Thursday review by Upul Joseph Fernando
Draupadi, a tribal woman, became the president of India while the world was watching the ‘struggle’ forced the seventh president of Sri Lanka, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to resign from his position, making the world curious. Draupadi assumed the presidency on July 25, 2022. Gota resigned from the presidency on July 14, 2022. There are many young people who led the struggle that forced Gota to resign on July 14.
Wasantha Mudalige was a fighting star among them. Wasantha Mudalige is like the new president of India who comes from a tribal lineage in India is as a young man who comes from an indigenous lineage in Sri Lanka. His village is Dambane. Recently, ‘Vedi’ leader Vannilatto said that Wasantha Mudalige is his relative.
According to the legends of Sri Lanka, the ‘Vedi’ generation comes from the descendants of Kuvenia. The story of Vijaya-Kuveni is a well-known story in Sri Lanka. Kuveni, who was a warden in the area where Prince Vijaya landed to Ceylon from India later became his wife and helped Vijatya to take control of Ceylon. Subsequently Kuveni was exiled and Vijaya married an Indian princess.
Kuveni did not run away alone but with her two children. Legend has it that when Kuveni came to find the ‘Yaksha’ tribes who were her descendants, historical stories indicate she was killed by her people because she fell in love with Prince Vijaya and helped Vijaya and betrayed her lineage and helped vijaya to seize control of Sri Lanka. Due to this the Yaksha tribe killed Kuveni. It says that the beginning of the ‘Vedi’ generation in Sri Lanka started with the two children of Kuveni.
Wasantha Mudalige’s legacy comes from this generation. He comes to the University from Dambana. It is because of the militancy he showed in the University that he become the convener of the inter-University student union body.
Ousting 3 state leaders
‘Antare’ is an organization that cut the road to send three Sri Lankan state leaders home. 1971 J.V.P. revolt which Wijeweera started through this movement. Although then Prime Minister Mrs. Bandaranaike succeeded in suppressing that rebellion, one of the main reasons why she suffered a crushing defeat in 1977 is the memory of the horrifying killing of youth of this country.
A wave of agitations and strikes were launched across the country to teach a lesson to Mrs. Bandaranayae by the Antare and the trade unions who failed in their attempt in 1971 when they tried to seize state power trough a rebellion . The murder of Premavathy Manamperi a brutal killing of a young women became a major slogan in the 1977 elections against Mrs Bandaranayake and the lady suffered a crushing defeat.
J.V.P. was also against the government of J.R. who came to power in 1977. A rebellion attempt was launched trough ‘anthare’. The rebellion started against the then education minister Ranil’s education white paper. That is, the interuniversity revolt against JR which transformed in to a public revolt against the Indo-Lanka Pact. J.R. appointed a committee to remove the obstacle imposed by the his constitution to contest the presidential election for the third time to be the Executive President.
A campaign launched in the country with the slogan ‘J.R. ‘Maramu’ ( kill JR) became popular and J.R had to abort his idea of amending the constitution to contest for the 3rd time. In 1988, JR had to retire without contesting the presidential election for the 3rd time. in 1988 President Premadasa was successful in suppressing J.V.P. uprising.
However by 1993, the Inter-University Student Union rose up against the suppression. In 1993-94, anti-terror campaign launched by Antare paved the way for Chandrika to come to power. Premadasa’s government killing of young men and women, was spoken widely in political platforms. Despite after the assassination of Premadasa, the leader of that government, President Wijetunga and the government had to go home.
That’s how three head of the states were sent home. Gotabahya, is the fourth president who was sent home by ‘Antare’. Gota was sent home in 2022, unlike JR in 1988 and Wijetunga in 1994. In 1977, 1988 and 1994, those presidents were forced to go home having country’s main opposition behind the campaigners. But Gota was sent home by the struggle backed by ‘anthere’.
Colonel Hariharan, who was the head of the Indian peacekeeping force some time back , who witnessed the 87-88 rebellion in Sri Lanka defined best resent struggle. He said about the struggle:
This is the first time in South Asia that a head of state has been replaced by a peaceful struggle. In Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, such struggles have happened through military coups or constitutional interventions. Sri Lanka should be proud of being able to build Sri Lanka’s democracy and economy through this struggle….’
Colonel Hariharn’s definition
This is Colonel Hariharan’s definition of the struggle in Sri Lanka.
‘Then why do the Sri Lankan liberals and NGOs mock the struggle…?’
Some liberals, some NGOs, some civil organizations who stand for democracy, human rights, national integration and constitutional reforms in Sri Lanka used the struggle to get into key government positions, give advice to the government and do business with the government support.
During the 2015-2019 Maithri-Ranil government, they made use of the power of that government and became very rich . After the defeat of the 2019 presidential election, they were defeated because they were defeated by Ranil’s U.N.P. Sajith’s party did not limit them.
They infiltrated the struggle to make their protector Ranil, who could not be elected by the public vote, as the president. The Rajapaksas who said they would kill themselves, if Ranil was made Prime Minister then. Now when he is made prime minister it looked good to them.
Black hat movement
The Black Hats infiltrated the struggle claiming to be all-party fighters, and when Ranil became the President, they said to join the struggle to get benefits of government positions and privileges with Ranil’s help. Maithrie 2018 when he removed Ranil and made Mahinda the Prime Minister, those who called that as democracy was ruined, but when Ranil, who has no mandate, was made President, claimed it as a victory for democracy.
Gotha was a dictator when Joseph Stalin was arrested. When Ranil, arrested Joseph Starlin it is claimed as a preserving democracy . The real story is that the Ranil and these liberal NGOs are civil organizations and are puppets of Rajapaksas .
But these puppets of Rajapaksa could not control the struggle. Wasantha Mudalige and crowd of Antare were not struggling to get positions in the state media or the offices of the President and Prime Minister. Although the struggle of the black hats and all-party activists ended with gaining positions, Wasantha Mudaligege and others struggle is not a struggle that can see an end like that.
This struggle is a historical struggle. People like Wasantha Mudali, who comes from Dambane Vedi generation are leading this struggle. This struggle has given a new reading to a historical legend. According to the legend of Vijaya-Kueni, Kuveni died after cursing Sri Lanka.
King Panduvasa, the king of Ceylon after Vijaya, saw a tiger in his dream at night, and when he had a soothsayer to analyze it, the soothsayer said that the tiger was the result of Kuveniya’s curse. It was called Kuveni’s Life Curse. King Panduvasa brought a princes from Malaya country to diminish this Kuveni’s life defect effect and tried to pacified the villages.
There is an opinion of legend believers that Sri Lanka is destroyed from time to time by rebellions, riots, wars and assassinations of state leaders because of this life error executed upon Kuveni.
I do not know this is true or not. But a boy of Kuvenia’s generation contributed to the struggle and shook Sri Lanka. India made a leader of its own tribal lineage as its president. However, Sri Lanka is looking for evidence to make an indigenous youth who contributed to the people’s struggle a terrorist; difference is this.
Upul Joseph Fernando