| by Chathurika Rajapaksha
( November 14, 2012, Paris, Sri Lanka Guardian) On the 19th day of
May 2009, with the end of the military conflict that had divided the country
for over thirty years, Sri Lanka entered a new era.
The next step that Sri Lanka has to face
is also extremely sensitive due to nationalistic feelings of the various ethnic
groups. A durable peace can be built only if all these groups that go to form
the Sri Lankan society feel that they are a part of the same nation.
Building a nation had always been
somehow a difficult task in Sri Lanka. Susil Sirivardana in his article titled
"Paradigms and Foundations in Nation Building: A Way of
Understanding" underlines that Sri Lankan leaderships believe in illusions
that historically we were already a nation and hence, nation building as such,
was not the central challenge of national politics. The articles mentioned in
this paper appear in the book "Nation Building:Priorities for
Sustainability and Inclusivity" edited by Gnana Moonesighe.
The post-conflict situation is the
opportunity to introspect the mistakes done in the past and to undertake
profound reforms. Indeed, today's context offers new perspectives and the
people of Sri Lanka who await impatiently to live in a peaceful nation seem to
be ready to accept changes.
What do we want?
When we consider the nation building
process of countries such as France, there were foundations that had
contributed towards implanting the idea of a "nation". Among such
foundations, we can for instance underline one's respect for the sovereignty of
the people and the acknowledgement of unity in diversity arising from religious
and ethnic differences.
As regard to the sovereignty of the
people, it is imperative that the separation of powers that is Legislative,
Executive and Judicial should not be confined to the Constitution only; it must
be practiced by the leadership so that the power rests always with the people
in a democratic set up.
This separation of powers was theorized
by Montesquieu in his book "The Spirits of the Laws". This model of
governance structures the powers of a nation among the three branches, each
branch having separate and independent powers in order to prevent the
concentration of powers within one branch or one person. Therefore, the people
can elect their leaders without any fear or duress. As we know, France built
its foundations of good governance on those lines.
In Sri Lanka, the 1978 Constitution
provides for the separation of powers to which it is necessary to give full
force and effect, particularly in the context of a peace building process. This
would contribute towards gaining the trust of all Sri Lankan people. It is
well-known that until 1977, a Sri Lankan voter had the power to change the
government and as a result the country was governed alternatively by the two
main parties. It was known that at one time, Sri Lanka was the envy of
countries such as Singapore.
As regard to the unity in diversity, Sri
Lankans of different religious background have coexisted side by side in
harmony for many centuries, enjoying the core values. One could wonder whether
article 9 of the 1978 Constitution which gives special protection to Buddhism
had interfered with that stability. Since religious harmony is a corner-stone
for nation building, in future governance of the country, all religions and
free thinkers must be given equal recognition. Much hard feeling can be avoided
as mentioned by A.C. Visvalingam in his article titled "Resolution of
Majority and Minority Concerns" by minimizing "references to race,
religion and other divisive descriptions in all laws and official work as far
as practically possible." The aim being that Sri Lankan people are made to
feel that they are first Sri Lankan and that their ethnic and religious
specificities come thereafter.
The Diaspora Youth also needs to bear in
mind that the economic development is also an important factor in nation
building process. As mentioned by Marchal Fernando in his article titled “Sri
Lankan Economy in Nation Building”, it is noteworthy that economic development
helps to bring people together as it generates wealth “to satisfy the needs and
aspirations of the citizens, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, or any other
differentiation in society”.
How to raise awareness on such values?
Building bridges between Sri Lanka and
France could contribute to such economic development. Therefore, the Diaspora
Youth could support and encourage young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in their
activities for instance by awarding the best innovative initiatives or helping
Sri Lankan entrepreneurs to penetrate the developed countries’ markets.
The Diaspora Youth had already started
to write in papers about these subjects. We must continue to do so as media is
an important change agent in public attitudes.
[Chathurika Rajapaksha is an
attorney-at-law (Paris bar). She holds a Master from Assas University (Paris)
and an LLM from the London Metropolitan University (UK).
 On the 19th day of May 2009, with the end of the milita...){kind=link}