Fri, 29 Mar 2024 Today's Paper

Give Peace a Chance

By

8 October 2016 12:00 am - 0     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A A A

Sri Lanka’s bitter near two-and-a-half decade long ethnic war ended in 2009. During that period nearly a hundred thousand men, women and children were killed, many thousands more were injured and the economy left in a shambles. Sadly, even today, its citizenry are still polarized, divided along the lines of race, religion and ethnicity. 


Sri Lanka presents a classic case of a society in dire need of a process of reconciliation, as even today, these divisions are still deeply ingrained in society.
But the outlook for reconciliation in Sri Lanka at this moment looks bleak, as every move, every word spoken or action taken by a particular community is looked on with suspicion by other communities. Political leaders and opportunists of different shades and hues tend to misinterpret every tiny action of the other exacerbating old wounds and refuelling suspicions.


Reconciliation can only start with an understanding of the other and willingness to talk in sincerity to each other over perceived faults or affronts…
The continuing lack of communication among communities, the rush to condemn perceived slights and willful misinterpretation of actions by political opportunists continue to be the bane of our society. 
According to the 2012 census, the local population was 20,359,439; Sinhalese made up 74.9%, Sri Lanka Tamils form the largest minority group at 11.1%, Moors 9.3%, Indian Tamils 4.1%, while others, including Burghers and the Sri Lankan aborigines form 0.13% of the population
Members of the minority communities such as Tamils, Muslims and Christians suspect the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community because they are a majority in the country enjoying political power and have shown a tendency or unwillingness to share the benefits of this power with the minorities.


What the minorities have to understand is that, though in a majority in Sri Lanka, a large section of the Sinhalese population see themselves as a minority regionally.
The Sinhala-Buddhists who, though the majority community in Sri Lanka, see themselves as an isolated minority regionally. 
One often hears the phrase “…the Tamils have India… the Muslims Pakistan, Malaysian and the Middle East… but the Sinhalese are limited to this island…with nowhere else to go”. And it is in this light; sections among the Sinhalese get agitated and take up cudgels at a variety of acts of commission or omission by sections among the minority communities. They see these acts as posing threats to the Sinhala race, its religion and primacy of place in the country. 


Most Sinhalese are Buddhists, and Tamils Hindus. Sizable minorities among both Sinhalese and Tamils are Christians, while the Muslim community is largely Tamil-speaking.
During the colonial era, the British used these ethnic divisions as a means of controlling the local population. Administrative positions in the colonial civil service were filled mainly with members of minority communities which built suspicion among the people and hindered efforts of rebelling against the colonial masters. 


After Independence, these differences among the communities worsened and by the early and mid-1950s, the thin veneer of pseudo-democracy which covered a myriad of growing religious and language problems, together with a failing economy combined to produce a witch’s brew of ethnic and religious and economic alienation. 
By 1956, the situation deteriorated to the extent the election campaign was based on lines of racial and religious hatred.  The explosion of race riots in 1958 saw the effective shattering of the façade of Sri Lanka’s image of national unity.


Since 1958, the country has witnessed two anti-Tamil ethnic riots; a number of attacks on religious minorities -- the Muslims & Christians -- two violent attempts to overthrow the State and a near 25-year long war with Tamil separatists.  
Sadly, even today, justice has still not been meted out to the perpetrators of race riots or attacks on religious minorities. Reparation was not made to the victims of these violent events nor have the cause behind the upsurge in violence been addressed. 


The rioting was brought under control via the military and the police, the two uprisings were militarily defeated as were the separatists who too were militarily crushed.
The causes of the crises were never solved. While there have been serious attempts at dialogue between parties to the disputes, to find a means of bringing to end the causes of divisions within the country, political opportunism has seen these attempts negated.


A good example of this twisting non-related political events into an ethnic unrest was seen in the recent ‘Ezhuga Thamil’ (Tamils arise) march held in Jaffna very recently.
The event itself was a manifestation of a power-struggle within the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) -- a struggle which pitted the Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council against a Member of Parliament of the Jaffna District M.A. Sumanthiran.


C.V.Wigneswaran, a novice in politics prior to the Northern Provincial Council elections was originally backed by Messrs Sampanthan and Sumanthiran for the post of Chief Minister.
Mr. Wigneswaran however, fell out with Sumanthiran, sources in the TNA say over the Chief Minister’s conflict with his Chief Secretary. 
The CM saw the Chief Secretary as sabotaging the work of the Council and dismissed her from her post. The secretary then filed application against the CM for unlawful dismissal. It is said that Mr. Sumanthiran negotiated a deal and had the case withdrawn to the charging of the CM. 


Since this incident, relations between the CM and Mr. Sumanthiran rapidly disintegrated, with the CM suspecting the work of the Council was being sabotaged by his earlier mentor using a few Provincial Councillors.
The ‘Ezhuga Thamil’ demonstration itself, these sources which did not want to be identified said was the result of much hard work put in by Suresh Premachandran and Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam. The CM was merely a figurehead called into give the demonstration legitimacy. 
The TNA itself opposed the demonstration with its leader Mr. Sampanthan not wanting to upset the ongoing dialogue on changes to the Constitution. He allowed the promoters of the programme to go forward with their plan recognizing it as their democratic right. 


Unfortunately in Colombo, sections of the CM’s speech were taken completely out of context and made to appear as if he had spoken against the Sinhalese and Buddhism. 
In fact, the opposite was true; in his speech the CM emphatically stated he was not opposed to either Sinhalese or Buddhists. He opposed what he said was the illegal setting up of Buddha statues on private temple land or individual lands…


Opportunists twisted his speech and inflammatory speeches were made in Colombo and areas in the South stoking fear among the Sinhalese of another Tamil uprising. 
With no one checking the veracity of the truth of the matter, opportunists won the day… A breakdown of communication… creates a fear psychosis among members of the majority community.
On the other side, the Tamil masses who participated in the rally -- around 20,000 to 30,000 -- failed to understand what such a massive demonstration would have on the Sinhala mentality. While for the Tamils, it was a means of showing their leaders that  they were disgusted with their petty political games, it was also meant as a message to the present government that the Tamils who voted en masse at the presidential election to bring the present president into power felt the pace of change was too slow. Unfortunately many Sinhalese feared it was a new beginning of another Tamil uprising…


Sinhalese also perhaps do not see the building/construction of Buddha statues in the North as an affront to the Tamil culture and community. After all, during the British era they saw the colonial ruler build their churchs on lands belonging to the Dalada Maligawa and it (Church) still stands to this day; unlike in neighbouring India where the Muslim Babri Masjid (Mosque) was destroyed by Hindu mobs claiming the land to be the birth place of the mystical God Ram.


The Sinhala-Buddhists, even in the aftermath of Independence, never even once demanded the destruction of St. Paul’s Cathedral as it was forcibly built on the land of the most sacred Dalada Maligawa. Again, while it is true miscreants and hoodlums dressed in yellow robes attacked and destroyed a number of Mosques and Churches in different parts of the country. It was not the Sinhalese people per se, who participated in or backed these attacks. It was the work of a few miscreants backed by particular individuals in power at that time.


Let us remember that large sections of the majority community -- the Sinhalese -- who together with the minorities, voted to overthrow the leaders who attempted to use religious differences to perpetuate their hold on power. 
It is time we, the citizens of this country, put aside our biased views of each other and recognize the inherent good in each community and try to build on this good rather than keep harking back to bygone wrongs and ‘may have beens’.


Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

  Comments - 0

Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

Add comment

Comments will be edited (grammar, spelling and slang) and authorized at the discretion of Daily Mirror online. The website also has the right not to publish selected comments.

Reply To:

Name - Reply Comment





Order Gifts and Flowers to Sri Lanka. See Kapruka's top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Kids Toys, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka's unique online services such as Money Remittence,Astrology, Courier/Delivery, Medicine Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka

VAT increase: SOUNDs death knell for publishers, readers

Though the Government imposed VAT (Value Added Tax) on vegetables and other e

How female change-makers are driving Sri Lanka’s energy saving platform

Saving energy has become more of a responsibility than a habit in today’s c

A dull Ramadan awaits Muslims amidst the Soaring Cost of Living

In the coming days, Muslims across the world will welcome the Holy Month of R

New wildlife underpass to curtail HEC

As of February 2024, Sri Lanka lost another 38 elephants as a result of the H

MIRROR CRICKET

More