Schadenfreude of a Sinhalese Blockhead

by Sachi Sri Kantha, May 23, 2014

The dictionary defines ‘Schadenfreude’ as “n. pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. ORIGIN German, from Schaden ‘harm’ + Freude ‘joy’”. Some English wordsmiths have stated that there is no exact English word, to express this sentiment. Thus, the word has to be borrowed as it is from German language. But, in scientific literature, some psychologists have equated the word ‘gloating’ to Schadenfreude. See for example, the 2007 title of a research study by Simone Shamay-Tsoory and collaborators, “The green-eyed monster and malicious joy: the neuroanatomical bases of envy and gloating (schadenfreude)” which appeared in the Brain journal (vol.130, pp. 1663-1678). In Tamil language, we have a word for somewhat similar sentiments; Tharpuhazhchi (in translation, ‘self-elation’). It is a repulsive word to characterize a blockhead who is ‘unmindful about other’s sentiments’. For the past five years, we have witnessed Schadenfreude celebrations by Sinhalese blockhead politicians in Colombo.

Related to this, I wish to analyze the contents of the address President Mahinda Rajapaksa, made on May 18^th at Matara, for the ‘Victory Day Celebrations’ held in Matara this year. The entire text of 1,597 words, is posted in President’s website [www.president.gov.lk/speech_New.php?Id=146]。You can check it in the Appendix of this commentary. Here is my 931 word response to it.

Mahinda Rajapaksa May 18 2014

Mr. Rajapaksa’s address does contain quite a number of untruths and distortions of real facts. First, President Rajapaksa gloats that “according to the mandate people gave me in November 2005, to bring peace to this country, —-” blah! blah!. In reality, his 2005 mandate was paper-thin, and Mr. Rajapaksa had to depend on LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s decision (erroneous, in hindsight) of blocking Tamil votes in the North and East, to get elected. Mr. Rajapaksa won by a mere 180,786 votes (only 50.29% of valid votes cast), among the 9.7 million polled. Even the anti-LTTE daily the Hindu from Chennai expressed its resentment on Mr. Rajapaksa’s election editorially as follows: “In the final analysis, it was the non-participation of a large section of voters, ensured by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, that made the winning difference. To a large extent, the Tamil voters in the North-East obeyed its thinly veiled order to boycott the elections. In Jaffna district, just 8,525 of 701,938 registered voters (not all of them actually live there) turned out compared with 305,259 in the 2004 parliamentary election.” [November, 19, 2005]

Secondly, check this bold-faced lie. “We have liberated the country without imposing media censorship and we even allowed the media to visit the front during the conflict.” This is Merde 1. The real records disprove this gloating by Mr. Rajapaksa.

Thirdly, here is another lie. “No mercenaries came to fight and sacrifice their lives for peace. It was our armed forces that liberated hundreds of thousands of people kept by the terrorists as hostages.”This is Merde 2. I guess, in Mahinda’s dictionary, the word ‘mercenary’ should have a different meaning, rather than what is found in authentic dictionaries. Mercenaries did come to Colombo from all over the world to fight against the LTTE. The list is long. Ukranian pilots, Pakistani pilots, Indian weasels and trainers of anti-aircraft guns, Chinese ‘advisors’, Israeli arm suppliers, and even Uncle Sam’s ‘diplomats’!

Fourthly, a little bit of crocodile tears shed by Mahinda for some Tamil collaborators and turn coats. He had named, “Alfred Durayappa, Amirthalingam, Neelan Thiruchelvam, Ravi Raj, Kadirgamar, Sam Thambimuttu and P. Dharmalingam, father of TNA MP Dharmalingam Siddharthan.” This is Merde 3. Lies of Goebellsian proportion from a podium is a blockhead politician’s privilege. As one who had chronicled the political careers of Duraiappah, Amirthalingam, Thiruchelvam, Kadirgamar, Thambimuttu and V. Dharmalingam (not P. Dharmalingam!) in this website, I differ from President Rajapaksa’s view. Other than Duraiapah’s murder of 1975, the assassinations of Amirthalingam, Thiruchelvam, Ravi Raj, Kadirgamar, Thambimuttu and V. Dharmalingam have not been investigated properly in a Sri Lankan court of law, and LTTE has not been found as the guilty party in all these assassinations. Those who were killed by LTTE were toadies of Sinhalese regime. Other assassinations who were not Tamil toadies (such as that of Amirthalingam and V. Dharmalingam) were masterminded by India’s intelligence weasels. In this aspect, LTTE was no different to that of Mandela’s MK organization or that of Arafat’s PLO. And, Mr. Rajapaksa considers himself as a personal friend of Arafat! It is on record that Arafat offered $20,000 as compensation for the families of suicide bombers, who gave their lives for the Palestine nation.

Fifthly, President Mahinda boasts, “Today there are recruits to the armed forces from the North.” This is Merde 4. In what quantity and proportion, he had recruited Tamils to the armed forces from the North? Does this blockhead knows how to count? If one assumes that Sri Lankan armed forces are 200,000-strong now, then, Tamils (both indigenous and Indian-origin) should constitute 30,000 at least. I challenge President Rajapaksa to show prove for this fact.

I have an old research paper by Roy Whitman and James Alexander in my files, published in 1968 (International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, vol.48, pp. 732-738), which is titled, “On Gloating”. I cite few of their thoughts here, and when you read the text of Mr. Rajapaksa’s address in Matara, one can see how his behavior fits with this phenomenon of schadenfreude. Whitman and Alexander begins their report with the following definition.

“[Ambrose] Bierce’s cynical definition of happiness, ‘an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another’, is really a definition of gloating. The German term would be Schadenfreude. There is an intense oral savouring of the hated, envied object’s suffering which is felt by the gloater as well deserved self-vindication and self-enhancement.”

Then, they expand further. “From the structural point of view, since gloating is an amalgam of libidinal and aggressive drives, it may be called sadistic. The erotic side of the sadism predominates. The overt expression of this sadism is dependent upon a dynamic interplay of the drives with the superego and ego-ideal as mediated by the ego. The super-ego is either previously gratified or held in abeyance and does not forbid being unsportsmanlike in the cruel enjoyment of the defeat of an opponent…The relative weakness of the superego and ego-ideal permit the ego to enjoy the id demands for vengeance in the fullest enjoyment thereof in gloating.

The third aspect, Whitman and Alexander focuses is this. “Another interesting dynamic seen clinically is the use of masochistic identification as a denial of gloating. Thus the person in order to explain his smile of glee at another person’s misfortune may claim that he suffered like the other person because of his guilt over that person’s pain. But the smile is usually sadistic (and gloating) as well and this is usually less easily owned up to.”

In gloater President Rajapaksa’s May 18^th address, all the above-stated points are amply illustrated.

Appendix

The text of President Rajapaksa’s Address

“This country was united as a free country on a day like today (May 18), in 2009. Every inch of our country and the two thirds of the coastal line was regained for our mother Lanka on a day like today, exactly five years ago.

Peace, stability, real democracy and every freedom were offered to Sri Lankan people on a day like this. You can see the war heroes who sacrificed their limbs and eyes to gain this victory, are walking in this parade. The officers and other ranks, regiments who joined the humanitarian operation, are also walking along in this parade with their regimental flags.

Today we exhibit you the various kinds of weapons used to defeat the ruthless terrorist.

The troops that forged ahead in the battle front, defeating the enemy are walking in this parade. Are not we feel a pride when we witness them?

We achieved this victory through the contribution of Tri Forces, Police, Civil Defence Force, Intelligence Services, Buddhist monks who went to camp by camp, chanting pirith to bless This country was united as a free country on a day like today (May 18), in 2009. Every inch of our country and the two thirds of the coastal line was regained for our mother Lanka on a day like today, exactly five years ago.

Peace, stability, real democracy and every freedom were offered to Sri Lankan people on a day like this. You can see the war heroes who sacrificed their limbs and eyes to gain this victory, are walking in this parade. The officers and other ranks, regiments who joined the humanitarian operation, are also walking along in this parade with their regimental flags.

Today we exhibit you the various kinds of weapons used to defeat the ruthless terrorist.

The troops that forged ahead in the battle front, defeating the enemy are walking in this parade. Are not we feel a pride when we witness them?

We achieved this victory through the contribution of Tri Forces, Police, Civil Defence Force, Intelligence Services, Buddhist monks who went to camp by camp, chanting pirith to bless soldiers, the Catholic priests, Muslim and Hindu priests and civilians who offered prayers and blessings at their places of worship.

You know that I made your expectations a reality by giving the leadership with great attention and great determination, without any uncertainty, without being conquest by anyone, as the leader of this country as well as the leader of the Armed Forces, according to the mandate people gave me in November 2005, to bring peace to this country, defeating terrorism which engulfed this country for decades.

I believe the victories which Government gained in Presidential Elections, Parliamentary Elections and Provincial Council Elections are the mandates offered us, again and again by the people for executing our duties properly. I categorically state that I will face every challenge against our country in future as I did in the past and as I am doing at present, honouring the people’s confidence.

You are aware that I recognize the issues of the people and find answers to them without any fear. The biggest problem was the terrorism which has been lasting for thirty years. We solved it in a short period of four years. Then the development which has been missing, is now being carried out continuously by us with a long lasting vision.

We didn’t wait until the terrorism to end to build the country. We started developing the East while starting the humanitarian operation to liberate the North. We stared the development in the South. Therefore, the war heroes, after liberating the North came to their villages through the areas with developed infrastructure.

We like to ask the persons who born in the South and joined the armed forces and police at that time whether the same Matara they witness today. We have build highways, ports, airports, fisheries harbours. We spent millions of rupees to develop infrastructure facilities. We have build new hospitals and improved facilities at most of the existing hospitals. We have provided drinking water. We have established Mahindodaya technology and computer laboratories in 1000 schools. We have taken steps to teach science, mathematics and computer science as well as English and Tamil to school students. We have recruited thousands to the public service. We took steps to make the country self-sufficient in rice. We have improved the production of maize and several other food crops and developed flower, cinnamon, tea and other agricultural crops..

This country that has been freed, belongs to you and your children. We have solved the historical problems faced by the country. Furthermore, the efforts made by us to restore democracy and restore freedom cannot be underestimated. We have succeeded in holding the elections for the Northern Provincial Council and restore democratic rights of the people.

We have liberated the country without imposing media censorship and we even allowed the media to visit the front during the conflict. That freedom has been further strengthened today.  If there is any protest against the government anywhere in the country, today the people can witness live without any restriction. When talking about democracy, it should be reminded that one should consider the situation before the elimination of terrorism too.

Today, there is confidence among the people in the world about our Motherland. At that time only 400,000 tourists arrived annually. Now the tourists arrival has gone up to 1.7 million per year. In addition, another 2 million Sri Lankans travel abroad and return to the country annually. Then, the terrorist were to decide if an international game of sports could be held or not by issuing death warnings. We have organized the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting with the participation of 49 countries last year. Recently we hosted the World Conference on Youth.  Now Sri l

Lanka has become a favorite venue for international conferences. The world now recognizes that we have not only the peace but also the strength to host such international gatherings. Similar to raising our national flag, we have also raised our country high.

We do not have anything to hide. Hence, we opened our doors to the world. But some people with vested interests try to use this openness for other purposes. Some people want to pay homage to the burial place of the most ruthless terrorist who killed thousands of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims kept the people as hostages. Nobody wanted to pay respect to thousands of people who were killed under the orders of this terrorist leader.

Nobody wants to remember and pay homage to those who were killed by the LTTE such as Alfred Durayappa, Amirthalingam, Neelan Thiruchelvam, Ravi Raj, Kadirgamar, Sam Thambimuttu and P. Dharmalingam, father of TNA MP, Dharmalingam Siddharthan.  They all are victims of terrorism. Those who value peace should pay homage to such people who sacrificed their lives.

Currently, media highlights the the kidnapping of Nigerian children by the terrorists. For 30 years, the terrorists abducted many children in Sri Lanka. Over 600 abducted children were rescued by the armed forces during the final stages of the battle. We have handed them over to their parents so that they could go back to school. We took steps to provide them equal facilities as other children of the country.  Some countries are blind and deaf to these. They are opposed to our victory day celebrations.

This is not a victory of war, but a victory of peace. No mercenaries came to fight and sacrifice their lives for peace. It was our armed forces that liberated hundreds of thousands of people kept by the terrorists as hostages. To celebrate this great victory is a duty of a grateful nation that gives utmost consideration to human values. Hence, irrespective of objections from anyone, irrespective of who participates or not, we should celebrate this great victory forever.

Today there are recruits to the armed forces from the North. Those who involved in acts of terrorism and killed people and those who left the country due to the treats from the LTTE have joined the diaspora today and their attempts to revive terrorism is the biggest crime against Tamil people in this country. This negligible number of persons who receive dollars are doing a great harm to the country. We have established a Parliamentary Select Committee has been appointed for a dialogue and that is the best forum for discussions on a national issue. It is the duty off all political parties to join this Committee and discuss this.

The Tamil people came to the South for protection, then. Even today most of them live in the South. 58 percent of the Tamil people live outside North. Our communities want to join. The fear and mistrust lasting 30 years must dispel. We are aware that every year the number of persons visiting North from South increases. This is a new country, which is being built.

It is easier to take decisions when peace and understanding between the communities increase. Solution without peace is temporary. As such some people are trying to wrest this peace. If you respect those war heroes, you must protect the peace won by them with the sacrifice of thousands of lives.

Remember, they departed to save an undivided nation. They bid farewell to their lives to build a nation where people will live together. Let us determine to live in our Motherland without betraying the freedom won by our war heroes with sacrifices of their eyes, heads, flesh and blood as well as their lives. Wish you all a bright future!”