Sinhalese have this as their only country- Vigneswaran
October 8, 2013 08:23 am
Sinhalese
people have this as their only country. They feel insecure that there might be
some joining together of Tamil Nadu and north-eastern Sri Lanka. That
insecurity, has sometimes resulted in anti-Tamil brutality but I aim to change
minds on both sides, Newly sworn in Chief Minister for North CV Vigneswaran says.
Former
Supreme Court judge CV Vigneswaran has been sworn in as the new chief minister
for Sri Lanka’s north, after his Tamil National Alliance won a historic victory
in elections last month.
The
BBC’s Charles Haviland spoke to Justice Vigneswaran before the election to find
out what coaxed him out of retirement and into politics.
Asked
what keeps him looking young for his age, the 74-year-old Canagasabapathy
Viswalingam Vigneswaran says: “The secret of youthfulness may be that I was not
involved in politics so far.”
Now
the former Supreme Court judge - who retired in 2004 - is heavily involved, but
insists he was “pulled into politics” by his community rather than entering it.
We
meet at a house set up for the party’s activities in Jaffna where young
activists dart around with cups of tea, and various journalists wait to see him
and his 79-year-old party leader in the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), R
Sampanthan.
Born
in Colombo and educated at its Royal College, Justice Vigneswaran trained
partially in Britain and, once back in his native country, moved upwards
through its courts system.
Working
as a judicial officer, he “never thought in terms of being Tamil or Sinhala,
Burgher, English - there was no difference”.
But
he had to confront the ethnic issue in 1983 when he was a magistrate in Jaffna
and conducted inquests into many Tamils killed in a national wave of anti-Tamil
violence.
As
a judge he presided in later cases involving suspected Tamil Tigers.
He
sees the country’s ethnic problem in this way: “Unfortunately there’s a
Sinhalese attitude to Tamils whichever government comes in.
“Sinhalese
people have this as their only country. They feel insecure that there might be
some joining together of Tamil Nadu [in India] and north-eastern Sri Lanka.”
That
insecurity, he says, has sometimes resulted in anti-Tamil brutality but his aim
is to change minds on both sides.
“Make
Sinhalese leaders understand our predicament and make Tamils feel sympathy to
northern feelings,” he says. “It might be possible to bring about peace in our
country. I hope God will make it possible.”
‘A
great hero’
Intense
controversy was caused by his recent remarks in praise of the dead Tamil Tiger
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
During
the election campaign in Prabhakaran’s home village, he called him “a great
hero who fought for the freedom of the Tamil people”.
Justice
Vigneswaran says he meant it.
“This
is the perception with regard to Prabhakaran as far as the Tamil people here
are concerned. He may have been brutal but so is the government, those who are
now in for a war crime inquiry internationally.”
If
the Sinhalese saw their war-time leaders as heroes, Tamils might conversely do
the same.
Both
sides had used questionable weapons and methods of assault, which might be
revealed in future inquiries, Justice Vigneswaran says. Meanwhile, he himself
favours non-violence, he adds.
The
TNA’s plans for self-determination in the north do not amount to a separatist
agenda, the former judge insists.
Instead,
the party is trying to put pre-existing laws into effect.
“We
do not hate anybody, we do not have problems with anyone, we are only asking
for our rights to exist by ourselves [as Tamils] recognising our own
individuality.”
A
Colombo man who is now fully immersed in the concerns of the Tamils living in
the north, C V Vigneswaran’s own life, like that of many Sri Lankans, does not
fit into a neat ethnic box.
A
widower, both his sons are married to Sinhalese - one to the daughter of a
cabinet minister, Vasudeva Nanayakkara.
He
has two grand-daughters. With Mr Nanayakkara, who is a political leftist, “we
pull along very well, we’ve no difficulties. He’s a humanist, not a constricted
human being.”
Since
retirement his main pursuits have been in the sphere of religion, specifically
Hinduism, he says.
“I’m
not sure there will be much time for it now,” he adds with a grin.
Courtesy:
BBC