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Taking the Tamils for granted

by Amrit Muttukumaru

Even a smattering of the ground realities of the ethnic crisis and its implications, the depth of the real suffering of the tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons in the north-east and other areas, the resilience and strength of the LTTE underpinned by the continued injustice and insecurity meted out to the Tamils, the Muslim factor and the realpolitik of the people of recent Indian origin would dictate to our so-called leaders of civil society that they should decisively pressurize our selfish politicians to get their act together. This has not happened mainly due to a crisis of integrity manifested in serious fault lines in their own governance and their dependence on the state for patronage and hand-outs. It is perhaps not accidental that the political impasse was foisted on the country just a few days after the LTTE for the first time had articulated in writing and in specific terms its proposal for an interim administration. After all, this is consistent with the history of previous attempts over the years to resolve the ethnic conflict. How can a country which recently peremptorily threw out proposed legislation for a mere equal opportunity bill be relied upon to think in terms of wide ranging devolution and sharing of power within a strong federal system?

Tamils- An Irritant

Since Independence, the Tamils of this country have never counted for much. This commenced with the disenfranchisement of the Tamils of recent Indian origin which was an assault on their dignity, the Sinhala Only policy which in effect made the Tamils illiterate and standardization which effectively discriminated against Tamil youth seeking tertiary education. These are apart from other disabilities which clearly made the Tamils second class citizens. Even today, a Tamil is petrified to enter a police station even for an innocuous traffic offence. It is this inequity, apathy, frequent violence and pogroms on the Tamils that ultimately resulted in Tamil militancy. The Tamils are barely tolerated and are considered an irritant. They have always been taken for granted. Their only use has been for the limited purpose of propping up governments particularly since the introduction of the proportional representation system. Sadly, this leverage was never decisively used by their representatives in parliament to tangibly redress severe disadvantages and discrimination suffered by Tamils progressively since independence. Of course, we have had a few Tamils holding influential positions in government or close to the center of power who have allowed themselves to be showcased to demonstrate the fairness of the system. To put it mildly, it is such despicable quislings who have caused the greatest havoc to the Tamil cause for justice. Even after the 1983 pogrom against Tamils, President J.R. Jayewardene, the uncle of the incumbent prime minister who was then a minister of cabinet rank, only thought it fit to address the nation after 6 blood splattered days, and that too not to offer words of comfort to the Tamils, but in effect to justify the violence against them! It is now over 60 days since the already simmering political cauldron was taken to boiling point by the all-powerful executive president. This has effectively put the entire peace process on the backburner and thus prolonging the real sufferings of the tens of thousands of refugees and displaced persons.

Yet, the over-riding raison d'etre of those periodically making noises about the need for co-habitation between the president and the government and resuming the peace process, is to obtain the U.S. $ 4.5 Billion donor funds promised at the Tokyo conference. Of course, the business community is in addition also keen on the investment climate and the inflow of budget tourists! Never mind the awful lack of even basic infrastructure and the state of corporate governance being a disgrace. That Sri Lanka was the exception in not signing the worlds first UN sponsored convention against corruption in Mexico this month is also of no concern to these people.

Military Parity

A key component of the peace process which seems to be overlooked either out of ignorance or myopic convenience by a large section of the southern polity is the simple truth that the entire peace enterprise is underpinned by the parity of military power and the spirit of partnership between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. This is reinforced by the LTTEs actual control of vast territory in the north and east of the country. Not only this, many of the trappings of state inclusive of institutions are also a feature in the territory under the LTTE. When the LTTE unilaterally initiated the ceasefire in December 2001, it was from a position of unprecedented military strength. They had humiliated the armed forces of a sovereign state by not only routing it in so-called impregnable fortifications such as Elephant Pass but more importantly had commandeered heavy and long range artillery and other potent armaments which have a significant military and political bearing. By these manoeuvres they had also to a telling extent drained the south of its will to fight.

The ceasefire was also initiated at a time when the country's economy was at a precarious position. All this was primarily due to terrible mismanagement, abuse of power and corruption in the south. If at all, this situation may now have even worsened particularly in the area of the breakdown in the rule of law. An illogical and fallacious assumption in the south is that while it is perfectly alright for the government to strengthen itself militarily through various measures inclusive of agreements with countries such as India and the US in the area of receiving hardware and intelligence, building infrastructure such as the Palaly air-base and other spheres, it is wrong for the LTTE to take counter measures to maintain parity. Notwithstanding all the media related sunshine stories, the economy continues to be debilitated due to fundamental structural weaknesses. As if all this was not enough for this hapless nation with its political stability, governance and rule of law in tatters, extensive violence, widespread corruption both in the public and private sectors, we must now add increasing religious intolerance with some degree of state support to this already explosive mix. However unpalatable, this is the reality. There is no use pretending otherwise.

Under these circumstances, what credibility and moral right has the government got and what example does it give to demand from the LTTE adherence to international norms of democracy, pluralism and human rights? The severe limitations of excessive internationalization translated into bullying superpower tactics, are clearly demonstrated in what is happening in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. In spite of all this, there is no question that the LTTE should make a conscious effort to fast track its transition from militant freedom fighters to a responsible political organization based on tolerance, pluralism and democracy. After all, they have before them several successful examples of such a transition. It is hoped that the government will show the way by its own example in the rest of the country.

The East

To a large extent, events in the Eastern Province will determine the success or failure of the peace process and hence the future of this country. Given the current state of play, particularly in respect of the misinformation being fed and the utter distortion of even the recent history of this province, it will be almost impossible to reach an amicable settlement unless there is an all round appreciation also of ground realities in this province based on fact . However unpalatable, it should be emphasised that until aggressive State sponsored colonisation with overwhelmingly Sinhala settlers, the population of the Eastern province was overwhelmingly Tamil speaking. Even as recently as in the 1946 census with the benefit of the early days of colonisation, the Sinhala population was only under 10 % while the Ceylon Tamil population was 47% and that of the Ceylon Moors was 39 %.

Due mainly to the ensuing rapid colonization and to some extent the implications of the harassment of Tamils by Sinhala police and armed forces on one hand and Muslim home guards on the other, each time there were country-wide anti-Tamil violence, the Tamil population particularly in the Trincomalee and Amparai districts was further diluted. Today, in spite of all this, the population in the Eastern province is approximately, a little over one-third Tamil, around one-third Muslim and a little less than one-third Sinhala respectively. Under these circumstances, is it fair to ignore all this with a view to diluting the just claims of the Tamils in the Eastern province? At the same time, there is no question that the rights of all other communities must be respected.

Indian Tamils

The new-found solicitous attitude of Sinhala nationalists towards our Muslim brethren in the East and the blatant distortion of the history of the eastern province are gaining momentum after the LTTE handed over its proposal for an Interim Self-Governing Authority. This is aided and abetted by influential sections of the mainstream media. Any unjust attempt to whitewash the reality in the east, through flagrant distortion is ill-advised. Apart from other factors, this does not take the realpolitik of the people of recent Indian origin in the plantations, who are a huge vote bank living in areas with contiguity with the eastern province into reckoning. At the end of the day, the reality is that it is the minority influence Ceylon Tamil, Muslim and people of recent Indian origin that is the deciding factor be it for parliamentary or presidential power, since the Sinhala vote is divided. The chances are that the Muslim influence too will be divided.

Due to a lack of wisdom and large-heartedness and possibly greed on the part of those who are responsible for the welfare of the people of recent Indian origin, these hapless people continue to be severely disadvantaged. These include their trade union-linked politicians, plantation companies and national-level politicians. The only entity the people of recent Indian origin possibly perceive capable of standing up and delivering tangible results is the LTTE. It is reported that pictures of LTTE leader Prabhakaran are now increasingly adorning the walls of many line-rooms in the plantations. In this connection, it is not for nothing that CWC leader Arumugam Thondaman recently made his controversial public statement that he will be forced to throw in his lot with the LTTE if the ethnic issue is not soon resolved with justice. The stance of his rival Chandrasekheren, has been more direct.

Conclusion

The apparent nonchalance of our political and civil society leaders is truly amazing. Here is a country, in the midst of arguably its worst political crisis, with its executive president and prime minister quarrelling almost like two delinquents, precisely at a time when the countrys socio-economic fabric is almost at breaking point. The state of the nation is indeed very fragile. Already in a state of growing anarchy, its governance and rule of law in tatters, serious structural weaknesses in its economy, low productivity, severe environmental pollution, widespread corruption and violence, having to cope with a complex ethnic crisis where the other protagonist is one of the worlds most powerful and resilient organizations of militant freedom fighters and now confronting menacing religious intolerance with some degree of state patronage which is tailor made for catastrophe.

There are also unmistakable signs that unless urgent measures are taken, we will soon have an explosive crisis in our urban centers as well due to poor planning, lack of infrastructure and poverty. Colombo will sooner than later virtually drown in its own sewage! The crisis in this country is a crisis of integrity. It includes our potentially influential civil society comprising of key sections of the business and professional community, religious clergy, Colombo based rich NGOs and the fourth estate. As a result, they have lost the moral authority to command respect from our runaway political leaders. How can they command any respect when there are serious fault lines in their own governance and they are dependent on the state for patronage and hand-outs? This is the real tragedy of this country.

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