By
Lakdev Liyanagama

A protest campaign led by Northern Province Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran last Saturday has attracted attention both in the North and South of the country, sparking speculation of a rise in Tamil extremism yet again, even as the government grapples with the delicate process of addressing the grievances of all ethnic groups while drafting a new Constitution.

Wigneswaran took the lead in staging ‘Eluga Thamil’ (‘Rise, Tamils’) in Jaffna last Saturday. Shops were closed and public transport came to a near standstill for the protest campaign which commenced with a march and ended with a public rally in Muttraveli. Fortunately, despite the inflammatory rhetoric, the campaign was incident free.

Addressing the rally, Wigneswaran said that the campaign was neither against the Sinhalese, Buddhism, the government nor the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), but it was a protest to press for solutions to the problems faced by the Tamil community.

Political solution

In his address, Wigneswaran outlined three demands: a political solution for the problems faced by the people living in the North and the East, the need to merge the Northern and the Eastern Provinces and to stop what he called ‘Sinhalese colonisation’ and the building of Buddhist temples in the North and the East.

Wigneswaran’s idea of a ‘political solution’ was a federal state. “It is only through a federal system of governance that peace and prosperity in the country could be achieved. That is the reason for our demand for a federal system with Police, land and finance powers being devolved to us. Without doing so, there is no purpose in talking about good governance or Constitution making,” he declared.

The Chief Minister also claimed that he was demanding that the construction of Buddhist temples in the North be stopped not because he was opposed to Buddhism, but because it had a great impact on the culture of the Tamil people living in the region.

Although the protest itself was incident free, reaction to it was swift. Most observers deciphered the protest for what it really was: an attempt by Chief Minister Wigneswaran to emerge as a hero among the Tamil community. It is no secret that the seventy six-year-old former Justice of the Supreme Court who took to politics later in life has serious differences of opinion with the hierarchy of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) from which he was nominated to hold office.

Wigneswaran feels marginalised in the decision making process of the party and has publicly disagreed with Leader of the Opposition and the TNA, R. Sampanthan on many occasions. ‘Eluga Thamil’ was the latest instance and the most defiant stance Wigneswaran has adopted so far. It is now obvious that Wigneswaran, despite being a moderate during his professional life and being well past retirement age, is harbouring serious political ambitions.

Career as a judge

Canagasabapathy Visuvalingam Wigneswaran was born in Colombo although his parents hailed from Manipay. As his father, a public officer, was transferred frequently Wigneswaran schooled in Kurunegala and Anuradhapura before attending Royal College, Colombo.

Then he entered the Colombo University and the Law College. When he ended his academic career he had earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of London, a LLB from the University of Ceylon and passed his Proctors and Advocates exams at Law College.

Out of law school, a promising career in law beckoned for Wigneswaran. He practiced law for over fifteen years before deciding to take up a career as a judge. Joining the judicial service in 1979, he initially served as a magistrate and District Judge in Batticaloa, Chavakachcheri and Mallakam.

Justice Wigneswaran was appointed to the High Court in 1988 and served in the Northern, Eastern, North Central, Uva and Western provinces. He was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 1995. He was elevated to the Supreme Court in March 2001. He retired in October 2004.

Wigneswaran had by then acquired a reputation as an impartial judge whose opinions and judgements were well respected. He was one of the few retired judges who lent their voices against the impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayaka. This was in keeping with the high profile he maintained after retirement, often commenting on social and political issues and earning regular headlines.

When elections for the Northern Provincial Council were announced a few years ago, Wigneswaran was not the obvious choice for Chief Minister: Mavai Senathirajah, a veteran politician in the TNA was staking a strong claim. TNA leader Sampanthan however made a ‘captain’s call’ and chose Wigneswaran. Sampanthan’s rationale was that the candidate needed to be an articulate individual who was a respected member of the community rather than a politician.

Unfortunately for Sampanthan and the TNA, Wigneswaran has metamorphosed into a fully-fledged politician now. Only a few years younger than Sampanthan himself, he must be feeling that time is running out for him to make his mark in the history; hence the rhetoric and the thinly veiled communal calls echoed at the ‘Eluga Thamil’ protest.

New Constitution

Wigneswaran is very aware that a new Constitution is indeed being drafted and that the government is negotiating with all parties including the TNA to ensure that it enshrines the rights of all minorities. Coming at such a delicate moment in time, the protest campaign at best is reckless and misleading; at its worst it imperils the process of reconciliation that is still fragile because it allows those at the two communal extremes to raise their voice and be heard again.

Not surprisingly, they have already done that. At one end of the spectrum, TamilNet, the media platform renowned for its support of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has declared its support for the protest calling it “the biggest uprising since the Pongu Thamil uprisings”. Other factions of the Eelamist lobby have expressed similar sentiments.

At the other end of the divide, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila was quick to pounce on the opportunity to be a hero. He called for the arrest of Wigneswaran and claimed that the protest was a ‘separatist’ rally.

The government has been more measured in its response. At the time of writing, government front benchers have not made any comments but two State Ministers, Ruwan Wijewardene and Ranjan Ramanayake, have declared that the government will not be relocating military camps or Buddhist temples in response to Wigneswaran’s call.

It is the TNA however that deserves the most accolades for its stance. It resisted the notion of taking part in the protest, knowing that it would send all the wrong signals to the Tamil community. It did so, knowing that this decision could come at the cost of some public support.

Tamil community

Its parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran spoke out against the protest saying such campaigns should not be conducted at this moment when the Tamil community was looking forward to a better future through the proposed new Constitution. “This protest will create suspicion among the southern people about the Tamil community. Protestors in the North should be aware about these developments when conducting these demonstrations,” Sumanthiran was to observe.

It is too early to say whether the heat generated by ‘Eluga Thamil’ will fizzle out or whether it will gather momentum into a campaign with more thrust. It is an unfortunate development but it is also a sign of things to come: as the government proceeds with the Constitution making exercise, it will have to contend with more such campaigns as extremists both in the North and the South of the country try to garner public support for their own political survival.


The government will need to tread warily and wisely and ensure that mainstream public opinion is not drawn towards these lunatic fringes of the political spectrum. It is no easy task but it is one that the government will have to deal with on a more regular basis because the Wigneswarans and Gammanpilas of this political world are a deadly mix.

Courtesy:Daily News