Today, Sri Lanka marks the 16th anniversary of the end of the Eelam War. The formal ceremony in this regard will be held at the War Heroes Memorial in Battaramulla tomorrow.
Now it is marked along the lines of a remembrance day where we remember with gratitude the sacrifices made by members of the Tri Forces and the Police/STF to bring peace to the Motherland by eradicating terrorism. The Nation is forever in their debt. Moreover, it is a day to remember all those who perished during the 30 long years of war and conflict, regardless, of which side of the ethnic divide they were on.
One important but often overlooked aspect of this War was that it was not fought against a foreign enemy. Instead, the “enemy” was our own. Indeed, it was a war that pitted brother against brother and sister against sister. They may have been on different sides of the ethnic divide, but in the end, Sri Lanka lost a whole generation of youth.
It is no secret that this ethnic divide was created after Independence by self-serving politicians who wanted to harness ethnic sentiments just to gather votes and stay in power. When we gained freedom from the Colonial powers in 1948, we were second only to then war-battered Japan in terms of economic and social development. Many respected Asian leaders proclaimed that they wished to emulate Sri Lanka. Yet, we managed to fall off that perch rather quickly, as our politicians entered the dangerous territory of ethnic discord for their own gain.
They pitted the various communities and religious groups against one another for petty electoral gains, a tactic that would boomerang on them years later, with disastrous consequences for the entire nation. The ethnic strife that began in the early eighties raged on for the next three decades, pushing back the country’s economic and social progress and eliminating a sizeable number of young men and women on both sides of the ethnic divide.
In between, we witnessed two youth insurrections in the South, caused by the leaders’ failure to address the grievances of the youth. Political squabbling by various political parties cost the country heavily in terms of political stability. In more recent times, Sri Lanka faced international isolation due to the shortsighted foreign policies of some previous Governments and their pretenses of patriotism.
Regardless of the local and international debate on how the War ended, there is hardly any doubt that the rulers missed a golden opportunity to bring the country together in the years following 2009. Instead of bringing Sri Lankans together, these rulers sought to divide them further on ethnic and religious lines for its own political survival. They used the war victory to shore up anti-minority sentiments. They even said there were “Sinhala votes”, “Tamil votes” and “Muslim votes” at elections, whereas once cast, a vote has no ethnic label.
Fortunately, the present Government has made a clean break with the past vis-à-vis ethnic reconciliation. The Government has won the hearts and minds of the Northern and Eastern populations. The Government also seeks to establish formal mechanisms to probe the roots of the ethnic conflict and evolve suitable solutions, ranging from new laws to a new Constitution.
We necessarily have to come to terms with the past to embrace the future. As part of this exercise, any excesses that occurred during the war years must be probed, regardless of the alleged perpetrators. This can be done domestically, as all Governments have maintained. In the meantime, we must ensure that acts inimical to ethnic harmony are countered. It was in this sense that Sri Lanka has consistently opposed the building of a so-called Genocide Memorial in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Likewise, any actions by some in the majority community to hurt the sentiment of minority communities must be addressed.
The Government must also pursue an extensive dialogue with the Tamil Diaspora, which now wields considerable political influence in the host countries. Their inputs will be valuable to reconciliation and their assistance should be obtained to further develop the North and the East. Sections of the Tamil Diaspora that are still sympathetic to the cause of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must realise that “Eelam” is an unattainable goal and that their best option is working with the Government in Colombo to address the grievances of the Tamil community in the North and elsewhere. Tamil political parties, which won a substantial number of Local Government bodies at the recent polls, must also work in earnest to eliminate the ethnic divide and develop the Northern Province.
But at the end of the day, physical and social development will come to naught if we do not evolve a truly Sri Lankan identity that reinforces our freedom, which is not just a concept, but also a state of mind. We must feel free in every sense of the word. For far too long, we have failed to identify ourselves as Sri Lankans, putting ethnicity first and paid a heavy price. Now we have an opportunity to rectify that grave mistake. It is an opportunity that we must certainly not miss now.
