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 16, 2017
The subtext of Modi visit: National security foremost
There was some uncertainty whether Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
visit to Sri Lanka to join the country in its celebration of the
International Day of Vesak would turn embarrassing to the host
government. Prior to his visit nationalist politicians and nationalist
civil society leaders from the ethnic majority community called for
black flag protests. This was against what they called Indian
intervention. Two controversial matters currently being negotiated
between the two countries are the Economic and Technology Cooperation
Agreement (ETCA) and the Trincomalee harbor project that revolves around
the lease of oil tanks. ETCA has generated formidable opposition
amongst sections of the local business community and professionals led
by medical doctors of the government medical doctors association who
fear that they will not be able to withstand Indian competition. Those
who sought to give an ulterior motive to the Indian premier’s visit were
also able to draw on memories of the Indian intervention of the 1980s
that contributed to the strengthening of Tamil militancy in the country.
Those who were associated with the Indian premier’s visit noted that he
had been unsure of the public reception he would receive in Sri Lanka.
This would have been due to the reports of organized protests against
his visit that could have turned ugly. However, the decision of former
president Mahinda Rajapaksa to seek a meeting with the Indian premier
put an end to any plan the nationalist opposition might have had to make
a public show of opposition to Indian intervention. The silence of the
nationalist opposition and their inability to convert their verbal
threats to any form of public protest is an indication of their limited
power in the country. The nationalists once again showed themselves to
be a fringe group whose strength comes from being included into the
agenda of a mainstream political party. In the context of the leadership
of the Joint Opposition seeking a meeting with the Indian premier there
was no possibility of the nationalists seeking to ride the wave created
by a mainstream political actor.
By the time Prime Minister Modi left the country he would have been
reassured that the Sri Lankan population in general views India
positively as part of its larger civilisational ethos and a powerful
country that is capable of assisting Sri Lanka. In particular, India’s
more recent role in being supportive of Sri Lanka in international
forums is a source of strength and confidence. The reception that the
Indian premier received in the hill country where the Tamil people of
recent Indian origin are concentrated was extremely warm and
enthusiastic. Prime Minister Modi opened a state of the art hospital
there and promised the people 10,000 houses in addition to the 4,000
that India has already committed to the plantation sector where they
live. To this day the Indian origin Tamils have not recovered from the
blow that was dealt to them in 1948 at the time of Independence from
British colonial rule when they were deprived of their citizenship
rights that included the right to vote. Even to this day they remain the
poorest and most socially disadvantaged of all Sri Lanka’s ethnic
communities in terms of UN statistics and standards. In this context, it
was no surprise that they looked with hope on the Indian premier as
their champion and welcomed him accordingly.
SECURITY IMPERATIVE
The choice of International Vesak Day for Prime Minister Modi to make
his visit to Sri Lanka was politically astute. Vesak Day became accepted
by the UN as an international day due to the efforts of Sri Lanka
during the period of President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The Indian
premier’s visit to Sri Lanka to celebrate this day was an
acknowledgement of Sri Lanka’s contribution to the international
community and its role in preserving the unique teachings and traditions
of Buddhism down the millennia. It was also an opportunity to
demonstrate to the Sri Lankans and to the international community the
special relationship between the two countries. Prime Minister Modi
expressed this reality during the course of his main speech in Sri Lanka
when he said, "whether it is on land or in the waters of the Indian
Ocean the security of our societies is indivisible." After the end of
the war, Sri Lanka has become more openly a focus of competition between
the great powers of the world, including the United States, China,
Japan and India. Located just below India, Sri Lanka can potentially be
used by foreign powers that wish to put pressure on India. In 1963 the
world came close to war when the Soviet Union sought to place its
missiles in Cuba, which neighbours the United States. The Soviet Union
only backed off when the United States threatened to attack the Soviet
naval fleet that was approaching Cuba.
National security is non-negotiable to any country. During Sri Lanka’s
three decade long war successive governments gave priority to expanding
the military budget although there were many other areas in which
government expenditures were necessary. Despite criticism by
international human rights organizations, they also strengthened and
expanded laws relating to national security including the emergency laws
and by promulgating the Prevention of Terrorism Act. After the war
ended there was an expectation that the government would reduce the size
of the military budget and demobilize the military whose numbers had
grown to unprecedented proportions. However, none of this happened on
the grounds that national security remained the foremost priority. Even
today, the former war zones of the North and East continue to have a
large and visible military presence on the grounds of national security.
The continuing priority given to national security in Sri Lanka can also
be seen in the reluctance of the present government to make the
national security laws more liberal and human rights friendly. Both the
GSP Plus economic concession and the UNHRC resolution require that the
government should replace the present Prevention of Terrorism Act with a
law that is more in line with international human rights conventions
that Sri Lanka has signed. However, the proposed new Counter Terrorism
Act has been severely criticized by international human rights
organizations and the TNA as being even more violative of human rights
principles than the existing PTA. The proposed new law gives to the
police the power to issue detention orders instead of reserving this
power to the judicial authorities. Other concerns relate to confessions
being used as evidence and on access to legal assistance from the time
of arrest.
WALKING TIGHTROPE
The priority given to national security comes from Sri Lanka’s long
experience of battling insurgencies, terrorism, war and external
interventions. A similar logic can be expected to hold in the case of
India, which is a much larger and more important country that is closer
to the centre of global politics. India has faced wars with its
neighbours and continues to face problems of internal insurgencies. The
priority given to national security by all states, including Sri Lanka,
suggests that India will prioritise national security in its
relationship with Sri Lanka. While it is likely to be flexible and open
to negotiations with Sri Lanka on economic, trade and investment issues,
it is also likely to be inflexible on national security issues.
The request by China to send a submarine to dock in Colombo port came up
during the immediate run up to Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Sri
Lanka. This gave rise to speculation that it was China’s way of
highlighting its presence in Sri Lanka at a time when India was at the
centre stage. This is not the first occasion in which China has engaged
in submarine diplomacy in Sri Lanka. In 2014 when the Japanese prime
minister visited Sri Lanka a Chinese submarine berthed in Colombo port
during the visit. On that occasion both Japan and India were concerned
about what they saw as a message to them about China’s influence over
the former government headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. On this
occasion however the Sri Lankan government denied permission to the
submarine to dock in Colombo port during the Indian premier’s visit.
China has said its submarines need a place to resupply on their way to
anti-piracy missions and that stopping to resupply of its submarines
that are on their way to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters for
protection missions is an internationally accepted practice. China is
currently the largest provider of economic resources to Sri Lanka on
both concessional and commercial terms. This is a benefit that any Sri
Lankan government would be loath to lose. At a time when Western
investments are few in coming, China is willing and able to take up
economic opportunities in Sri Lanka that may not be economically
attractive to privately owned commercial enterprises but are viable to
China’s state enterprises. Although generous itself in terms of the
economic assistance it provides Sri Lanka, India is unable to match what
China is able to provide in terms of economic investments. At the same
time India will not be agreeable to Sri Lanka giving China the strategic
spaces such as access to ports for military purposes that it may seek.
As in the case of all countries, national security comes first. Sri
Lanka needs to maintain a neutral national security policy that it will
not arouse the security concerns of its neighbours. It is also important
that Sri Lanka should continue to walk the tight rope between economic
imperatives and national security issues in its own interest.