Opinion An injured polity
It is welcome news that there is some movement on the India-Pakistan talks issue. There is also the prospect of SAARC meeting up quite soon....
It is welcome news that there is some movement on the India-Pakistan talks issue. There is also the prospect of SAARC meeting up quite soon. But what should occupy the SAARC countries,especially India,is the double tragedy unfolding in Sri Lanka. As the regions oldest democracy,Sri Lanka is not a failed state. It is,however,at the present,an injured state. It has just ended a 28 year-long ethnic civil war with the LTTE. An election has been held which gave a decisive verdict in favour of the incumbent. But what has happened since regarding the arrest and likely court-martial of Sarath Fonseka cannot but raise concerns.
These concerns are not about an individual and I cannot judge whether he is or is not guilty of the charges being bandied about. But there is an urgent problem of rehabilitation and reconstruction pending. It is not only the areas occupied by LTTE which have suffered economic dislocation. The rest of the country has also paid a huge price in terms of slow growth and inflation. The need for post-conflict development has to be given priority if the poison of ethnic conflict is to be brought under control and peoples lives are going to be improved. This is as true of the Sinhala majority as of the many minorities - Tamils,Moors etc.
Yet at the very moment when these tasks should occupy the government,there is a hiatus. While one lethal dispute has ended,another has broken out. This is between the President and his rival and former Chief of Staff. It looks like a bizarre footnote in Sri Lankan history. There has always been an intra-Sinhala dispute,which is a fight among the elite as to how one should construct the Sri Lankan identity. There is a liberal Leftish strand and a rightist authoritarian stance. There have been Sri Lankan Prime Ministers and Presidents on both sides of the line. President Jayawardene was liberal in his economic policies but quite authoritarian otherwise. Chandrika Kumaratunga was Left liberal but proved quite a tough person when it came to the LTTE. Her sincere attempts to find a peaceful solution were thwarted and she suffered a personal injury in the process from LTTE terrorism.
Yet the two sides of the Sinhala divide agreed on one thing. The Sri Lankan identity was built very much on the majoritarian lines of Sinhala language,Buddhism and Sinhala ethnic dominance. Sri Lanka is a Democratic Socialist Republic but with Buddhism as an official religion. The large minority of Tamils,traditionally more developed ,has been put in its place since 1956. After fifty years and more of conflict,it would seem that the violent path for the assertion of another national identity within the island of Sri Lanka has now been defeated.
But this is where India has a role to play as a friend and helper. India has been assertive about its national identity and used force several times to defeat separatist movements. Yet at the end these many minorities have been included in the democratic process and given their rightful place in the diverse nation. The key has been a judicious combination of force,democratic reconciliation and inclusive growth. This is the recipe Sri Lanka needs. It will have to accommodate the legitimate demands of the minorities as part of the overall Sri Lankan identity but there will also have to be inclusive growth so that the poor of all communities get some recompense for being where they are in the income ladder. Sri Lanka has enjoyed a higher status than India in the Human Development Index,yet it has been a more troubled place.
A healthy happy Sri Lanka will benefit the SAARC region economically and from the point of view of security. Indias sufferings from the LTTE are well-known. But India should once again offer any help it can give which will be welcome. It can encourage a South Asian regional development initiative. It can offer to further the reconciliation process among the communities; may be ex-President Kalam can help in this respect. What it cannot do is leave Sri Lanka injured as it is.
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