Panu Höglund

Nuair a tháinig géarchéim na dteifeach ón tSiria chun solais, agus lucht an chiníochais díreach ag cromadh ar fheachtas nua bolscaireachta ar an líne, rinne Juha Sipilä, Príomh-Aire na Fionlainne, rud as an ngnáth: gheall sé a theach féin a thabhairt ar iasacht uaidh le go bhfaigheadh scata dídeanaithe lóistín sealadach ansin. Tháinig an beart seo aniar aduaidh orainn, nó níor shamhlaigh muid mórán grádiaúlachta le Príomh-Aire seo na déine airgeadais go nuige seo. Fear reiligiúnach é de réir mar a thuairiscítear, ach tá baint aige leis an gceann is coimeádaí de na gluaiseachtaí traidisiúnta athbheochana taobh istigh dár nEaglais Liútaránach, agus is mó is gnách linn diangheanmnaíocht agus frithalcólachas a shamhlú leis an ngluaiseacht áirithe seo, seachas carthanas.

Nuair a d’fháiltigh Sipilä Páirtí na bhFíor-Fhionlannach isteach sa chomhrialtas, is é an tátal a bhain cuid mhór againn as an scéal go raibh luiteamas aige féin leis an gciníochas is dual do na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh. Ón taobh eile de bhí dintiúirí maithe frith-Fhaisisteacha ag a pháirtí féin, an Páirtí Láir (páirtí na bhfeirmeoirí), nó bhí polaiteoirí an pháirtí sin (m’athair mór féin ina measc) go mór mór i dtús cadhnaíochta ag cur in aghaidh na sean-fhaisisteach thiar sna tríochaidí. Agus tá an chuma ar an scéal nach ndearna an páirtí dearmad iomlán de na laethanta sin riamh, nó áirítear Artturi Leinonen, ailtire na bpolasaithe frith-fhaisisteacha sin sa seanam, ar fhir mhóra an pháirtí i gcónaí.

Scéal eile fós go mba dhual do na Fionlannaigh riamh gach aon ‘iarraim cúis’ a cheansú trí fhreagracht pholaitiúil a thairiscint dó. Ar an dóigh seo, mar shampla, tarraingíodh na Cumannaigh isteach in obair laethúil an stáit, ionas nár fágadh ina n-iománaithe ar an gclaí iad ag caitheamh anuas ar an lucht rialtais agus ag moladh a nÚtóipe féin mar mhalairt. Nuair a d’fhruiligh Sipilä na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh mar pháirtnéirí sóisearacha sa chomhrialtas, ba léir go raibh sé ag smaoineamh ar an gcleachtas traidisiúnta seo: b’fhearr leis na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh a choinneáil taobh istigh den phuball ag caitheamh a múin amach an doras, ná taobh amuigh de á chaitheamh isteach an doras.

Is éard a tharla áfach, nuair a lig sé isteach na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh, ná go ndeachaigh lucht a leanúna chun cearmansaíochta ar fad ar an idirlíon. Aon duine a déarfas oiread is focal cairdiúil i dtaobh teifigh sna meáin shóisialta beidh sé báite i mbagairtí báis ar an toirt ar na saolta seo, nó is dóigh leis na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh go bhfuil siad i dteideal a rogha rud anois. Theip ar an iarracht a rinne an Príomh-Aire le hiad a cheansú – theip go glan oscartha; agus inniu, rinne sé targaid de féin i súile na ‘mBréivíceach’ san Fhionlainn leis an ngníomh flaithiúlachta.

Anois, is é an rud atá le tarlú ná go ndíreoidh na sluaite fanaiceacha ciníocha a bhfearg ar an bPríomh-Aire, agus is dócha gurb ansin a gheobhas seisean agus a pháirtí amach gur bagairt lomdháiríre iad na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh ar shlándáil na tíre agus na cosmhuintire. Má fhaigheann Sipilä é féin faoi ionsaí ag an dream sin, is dócha go bhfeicfidh muid na póilíní ag cnagbheartaíocht in aghaidh na gciníochaithe faoi dheoidh, ós rud é gur sceimhlitheoireacht atá idir lámhaibh acu de réir leabhar na reacht, agus iad ag iarraidh an pholaitíocht a stiúradh trí dhaoine a imeaglú. Sinne atá thíos leis an sceimhlitheoireacht seo, tá muid ag fanacht leis an gcnagbheartaíocht sin le beagnach deich mbliana anuas.

Scríbhneoir Gaeilge ón bhFionlainn é Panu Petteri Höglund

While the Syrian refugee crisis was becoming clear and our racists started to prepare a new online campaign of hatred, Juha Sipilä, the Prime Minister of Finland, did something exceptional: he promised to give away his own home as temporary lodgings for asylum seekers.

This came as a complete surprise to us, for we had never seen him as a man of charity, as he has been pursuing a policy of austerity. He is reportedly a religious man, but affiliated to the most conservative of the revival movements under the aegis of our Lutheran church, a movement more well-known for its strong stances on chastity and teetotalism than for charity.

When Sipilä welcomed the True Finns political party into his coalition government, many of us thought it to be an indication that he himself was sympathetic to the racism typical of the party. On the other hand, his own party, the traditionally agrarian Centre Party, had impeccable anti-fascist credentials, as its politicians – my own grandfather among them – played a decisive role in keeping the real fascists in check in Finland back in the 1930s. And it seems the party still remembers those days, as Artturi Leinonen, the architect of those anti-fascist policies, is yet seen as one of the great old ones in the history of the party.

It is another story that Finns have always tried to domesticate troublemakers by giving them political responsibility. In this way, for instance, communists were pulled into the daily work of the state so they weren’t left watching the game from outside, badmouthing the government and putting forward their own utopia as an alternative. When Sipilä recruited the True Finns as junior partners for the government coalition, he was obviously thinking of this traditional practice: he preferred to have them inside the tent pissing out rather than outside pissing in.

What happened instead, when he let in the True Finns, was that their supporters went entirely out of control in the internet. Anyone who says as much as a friendly word about refugees in the social media can be sure of being inundated with death threats, with True Finns thinking that they are entitled to anything. The prime minister could not domesticate them; he completely failed, and now he even made himself a target for Finnish ‘Breivikists’ with his magnanimous gesture.

Now what will happen is that the masses of racist fanatics will direct their indignation at the prime minister, and maybe he and his party will find out that True Finns are a serious threat to public safety. If Sipilä is attacked by this ilk, maybe we’ll finally see a police crackdown against racists, as what they are doing is terrorism by our law: they are trying to direct the political development of the country by intimidating people. We who have been victimised by this terrorism have been wanting for that crackdown for almost a decade.

Panu Petteri Höglund is a Finnish writer of Irish expression