{"id":45670,"date":"2016-03-12T01:21:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-12T05:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=45670"},"modified":"2016-03-12T01:21:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-12T05:21:06","slug":"will-harsha-de-silva-stand-up-to-tamil-nadu-fishing-poachers-in-the-same-way-he-took-on-the-security-guard-as-independence-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=45670","title":{"rendered":"Will Harsha de Silva Stand Up to Tamil Nadu Fishing Poachers in the same way he Took on the Security Guard as Independence Square?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Malinda Seneviratne<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Sunday (March 6, 2016) a protest was held at Independence Square. The \u2018call to action\u2019, so to speak, came in the form of a post on social media by unknown persons calling themselves \u2018Occupy the Square\u2019. The issue was about a security guard taking issue with a couple for \u2018inappropriate behaviour\u2019 at Independence Square. That \u2018call\u2019 was shared.<\/p>\n

A fair number turned up including the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Harsha de Silva. Harsha came armed with the relevant circular. He took it up with the security personnel. The media picked it up. Action was taken subsequently on the orders of the Prime Minister. Freedom to love and be triumphed. <\/p>\n

Then came the discussion. There was a lot of ridicule. Comments such as the following: It was a trivial matter. There are more important things to protest\/challenge. It was an NGO affair. Just another protest by people determined to vilify Sinhala Buddhist culture. A distraction, nothing more. An exercise to dress up Harsha De Silva as Superman. Harsha lambasted a security guard over limiting freedom but he won\u2019t dare stand up to foreigners intent on wrecking the country\u2019s independence. I can\u2019t wait to see Harsha take on Tamil Nadu fishermen poaching on Sri Lankan waters. Harsha was addressing his constituency just as Akhila Viraj Kariyawasam was appealing to his in the case of the Kuliyapitiya \u2018AIDS Scare\u2019. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then there were also those who celebrated the \u2018victory\u2019. \u201cThis is a victory made possible by Yahapalanaya. Even the fact that the security guard stood his ground against Harsha shows that things have changed \u2013 it would not have been possible under the Rajapaksas. This is a body blow to the culture police not just at Independence Square but everywhere. Those in NGO circles would know, but I, for one, didn\u2019t see any such people at Independence Square.<\/p>\n

However, a group claiming to have launched the protest has written to the Minister of Cultural Affairs about relevant concerns. An NGO in the making, one wonders. Be that as it may there was little or nothing to indicate \u2018NGO involvement\u2019. There were people who have on occasions taken pot shots in social media and elsewhere against anything associated with \u2018Sinhala\u2019 and\/or \u2018Buddhist\u2019 but there was no evidence of any such sentiments during the protest.<\/p>\n

The triviality claim can be both defended and opposed. Triviality does not forbid engagement, one notes, and engagement itself cannot be imposed on anyone. Sure, Harsha got to wear the Superman outfit. Sure, his righteousness and courage when taking on a security officer is clearly absent in other engagements. Sure, the media helped dress up the Deputy Minister. Sure, he probably scored some brownie points among his voters. All that is more trivial, if you want to go with the term. <\/p>\n

What is important is that the idea of \u2018propriety\u2019 and who gets to decide were addressed and continue to be discussed. A discussion of any kind on these issues is a positive sign because we are not talking about laws and nothing else, we are also talking about things resident in culture which of course is never cast in stone. In Sinhala we would call them \u2018sirith\u2019 or customs where propriety is not written down but nevertheless broadly agreed upon and whose violation carries a range of consequences again \u2018agreed upon\u2019.<\/p>\n

A simple example would illustrate the point. If it is now \u2018okay\u2019 to hold hands, is it also \u2018okay\u2019 to kiss? Which point of intimacy is \u2018inappropriate\u2019 and who gets to decide? In Sinhala people talk about \u2018thananothana\u2019, referring to spaces (physical and social) that need to be taken into account. Or, are we to say \u2018anything goes\u2019 and even \u2018anything goes, anywhere\u2019? Would Harsha subscribe to such a position? <\/p>\n

It is always a grey area but the greyness should not forbid its discussion. That discussion is taking place. This is good. In any event, it can be said, fairly, that was being affirmed was Victorian cultural norms (which, admittedly, sometimes comes wearing a \u2018Sinhala Buddhist\u2019 uniform) that are unpractical and even ridiculous. The objection was legitimate, therefore. <\/p>\n

The drama took me back to December 2009. The place, again Independence Square. The issue, again, was freedom. One of the protagonists, again, was a security guard. A friend of mine, then reading for a PhD in Chemistry in the USA, who was visiting Sri Lanka had been passing Independence Square. He had wanted to look around and take some pictures. He was stopped by a security guard who politely told him that permission had to be obtained beforehand, explaining that there was a security threat involved. My friend had not complained, understanding \u2018security concerns\u2019. <\/p>\n

However, he was shocked a few minutes later when a bus-load of foreigners arrived and started taking pictures. They didn\u2019t have any permission. The security guard had said that there was an agreement between the Tourist Board and those who took care of security at Independence Square. <\/p>\n

This was my friend\u2019s response: \u2018There are all kinds of tourists. There are Europeans and there are also local tourists. Just assume that a man from Anuradhapura comes to Colombo and visits this place. It is not just another building but one that has historical significance. He wants to take a picture to show his family. He is stopped because he is a Sri Lankan, never mind the fact that he is also a tourist. The man is required by regulation to go to Sethsiripaya, wander around that huge office complex until he finds the relevant desk, obtain a document that allows him to take photographs, come back to Independence Square and click to his heart\u2019s content. What wrong has this citizen done that he is required to waste a couple of hours just so he can take a photograph that a foreigner can take without having to suffer any kind of hassle? And what about South Asian tourists? You assumed I was Sri Lankan, but I could have been from South India. You ask me questions that you don\u2019t ask a person who is light-skinned. You are racially profiling me, aren\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know if before this protest and subsequent action the security personnel \u2018went easy\u2019 on foreigners, especially those from Europe, but we do know that there are no-go places for locals, especially in the hospitality industry. We know that skincolour can obtain service, cordiality and such (or else be denied these courtesies or at least result in locals being effectively sent to the back of the line). <\/p>\n

Independence and relevant freedoms are in fact \u2018square\u2019 and not necessarily in physical terms. This was what the \u2018Occupy the Square\u2019 people objected to. However, there are squares, and not all of them are at Independence Square nor are they related to the issue of intimacy-licence. Independence Square was in fact occupied that Sunday and this helped to brush off the lines that made it \u2018square\u2019 <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily Mirror<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Malinda Seneviratne Last Sunday (March 6, 2016) a protest was held at Independence Square. The \u2018call to action\u2019, so to speak, came in the form of a post on social media by unknown persons calling themselves \u2018Occupy the Square\u2019. The issue was about a security guard taking issue with a couple for \u2018inappropriate behaviour\u2019 …<\/p>\n

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