| by Gnana Moonesinghe
( April 21, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Not even the Greek tragedies have been as spectacular in unraveling horrors, pathos, and innumerable nuances which ties up the plot in so many complex sub plots as in the case of Sri Lanka since May 2009. Sri Lanka unfortunately seems to have had the penchant to overlook the soft seductive peace that came wafting into the country immediately after May 19, 2009.
The end of the war did bring about a countervailing atmosphere of positive expectations for the activation of the peace and reconciliation process. Bright lights were flashing in expectation when the government appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and when the Commissioners came up with their recommendations they seemed infinitely acceptable and workable. But what did the smart Sri Lankans do? They looked upon the report as if there has to be a long germinating period to implement the proposals. In this interim period centrifugal forces (the detractors), have begun to occupy the vacuum which is like opening the witches’ brew.
The country is confronted with forces that are both external and internal that are pulling on all sides, destabilizing and draining whatever little focus is directed towards peace making. Instead of tackling the resolution of issues that led to the conflict, the country is driven into any number of ‘conflict rousing’ scenarios all of which has muddied the atmosphere, once again encouraging sentiments of antagonism, mistrust, suspicion and intolerance to come to the forefront within the ethnic communities. The prospect for creating inter-ethnic cooperation has gradually taken a back seat. The responsibility for this disorientation and rapid disintegration of the nation building process lies not only with the government but also rests with the civil society that has come to characterize inertia and callousness towards matters not of immediacy to them as individuals.
The pro LTTE Tamil diaspora, the Tamil Nadu politics, the ambivalent attitude towards rapprochement between the State by the Tamil political leaders and the international concerns as evinced through the UNHRC resolution are some of the external factors that is making the government move to a tract of apathy, slowing to a crawl the moves towards reconciliation and constructive rebuilding of civil administrative structures and programs for devolution of power to the North. In the East, the government, one assumes is fairly inured by the demography of a multi ethnic population while the mono Tamil structure of the North makes them fear the possibility of challenge to the State at some point in the future. This is in part the justification for the continuing military presence in significant numbers in the North as well as for filling civilian posts with military personnel AND for not holding to date the Provincial Council elections. This unfounded fear of an unpredictable future prevents the government from actively engaging in building bridges with the Tamil community.
The LTTE Tamil diaspora
The LTTE Tamil diaspora has played a negative role vis a vis the Tamils living in this country. Their metamorphosis from being tiger supporters who condoned the actions of the Tigers and contributed heavily to their funds, to transforming themselves as champions of human rights advocates has earned for the diaspora the respectability they otherwise lacked (having been cheer leaders for the tigers). However this change has in no way impacted on the lives of the Tamils to their advantage. Their basic needs for the improvement of the quality of life in these areas are numerous and the diaspora has not focused on these matters. Housing, income generation, single women’s issues, including those of war widows and orphans, education, counseling for trauma are some areas that the well placed resource rich personnel with financial security amongst the diaspora could have worked on.
Equally important would be if a chain of human links supported by lawyers, doctors, grass root organizations are got together to provide the moral strength to the people in these areas, who do not have any anchor, who have lost their bearings and their self- respect and self –worth as well. One has still to hear of even a scholarship granted to a promising student to be educated in the countries which is home to the Tamil diaspora. Merely agitating to have Eelam or announcing the continuation with the struggle only makes life more difficult to their compatriots because the government then grows hostile towards the people living here. More military presence will be the result because in fairness to the government it must be said that they would like to pre- empt any subversive activities originating again.
It will be clear to anyone who stops long enough to realize that the long suffering people want to just get on with their lives and have no longer the fight or interest in staging challenges to anyone or anybody. It is doubtful if any among them even at the beginning had the inclination for an all out ‘fight’ with the State. To agitate for their rights, yes, but not to take up arms, lose their husband, sons and daughters and have their lives disrupted. For the diaspora, from the comfort of their homes in the West it will be difficult to imagine the ‘arid life style’ the people here are compelled to live.
It is up to the community that took arms against the state to declare, that whatever their issues are, they would like to resolve it within the unitary state of Sri Lanka. It should help to still the fear syndrome amongst the people in the rest of the country. Just this statement, if declared in honesty, will go a long way to ameliorate the hardships people are presently undergoing particularly in the North.
The Tamil Nadu Factor
To the people in Jaffna and the East the sound bytes emanating from a host of mutually hostile political groups agitating for the grant of rights to Lankan Tamils and threatening to forcibly carve out the state of Eelam out of Sri Lanka forebodes only more gloom and no relief. Analyzing the context within which these claims are made, it is evident that the sentiment of empathy towards the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka is more than shallow. The Lankan Tamils have moved into the Tamil Nadu radar only as a measure of whipping public support to provide the competing politicians to vie for popular support in Tamil Nadu to improve their political fortunes and for a balance of power calculation with the central government. Is it to be Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi? On the other hand if it is indeed a case of empathy should it not have begun with the Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka whose cause has been highlighted for their deprivations from their arrival till the present? Why has there been so little focus on this sector? Then again why do they permit fishermen to take away the livelihood of the Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen by poaching within Lankan territorial waters depriving Northern Tamils of much needed income?
From the Tamil perspective, Tamil Nadu’s belligerent support expressed through all kinds of exhortations as in the case of attacks on Sri Lankans going to Chennai, preventing the popular cricketers from playing there –all of these acts are construed as acts of hostility to the Lankan Nation. If this is done to support the Lankan Tamils in the north then numerous mischievous interpretations can be given. For one, it raises the fear of separation of the North from Sri Lanka and linking up with Tamil Nadu. This is something that this nation has been hallucinating about for ever so long. Therefore this kind of posturing does not help the Tamils for it only feeds into the fears of separation from the unitary state in Sri Lanka.
Tamil Nadu politicians have given up all talk of delinking from the rest of India a long time ago and they are tied to the Indian nation in a strong patriotic bond. So it will be advisable for us in Sri Lanka to ignore the genuflections of the Tamil Nadu politicians and look upon their antics as inherent irresponsible behavior of the breed of politicians with which the Lankan politicians can identify as well. It will therefore be the better part of wisdom for the media not to give too much publicity to the Tamil Nadu factor; it will also be wise not to interpret their actions as a possible break up of India or annexation of the North and East of Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu. In fact the Tamils in the north rightly or otherwise, openly or covertly, always had an attitude of superiority to those in the East as well as to those in Tamil Nadu. The alliance is not on the cards and be thankful that it is all confined to ‘playacting’. It is a great study in psychoanalysis if it is undertaken – who is using whom?
Tamil Leadership
The 30-year war has put the Tamils in the North and the East through a mincing machine; the spiritless shell of the people is what is left. Combating with the State armed forces and their man Prabhakaran, who held them under strict surveillance brooking no other opinion except his diktat, was a continuous life threatening, energy sapping experience. It should have been a compulsive urge for the Tamil leadership to place the Tamil people first and make the necessary accommodation required to give the ordinary man, woman and child a better prospect for the future. No link must be left untapped; if the Select Committee is the process available for discussion so be it. Participate and see the prospects of the possible; nothing ventured nothing gained will be something to remember. "Conflict reduction rather than conflict resolution is a practical goal in ethnically diverse societies". This would be a useful dictum to bear in mind.
It may perhaps be prudent to move away from purely ethnic issues and look for ``alignments based on interests other than ethnicity" and create incentives for inter –ethnic cooperation. It is not for a moment suggested that the major issues that gave rise to the conflict that are deeply rooted in the psyche of the minority community should be overlooked. No reconciliation will be possible if these issues are not addressed. But in a process of negotiation adopting an attitude of accommodation by both sides to the conflict will create the essential atmosphere for movement forward. This is vital, lest we stand in the same position for the next 30 years. This is what has been missing in the dialogue that has taken place in the recent past between the government and the TNA. If a mind set to be conciliatory is adopted, it will be a major contribution to peace building and a definite offer of a ray of hope to the long suffering people in the North and the East.
While in the process of writing this article, newspapers have highlighted the additional demands raised by section of the Tamil political leadership and civil society for the establishment of an ISGA. This kind of possibilities for incremental demands coming into play is the reference made at the beginning of this paper that "centrifugal forces begin to occupy the vacuum…" The TNA has disassociated itself with this regressive step which will hopefully help to facilitate a dialogue with the government if and when it is initiated.
The timing is perhaps to put pressure on the government at a time international opinion is negative towards Sri Lanka for the lapses in accountability, human rights violations, implementation of the LLRC recommendations, rule of law and restrictions on media freedom amongst others. Situations and opinions change. The US for one, it must be remembered, stood by Sri Lanka against Tamil Tiger violations, demand for a separate state and did indeed effectively crack down on arms procurement and money laundering by individuals domiciled in the United States. In fact they collaborated with Sri Lankan intelligence service and gave information which helped Lanka to destroy a fleet of ships that were bringing military equipment to the Tigers.
At the moment the US and western democracies that stand for democracy, equal opportunities to all and rule of law are hostile to the stand taken by Sri Lanka in not cooperating to improve conditions in some of these areas. But if Sri Lanka were to get alert to the fact that their foreign policy approach should change to accommodate some of the demands from the western democracies, from India and more importantly from Sri Lankans for redress, the situation from the international perspective can change overnight. What with bombs going in Boston there will be hostility to anti national sentiment. Diaspora and the strident voices rising from section of the Tamil community who are not interested in reconciliation in the hope that if reconciliation and healing of war wounds does not take place it would automatically lead to the creation of a separate Tamil nation.
The diaspora cannot take international support as given for all times. If the government addresses even a part of the issues raised by the international forum there is no doubt that it will be possible to neutralize the United Nations and the West as well as India. Sri Lanka’s response should not be focused too much on the extremist Tamil lobby but should be directed towards its foreign policy to have it tempered with greater tact and wisdom. If this is possible, then the government will be assured not only of Western support but also of Tamil moderate opinion and that of the TNA that has distanced itself from the extremist stand.
If it is development, growth and the sustenance of these processes, are the call from the Southern constituency, then there is no alternative for the government but to concentrate on reconciliation and real healing of wounds of war. When healing takes place in this country with consciousness and effective recognition that this nation has a mix of races and religions with an equal demand for ownership of the nation, there will be no doubt that the country will regain its place in the international world. This is the only way to see that people with complex distorted agendas do not take the country once again on another misguided journey.
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