His Master’s Voice

Excepting economic development and the seemingly insurmountable issue of IDPs at least in the short and medium terms, one of the main themes which received unwavering focus was of people belonging to various communities of the country living in peace and unity: ‘forget the past, look to the future and live like Sri Lankans.’ Like President Rajapaksa said we are all Sri Lankans. But, what is the necessity to play this message repeatedly like an old record on a ‘His Master’s Voice gramophone?

Modicum of history

There is a common claim that an ‘ethnic war’ tore the country apart. The word-combo,‘ethnic conflict’ used to describe the thirty year war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE labelled a terrorist group all over the world, (the LTTE never acquired the identity of ‘Freedom Fighters’ as they professed to be) is confusing. This is because the war was mostly confined to the north and east which carry a heavy population of Tamils when compared with some other parts of the country. However, it was the LTTE that took to attacking soft civilian targets to send their message which in a nutshell said:  “We, the minority Tamils have suffered in the hands of the majority Sinhalese who did not protect our fundamental rights or give us equal opportunities. They sidelined us at every turn. To change this situation, we want an opportunity for self governance in the regions of the country historically identified with the Tamil people. We want nothing less than a separate state–Eelam.” However, the military part played by the seekers of a homeland became history when the LTTE succumbed to the onslaught of government forces. But this dive the terrorists took was apparently not a deep one and the impression is that they are treading water and planning another strategy for self autonomy.

With the day dreams of Eelam egging them on, the first thing the LTTE, the sole representatives of the Tamil people did was to demarcate the boundaries of Eelam which effectively joined the north and the east. In fact their maps  projected what was anticipated to be acquired as Eelam territory appeared in many parts of the country in the form of propaganda. After establishing these boundaries the LTTE began to consolidate the area what they considered was theirs and began to clear the north and east of Sinhala and Muslim people through the most cruel and brazen acts of ‘purifying’ Tamil territory. Hundreds of incidents can be quoted to confirm that programme of ethnic cleansing. And with this filtering process the Sinhalese and Muslim components in Tamil territory flickered to negligible numbers.

Simultaneously two other things happened. Firstly the armed forces took on the terrorist war machine and secondly many Tamils caught up in the war left their homes to leave the country or else to escape to the safety of the South–by that time unofficially identified as ‘Sinhala’ country. In the South, these ‘Tamil emigrants’ not only found safety, but also long term acceptance. Then the question arises; in such a scenario how can there be an ethnic conflict? An ethnic conflict–as the phrase itself implies–is essentially between two differently identified groups of people irrespective of their status in society. If this is so, Sinhalese civilians and Tamil civilians living in any part of the country would have been at each other’s throats–open enemies. It follows then that the war between an armed group of Tamil militants and government forces cannot be called an ethnic conflict. The real reasons for the war bear much deeper political ramifications which have been festering for a considerable period of time.

Currently, importance is being laid on ‘peace’ ‘freedom’ and ‘unity.’ It is common to see TV programmes, newspaper articles and discussions harping on these key areas as if they will provide the final and complete solution in bringing about a permanent end to the ‘ethnic conflict.’ Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, and Burgher children attired in traditional dress appropriate to their ethnicities, holding hands and singing the national anthem under the National Flag is the most commonly seen approach to boost the theme: ‘we are all Sri Lankans, we can live in peace and harmony’ often echoed by the so-called leaders of the country.

In-house disunity

This gives rise to another pertinent question. How attainable is this ideal theme for the nation steeped in disunity, animosity and upheavals WITHIN all three major communities in the country? One of the chief culprits in creating this situation is politics – the parasite that has voraciously eaten into the very core of Sri Lankan society.

Consider the elections in the past and also the run up to the election in the South. Because of fierce competition for political power, prodded by a preferential voting system, the Sinhalese fought among themselves. That there are laws in common law and election laws escaped their attention as they usually do. This infighting is not restricted to the ‘majority Sinhalese,’ infighting among Muslims and Tamils owing to political reasons was also obvious in the past. The same phenomenon is seen today. It is also common to see that just as much as politics bind people together in strong groups or divide them to similar degrees, there are other subtle and less obvious divisions which forage into personal niches of people of the same race.

The Sinhalese sub-divisions range from the Up-country Sinhalese (through other indeterminable elevations!) to the Low-country Sinhalese. They also take steps backward rather than forward by dividing themselves further within a caste system which generally keeps a low profile only to erupt in flame and thunder in relationships; marriage, partnerships and at times even in social acceptance. The Tamils are as close to the Sinhalese in their own internal social divisions which assume deeper and even more significant levels in their country of origin–India. People with long memories will remember the bitter and murderous rivalry among armed Tamil groups. The LTTE killed their competitors, their own people to come out on top as the ‘sole representatives’ of the Tamil people. So in the first instance, the Tamils who claim that the Sinhalese have discriminated against them have to take a close look at the many kinds of discrimination among themselves. Even in the worldwide Muslim brotherhood there are divisions based on various myths and beliefs concerning religion, values, and codes of conduct. When it comes to Burghers who are not usually associated with social divisions there are references to white skinned ‘ pure Dutch’ Burghers, dark skinned Burghers, and Batticaloa Burghers–divisions which however, do not appear to have such an impact on their lives, but they are divisions all the same. This means that Sri Lankans said to be living in a free and democratic society are grossly divided within their own palours at deeper levels.

Unfortunately these divisions have surreptitiously seeped into religious beliefs too. There are occasions of religious back stabbing by people of the same race but belonging to different creeds. Adding fuel to these divides is the reality that all religions–some to a greater degree than others–are also divided. These divisions do not emerge into the open as in politics, but the bubbling of ‘religious politics’ is a fact of life. It follows then that freedom in various spheres, individual rights, peace in fair play etc. all good things people aspire to receive and experience in democracies, come to naught because of self inflicted divisions of low priority, stature and value. And the funny thing is that people are supposed to be well-informed, educated, and leading useful lives in an ‘advancing world!’

Try, try and keep on trying

“I say Tommo,” Ooty the owl called out to his pal one day, “Rajathuma and his team are making a great post war noise of forgetting all differences, animosities of the past and work towards the development of Sri Lanka in unity, peace and harmony. It’s the usual tune. When the Sinhala, Muslim, Tamil and Burgher governors are divided, sub-divided and sub-sub-divided like the classifications of the plant and animal kingdoms, how the devil will the Rajathuma hope to develop a true united Sri Lankan identity?”

“He can try and keep on trying until his term is over,” purrred Tommo the pussy.

“Thuhooot!  Then the next guy taking over can also have a go at it until his term is over, can’t he?”