylon, Recoun- {ing this incident in later years to Rov. 18Welpola Rahula, Captain Gunesekere had said that young Philip, the flery of the two brothers had accused the princi- pal of insincerity. Living at Mr. T.B. Jayah’s, young Philip Gunawardena along with his brother Harry, ceme In contact with a group of intellectuals Involved in the cultural revi val of colonial Ceylon, who used to meet at Sravast’, the residence of Dr. WA. de Siva, to discuss matters pertaining to the tevval of a national identity. ‘Among them were Victor Corea, Angar'- ka Dharmapala and John de Siva. This was young Philip Gunawardera’s first ‘exposure to Ceyionese nationalist pol- tics. The eldest of the Gunawerdena bro- thers, entered Law College in Ceylon after matriculation, and Philip the Univer sily College soon after, to study ecoro- mics. Ater an years study there, ne expressed a wish 0 go oversees, to pursue his studies in a western country. Breaking wih a tradition where sons of the Caylonese elte were sent to British Unwversities, Philip decides to pursve his studies in economics in the United Slates. This decision was probably due fo the aniipathy towards the British in the farnly. Philip's father, DW.R, Gunawardena, or Boralugoda Ralahamy as he was more popularly known, a wealtty planter from Hewagam Korale, who had also been Imprisoned for a brief period during the Tio's of 1915, possibly told his son to choose to go elsewhere. In fact, even discussing his younger brother Ropers future studies after matriculation, Philp wrote to his brother Harry in 1924 from ‘America, “I hope he will do well in his matiiculae tion exam, then he may go to Denmark and study agriculure”, never mentioning England. ‘The fect that the school they attended, Ananda College, had been founded by the American thoosophist Colonel Olcott, who had contributed greaty to the revival ‘of Budchiem in colonial Ceylon would have contributed to this decision. 16 ‘So in 1922, Philip headed for the University of Iino, in Urbana-Champa- ‘ne to further his studes in business and econorrics. In America Young Philip Gunawardena anived in ‘America in 1922 at the age of 21, when the country wes entering the “Roaring Twenties". Itwes a time of extravagance and excess in American society. Industry \was thriving and business was booming, ‘As President Calvin Coolidge who held office for the larger part of the decade said, “The: chief bushvess of the Ameti- can people is business’. Even Prhiti- tion gave rise to boollegging, made into ‘a roaring business by Al Capone Chicago. Henry Ford mada his fortune producing the motor car, that gave mobility to the people as never before and Randofph Hurst built his publishing empire out of Calfomia, The telephone and telegraph services popularised and developed communication to give further impetus to accelerated business. In the arts, the silent movie made @ megastar of Charlie Chaplin a radical actor who mocked the adverse effec's of big industry in hs films. Women were active in the Suffragette movement and started “podbing” ther hair in defiance of Edwardian norms, Coming into American society in this dynamic age, the student from Ceylon, Don Gunawardena as he was called, would have had to butfer i's culture shock, when he first registered for his B.A, at the University of -tlinois at Urbana-Ghampagne. In a letter to his brothers Harry and Aobert, with whom fhe corresponded throughout his stay overseas, Ne describes the fist impres- slons of winter, of a son of the tropics. “For the last two weeks we have had sub-zero weather. A freezing tempera- ture is nothing; but when it goes 20 degrees below zero, you can imagine What it would be — 53 degrees below freezing. You have to cover-up your ears and noses lest they freeze. The sidewalks are covered with ice, and ‘you can just imagine how steadily one ‘canwelk on a polished glass surface”, After two years there, following cour- ses in philosophy, economics and busi ness, he transferred to the University ‘of Wisconsin in Madison, which he described years later as a beautiful university situated on the benks of three lakes called Mendota, Menona and Vingra, one of the most beautiful campuses in America’ Teaching at Madison in the twenties was the distinguished politcal ecientist Thorstein Veblen under whese guidance Philip formed a keen awareness of current evonts, as wo soo in a lettor to his brothers in 1924, commenting on the polical scene in the US and Eurape. “The country is about to have a very exciting period due to the Presidential nominations. Mr. Henry Ford has very wisely retired from his campaign in favour of Coolidge. President Coolidge who succeeded Harding is sure of his victory. Ford quielly traded his candi= dacy with the “Muscle-Shoals” water power plant. The moment Ford heard this he deciined the invitation to run for Presidency, and began tonegotate for getting this hycroelectric plant — one of the largest in the country. So you can see that even democratic America is not free from graft and the influence of greed”. “4 think even Europe is setting down to normalcy. But no longer is England the master of the house. Frence dominates the scene, as at no other time in her history, except the two Napoleons”. then on England, “England Is about to enter into a new experiment on Monday, 21st. 1 can not say what @ Labour government wil do under MacDonald and Snow don; especially when It fs Liberal that makes a Labour Government even possible. Asquith has supported La- our with all his strengu, unike the ‘opportunist Lioyd George” ‘and observes “But we can be sure that Ceylon wil ‘not get self governmant even at the hands of Labour".Young Don as he was called in Madison threw himself info student Ife and seemed to thrive in it, He moved from the University YMCA to a typical early American house with a. wooden front porch overlooking Michigan Boule- vard, that he would recall forty years later from the veranda of his house on Kirilegona Avenue. He bought an old Ford with a friend. In the summers he would go swimming in the lakes wih his friends among whom were two Ceylonese, Don Wiliam and Chandra Gooneratne. He took lessons in karate and worked himself up to a blackbelt a skill he used in seff defence on John Kotelawala in later years in the Stale Council. A photograph in the college magazine of 1924 of the Intemational ‘Club shows an intensely built, wiry, dark Asian with wavy hair, sporing a Chapin moustache and a heavy overcoat, right fist clenched in posing. Recounting the days in Wisconsin to his children, he remembered that once he had swum out far into lake Menona, when he felt’a cramp twist in his right ‘alt. Siowly he had tumed on his back, ‘and shouted for help to his friends who were closer to the shore. He had kept afloat, a dark figure in the immense waters of the lake, til they reached hin and pulled tim ashore. ‘Among the friends he made in the Intemational community were three Indians with whom he kept the bonds Of friendship throughout his life — vayaprakash Narayan who ike Philp Gunawarcena entered politics on his Tetum t0 India, Sitaramaiah who qualified 83 a scientist and went to work for the Soviet goverment, and Vishnu Nimokar who returned to Bombay to take up his father’s business. In 1964 Philip Guna~ wardena remembered his friendship with Jayaprakash Narayan thus in a parlia- mentary speech, “L stil remember the days | spent with Jayaprakash Narayan In the campus at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1824 and 1925. We discussed whe- ther Gnandian non-violence would be efiective in securing independence for India. At that ume | held the view — because | had no! started reading Marx — that Ghandian non-violance woud be effective; but my fiend Jayaprakesh Narayan, who. studied ‘Chemistry at Wisconsin, held the view that it was not going to change the face of India — the social structure — in the way that Ghandi wanted”. ‘Another sirong friendship he formed, ‘was with Soott Nearing, a young Socialist writer who ceeply impressed the minds of the three Asian students. Nearing recalled their frst meeting with Dinesh, Phifp's third son who was studying in the US. in the early 70's, over a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner, in his house in Greenwich Villaga, New York. It was perhaps 1924,. Scott Nearing had been in Madison, on a lecture tour ‘of Midwestem Uriversiies, to promote tis book "How to become a Revoiutio- ary. During the lecture, two Asian students had asked so many questions that he had found it hard to goon with fis speech. So he had asked them to slop and let him continue, that he would gladly answer their queries afier he had wound up. The two young Asians were Don Gunawardena and. Jayaprakash Narayan. When he met them after his, lecture, Scott took a liking to the two enthusiastic students and had invited them to dinner at a nearby cafe, where they had discussed the issues he had spoken on til the late hours. He had then left them, after giving them more of his books, which he had had piled high in the back of his car. Litle did he realise then, that he hed it a sparc in young Gunawardena end Narayan that would blaze into poliical movements ten years hence in far off Ceylon and India. Philip recalled the effect the ‘meeting with Scott Nearng had had on him, forty years later. “lremember discussing with Jayapra- kash Nerayan, and several othars, far inlo the night, in the campus at Madison... and by 1925 these discus- sions made both of us convinced of socialism”. Despite an active student life in Madi- son, Don Gunawardena decided to ‘transfer once more, 0 continue. his undercraduate” studies, this ime to Columbia University, in. New York. The harsh mic-westem winters had not been kind to his health, and he began to suffer from acute sinusitis. So, after three years of study in business and economics with plans of completing his degree and setting up an office in the rubber trade for his fathers business agency in Ceylon, he moved in 1925 to New York City. PART 2: BUSINESSMAN IN U.S. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Air Mail Canada/U.S.A. US$ 65/ for 1 year US$ 45/ for 6 months U.K, Germany, New Zealand, ‘Australia, Netherlands, France, Japan, Holland, Phillippines, Ausiria, Norway, Sweden, China, Ireland, Switzerland, Nigeria, Belgium, Denmark, Paris, London, US$ 55/ for 1 year US$ 35/ for 6 months Hong Kong. Saudi Arabia, Dubai. Baharin, Arabian Gull, Syria. Singapore. USS 45/ for 1 year USS 25/ for 6 months India, Pakistan. US$ 40/ for 1 year USS 22/ for 6 months Local Rs, 250/- for 1 year Rs. 150/- for 6 months 7SAARC Managing Strategic Issues John Gooneratne (Regional Centre for Strategic Studies) “Trust in Allah — But tie your camel” [Bedouin saying) Introduction ‘This paper is concemed with the aroa Of stratenic relations. A dicfonary definition of ‘staategic’ speaks of the military aspect Of the otigin of the word. From this, the idea of strategy in intemational relations ‘comes to comprise concepts such as power, ‘secuity, national securily, the application and exploitation of force in hle-state relations, intelligence, bargsining andnago- fiaing among states, gaopoliics etc. For Purposes of a ‘Sri Lenka perspective’, one can work on the basis of the foliowing description — how are Sri Lanka's interests furthered, and its naforal security preser- ved andior strengthened through the me- chanism of SAAC. And rallonal secuity ig not used hora in the narrow sense of military security alone, but is taken to ‘comprise other elements such as economic and social attributes also. Archaeology of SAARC AA very brief look at the archaeology of SAARC can help illuminate aspects ofits personaly. In terms of iis age, it is a latecomer on to the scere of such institu- tions, having beon sot up only in 1085, ‘The countries that comprise SAARC, hew. ever, are not all recent staies: Nepal was already an independent state by 1923; India (1847); Pakistan (1947); Sri Lenka (1948); Maldives (1965); Bangladesh (1871); and Bhutan (oins UN in 1971). ‘SAARC was set up even by 1985, largaly ‘due to the determined push of Bangledesh. At its preparatory stages there was a ‘considerable amount of suspicion and Fesistance fo the formation of such a ‘groupng for South Asia, on the part of Inda, who saw the whole scheme as an atiompt by tho Liliputs to tie down Gulliver. When Indian suspicions were allayed, it resuracted Pakistani suspicions that anything that India acrees to must conceal an anti-Palistani trap. A considerable amount of time was spent on trying to allay the different apprehensions of coun- The views are tose Of the witer and Ob 10H necessariy relect the views of ROSS. 18 tries, There were certain subjecis that some ‘counties considered taboo. What was eventually agreed fo was a lowest common ‘denominator of subject areas for SAARI. ‘These suspicions and apprehensions aro for real, and were refecied in the Charier of SAARC that was signed by the seven Heads cf Stale or Govemment on 8 December 1985 at Dhaka, and set out what ‘SAARC was designed t0 do. ‘The “Objectives” of SAARC incuded “to promote the welfere of the peoples of South Asia", “lo accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural develo- Pment’in the regon’, “lo promote and strenghen collactve ‘self relance", “lo slrengihen cooperation with otier develo- ping countries", “te ecoperale With intema- tional and ragional organizations with eimi- lar aims and purposes” etc. While the “Principles” of SAARC make ‘ituaisic reference to “sovereignty, equa ly, teritoral integrty, pottical independen- 9, non-intorforenco in tho internal affairs of other States and mutual benefit", and also state that the seven slates are “desirous of promoting peace, stabil, amity and progeess in the region’... and ecagnize the need for “increased coopera- llon” to this end, itis also mentioned that: “Such (SAARC) cocperation shall not be a substitute for bilateral and mulilteral cooperation but shall complerrent them ‘and “Such ccoperalion shall not be incons! stent with bilatel and multlateral-obliga- ton", ‘Among the “General Principles” were that "Decisions at all levels shall be taken on the bass of unanimity", and that “bilateral and contentious issues shall ke excuded trom deliberations”. SAARC and Strategic lesues Basically, it was not an exercise in

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