Dawn On The Ethnic Front? (2)

By Izeth Hussain -February 22, 2014 |

Izeth Hussain

In my last article I argued that a sense of darkness could be the challenge that provokes the response of working earnestly to bring about the dawn, and further that since our ethnic minorities cannot all leave this island or be subjected to total genocide there is no alternative to our majority and the minorities learning to live together in some degree of peaceful accommodation. Regarding the external dimension of the problems facing us – the impending UNHRC meeting in Geneva – I argued that the key to what happens there lies with India. Obviously the Government should try to attain an understanding with India to help us out.

As for the internal dimension, I argued that rather than think in terms of a political solution as something that follows from Constitutional changes and the setting up of certain institutions we should envisage it as something that comes about through a process of organic growth. At present the TNA wants much more than 13A, while the Government is only willing to give much less. Suppose both agree to put all that aside and work earnestly to make a success of 13A. Much can be done through it to meet the needs of the people of the North at the grass roots level. The success of theNPC could be emulated by the other PCs, and that could be enormously beneficial for the country as a whole. Suppose also that 18A is repealed and we have a fully functioning democracy. A process of organic growth would be set in motion resulting in a political solution. There is really nothing fanciful about what I am outlining here, but we don’t really expect it to happen. Why not? I concluded my article by pointing out that to answer that question we must do much rethinking on the fundamentals of our ethnic imbroglio.

At the time I sent in my last article for publication I had not seen NPC Chief Minister Wigneswaran’s address to a meeting organized by the University Grants Commission on February 13. Its contents showed a broad convergence with some of the views sketched out in the preceding paragraph. He made a distinction between a post-conflict situation and a post-war situation. In the latter the focus is on taking corrective action over the ravages caused by the thirty-year war. By the former he means the conflictual relations between the Sinhalese and the Tamils which long antedate the war between them, and which require a political solution. He clearly regards the problem of dealing with the ravages of war as something that is quite distinct from the problem of reaching a political solution. In effect, he is saying that the TNA is willing to put aside for the time being the problem of a political solution and focus on making a success of 13A.Read More

Dawn On The Ethnic Front?(1)