A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, May 2, 2017
Added dimension to Tamil Hartal in north and east
By Jehan Perera-May 1, 2017, 8:16 pm
Sri
Lanka secured a timely victory in the European Parliament when a motion
to deny the country of the benefit of the GSP Plus tariff concession
was defeated by a large majority of 436 to 119. There were doubts about
the outcome of the vote as a visiting EU delegation last month issued a
critical report on the country situation. The delegation had focused on
economic and labour issues and found there were many deficiencies in the
law and in its implementation on the ground. They reported that they
had found a number of workers who have been objects of labour rights
violations, including harassment of trade unions, illegal dismissal of
trade union leaders, sexual harassment and labour rights violations
within the free trade zones. The report has also touched on shortcomings
on the enforcement on other human rights issues, in particular the use
of torture and the rights of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities.
Due to its victory in the international arena, the government will be
able to go into its May Day event with a greater confidence and ability
to show its strength. It will be able to argue that the economic
situation is improving even if the visible signs of development are yet
to manifest themselves. The loss of the GSP Plus concession in 2011, due
to the previous government’s inability and refusal to meet the EU’s
human rights requirements struck a significant blow to the economy. Many
smaller factories, especially in the apparel manufacturing sector, had
to close down leading to economic dislocation for small and middle level
entrepreneurs and their workers. During discussions with the EU the
government has assured that 50 percent of the money received through the
GSP Plus would be spent on the 2.4 million strong labour force.
It is reported that the EU will impose conditions on the grant of GSP
Plus even as it awards the tariff concession once again to Sri Lanka.
The conditions imposed by the EU reportedly include reducing the number
of deviations from the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR); repealing those sections of the Prevention of Terrorism
Act, the Public Security Ordinance which are incompatible with it or
amending them so that they become compatible with the international
covenant; and amending the Code of Criminal Procedure providing for the
right of a suspect to see a lawyer immediately following arrest;
publishing or making available to family members of a list of former
LTTE combatants currently held in detention as well as all other persons
detained under Emergency Regulations; and granting of access to all
places of detention for monitoring purposes to an independent
humanitarian organisation, such as the International Committee of the
Red Cross.
INCREASING PRESSURE
As in the case of the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council for
which the government got an additional two years of implementation time,
the implementation of the government’s pledges to regain the GSP Plus
concession has been slow. Even changing laws has become difficult for
the government. One of the key requirements for regaining the EU tariff
concession is to replace or amend the Prevention of Terrorism Act with
an alternative national security law which gives improved protection for
human rights. The proposed Counter Terrorism Act which is the
alternative to the PTA has been on the drawing board for about a year
but is still far from being finalized for ratification by Parliament. An
early version of the draft law was widely criticized by human rights
organizations for being even more restrictive of civil liberties and
human rights in some aspects than the PTA.
At the root of the problem of implementation and weakness of political
will to engage in reforms that involve questions of human rights and
national security is the reality of a government that is a coalition of
two parties which are headed by two leaders. It is nothing to be
surprised that these two leaders have visions that are different and
cater differently to the prejudices and sympathies of the larger
population. On the positive side, both President Maithripala Sirisena
and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe believe in non violent conflict
resolution. On the other hand, they both need to find ways to deal with
ethnic fears and prejudices without giving in to them, while making
every effort to reassure the communities that they themselves are not
hopelessly biased one way or the other.
Unless the government engages in course correction it is likely that it
will come under increasing pressure from the ethnic and religious ethnic
and religious communities who constitute 30 percent of the country’s
population. The recent hartal in the North and East that was led by
civil society groups and the Tamil People’s Council (TPC) was no longer a
fringe manifestation organized on the margin. In the past the TNA
distanced itself from the activities of the TPC and even criticized
them. On this occasion, however, the TNA has given support to the
protest. The one day hartal in which shops closed all day and transport
services did not operate followed weeks of protests by families of the
missing and also by unemployed graduates in the North which had not
yielded any positive result.
MUSLIM DIMENSION
Apart from the support from mainstream Tamil political parties for the
hartal, the other new element on this occasion was the support given to
the hartal by Muslim political parties. Muslim public opinion is
increasingly questioning the government for supporting Buddhist
nationalists in their campaigns against the Muslims. They point out that
leading members of the SLFP component of the government are now
accommodating the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) which has attacked Muslim mosques
and properties in the past, and which carries out a strident campaign
against Muslim expansion. Last month a total of 38 mostly Muslim
organizations and 2680 individuals endorsed a statement that called on
President Maithripala Sirisena to review and revoke the gazette
notification no. 2011/34 declaring vast tracts of lands owned by the
people of Musali division in the Mannar District as a forest reserve.
The petition also stated that as a result of the gazette notification a
number of villages in Musali inhabited by Muslims would be seriously
affected. The mounting grievances of the ethnic and religious minorities
who were strongly in support of the government and helped to bring it
to power by their votes at the elections in 2015, induced them to join
the protest in defence of their rights. Apart from the problem of
missing persons which mainly affects the Tamil community, both Tamils
and Muslims in the North and East have felt under siege as land that
they inhabit is being claimed by Sinhalese nationalists. Buddhist
temples and statues are now sought to be put up on these lands even
though they are currently owned by Tamils and Muslims.
Due to the slow implementation of its commitments to the international
community, and inaction in resolving the problems of the ethnic and
religious minorities who voted for it, the government is going to face
increased pressure from both international and domestic actors. The
government would do well not to repeat the mistake of the previous
government, headed by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, which held to
the theory that resolving economic problems and assuaging ethnic
majority nationalism was the way to remain in power. The joint
Tamil-Muslim hartal in the North and East is an incipient sign that the
grievances of the ethnic and religious minorities are getting merged
together. Economic and ethnic problems need to be resolved together, in
tandem, and not one after the other, so that all communities feel that
they are being treated fairly as equal citizens of one country.