Wigneswaran Triggers an Acrimonious ‘Ethnic Debate’

It is intriguing how people are obsessed with ‘history’ and ready to inflame emotions on the basis of their ‘bigoted history,’ from both sides of the divide. It is my view that those who do so belong to a particular social milieu (‘the bigoted leisure classes’ I may say) and not the suffering general masses. Both or the obviously ‘contradictory versions’ of history cannot be true. History of the ancient past should be taken with equanimity today. Most important is to place our history in the broader context of human history.

by Laksiri Fernando

( January 24, 2016, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) On 19 January a seminar had been held in Jaffna organized by the Swiss Institute for Federalism of Fribourg, Switzerland, on the invitation of the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C. V. Wigneswaran. The local partner of the seminar was the Institute for Constitutional Studies (ICS) in Colombo. When the Chief Minister’s opening address was published in the Colombo Telegraph (20 January 2016), a rather acrimonious debate ensured in the form of comments and counter-comments.

To be fair by the Swiss Institute, it should be stated that it is not an institute which advocates federalism for other countries, but believes that ‘increasingly countries are incorporating elements of federalism into their structures in response to recent demands for increased regional autonomy and independence.’ Their focus is much wider and the following appears as the first paragraph of their ‘About Us.’

“The Institute of Federalism is recognised both nationally and internationally as a centre of expertise in the field of governance. For nearly 30 years the Institute has been producing academic analyses of the responsibilities which lie with a government and of the conflicts of interest it faces in performing its tasks. These include fulfilling the duties of a government in line with needs but economically, acting in accordance with democratic legitimacy, taking the different sections of society into account and protecting the rights of individuals and minorities.”

The Institute is attached to the Faculty of Law of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

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