Democratic administration needed for peace

by Bertram Perera

(November 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Do the discerning have to look far to witness amicable living? Colombo and its immediate suburbs accommodate Tamils, Muslims and Sinhala citizens. Many temporary residents from the West and Asia too mingle with the resident citizens. . The demography was determined more by the peaceful atmosphere that prevailed. Most of the land and dwelling houses are Sinhala owned. Tamil speaking people who preponderate, pay rents to remain in the hub, for they are mostly businessmen. The current conflict is confined to the North. Peace will descend on the North the Country has seen it happen in the East. Following the defeat of the LTTE that held sway there, elections were held and the Muslims won a majority of seats .

However in the interests of peace an ex-LTTE fighter, a Tamil, has been elected to the post of Chief Minister with all agreeing. He was sworn in by the Sinhala President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Leader of the T. M. V. P. Muralitheran, alias Karuna Amman has been invited into the Parliament .Now all will float in the Democratic main stream. Ethnic problems will be fought in Parliament and not on the battlefield. Claiming the Separate State of Tamil Eelam was a myopia. Such demands will cease.

The 13th Amendment should go off the Constitution. Such segregations of citizens only breed enmity. Sri Lanka belongs to its citizens who are free to live anywhere. The Constitution guarantees that. When the North has been militarily defeated, elections should be held after inviting those who fled the jackboot of Prabahkaran to return and claim their property. Sri Lanka need not yield to pressure from wherever it may emanate. Sri Lanka can once again be the placid country it was before the eruption of the insurgency, about twenty five years ago. Let the Executive and the legislature mete out a Democratic Administration for the entirety of Sri Lanka, that will suffice.

In an ‘Opinion’ on the topic of Negotiations that appeared in the Daily Mirror of the 14th of October 2008 the author disapproves of majoritarian rule. Democracy embraces fair play but its foundation is majoritarianism. When Sir Ivor Jennings, 1st chancellor of the Colombo University was commissioned to drafting a Constitution for independent Ceylon, he called for propositions from the political elite. The late Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam representing the Tamils presented a paper demanding Fifty - Fifty representation for the Tamils in Parliament. Sir Ivor scoffed at the suggestion. The All Party Representative Committee is a failure.. That Sri Lanka was and remains Sinhala land and is a historical reality. The JHU and the Army Commander only voiced a truth, when they said it was Sinhala land. It is important that the world is aware of the fact, and that it forms no part of South India, where Tamils predominate as the home of the Dravidian .That pronouncement does not imply any desire for Sinhala dominance. The Moor was first and long later the Dravidian were permitted domicile by the Sinhala Kings of yore. What is presently engaging the Armed Forces is not a war but the suppression of an insurgency by a rag tag gang of terrorists in the Sovereign State of Sri Lanka. Wars take place between sovereign states. No negotiations become necessary .Only a democratic administration is called for, to consolidate peace. The EPDP and the TMVP are with the Government, not to offer military strength but to offer friendship and amicability to ensure harmony in the island home. They have realised that strength lies in unity. No negotiations are necessary. Democratic administration of the country is all that is needed.- Sri Lanka Guardian