“NIRPAAKSHIKA ARAGALAYA”: UTOPIAN RHETORIC OR FALLACY?

Abstract

“Nirpaakshika aragalaya” became a catchphrase for the aragalaya as antigovernment dissenters rejected the Rajapaksa regime and Sri Lanka’s legislature that had failed the country for seventy-four years. “Nirpaakshika aragalaya” is therefore, more than just a phrase denoting a political concept:it is a political force encompassing the voice of the protesters that mobilized,supposedly, to reject party politics and affiliations. A counterargument emerged that the aragalaya is not non-partisan as it received political backing from stakeholders belonging to various political parties. As we attempt to explore the ideological basis “nirpaakshika aragalaya” draws on, our objective is to examine the implications of the term "nirpaakshika". This paper concludes on the note that the aragalaya seeks both regular and ad hoc support of intellectuals and political parties, but maintains the appearance of nonpartisanism and that violence erupts when this facade is disrupted by the faces of political figures.