The Bhagavad Gita while providing means and ways of leading people, emphasizes that leadership qualities focuses on motivation, meaningful decisions and framing plans thereto, firmness in the achievement of goal, excellence in work, controlling of emotions, etc., for all of which mind should be clear. This philosophy is applied not only to the concept of modern management, but also to freedom fighters leading a liberation struggle. This was seen when George Washington, Jawaharalal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and others organized and led their people in obtaining freedom. They have not massacred innocent men, women and children for political ends and even did not had torturing camps.

[Pic: courtesy of sundaytimes.lk]

Had there been an inborn leadership qualities among the Sri Lankan political leaders at or before the independence, such political leaders could have avoided the present conflict between the Sinhala-dominated government and the Tamil people, in spite of the imperfect amalgamation of the Tamil nation and the Sinhala nation under a Unitary rule by the British. Making statements such as “if they want a war, let there be a war” by a President, releasing of a prisoner (Naval rating) immediately after assuming the office of Presidency, protesting vehemently on the streets over the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord and the presence of the IPKF and thereafter going after India, failure to tender an apology for violation of human rights, appointing convicted criminals as Parliamentarians which are a liability and costly affair, maintenance of a mega Cabinet, reluctant to resign on matters of corruption and malpractices by Ministers over National issues followed by a decision of the Supreme Court, conflict between the judiciary and the Executive President and Parliament etc., are matters that raise a question mark on leadership qualities among the Sri Lankan politicians. Similarly leaders leading a liberation struggle engaged in murders, abductions, having torture camps, illegal transactions, conscription by both parties, etc., also do not justify the leadership qualities.

Furthermore, leadership qualities implies sincerity, responsibility, steadiness and discouragement of corruption. The selfish motive of politicians allow room for undue influence for the terrorists to achieve their mission. Had there been selfless motive among the Sri Lankan politicians, the assassinations of A.Amirthalingam V.Yogeswaran, Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam and Laxman Kadirgamar would not have taken place. If there is a selfish motive, the presence of the element of threat cannot be wiped out from the leadership quality. The leadership quality discouraged the element of threat in the minds of the peace loving people. Greed for Power should not affect the life of ordinary citizens.

Bhagavad Gita stressed the importance of democratic methods even when combating the evils. Every religion like the Bhagavad Gita stresses that the improvement of the basic thinking of humans will automatically enhance the quality of their actions which can be seen in federalism. At this juncture, mention should be made that leadership qualities are found in every sector (be it Health, Social, Police, Transport, etc) for which Canadians are really proud of, while in Sri Lanka the people are deprived of such benefits enjoyed by the Canadians resulting from such leadership qualities. Instead several hundred thousands of lives of innocent people in the current ethnic problem as well as during the time of JVP insurrections were lost due the lack of leadership qualities in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan political leaders has yet to improve their leadership qualities as gar as politics is concerned and realize that Federalism is not separation. Federalism is not the discovery of communal leaders but by eminent persons with leadership qualities who visualized that Federal Government as a Guide to the Provincial Governments which later became a reality. Federalism is a concept that emerged with the independence of the United States of America. The struggle for Parliamentary supremacy was seen during the Stuart period in England and the achievement of the Glorious Revolution in 1688 was due to the able leadership qualities of the political leaders. Similarly in France the works of Mondesque, Rousseau and Voltaire were instrumental for the quest for civil liberties which called for wider participation. The French Revolution marked the beginning of the continuation of democracy, though the foundation for the birth of democracy took place in Greece.

After 1848 Europe saw the beginning of the downfall of Monarch regime and the rise of Republics in general after the First World War. But it is in America, the first federal constitution was realized with the Philadelphia Convention in 1787. It was a successful arrangement between the thirteen colonies which allowed for the spread of representative government based on unity in diversity. Another notable achievement of leadership quality was seen when President Abraham Lincoln won the struggle for the underprivileged class. Thereafter number of countries with large territories and small countries with various races speaking and practicing different languages, and faiths adopted this federal arrangement to meet the legitimate aspirations of the people without any discriminations whatsoever. Such federal arrangements became successful mainly because of the leadership qualities found in their leaders. It is the leadership qualities of the rulers which accounted for the achievement of such a federal arrangement resulting in a remarkable economic development and avoidance of conflicts among citizens.

In Sri Lanka politicians are surviving on the existing divisions of the people in relation to the language, religion and cultures. They do not want to come for a happy compromise for a union of Provinces where the Representatives of the Provinces would be given prominence in matters relating to the economic development of their respective Provinces. This could be seen for the last sixty years ranging several Pacts to the present APRC and still breaking their heads over devolution of power to the periphery. Merely making statements that Sri Lanka is proud to be the successors of a 2500 year old Buddhist civilization is not sufficient, but should have the courage and determination to adjust a federal arrangement to changing conditions. Even Britain, being a Unitary country with an unwritten constitution, passed devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Ireland by way of Acts of Parliament, which in fact was a federal arrangement. The failure to arrive at a meaningful conclusion points out that the Sinhalese politicians lack the leadership qualities. This applies even to leaders leading a liberation struggle when they resort to illegal methods especially violating the laws of other countries.

Politicians failed to realize that the money spent on this meaningless war could have been easily utilized for the development of the entire country with wider participation of the people through Federalism, which has the force of cultivating leadership qualities. Had there been a proper wider participation in the country, Sri Lanka would have been flooded with housemaids and labourers from other countries for development projects. It is a pity to see that that housemaids and labourers, risking their lives, leave for Middle East countries on account of the denial of wider participation by the politicians, all of which call for cultivating leadership qualities of the politicians. The strong motivation among the politicians to build a strong economic Sri Lanka is lacking. Perhaps the politicians wanted this war for their survival to conceal their malpractices which are detrimental to the country.

Further, the leadership qualities can be observed during negotiations. When negotiating for peace, the leader and/or his team should be well versed with the vital issues and the suitable remedies for the unsettled problems, international relations, law, economics, etc. Mention should be made that when the armed conflict between the Sinhala-dominated government and the Tamil people was due to an "imperfect" de-colonization process by the British, the LTTE failed miserably in not pointing out the initial remedy of federalism to the ethnic problem and that the forced marriage of unitary rule had become a futile exercise. Since the LTTE team was inexperienced, it should have got round the Negotiator for a Federal solution so that the Negotiator could have demonstrated his skill to place the ball in Dr.Palitha Kohona's court. Such a technique required for negotiation, calls for leadership qualities. One cannot expect leadership qualities from gun tottering cadres. However, on the Sri Lankan side Dr.G.L.Peiris had shown his skill to give room for accommodation to begin with a confident building measure. Love and compassion (respect for each other) should have been exhibited at the negotiating table.

Had Dr.Neelan Thiruchelvam and A.Amirthalingam been alive, the negotiation would have seen a meaningful outcome with the passage of time which would have drawn the attention of the international community. Negotiation is an art and involves technique. Negotiation helps to build a confident building measure. Even the Palestinian leader Yaseer Arafat and the Israeli leader were brought together at the Camp David Accord which laid the foundation of limited self-rule to Palestinians (itself a symbol of confident building measure) on account of the masterly skills demonstrated by Bill Clinton. History has reminded that the lack of leadership qualities would ultimately pay for heavy loss of lives and destruction of properties.

Terrorism is a 21st century phenomenon. There are differences between the freedom fighter and the terrorist. Piracy, subversive, torture, murder, robbery are all part of terrorism. Though terrorism is carried out on various levels, it deprives a man of his civil liberties. Briefly the element of 'threat to life' would be present in the concept of terrorism, though such act may be in pursuit of political end. As Human Rights is recognized throughout the world by civilized Nations, the need for terrorist acts by leaders carrying on a freedom struggle is not required. A compromise between the oppressed party and the ruling party with the assistance of a moderate State would be more promising. But the trend today is the ruling majority party is reluctant to recognize the right of self-determination of the oppressed community in Sri Lanka. The inevitable thing that cannot be digested by civilized Nations is that innocent Tamils are being abducted and shot not only by Security Forces but also by paramilitary groups when finding difficult to gain support, without realizing the plight of the innocent Tamils. The conduct of the paramilitary groups towards the innocent Tamils reminds of the dogs which cannot straightened their tails forever. Hence the uprising of the aggrieved community leading to bloody battle cannot be ruled out. The root cause for such conflicts is the lack of leadership qualities on both sides.