These are days of claim and counter-claim. Easy days of finger-pointing. Days when time is running short and where the basic requirement of claim-substantiation appears to have been retired. A time, however, to think about these things. This was written five years ago, just before another presidential election and published in 'The Nation'.
Those who are old enough would remember a man called T.B.
Illangaratne. He was a senior minister
in the United Front Government led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1970-1977) and along
with Hector Kobbekaduwa (another SLFP stalwart) was seen by some to be more
‘left’ and progressive than The Left, i.e. the red-flag-waving ‘comrades’ of
the coalition.
Illangaratne was the victim of a malicious rumour. The UNP spread the story that he owned a
hotel in Switzerland . Nothing could make anyone believe
otherwise. Illangaratne lost his seat in
1977. This defeat probably had more to
do with the general public dissatisfaction with Mrs. Bandaranaike’s regime than
this allegation of course. The point is
that people believed the story and with it came to be convinced that
Illangaratne was a crook who used ‘ill-gotten wealth’ to purchase plush real
estate abroad.
Whether or not Illangaratne was a crook, even a petty one,
is beside the point here. What’s important is that a story was cooked and a man
hanged on it. His reputation was
tarnished beyond resurrection.
There’s another such example. Gamini Dissanayake. It was said that he had purchased an apple
orchard in Australia
from kick-backs and what not he got from the Accelerated Mahaweli Project. I remember someone saying that vendors in the
Pettah were offering apples to people saying that they were ‘our apples’ (apema apel, Gamini Disanayake mahaththayage
vatte vavapu eva – our very own apples, from Mr. Gamini Dissanayek’s
orchard). What was the source of this
‘story’? It was said that the Far
Eastern Economic Review had said that Gamini was one of the 10 wealthiest
persons in South Asia . The Far Eastern Economic Review had never
made that claim. Even today, I am sure,
people think that Gamini Dissanayake’s family owns property in Australia .
The sad thing is that rumours do not have authors who can be
hauled to court for character assassination.
Rumours make a mockery of the principle of ‘innocent before proven
guilty’.
Elections bring the worst out of people, perhaps because the
stakes are high and because people invest heavily in the candidates/parties,
hoping for high returns later on. It is
not difficult to understand how people can quickly slip to by-hook-or-by-crook
mode.
This is happening all around us, especially in
internet/email forums. Wild allegations
are being made. One thing is missing:
substantiation. Reading them I felt that
we can’t really fault candidates for being crass, uncouth and dirty little
fibbers because that’s what the people are. It is one thing for campaign staff
to manufacture lies and distribute them, but another thing for supporters to
pass them around. I’ve seen people who are articulate, intelligent etc.,
forwarding emails that contain the most outrageous claims from the most dubious
of sources which don’t have an iota of substantiation.
We see the usual disclaimers of course: ‘it is said’, ‘it is
reported’, ‘reliable sources say’, ‘according to sources close to (someone)’
etc. What is interesting is that you can
say anything you like and get away with it.
Throw in some creativity and you enhance believability. That’s what campaigning is all about, isn’t
it?
Illangaratne could not counter the rumours. Gamini
Dissanayake could not either. I am sure
that there are countless others who have suffered. Maybe it was ‘just desserts’
for some, but then again, in a perfect world one is punished for crimes
committed not those that are conjured up in the course of a vilification
campaign motivated by political prerogative.
How can this vile practice be stopped? I can’t think of a foolproof method given
realities and costs involved. What can be done is to treat these as one
ought to treat rumour and anonymous letters: with contempt. The best response is to laugh it off and do
what should be done: respond with counter-claim/accusation where relevant but
with substantiation.
That’s of course up to the politicians and I really don’t
lose any sleep on account of their anxieties.
On the other hand, those who actively participate in the business of
making allegations with no real proof are doing themselves a huge disservice if
they really want things to change and hunger for a more benign political
culture.
One has to be the
change one wants to see. If what exists is bad then one is not going to
change if by mimicking the bad. Throw
dirt to counter dirt and you end up with a huge pile of garbage and a big
stink. Think the politicians (the
incumbent and the challenger) really care?
No, they don’t. They are
interested in power, not people, not decency.
We would be kidding ourselves if we believed otherwise. There’s very little that the citizen can
do. But there is one thing that we can
do. We can desist from engage in the vasuru
keliya (shit-game) that is vilification (i.e. allegation without
substantiation).
Still want ‘change’, ladies and gentlemen? Perhaps we should all take a look in the
mirror.
Malinda Seneviratne is the Editor-in-Chief of 'The Nation' and can be reached at msenevira@gmail.com.
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