Dutugemunu in war should remain Dutugemunu in peace
Repost This ArticleThe question posed by Groundviews, “What is the most important issue facing the peoples of Sri Lanka in a ‘post-LTTE’ context and how can the State address it?” is very complex. It is hard to answer it succinctly as requested. Besides ‘post LTTE’ is a debatable presumption and limiting the focus of addressing it to the State, appears to exclude the principal actors, the People, from the dramatis personae. Finding an issue in the singular is difficult in a scenario in which both political and economic issues are equally important.
Be magnanimous
The motive power behind the war against the LTTE was the ‘Dutugemunu’ frame of mind. I believe that the most productive response to the emerging situation is that the State that played Dutugemunu in war should remain Dutugemunu in peace. The Mahavansa records the magnanimity of King Dutugemunu to Elara whom he vanquished in battle. The honour accorded to Elara at his funeral and the royal decree forbidding mounted riding past his mausoleum, built inside a proclaimed silence zone, reflect values that have been infused into the Sinhala bloodstream over the centuries. The State can do no better than living up to such values eschewing triumphalism. That should set the stage for a peaceful resolution of the ethnic conflict.
It is unpleasant to hear some of our leading politicians referring to Prabhakaran in disparaging terms as he is supposedly nearing his end. Lighting of crackers at the end of a successful battle is in the same un-Sinhala tenor. Whatever his faults, limitations and mistakes may have been, Prabhakaran has stood up for his people as much as Keppetipola, Gongalegoda Banda and Veera Puran Appu stood up for the Sinhalese in their hour of need. All these heroes deserve equal admiration for their self sacrifice in rising to the occasion when they believed that their people were imperiled. Their orientation or their ultimate defeat is beside the point.
Be courageous and determined
In short what the State can do for the Tamils, for that matter, for all the minorities, after the war, is to ensure that they are given their due place in society so that they may live with dignity and self respect with the same rights, liberties and privileges enjoyed by the majority. That can happen only if the President is large-hearted enough to remain Dutugemunu after the war. Judging from the lukewarm manner in which the APRC has been staggering over the last several years, some are doubtful whether the State has the guts to steer clear of the obstacles that are likely to be placed in the way of achieving that goal.
But if the Head of State can marshal the same courage and determination with which he fought the war in the face of all odds and tremendous international pressure, he may be trusted to lay the foundation stone for a free and equal post-war Sri Lanka, provided he has the will to do so. This trust is redoubled by the views on the aftermath of the war expressed by the duo that spearheaded the military campaign for the President, the Army Commander and the Defence Secretary. They have always insisted that victory in the battlefield should be followed by national reconciliation, if there is to be a lasting peace.
Optimism is further enhanced by Victor Ivan’s observation (Island, 02.04.08) that the main ingredients of the package of reparations for the Tamils has already been written into JR’s otherwise Bahubootha Constitution.
“While the Sinhala Language continues to be the Official language (Section 18) both Sinhala and Tamil languages were accepted as National languages (Section 19). This is a deviation from the ‘Sinhala Only’ policy which was part of government policy since 1956. The right to be educated in any of the national languages was ensured (Section 21 – 1). In the event a certain course in the university is conducted only in one language, the right is ensured for a person who entered the University from the other language stream to continue education in the University in his own national language (Section 21 -2). The right is also ensured for the people of North and East to communicate with officials in the national language used for administrative purposes. (Section 21 -3).
Constitutional validity was given to the regulations approved under the Tamil languages (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 1958 by including them in the Constitution. The right to use a language of one’s choice was ensured in Section 14 (1) (f). By section 27 (b), it was accepted as a state policy that no citizens should face any difficulty due to language. By Section 25, it was declared a government responsibility to provide adequate facilities for the use of a language as stipulated in the constitution. The provisions stipulated in the Constitution regarding fundamental rights was even more important to minorities. Seeking relief from the judiciary in the event of a breach of a right was assured by this provision.”
Pick up the lost thread
Victor Ivan also points out that at the end of the All Party Conference summoned by JR after the Riots, in 1984, the then Tamil leaders had agreed to a reconciliation package including amalgamation of districts and land administration. When this package was about to be written into the law, the Tamil leaders unexpectedly backed out of the agreement, presumably under duress. Tamil youths had by then resorted to violence. Now that the possibility of intimidation is no longer a serious factor to reckon with, the State may resume the dialogue from where it was interrupted.
However it has to be appreciated that the theater in which the dialogue has to be resumed is not identical to what JR had to deal with. On the Sinhala side protagonists are more assertive than under JR’s dictatorial rule. What disturbs those concerned with the ongoing moves to resolve the national crisis is that Sinhala ‘chauvinists’ would upset the apple cart. Already there are rumblings from the ultra-nationalist sector that the Government is giving in too much to the Tamils. Surmounting this roadblock calls for tremendous tact and courage. In the ultimate analysis national reconciliation will depend on the capacity of the President to overcome this challenge.
This does not mean that the Government should rush forward blindfolded, reckless about possible consequences. Some dissenting voices come from learned lawyers and other professionals whose views have to be given due consideration. They cannot be brushed aside as mere ‘Sinhalese Chauvinists’. They may in their wisdom envisage certain dangers in the path to reconciliation. Even if their anti-thesis is not accepted, it has to be examined and suitable safeguards found to counteract the feared pitfalls, subject to the imperative condition that safeguards do not violate the legitimate rights of the minorities.
Present Tamil leadership is not the same that JR had to face. It has been decimated and neutralized through decades of violence. The leaders that remain do not command universal acceptance. Some have been overshadowed by their opposition to terrorism which has been the order of the day for most Tamils so far. Others have ruined their reputation through their own acts of omission and commission. Those who posed themselves as the leaders of the Tamils by proxy would naturally fade away with the civil war. The greatest need of the hour for the Tamils is to find their leadership. The Tamil Diaspora has a duty to help fill this gap. In that context the present dialogue their representatives are engaged in with the Government is a most welcome development
Act promptly
Time is of the greatest essence at this moment. Understandably the Tamils are shocked and disappointed with the collapse of the LTTE regime which was intuitively a tower of strength and a ray of hope to most of them. Quick action is needed to win them over to an alternative that would satisfy them as a genuine and positive course of action leading to their amelioration. Dilly dallying on committees and conferences will not work at this hour. In this sense, implementing the Thirteenth Amendment appears to be a first step in the right direction as it is already in place. May be no party agrees unreservedly with this move. Only it happens to be a move that no one would seriously oppose.
However it is important that the Amendment is implemented in full and in real earnest. It has been already diluted by power greedy politicians in order to expand their ‘empires’ and the misguided priorities of the national budget. To think that implementing the Thirteenth Amendment is the end of the race would be deceiving oneself. The sincerity with which the Amendment is implemented should generate greater trust among the communities which in turn would doubtlessly make the stake-holders more amenable to greater consensus on further progress.
Allow time to heal
Future developments will depend largely on the mood of the people. Judging from the results of surveys conducted by the CPA there already appears to be a growing tendency on the part of the majority to accommodate the political rights of minorities. It is a long term responsibility of the State to nurture this trend, mainly through conducive policies of education.
Multi-stream schools aught to be the order of the future. They should be encouraged to create opportunities for children of all communities to come together socially. Formation of interactive structures in schools would go a long way to achieve this objective. Where schools are limited to a single stream by necessity, the merging has to be realized through visits, educational tours, competitions and exchanges of students etc. Segregationist education policies followed in the past are mainly responsible for the present alienation among communities.
Perhaps it is too early in the day to visualize the way ahead of the Thirteenth Amendment. Besides conjecturing on further moves at this stage may be counter-productive. Let us get ourselves going now and cross bridges when we come to them. It may well be that none of us living today would come to the last bridge. It would be crossed by our progeny who by then would have developed an inclusive mind-set capable of crossing the bridge with ease. They will make decisions on the dictates of their own social and intellectual environment. It is dogmatic and futile to dictate terms to future generations on the strength of existing power bases.
This submission is in response to a question posed by Groundviews posed here that asked readers to opine on a war ‘over in 3 weeks’ and a ‘post-LTTE’ Sri Lanka. Please visit this original post to read a rich spectrum of opinion and commentary on the nature of post-war Sri Lanka.
“Multi-stream schools aught to be the order of the future. They should be encouraged to create opportunities for children of all communities to come together socially. Formation of interactive structures in schools would go a long way to achieve this objective. Where schools are limited to a single stream by necessity, the merging has to be realized through visits, educational tours, competitions and exchanges of students etc. Segregationist education policies followed in the past are mainly responsible for the present alienation among communities.”
My heart skipped a beat when i heard echo of these thoughts… Having been in a truly multi-streamed school (not International schools where different streams are culturally uprooted and just multiplexed into one) I can speak with a greater depth of understanding that this is perhaps singularly the most powerful anti-biotic that could fight the terminal diseases of communalism and misguided nationalism.
yes, agree with multi ethinic schools…(removal of sinhal , muslim and tamils schools)
i wonder if the mulslims /sinhalese will be allowed to buy land in jaffna ? state land should be now divdeded among all races and given for clutivation
Studying Sinhala is not the issue. Granting the legitimate rights of Tamils to rule themselves in the NE is the issue for peace.
Sinhalese have proved beyond any doubt whatsoever to the Tamils that they can never.. never… ever be trusted, even for a yellow piece of twine. They are barbaric, blood seeeking on Tamil persons.
Do not dream of peace in SL unless Tamil Eelam is granted. Tamils will go on relentlessly.
The power of Tamil Diaspora is already making the governance of SL impossible by revealing the truth about Sinhala barbarism.
“Be courageous and determined
In short what the State can do for the Tamils, for that matter, for all the minorities, after the war, is to ensure that they are given their due place in society so that they may live with dignity and self respect with the same rights, liberties and privileges enjoyed by the majority.”
We have to think NOT in terms of “minority” vs “majority” or “us and them” BUT in terms as citizens of this country. The common people must be given their due place in society so that they may live with dignity and self-respect with the same rights, liberties and privileges. There should not be any inappropriate divisions of the “people” on any basis.
As a person with a great passion for peace and good governance, a new concept of a truly democratic system of governance with transparency has been devised that would not only contribute towards a lasting and positive peace in this country but also towards the much needed real progressive development of the entire country through good governance. This new concept is people-friendly and development oriented – the need of the day to this country as well as to all developing countries – the so-called Third World countries that intent to tap the doors of the First World
This alternative democratic system provides for the continuous participation of the people and that too in very large numbers, by expanding the present one segment parliament into a seven segment parliament functioning through a set of ‘councils’ at six different levels – as different links of a chain – sharing the different and distinct functions of the present parliament.
The members to these councils would be elected on the UN principle of one member for one country or as in the US electing two members per state irrespective of its size or population. In this new system it is, ‘an equal number of members from similar administrative areas to the same or similar council’ to provide an opportunity for representation of the people on the basis of gender, age group, trade, political ideologies and ethnicity – in the true spirit of democracy.
This new concept of representation is a refined and practical form of true democracy – true to the correct meaning of the word.
The basic salient features of the suggestions are:
1. The expansion of the present parliament of one chamber to one of seven chambers through a set of councils at six different administrative levels each with a different set of members elected from different defined and distinct areas of administration
2. Each of these Groups (Councils) would deal with one or more distinct and defined functions of the present parliament but are connected to achieve the desired aim in operation as a distinct and different links of a chain.
3. The 3rd Group (known as Regional Council) would, in addition to other functions, act as the 2nd chamber found in most countries that have a two-chamber parliament.
4. The members to these chambers (councils) would be elected on the accepted UN principle of one member for one country or the USA principle of two Senators for a state irrespective of the size or population of the country or he State (administrative area). In this proposal it is an equal number of members from similar administrative areas to the same or similar chamber (council) so to provide an opportunity for representation on the basis of gender, age, trade, political ideologies and ethnicity – in the spirit of true democracy..
People must be made to realize that the installation of a truly democratic system of good governance with transparency would strengthen the economy, preserve nature and discourage fraud and mismanagement and thus benefit everybody and the whole country.
It is accepted that an ideal state of good governance cannot be achieved because there is no perfect world but to achieve an adequate level of good governance we must aim for the ideal situation. \\
This alternative democratic system provides for the continuous participation of the people through a set of ‘councils’ at six different levels – as different links of a chain – sharing the different functions of the present parliament on area basis. That is, the present parliament is expanded to accommodate seven chambers, of which the 1st and 2nd Groups have one unit each at National Level, 4th and 6th Groups have thousands of units at Village level, the 7th Group has 325 units at Divisional Level, the 5th has 25 units at District Level and the 3rd Group known as Regional Council has four units. These four units would also act like the upper chambers functioning in most countries.
The members to all these councils would be elected on the UN principle of one member for one country irrespective of its size or population. In this new system it is ‘an equal number of members from similar administrative areas to the same or similar council’ to provide an opportunity for representation of the people on the basis of gender, age group, trade, political ideologies and ethnicity – in the true spirit of democracy – with the expectation that the elected representatives would serve the people with devotion, thus ensuring the much needed peace, prosperity and happiness.
This new concept of democracy is a great deviation from the prevailing and accepted form of democracy that is in practice. Though it is difficult to change old habits, people could be persuaded to see the benefits of the new system through proper awareness programs conducted effectively and efficiently since a wide consensus of opinion is necessary to give the final touches to the envisaged new concept of a truly democratic parliament. This new concept does not encourage dictatorial attitudes of any single or group of persons, but is people-friendly and development oriented, which is the need of the day to this country as well as to all developing countries – the so-called Third world countries that intent to tap the doors of the First world.
I have read the article. I agree and disagree to some of the view point raised. We are not living in Ellara times. This is 21st centuary where Terrrisim has raised its head world over. There shouldn’t have been one on Sri Lanka’s soil. It was due to the politicians on both sides, that this devil Prabaharan raised his head. He should be hanged along with others in public , without any mercy. There are so many wives. husbands, brothers, sisters and children, particularly from the Tamil community craving for justice let alone from the other two communities. Prabaharan and his men cannot be reformed or rehabilitated to let them into the society for the reason is obvious.
On the issue of Language, Sinhalese, Tamil and English, all three, should be made the official languages of Sri Lanka. English should be made the media of Education for the country to develop.
As to the Administration of the country, Provincial councils with wide powers is the best solution and acceptable. North and East has to be seperate councils. If Mr.Anandasangaree argues for one council for both North and East, I would like to ask him ” why”. There was and is no cordial relationship between both people and hence it is better to have two councils. The majority race too would accept it without doubt.
Development should take place irrespective of racial bias. People should have the right to choose and live anywhere they want to. But deliberate colonisation by the government should be avoided. Education and employment is a right for every citizen and should not be blocked by laws.
bala and Sarwan represent the two real threats we face as we try to build a peaceful and meaningful coexistence of all citizens in Sri Lanka. Bala is hinting about a re-introduction of (forced) colonization that made the Tamils distrust the central government (which is seen to be Sinhala dominated) and Sarwan speaks through that distrust and cynicism which has engulfed him – which he has failed to grow out of and seems lacking in courage to even attempt to do so – at least for the sake of those innocent Tamil civilians living in Sri Lanka who will be the real victims of his ideology while the rest of the diaspora remains too feeble and too feeble and lacking in spirit to wake up from their self induced coma.
I ask myself: how can moderate voices speak to extreme elements such as these in a voice that will encourage them to shed their aspirations stemming from such self-interest and selfishness?
citizen – you presume – but ideally any area should not be of one ethinicty only.. this is a true lesson SL has learned after 30 years of LTTE. hence to avoid such in the future forced of returned (like the muslims/sinhalese that were chased by the LTTE) should be returned and multi ethnic communtities should be set up, so we can have lasting peace in 25 years time…within a single country.
bala, yes i did presume – and you have just confirmed my presumption.
” but ideally any area should not be of one ethinicty only.. this is a true lesson SL has learned after 30 years of LTTE”
The campaign of forced colonisation of the North and East started by D S Senanayake made Tamils suspicious of the intentions of Sinhla dominated governments. Those suspicions are at the root of the problems we have been facing for the past 30 years or more. So if anything, the ” true lesson SL has (to) learn after 30 years of LTTE” is NOT to repeat such mistakes that caused the conflict in the first place.
Firstly bala, it is not possible to create multi-ethnic or multi-cultural society by transplanting people to create a ‘balance’ based on any demographic function – let alone ethnicity. If you propose to go down that path however, you are obliged to spread out the Colombo 7 elites also equally across all parts of Sri Lanka… address the severe imbalance where there is a larger proportion of Christians in the coastal communities by planting Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu families in sufficient numbers to those areas. Let’s ensure that there are equal or proportionate numbers of slums in all cities…
See – how silly that idea is?
peaceful and meaningful multi-culturalism is not Dependant of an equal spread of ethnicities, but equality in opportunity, treatment and lack of discrimination. In any society, people sharing common identities inevitably congregate together over time – as seen in Colombo 7 (class), Akurana (race/religion)…
Being a majority in the Northern province, Tamils will have the opportunity to elect suitable representatives who are capable of understanding and representing their needs in government. Planting others in those regions deprives them of this opportunity. In the early parliaments of Sri Lanka, Tamil voices were well (perhaps disproportionately) represented and even formed the main opposition at times. Opportunistic Sinhala politicians who felt threatened by this, sought to – as you suggest – plant a Sinhala population in the Tamil dominated areas, hoping to tilts the balance their way in those regions. Unfortunately both Sinhala and Tamil politicians focussed their energy – not to address the issue itself – but to exploit these factors to get elected by further polarising their electorates along ethnic lines.
this is an oversimplified version of events, but fast-forward 60 years and here are paying for their shortsightedness, unprincipled decision-making and opportunism.
leaving all that aside, try to understand that we are talking about a real country with real people and real lives here. If this was a board-game, where you could adjust and move pieces across strategically. People are tied to their locality through social support groups, friends, jobs… Do you seriously want to uproot people from where they are and plant them somewhere else – just to create what you assume would be a balanced society?
citizen -you have selectively answered only part of bala’s comments -what about the muslims and sinhalese that were ethnically clensed from the north by the LTTE?
ashad,
refer my answer in context and the logic of my reasoning. My argument was in opposition to forced colonisation. Re-settling the internally displaced is a different matter altogether…isn’t it?