CHAMPION THE IDEALISM CONDEMN THE IDIOCY

Wijith DeChickera bows before an idea whose time has come – despite subversive attempts to discredit it

There are few things as powerful as an idea whose time has come. Equal in potency are the challenges mounted against such an idea. So when the two collide, sparks are bound to fly – and skulls get cracked!

The organic people’s movement that has occupied Galle Face for more than a month is a rare phenomenon.

It was the spontaneous overflow of strong emotion felt by citizens from all walks of life who were outraged at the state of the nation and its root causes – including corruption; abysmal economic management; and petty, pointless politicking across the party spectrum.

So one can imagine the sense of outrage when state sanctioned thugs set upon the peaceful yet vocal protestors one fateful day in May. In addition to brutal attacks by hired hands incentivised by disgraced political actors, the inaction of the police in reducing the protest site to ruins was a painful body blow against the fiery spirit of the ‘aragalaya’ (struggle).

To add insult to injury a few days later, allegations that the idealistic people’s movement had been infiltrated by political actors came as a hurtful postscript to the devastation of GotaGoGama (GGG) – the iconic protest site that served to unite Sri Lankans in a single cause as perhaps never before.

In fact, revelations that it had been a Trojan horse – a group of subversive politically motivated interlopers – from inception were particularly harmful to the idea.

It now appears that what was widely thought to be an apolitical uprising was coloured from the outset by the participation of agents of the youth wings of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

The accusations stemmed from the JVP’s admission – albeit on social media in the main – that they had been present from day one at ground zero. This resulted in the regrettable withdrawal of moral and logistical support that a gamut of stakeholders in ‘Garrison Colombo’ (like-minded apolitical citizens) had been providing ‘Occupy Galle Face.’

There are many ways to view and interpret these events, as well as their aftermath and ramifications.

For starters, there is no way that an idea whose time has come – i.e. that the people are sovereign – could or should be compromised by the presence of representatives of political parties at the protest site… if such individuals were there primarily as citizens and not to plug a party line…

For one, no one but the most naive onlookers would imagine that there wasn’t a smattering of trade unionists or members of the politically aligned Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF) there.

For another – as claimed by defenders of the JVP’s participation in the emblematic protest – there was an acceptance by and large that the IUSF was not there to promote its parent outfit; but rather, to press the people’s case in the face of an obstinate and discredited government that refused to (as it was being asked to) ‘go’! With that said, it is possibly only the most charitable observers who would not attribute subversion – and perhaps even suborning insurrection – to the traditionally militant JVP.

Despite its self-confessed rejection of violent means to achieve its ends as in the past, there is an ongoing suspicion that sleeper cells of the party’s numerous overt and covert arms were active on the national stage during the more anarchical phases of the people’s response to the havoc at GGG.

We have to condemn both the wilful destruction of a peaceful citizens’ protest, and the ensuing carnage as revolting elements set fire to state and private property in retaliation, with no reservation.

Be there is no gainsaying the reality that nothing – neither state nor subversives – can stand up to or undermine an idea whose time has come… be it ‘good governance,’ ‘a disciplined society’ or ‘people’s sovereignty over political actors.’

If the proponents of these ideas fall far short of the noble values they espouse, that is by no means proof that the ideas themselves are invalid.

So long live the people’s struggle – despite (or because of) state sanctioned thugs and subversive terrorists alike!

It is the ‘last, best hope’ of a nation that is reeling – and realising that realpolitik rules the roost, to the regret of the political and apolitical as well.