War, then peace?

At 60, most countries begin marking anniversaries of their independence with a distinct sense of distance. For Sri Lanka, which gained freedom on February 4, 1948, this anniversary carries immediacy. The country is once again officially caught in an internal war, with Colombo having officially pulled out of the 2002 ceasefire with the LTTE in January. Since then it has been a month of brutal campaigns. Government forces have been wresting territory from the Tigers. In a terrible cycle of attack and reprisal, the LTTE has targeted civilians in bomb blasts. Just this weekend, on three consecutive days 8212; since Saturday 8212; it took civilian casualties in three parts of the island: on buses near Anuradhapura and Dambulla, and at the railway station in Colombo. As the government considers the endgame, it must look beyond the military battle, and articulate an idea of Sri Lanka that repairs the scars its people carry from 25 years of civil war.

In these 25 years, an estimated 70,000 people have been killed. And with each passing year of the conflict, Sri Lanka has been restrained from meeting the immense potential that came to it with independence 60 years ago. The seeds of the conflict were sown long before July 1983 8212; when an LTTE attack on an army patrol was followed by anti-Tamil riots in Colombo. The conflict even now, in sober reflection by Sinhalese and Tamil politicians, boils down to this: language and its entitlements. Sri Lanka8217;s cultural and linguistic diversity and the cosmopolitanism that comes naturally to its people make it especially suited to growth opportunities in a globalised world. At 60, Sri Lanka must ask itself why these benefits have not fully accrued.

President Mahinda Rajapakse is a bit of a maverick in Sri Lanka8217;s politics. His military strategy in pulling out of the Norwegian-brokered ceasefire is of a piece with his hawkish reputation. A grander gesture of reconciliation with the Tamil-speaking people would enable him to rise to the promise of this 60th anniversary celebration.