Image courtesy Gecko Sri Lanka blog
Changing socio-political and economic scenarios, post war peace building needs in Sri Lanka and unleashing of anti-Muslim activities by Buddhist extremist groups have prompted discourses on ‘Co-Existence’ an urgent priority for social harmony. The current discourse on Co-Existence as spearheaded by all communities seems ill equipped, un-holistic and inappropriate to the challenges that we face today. The Muslim community just recovering from the Bodu Bala Sena spearheaded attacks on them in Aluthgama does not believe that this attack resulted from the problems of Co-Existence. They believe that this problem resulting from socio-political, economic & moral degeneration of society. With regards to co-existence, Sri Lankan Muslims have co-existed with others long before thoughts and concepts of co-existence emerged in the 15th century, coined by the western colonial powers. If current thoughts on co-existence are the yardsticks to measure a community’s character and due diligence, it is inappropriate to the current analysis. Sri Lankan Muslims lived harmoniously with others whilst maintaining their unique identity and religious practices long before ‘Co-existence’ thoughts were conceived in the west. Since time immemorial, Sri Lankans have proven beyond the confines of the etymological definition of the word ‘co-existence’ in co-habiting successfully with others. Sri Lankan Muslims too have been part and parcel in dwelling with other during the last 12 centuries. Therefore there is no need for revivification of this concept coined for us by the west but to reinvent our past lost links and values lost due to colonialism and post-colonial vestiges by political expediency and chalk a better future for Sri Lankans based on justice, equity, trust and citizenship to build the nation.
Sri Lanka at the time of the colonialists’ coming was a well-integrated multi religious, multicultural pluralistic society. When the mono ethnic/mono religious Europeans landed on our shores in the 14th Century, they were surprised to see pluralism and diversity thriving here which they hadn’t seen in Europe. They saw this as a threat and as a result manipulated one community against the other by magnifying dissimilarities whilst dim unifying conspicuous commonalities as a strategy of creating divisions to control the conquered people. Thereupon having established their hegemony on this land, they spawned thoughts on co-existence in the tail end of colonialism as a strategy to assuage potential threats to their interests by nationalist forces.
Co-existence, in the way it is practiced currently is more of creating awareness of one about the other, cultivating tolerance to engender harmony and of building understanding to build shared life. This is valid and useful but seems un-holistic and inadequate to face current challenges. Sri Lankan minorities have co-existed and cohabitated more than ten centuries long before the coming of the Western colonialists. Therefore, their values, cultures, differences and commonalities contrasted with the majority community have brewed and blended successfully to make pluralist Sri Lankan social fabric. There from evolved the melting pot of Sri Lankan culture based on respect, reciprocation and recognition of ethnic, religious and other diversities. Therefore any constituent community’s unique culture or religious practices cannot emerge as a sudden shock to the other to cause consternations. Such a phenomenon seems artificial and a new construct deliberated to cause social polarization.
Further, contemporary Sri Lankan society is more integrated and cosmopolitan than in olden times. Therefore, conflicts cannot emerge based on the issues of diversity and differences of people and culture all of a sudden. Our historical benchmarks of co-existence and cohabitation, the internet and the consequent understanding of global human diversity, global communications and inter-dependency between people have long resolved the problems of xenophobia threatening co-existence or cohabitation. Therefore, in the contemporary interconnected and changing world influencing economy, society, politics, culture &communications, global changes do resonate in local communities and vice versa. This is a phenomenon modern societies are not immune to. Dynamics in culture, ethnicities or religions that communities undergo today should be read as concomitants of global changes and should not be interpreted as a problem of co-existence. Instead, they need to be treated as changes that societies undergo due to various local and globally influencing factors. Any attempt to manage these changes has to be based on knowledge and understanding of real factors influencing them than crudely labelling them as problems of Co-existence.
Co-existence or Cohabitation was not the problem in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has past that stage of growing pain as a society since time immemorial. Its rich religious and cultural history celebrating diversity bears testimony. Sri Lankans as individuals, families and communities did not hate each other and did not consider others as existential threat like in Israel or in the former apartheid South Africa. Our problems between people emerge not from the backdrop of diversity and differences but from iniquity and injustice resulting from absence of good governance, inequity in the share of national wealth and mis-management of national resources and the absence of level playing field for all citizens. Though these are the underlying factors, since Independence, hate brewed at the higher echelons of power between communal leadership in the 1940s due to political expediency has percolated down affecting the entire social fabric now. Last thirty years’ war and the post war scenario can testify to this.
These undermine and pose existential threats to society and as a consequence threaten the survival of groups, sub-groups and communes found within it. These threats transform into fights for survival of each group and therefore the stronger group pre-empts and dominates resources undermining the others’ survival. This is the background of the current conflict in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, conflicts emerging from these backdrops are interpreted as problems of ‘Co-Existence’, whereas the converse is true.
Therefore current situation demands review of this thought to be relevant. This need not be based on assimilation or homogenization erasing identity and pluralism but to be on the grounds of identifying common platforms amongst the diversity of people and interests to jointly work for deliverance from socio, economic and political problems that every citizen is suffering from.
Discernibly, more than streaming behind the false notion of co-existence, there is a need to enhance stakeholder participation and cultivating shared responsibilities in finding solutions to the problems that are threatening the common future of all citizens and the country. In contemporary Sri Lanka, the social, economic and political edifice is crumbling and is contributing to formation of fringe elements and religio-political extremism to protect self-interests than interests of the nation. This is a pernicious development and hinders nation building. Hence thoughts on co-existence as being advocated is no match to the challenges that ground realities demands. What is required is identification of common problems in the area of society, politics, economics and Sri Lankan values like respect for human dignity, civic responsibility and strong family bonds etc and to develop common platforms for all stakeholders to share and participate in finding solutions and rectify anomalies without compromising their identities. This is a national imperative and cannot be done in a vacuum. This requires clear identification of common problems that threaten average citizens and conceptualize and develop strategic solutions that are acceptable to all stakeholders to help instil change management in society whilst maintaining stability. Individual communities alone cannot be the catalyst, this require participation of others as well. A minority community alone cannot face this challenge, this require optimum participation of the majority community too. In nation building, both the majority and the minority communities have their stakes and inherent strengths and weaknesses. Therefore no community can solve the problems of the nation that threaten every community. Hence, this requires a bi-partisan approach with a common agenda at the grass root levels that emancipates citizens from the issues that they are suffering from. Such an approach in a crumbling socio-political and economic milieu will be a unifying factor of people based on the paradigm of common problem-common solution. What people need is solutions to their problems and they are not concerned about who provides them.
The civil society and the politicians have failed their responsibility to each other of protecting and sustaining to build this as a nation. It is time for us to come out of hiding behind race, religion and petty politics against a problem created by us due to self centred parochial thinking. It is time that we think as citizens than as members of a particular community or political grouping by taking responsible stewardship to give leadership to solve the problems of the people and emancipate them from their sufferings.
Evaluating the problems of average Sri Lankans, there are commonalities of the suffering between communities and they are not confined to minorities alone and that include the majority as well. Paradoxically the political class of the majority is distinctly maintaining the divide between communities thereby barring the majority community of understanding the commonality of the minorities’ problems and glossing them over with the tint of ethnicity, race or religion as a strategy to keep citizens divided. As a corollary, the political class of the minorities also follow suit. In this turf war of the political class, it is the citizens and the country that suffers. The victim citizens are victimised as the cause for the conflicts. Considering these factors, the paradigm shift on Co-Existence thoughts needs to be on ‘people centric problem solving’ and should not be confined to the current practices alone. This paradigm would enmesh people of all shades together and bond communities together as one people in finding common solutions to their problems whilst identifying the common enemy and threats to the people. This would cultivate leadership amongst people, enhance stakeholder- ship, partnership and ownership in finding creative solutions to forge a common future to people free of corruption and chauvinism. Building understanding on common problems confronting the people and directing and delivering participatory solutions not only solve problems but also builds understanding leading to bridge building between communities and isolating communalism and extremism to establish the threshold necessary for nation building.
Since independence, the average Sri Lankan has witnessed only conflicts, insurrections, war, communal violence’s, political gamesmanship, chauvinism, increasing cost of living, rising poverty and unemployment, diminishing degree of freedom, militarization of society, rampant corruption, widening have: have-not gaps, social marginalization, commercialization against shared living, incommensurate income against individual productivity etc to note a few. Against this backdrop what has the average citizens achieved to be proud of as a salute to post colonial management of Sri Lanka by Sri Lankans? This is a big question begging answers. We need not wait, waiting for the others to solve the problems of our country. As responsible citizens we have a duty upon our country and our fellow men and women. We have to rise to the occasion to challenge this threat of socio-economic and political mis-management and set things right before the country becomes truly a failed state.