Sri-Lanka: The Portrait of Mahinda Rajapaksa

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the charismatic former President of Sri Lanka had his Presidential tenure dogged by controversies which attracted the attention of the UN     (United Nations). He shall, however, be remembered for his tenacious drive to finish off the much disliked but immensely feared, Tamil terrorist organization, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem) & perhaps seeding everlasting peace in the island state. His human rights record, though, was his Achilles heel, that forced the minorities – Tamils & Muslims who constitute about 30% of the population - to vote decisively against him. Infact, Rajapaksa, the consummate politician, realized that he was losing the minority vote & hence made an appeal that “a known devil is better than an unknown angel” at an election rally in the Tamil heartland, Jaffna. That appeal – if you can term it as one – did not carry though while his attempts to attract the Muslim minority by having Salman Khan campaign for him, did not yield the desired results. Ironically, the lord of Tirupathi, whom Rajapaksa paid obeisance to, just before the commencement of elections, too, did not show mercy. The desertions in his ranks just before the elections were indicative of his imminent loss although astrologers thought otherwise. The end of Rajapaksa’s epochal decade (2005-15) is, therefore, the right time to evaluate his contributions.

Rajapaksa, belonging to a political dynasty, is the son of D A Rajapaksa, a former MP and Cabinet Minister & hence groomed well in the rigmarole of politics. After his father death in 1967, Rajapaksa became an MP, on the SLFP (Sri Lankan Freedom Party) ticket, in 1970 at the age of 24. Later, he studied law and continued practice except for the period when in office. He reached the zenith of this political career when he became President in Nov 2005 & won a second term in 2010 after winning a brutal war in the North & East against the dreaded LTTE. Paradoxically, the LTTE contributed to his victory in both the elections. In 2005, the boycott call given by the LTTE, prevented a Ranil Wikramasinghe win while in 2010, Rajapaksa’s victory was courtesy a stupendous victory over the LTTE. Rajapaksa has three sons Namal, Yoshitha & Rohitha & was reportedly grooming the eldest, Namal, to take over his responsibilities when the electoral setback put paid to his ambitions.

Rajspaksa, to his credit, has steered an economy into a high growth rate & rid the country scrounge of Tamil militancy - that plagued the country for over 30 years. He, therefore, has found a permanent place in the hearts of the Sinhala majority. Incidentally, Maitripala Sirisena, the current winner, in the Presidential race, a Buddhist Sinhala, was a key lieutenant of Rajspaksa, during the fight against the LTTE & too could claim credit for the victory; therefore, the Sinhala majority was split vertically in the middle during the elections. Analysts are however, prone to argue that the election resulted in a Rajapaksa loss rather than a Sirisena win. This view cannot be completely discounted because of the following reasons.

Family Rule

Rajapaksa’s bane has been his unabashed penchant for family rule. All his 3 brothers are in government. Retd. Lt. Col. Gotabhaya is Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Basil Is Minister for Economic development & the eldest Chamal, the speaker of Parliament. The largesse continues; his nephew, Shashindra is the Chief Minister of the Uva & his cousins Jaliya Wickramasuriya is ambassador to the United States & Udayanga Weeratunge is ambassador to Russia. Family rule coupled with unbridled corruption is a dangerous concoction that heralded his downfall.

Crack down on press freedom:

He was accused of trying to control the fourth estate through strong arm tactics in a bid to prevent negative publicity. Attempts to implicate the first family, either on human rights or economic appropriation were scoffed at. While there have been many instances of acts of vandalism & violence against the press scribes, the one which gained the most attention was the murder of newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, in January 2009. A poignant reminder was editorial written by the murdered editor, published posthumously, accusing Rajapaksa's government for being responsible for his death.

Human Rights Violations

Rajapaksa’s tenure has been muddied by human rights violations especially during the last phase of the war against the LTTE, in 2009, when indiscriminate shelling of civilians, rapes & massacre of surrendered mercenaries were supposedly committed. While the govt. accuses the LTTE of using civilians as a human shield which resulted in human casualties, what is also true is that the govt. continued with its advances unmindful of the collateral damage. The Sri-Lankan govt. has been under severe scrutiny on this heinous count from Western democracies & the UN & the former President made overtures to China to soften the US drive.

Rajapaksas’, remain an influential family & the economic muscle that they have added in the last decade make them potent foes. Rajapaksa cannot be written off since he continues to head the SLFP & his coalition has over a two third majority in Parliament. Sirisena realized the same & has quietly been making attempts to break the SLFP; about 50 parliamentarians belonging to the erstwhile coalition of Rajapaksa are supposed to be expressed their support to the new head of state & also nominated him as the new SLFP chief.  Rest assured that the “Game of Thrones” would continue to be played & the purported coup attempts by Rajapaksa - after the election results announced – investigated. The “Damocles sword” would continue to rest on the erstwhile “King”. Rajapaksa, make no illusions, is down but not out yet.