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| Sunday, 17 November 2002 |
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From T.D.S.A. Dissanayaka's latest book : 'Unitary State is untenable' Well-known writer on Sri Lankan politics and former diplomat T.D.S.A. Dissanayaka releases his thirteenth book, War of Peace Volume III : The Quest for Peace, on December 1st, 2002. Published by Swastika (Pvt) Ltd., Colombo, it will be priced at Rs. 675/- and is also available at a pre-publication price of Rs. 500/-, purchased direct from the Publisher. The 'Sunday Observer' is privileged to publish, in advance, excerpts from the book. Below is the third and final excerpt from the book from Page 536 to 540: the Epilogue. In modern times, Civil Wars are being fought throughout the world, though wars between nations are mercifully becoming more and more infrequent. In such Civil Wars, rarely has there been a victor. A notable exception was in Nigeria, in the decade of the sixties in the twentieth century, when the unilaterally declared Republic of Biafra was crushed militarily. Nearer home, the Civil War in East Pakistan in the decade of the seventies, resulted in the birth of Bangladesh. In more recent times, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia disintegrated into six sovereign nations. In other Civil Wars brought under control in the past fifty years, a tenuous peace has been foisted because neither combatant was capable of a decisive military victory. A supreme example was in Lebanon, when a Civil War which raged for nearly twenty five years between the Christians and Muslims, was somehow brought under control. Another was in Cyprus, where the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots live in two contiguous parts of that island with the UN supervising the ceasefire for over four decades. In Sri Lanka the ethnic violence between the Sinhalese and Tamils first surfaced in 1956. Periodic riots gave way to a Civil War in 1983. For sometime it was obvious to the articulate that the Government of Sri Lanka cannot win this Civil War and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam cannot have a separate State of Eelam. Each side has to eat humble pie and work out a power sharing mechanism between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, based on contemporary realities. Last month the LTTE publicly rejected their clamour for a separate State of Tamil Eelam. Now the Government of Sri Lanka must concede that the unitary form of Government which the British left behind in 1948 has become untenable, and has to give way to a Federal system at least in practice. The Sinhalese form the majority in seven Provinces, the Tamils in the former Northern Province and the Muslims in the former Eastern Province. The attempts of the LTTE to dominate the politics of the former Eastern Province is not based on reality, because now the Muslims account for 41% of the population, the Tamils 30% and the Sinhalese the balance 29%. Both the Federal Party and the LTTE made the identical mistake of imagining that the Tamil-speaking Muslims were with them. Nothing is further from the truth. By the same token, the Sinhalese must reject their totally irrational belief that Federalism and separatism are one and the same. Many nations have successfully worked out their separate equations for sharing power with recourse to Federalism. They include large nations such as Australia, Canada, India and the United States, medium-sized nations such as Germany and small nations such as Belgium and Switzerland, both of which are smaller than Sri Lanka. It is pertinent to add that in 1830 when the Kingdom of Belgium adopted a Federal Constitution to prevent Civil Wars between the Valoons (the Dutch) and the French, the rival components of Belgium, they did not like the word Federalism (just like the Sinhalese). Therefore they refused to call their nation the Federal Kingdom of Belgium. Hence since 1830, that nation remains the Kingdom of Belgium but in practice is a small Confederation like Switzerland. These are considerations that will be deliberated at length at the Peace talks currently being held in Thailand. That process will take years because of the mutual suspicions and the mutual recriminations. However some tangible results have to be shown in the first year, otherwise the Peace talks may collapse. In the realm of reality, one possibility is to establish Interim Councils which in turn give way to a Federal system. These are bitter pills which the Sinhalese and the Tamils have to take, so that the nation may gravitate towards a permanent and durable peace. The history of this nation since Independence clearly indicates that the Sinhalese do not know how to conduct themselves as a just majority and the Tamils do not know how to conduct themselves as a just minority. Whether they will ever learn is a matter of opinion, especially taking into account the capricious role of our politicians. Our politicians are easily the lowest of the low of all elements in our society. Be they Sinhalese or Tamils or Muslims, be they well educated or ill-educated, they have a predilection to further their interests by inflaming communal passions. Sinhala Only and 50-50 were supreme examples of sophistry advocated by leaders who had the good fortune to be educated at Oxford and Cambridge, respectively. Our politicians, even at the highest level and even those who are well educated, have yet to learn that their primary role is to serve our nation, not for our nation to serve our politicians. The foregoing are enormous tasks which will take years to show definitive results, in our renewed quest for peace. However tangible results have to be shown quickly, and the benefits of peace must filter down to our masses, otherwise it will become meaningless. This nation is indeed fortunate to have Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to guide this enormous effort. Since being sworn-in last December, he has come through as a gentleman politician, a breed so rare in Sri Lanka. May President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga give him the co-operation he so richly deserves. (The Author has donated his royalties from the book to the Mukta Wijesinha Memorial Fund of the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association, in appreciation of its good work promoting communal harmony in Sri Lanka, during dark days and in happier times.) |
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