Repetition Of The Past?

June 4, 2012

By Jehan Perera -

Jehan Perera

The speech of TNA leader R Sampanthan at the annual sessions of the largest Tamil political party that took place in Batticaloa in the east has raised the red flag for many of those whose primary concern is the unity and sovereignty of the country.  This can be seen in the adverse media commentary and statements issued on the topic.  Ironically it was only a month ago that the TNA leader raised aloft the national flag of the country in Jaffna.  He did this together with the Leader of the Opposition, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe at a joint May Day rally held in the northern capital.  On that occasion Tamil nationalist opinion was very critical of his action in raising the flag and saw it as a capitulation to Sinhalese ethnic majority domination at a time when little is being done to address the political roots of the ethnic conflict.

The national flag has long been one of the contested arenas of Sinhalese and Tamil nationalisms.  When the flag was designed more than six decades ago, the stylized lion at the centre of the flag was taken to be an affirmation of the central place of the Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and was opposed by the minority representatives on the flag design committee. After considerable disputation on the issue the existence of the Tamil and Muslim communities was acknowledged in the flag by two vertical stripes at the corner of the flag.

At this May Day rally Mr Sampanthan also said that the TNA wanted provincial powers in Tamil speaking areas within a united Sri Lanka.   This has been a long standing demand of the TNA.  However, his raising of the lion flag was the subject of discussion and criticism among TNA supporters as to why that he did it. Even some TNA MPs expressed displeasure over the incident.  Responding to Tamil media reports that members of the Tamil community were angered by the gesture, he responded, that the raising of the flag was “a symbol of solidarity with the workers of Sri Lanka and a sign of solidarity and reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamil people in the country”.  The TNA leader also felt oblighed to defend his conduct at the May Day rally and denied that he had been pressurized y anyone to hold up the Sri Lankan national flag.

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