Sri Lanka: New Dawn and New Independence

By: Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

(April 12, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The stage is set for the elimination of the LTTE in Sri Lanka. The likely decimation of the LTTE and concerns for the civilians held hostage by it in the 17 square kilometer war zone (supposed to have been the safe zone!) have become emotive issues for the Tamil populations within Sri Lanka, the Diaspora and the world at large. The inability of the International Community to demand the LTTE let go the civilians it is holding hostage as part of its survival tactics, is shameful and demonstrates a refusal to articulate the truth, in the face of overwhelming evidence. Diplomacy does not dictate the international community should take the side of blatant evil and falsehood.

The LTTE had over the years come to epitomize Tamil anger against real and perceived injustice in Sri Lanka and the hope for a just future in an independent Tamil Eelam. In the absence of credible and vibrant political formations espousing an alternate vision, due largely to LTTE violence and machinations, a large swath of Tamils are filled with gloom and forebodings of an impending disaster in Sri Lanka once the LTTE is defeated. There is a leadership vacuum among the Tamils and this is contributing to Tamil fears. Those positioning themselves as the alternate leadership lack credibility among the Tamils. The LTTE is continuing to exploit these feelings very efficiently through a vicious propaganda campaign based on falsehood and exaggerations unleashed in the media and in the streets of major western cities. This propaganda effort is the last straw the LTTE is holding onto to stay afloat in the deluge about to overwhelm it.

The impending defeat of the LTTE after a near thirty year struggle, I am sure has taught a majority of Sri Lankans many valuable lessons. We have gained our independence only now. The day the LTTE is finally and decisively defeated should be our real independence day. The independence we received from British colonial rule sixty one years ago was handed to us in a platter and we did not understand how valuable it was. We did not perceive that independence as something national, encompassing all citizens. We made use of the opportunity to promote our sectarian interests, rather than our national interests.

We have shed blood over our island in the past thirty years on the issue of how the Sinhalese and Tamils are to share the island and her bounty. The Sinhalese claimed the island as a whole belonged to them, whereas the Tamil claimed parts of the island belonged to them. Both were however united in their allegiance to either the whole or parts of the island. The war that is hopefully about to end has established that this island belongs to all of us, who are her citizens. We have finally proved our love for this island and our sense of belonging to her. This ultimately has been our battle for real independence and freedom from bigotry, racism and extremism. This is a new dawn for all the peoples of Sri Lanka and an opportunity to develop and emphasize our commonality in being Sri Lankans.

India struggled for several decades, united as a nation, to get her independence from Britain. The whole of India- north, south, east and west; across religious and linguistic boundaries- were united in their struggle against colonial rule. As a result the Indian identity came to the fore and has withstood the test of many fissiparous issues over the post-independence years. The pride of all Indians in their Indian-ness is something that we have to admire. Unfortunately, we have promoted our Sinhala-ness, Tamil-ness and Muslim-ness in the post-independence years over our Sri Lankan identity. The result was the civil war that is about to end after thirty long years of misery and mayhem.

Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese have lost many things in this war- life, limbs, property and prosperity- to an unacceptable extent. The Tamils have lost more. However, the Tamils have demonstrated a commitment to fight for their rights that surpassed their strength in numbers. The Tamil resistance was legitimate and is justifiable even today in the context of post-independence realities. However, the path along which it was taken by the militant groups, particularly the LTTE, was abominable and much lamentable. The cause was right, but the path was strewn with adharma, misjudgments, and missed opportunities. The ‘End justifies the means’ approach taken by the LTTE and other militant groups were bound to fail.

The Tamil militancy lost sight of its initial objective, namely the welfare and prosperity of the Tamil people, at a very early stage. Tamil lives became as expendable as that of those the LTTE considered its enemies. It should not have been a war against the Sinhala people, but a war to assure the rightful place of the Tamils under the sun in Sri Lanka. It is not the Sri Lankan armed forces that are about to defeat the LTTE, but the silent cry of many thousands of innocent Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims, who were the victims of its brutality and bestiality, which reached the high heavens! The Sri Lankan armed forces have been strengthened by a divine force beyond that of the weaponry in their possession. Similarly, the LTTE is about to be defeated because it had lost its moral force and had become the target of divine anger or karmic revenge. No amount of weaponry and propaganda will win the war for the LTTE, on account of the ‘Wrong Path’ along which it hijacked the legitimate resistance or struggle of the Tamils.

The lesson that has to be learnt is ‘Wrongs’ can not be righted by equally or worse ‘Wrong ‘reactions. The principle of ‘Ahimsa’ inherent in Jesus Christ’s ‘Turn the other cheek’ concept and Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance, stand vindicated in Sri Lanka today. The Sri Lankan government has to draw the ‘Correct’ conclusions from our 61 year history and make sure the impending defeat of the LTTE is a victory for the Tamils in particular and all Sri Lankans in general. This should be a win for our nation and not a win for the Sinhalese or the extremists among them. We are fortunate; the majority of Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims have come through the darkest years in our recent history with our essential humanity intact and acutely aware that a new course for our nation has to be chartered.

The concerns of the Tamils at this stage should become the concerns of the government of Sri Lanka. The government of Sri Lanka and the Sinhala polity have to convince the Tamils that a new Sri Lanka, cleansed of a regrettable past is emerging, where all citizens irrespective of their linguistic, regional, religious and cultural affiliations will be treated equally and will receive equal protection. The Tamils and other minorities should be assured their lives, limb and property will be safe in Sri Lanka. The Tamils and other minorities should be assured their rights will be equal to that of any Sinhala citizen, irrespective of their numbers. Tamils and other minorities should be assured by both word and deed that existing constitutional provisions with regard to their language rights and fundamental human rights are sacrosanct and will be upheld at all times. There should not be any room for communal violence of any form in Sri Lanka, any more. There also should not be any room for anyone or any group to call the Tamils and other minorities, aliens, anymore.

Tamils (& Muslims) should also be assured that all efforts will be made to enable them to exercise tangible political power in the areas where they predominate and at the level of the central government. Platitudes will not suffice any longer. Tamil accusations that they have been the victims of Sinhala chicanery over the past sixty years should be laid to rest once and for all.

If the rule of law ; dispensation of justice in terms of fairness and speed; and due process take centre stage in Sri Lanka, and are respected by the high and low in society and the instruments of state handling such issues, most of the issues of concern to the Tamils will evaporate overnight. However, it should be emphasized these concerns are not unique to the Tamils. It is up to the government to have the inclination and the will to transform Sri Lanka into a state that abides by its laws and enforces them without fear or favour. The JVP insurrections and the Tamil militancy have contributed in large measure to the erosion of the rule of law in Sri Lanka. We have been ruled under emergency laws for long periods in our post-independence history. Impunity has become a way of life in Sri Lanka. These unfortunate developments have to be reversed once the LTTE is defeated. Democratic dissent and protest should be accepted as normal, a necessary safety valve and the voice that has to be heard and responded. Violence at any level or section of society should be promptly dealt within parameters of existing laws, which are judiciable.

Many of the grievances upon which the Tamil struggle was founded have become irrelevant today. Tamil is recognized as an official language in the Sri Lankan constitution and if provisions relating to it are fully implemented, there should not be any problems with regard to the use of Tamil in dealings with the government. There is a sincere effort being made to implement the constitutional and statutory provisions with regard to the Tamil language. All new recruits to the government services are required to have a working knowledge of Sinhala or Tamil as the other language, old recruits have to acquire sufficient proficiency in Sinhala or Tamil as a second language, Tamil is being taught to Sinhala school children and to monks in Pirivenas (Schools for Buddhist clergy) and concerted efforts are being made to recruit bilingual translators. The private sector works in the English language yet and currently employs a large number of Tamils. Tri-lingualism (Proficiency in Sinhala, Tamil and English) is being recognized as essential for Sri Lanka’s economic development and prosperity in the modern world. The efforts of Minister DEW Gunasekera in this regards should be appreciated and encouraged. This reverses the trend towards mono-lingualism that was seeded in 1956 and laid the foundations for the subsequent national turmoil.

If the Tamils are dissatisfied with the government supported educational system, private schools can be established under the Companies ordinance. Private universities can also be established under this ordinance. The liberalized economy also permits students to go abroad for their education. Further, when the 13th amendment is fully implemented, schools and universities will come fully under the purview of the provincial administration, permitting greater localized inputs towards excellence. The increase in number of government universities spread over the island with faculties for professional studies, has also increased the possibilities for a larger number of Tamil students to enroll.

The demand for government employment has precipitously declined among Tamils. The Tamils have forsaken the security they traditionally sought in government employment and embraced more adventurous avenues to make a living. This is a positive development in the thought processes of the Tamils and a clear break from the mind set of the past. The new found sense of adventure and available entrepreneurial skills should be exploited to develop agriculture, agro-industries and other industrial ventures in the north and east.

The open economy has eliminated the highly controlled and much abused licencing system for industries prevalent thirty years back. Any industry that meets the legal requirements can be established in the north and east easily, once peace returns to the island. Local industries utilizing human resources in the north and the east can be established with different levels of sophistication, permitting influx of Tamil Diaspora funds and skills. This will bring in its wake employment, infra-structure development and prosperity. The private sector operated health services have expanded rapidly in the island over the past decade or so, and there is no reason why this would not expand into the north and east. Every opportunity available in the rest of Sri Lanka will become available to the Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese of the north and East once this war is over and there is no impediment to this in the Sri Lankan system at present.

Tamils have demonstrated through this war, spear headed by the LTTE, they treasure their identity and their connections to the island. They have also demonstrated an enduring commitment to be a people who can hold their heads up in the island. Through the war they have demonstrated ingenuity, inventiveness, organizational abilities and tenacity that our nation as a whole can be proud. Although the war was lost, the Tamils have come through a baptism of fire. The positive aspects of the Tamil struggle should be recognized, respected and made use in our nation building effort. The Tamils are down, but not out. They are a resilient people. They will come out of their present misery faster, if a helping hand is extended by the government, the other peoples of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Diaspora. The extent of this help, will determine the success of the much needed national healing process. Tamils on the other hand must put memories of a bitter past in the back burner and reciprocate the ‘Forgive and forget’ attitude of the other communities and the government in Sri Lanka. The time has come for the Tamils to look forwards and cease looking backwards. Tamils have to accept the reality of being Tamils within a Sri Lankan identity.

However, the Tamils in the north and east may not have the political power that was sought through an independent Tamil Eelam by our politicians and militants. It was an exhilarating dream that has turned sour in reality for the Tamils. It was a dream that was unrealistic to begin with and became totally untenable with time. It became with time the dream of the hating, vengeful, self seeking and ill informed carpetbaggers! It had ceased to be the dream of the ordinary people in the north and east long ago. The unwillingness of the LTTE to seize several opportunities that came its way to secure greater political rights for the Tamils within the provincial council system or a suitable federal governance system, has ensured the Tamils have to work within the existing system, while negotiating with the government to enshrine the proposals being finalized by the All Party Conference (APC) chaired by Prof. Tissa Vithanage in the constitution. The rehabilitation, resettlement, re-building and development activities in the north and east can be easily carried out under the existing Provincial Council system in collaboration with the Central Government. Tamils have no alternative but to make the most of what is available, while working in tandem with the progressives in a national context to get greater powers devolved to the provinces.

The Tamil Diaspora is spread over seventy odd countries in the world and largely represent the best of Sri Lankan Tamils. They have not only acquired the skills needed to productively function in 21st century societies, but also the wealth that can be spared for not only the development of the north and east, but the whole of Sri Lanka. This Diaspora although largely supportive of the LTTE and its mission at present, can be weaned to contribute towards a new dawn in Sri Lanka, provided the government initiates progressive and confidence building measures to build bridges to the Tamils. Mechanisms to involve the Tamil Diaspora in the re-building and development of the north and east should be initiated by the government as an urgent priority and this should extend with time to cover the whole island. The government having recently involved sections of the Tamil Diaspora in a dialogue, should take this process forward vigorously and make gestures to empower those Diasporan Tamils who participated at considerable risk to their person and reputations, by dealing with issues that concern the Tamils at present with wisdom and compassion.

The immediate issue that concerns all Tamils is the fate of thousands of civilians entrapped in the so-called safety zone. The government should do everything in its power to ensure these civilians and those in the LTTE willing to come out, are brought out safely and treated with compassion and humanity, surpassing those demanded by international norms. Most of these trapped civilians are the poorest of the poor and come from the lowest rungs of Tamil society. They do not have the influence or where withal to buy their safe passage from the LTTE. The war is currently being fought with the lives of these poor and innocent people as pawns. This is a situation the LTTE and the Tamils yet supporting it should be ashamed of. Every life is precious and at this juncture every Tamil life is very precious. This should demonstrably become the overwhelming concern of the government in the face of the greatest sin the LTTE is committing.

We as a nation- Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others- are on the threshold of a new dawn, after years of darkness. This is an opportunity to renew our independence and engage in a nation building process, recognizing our diversities as peoples. The voice of the rational, decent and compassionate majority in all communities should be heard above that of the extremists amongst us. The government headed by President Mahinda Rajapakse now within a whisker of winning the war, has a more difficult task ahead in winning the peace. President Rajapakse’s single minded approach to winning the war has produced unbelievable results. A similar approach to winning the peace will be his crowning glory. He has to harness the positive forces within the country, among all communities and in the Diaspora to win the peace and make our island the ‘Dhamma-Dwipa’ it was destined to be.

-Sri Lanka Guardian