Considering that Mahinda Rajapakse gained the presidency of Sri Lanka in 2005 with a shrill campaign promise to review the peace process, polarisation in the country’s ethnic conflict was always on the cards. Especially since LTTE leader Prabhakaran was seen to be finding excuses to junk the 2002 Norway-brokered ceasefire. Recent months of heightened offensive by both sides — 5,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the last 18 months — bear out those apprehensions. But it is the Sri Lankan government’s latest move to compulsorily evict Tamils from Colombo that threatens to destroy whatever shreds of hope there remain for some kind of reconciliation. A day after the authorities began to forcibly send hundreds of ‘jobless Tamils’ living in the city’s lodges to LTTE-held areas of the island, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ordered a halt on the evictions. Nevertheless, the onus is now on Rajapakse to allay the apprehensions he has raised by being seen to be reaching out to the Tamil minority caught between government offensives and LTTE atrocities.To understand the possible repercussions of a government seemingly shining the searchlight on members of the minority community, consider Sri Lanka’s demography. Colombo, the country’s political and commercial centre, has almost equal numbers of Sinhalas and Tamils. It is for both these communities a reminder of the problem of operationalising outright separation of populations — as envisaged by the LTTE in its demand for a separate homeland and by Sinhalese chauvinists aiming to isolate the ethnic minority. This is why civil society groups here have labelled the eviction drive — the next hearing in the Supreme Court is posted for June 22 — an attempt at “ethnic cleansing”, not merely a civil rights issue.It is good that disgust for the eviction drive has been across communities. But this government misadventure is, in the longer term, a reminder of the dangers of overlooking the gross violations of the ceasefire, which still exists on paper. International — and given this country’s unique leverage, especially Indian — pressure must be urgently applied for a cessation of hostilities.
