Cricket in Sri Lanka – Is it Sinhalese or Sri Lankan?

by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam

(July 14, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in response to the article ‘Inclusivity and pluralism retains a country’s vitality' by Shanie, published in Sri Lanka Guardian.

The writer has stated ‘Kumar Sangakkara has done the country proud in his Colin Cowdrey Memorial Lecture delivered in the Nursery Pavilion of the MCC’s Lords Cricket ground. In a powerful speech, he stressed what leaders like Nehru and Amartya Sen have been stating in neighbouring India. It is a synthesis of our diverse cultures over the past millennia that has made us one people with a proud civilization.’

‘Made us one people with a proud civilization?’ Ours is a civilization that has resulted in armed war in which civilized conduct was of lesser significance than ‘winning’. As a Sri Lankan, I see no grounds for pride in this.

Kumar Sangakkara himself in that Memorial Lecture – refers to the JVP as ‘insurgents’ but the LTTE as ‘Terrorists’. If a Tamil cricketer had delivered the Lecture – it is highly likely that he would have referred to the LTTE as rebels. Kumar Sangakkara has failed to demonstrate common basis as Sri Lankan in describing the two groups that resorted to armed rebellion against the Government. One can have pluralism only when there is inclusivity at the base.

If we take the Sri Lankan Cricket Team for example – does it reflect a fair distribution of the different races in Sri Lanka? As per my observation, it does not. Affirmative action is required towards such plural representation.

I took a similar issue up with a Sri Lankan forum here in Australia – about majority in a Sri Lankan Association appearing to be Sinhalese. This could very well be due to ‘merit’. But there are instances when one should not rely purely on objectively measurable merit but use affirmative action or discretionary powers towards a Level Playing Field. This base is essential in social forums and activities.

In the case of Sri Lankan cricket, recruitment to the team would be a mix of intuitive belief and objectively measurable merit. The former is required when one requires a team bound by common faith – so that players would intuitively know the needs of each other. Likewise, in the armed forces. Where this is not possible through a fair spread from all races, it is necessary to devolve power and recognize each group as equals at the National level. In cricket this could be Burghers and Sinhalese in one team and Muslims and Tamils in the other.

The fact that we had JVP uprising from Sinhalese and LTTE uprising by Tamils – confirms that we are a divided country. If LTTE had focused on cricket – they are likely to have produced a strong team to oppose the current Sri Lankan team which is recognized more as a Sinhalese team by ethnic minded Tamils. Be it in cricket or war – Western forces seem to be the ones to bring about common outlook. India was able to retain its cultural diversity due to Holy beings who invested deeply in Truth. This included Gandhi. Truth by its very nature is the common base of diversity.

If Kumar Sangakara and other Sinhalese looking Sri Lankans seek to contribute to this base – they need to either work to implement Affirmative Action to represent all races in the Sri Lankan cricket team (even if it meant losing/sacrificing games) or appoint Tamil recruiters – like India had Muslim Emperors like Akbar.

If Kumar Sangakkara feels Sri Lankan more than Sinhalese, he would have referred to the LTTE as rebels and not as Terrorists.

If Kumar Sangakkara is seeking to contribute to a structure that would look Sri Lankan – then personal beliefs do not matter as much as commitment to developing that common structure. We therefore needed to hear the experiences of a cricketer directly affected by the higher challenge – which is not the JVP but the LTTE side – Tamils. We needed to hear identification with the pain experienced by Tamil cricketers.

Given that there are only very few Tamil cricketers of Sri Lanka – credited with world class - Kumar Sangakkara could have expressed himself through the appreciation of his deepest Tamil fan – a current one. Player and Fan become One when at least one of them feels deeply about their game/work – so deeply that differences do not matter but one just has the wholesome experience. That is better than Affirmative Action. This Truth/Love is in fact the base of Affirmative Action. When we are bound by Truth / Love – we naturally share – without seeing or knowing any ‘us and them’ differences. Then both sides would be rebels or terrorists who through our natural sharing would seem part of us to the outside world.

Until this happens the team that is called ‘Sri Lankan Cricket Team’ is actually a ‘Sinhalese Cricket Team’ – just like ‘Sinhalese Sports Club’ which boasts of membership of Sri Lankan Prime Ministers. They started this ethnic divide through cricket followed by language and now they add insult to injury and blame it all on the LTTE.