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Looking beyond the ‘aragalaya’, ‘porattam’, or struggle

08 Jul 2022

  • Why nonviolent action is Sri Lanka’s way out
BY Tania Alahendra  The fall of one regime does not automatically usher in a utopia. Rather, it opens the way for hard work and long efforts to build more just social, economic, and political relationships, and the eradication of other forms of injustices and oppression. As Sri Lanka’s economy enters the hyperinflation zone and discussions on International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance are left uncertain, the past week has shown that no one is coming to save Sri Lanka unless we act to change the existing system. The possibility of removing the current regime constitutionally, or of them voluntarily resigning or providing solutions to the current crisis, seems improbable at this point.  The breakdown in all spheres of life has forced the majority of Sri Lankans to admit that someone should do something to remove the current regime and even declare that they must act themselves. The action that is already being taken by the Sri Lankan citizens is found in the “aragalaya”, “porattam”, or “the struggle”, the ongoing people’s nonviolent protest to oust the failed regime. This nonviolent action is not limited to Galle Face in Colombo.  While “GotaGoGama”, with branches across different parts of the island, stands as a symbol of nonviolent protest, the action is driven by students, trade unions, journalists, lawyers, artists, sports stars, stay-at-home moms and individuals across the island from all walks of life. The nonviolent action has accomplished much, such as compelling the Central Bank Governor and the Prime Minister to resign.  Yet, there are still those among us who are unsure about why we should support this nonviolent protest. This article attempts to respond to these doubts and to see the nonviolent action of the struggle as a historical turning point in Sri Lankan people’s power with the potential to navigate us towards a habitable country.  A prolonged system of errors  The failure of the Sri Lankan State has finally exposed to the people their true enemy – corrupt leaders and a corrupt system. However, as with any crisis, historical causes and recent reasons have led Sri Lanka to its current dystopian state. A quick look at post-Independent history, scattered with injustice such as the marginalisation of minorities and the rural poor, clearly shows problems in the existing system.  These injustices resulted in riots, wars, uprisings, and terror. The power transfer from the British to the elite never reached the masses. Our leaders lacked the vision to separate religion and ethnicity from national identity leading to the constitutional privilege of the Sinhala-Buddhist community. The feudal mentality continued, coupled with crony-capitalist Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, challenged from time to time only by those who were direly affected by it, such as Tamil youth, rural Sinhala youth, and most recently, Muslim youth.  In these instances, seeking justice through nonviolent action by these groups was not met with reforms, but with violence, by the majority Sinhala-Buddhist State that led to cycles of violence. However, unlike in the past, the struggle has resisted the trap of violence.  Can nonviolent action actually change a system? As a country, we have repeatedly experienced the failure of violence firsthand. The Government and its supporters have made numerous efforts to discredit the nonviolent action of the struggle. One such act was the attacks on the protestors at “GotaGoGama” on 9 March in Colombo and Kandy. Although the protestors were not involved in the retaliatory violence that spread across the country, it allowed the Government to point the finger at them.  Yet, those in the struggle understand that, as Gene Sharp, an expert on nonviolent action, pointed out: “As soon as you choose to fight with violence, you’re choosing to fight against your opponent’s best weapons, and you have to be smarter than that.”  Nonviolent action and social change are not new to us. All leading religious philosophies and traditions emerged through nonviolent movements as social reforms against injustice prevailing in their times. David Cortright, a scholar of nonviolent action, states that nonviolent action “is a strategy that has the power to morally disarm the perpetrator of violence”.  In the case of Sri Lanka, prolonged nonviolent action is unprecedented. The maturity of people engaging in the struggle seems to stem from the lessons learnt from Sri Lanka’s past of youth and State violence; it is supported by the complete collapse of the State system and the resultant lack of moral legitimacy of the Government.  However, there is always uncertainty and risk in action. There have been successful nonviolent protests such as the salt protests in the 1930s that led to the withdrawal of the British from India, the women’s suffrage movement, the velvet revolutions of Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, and the people’s power movement against the dictatorship of Marcos in the Philippines and against corrupt leaders in South Korea. But there are also failures, such as the student protest in Tienman Square and the mass anti-war protest against the Iraq invasion. More recently, the Arab Spring, protests in Hong Kong, Sudan, Bolivia, the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, and the farmers’ protests in India have seen mixed results, from disposing of corrupt dictators to the rollback of unfair laws and bringing awareness to social injustices.  Accountability and theories of change As most of us discuss how things got so bad and why we didn’t do anything about it before, it becomes blatantly clear that we were waiting for someone else to hold wrongdoers accountable. This attitude of complacency, acceptance of structural violence, and lack of understanding of rights and accountability is seen in every structure of Sri Lanka – in our homes, schools and workplaces.  The struggle upholds accountability and rights and creates awareness of justice in all spheres of life. It highlights the injustices at the intersection of various social divisions in Sri Lanka – ethnic, religious, class, gender, sexuality, age, disability, and environment. Then, there are several theories of change at work here: If people protest en masse, then the corrupt regime will resign, creating the space for a new government to take over; if people are educated on rights, justice and accountability, then they will take nonviolent actions against the violation of rights; if people, continue to act nonviolently against rights violations and hold perpetrators accountable, then the system will change in the long run.  A leader versus the power of collective action   Even when many recognise nonviolent protest as a primary strategy to ensure sustainable change to the broken system in Sri Lanka, there arises a question of leadership. However, does the struggle need a leader to fulfil its role? The struggle is made up of different subgroups, and appointing one leader will result in a figure who can be politicised.  While nonviolent action and social change can be linked to leading figures, the success of these movements was in collective action. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, and Cesar Chavez all stand out, but their impact was made due to the collective. The leaders and individuals in the struggle are active and successful in their own arenas.  They are committed to this cause on behalf of all Sri Lankan citizens. They are self-educated on the historical injustices of our country, since our school textbooks are empty of modern history and teach myths as ancient history. They are creative, technologically savvy, empathetic, and willing to learn and teach, in contrast to the leaders running our country. In their public announcements, they have clearly indicated that the nonviolent protest is not about individual aspirations and emphasise that it is about sending corrupt leaders home, accountability and changing the system.  From a nonviolent protest to a movement  As part of the struggle, the group of nonviolent protestors at “GotaGoGama” have presented a six-point action plan, which includes immediate and long-term reforms that all future leaders in Sri Lanka must promise to uphold; it appears that what arose as a spontaneous uprising has shifted to a movement with long-term goals.  The first living cell on earth emerged from a primordial soup collected over the years. Similarly, the ingredients of rampant corruption, violence, impunity, humanitarian and economic crisis, self-preservation, and the values of generosity and kindness, which the island is famous for, have finally given birth to a people’s power movement in Sri Lanka.  The struggle shows that means are as important as the end. As the philosopher and Holocaust survivor Hanna Arendt observed, due to the unpredictability of human action, means have more impact on the future than the declared end. Thus, the nonviolent protest action of the struggle is a viable strategy that people across the country can support and engage in.  Many of us are busy with the day-to-day tasks of looking after kids and the elderly, attending to patients, running institutions and businesses and teaching students. Still, all this can only thrive in a just society.  We are all tired and exhausted by the suffering shoved upon us by a corrupt system and incompetent leaders. There is no guarantee that the leaders who come next, even you and I, will not get caught up in this corrupt system. Isn’t it time for us to act to change it and support those trying to change it through nonviolent protest? Why are we still waiting for someone else to do it? (The writer is an independent researcher with a background in peacebuilding and development) ……………. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.  


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