WeatherKathmandu, Nepal

Sri Lanka and peace

PROF. BIRENDRA P MISHRA

The local elections in Sri Lanka have proved to be the litmus test for President Mahinda Rajapaksa with a clear message to him that military action can give him some relief, but cannot provide lasting solution to the political demands made by the Tamil community since several decades.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which represents the ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka, was previously controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an outfit demanding a separate Eelam (state) for the Tamils, has succeeded in winning 15 out of 20 local Councils in the previous northern war zone and three out of six in the east. The territory was under the control of LTTE, till the end of Elam war IV led by General Sarath Fonseka in May 2009.

For the people of North Sri Lanka, this is their first election in over two and a half decades since the LTTE took control of that part of the country. With regard to the elections, it is said that had the army not interfered, the percentage of voting could have been much higher as the TNA could have captured more councils. While raising the issue of free and fair election, the leader of the Opposition in Parliament Ranil Wickresinghe, who belong to the United National Party Alliance (UNP), said in Parliament, “the events of the last few weeks have shown the inability of the police to enquire into the complains of elections. The election laws are in the breach. There are daily complaints regarding intimidations and abuse of government machinery.

Complaints have been received that officials from other areas have become a part of the election campaigns of several Ministers.” He added that recently, an official threatened a UNP candidate. The JVP had complained that the army was harassing its political campaign.

The Election Commission of Sri Lanka has claimed to have peaceful election, which was conducted under the watchful eyes of the armed forces. According to officials, the polls took into consideration the electoral rolls of 2010. Some NGOs, citing specific instances, had pointed out that many of the 2.5 million voters in the region still did not have identity cards to cast votes. Though there were more than a dozen parties in the fray, there was a keen competition between the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and the TNA.

Before the local elections took place, the Sri Lankan President was facing a rough international community for alleged violation of human rights by his government and especially the army at the time of ending the war by killing many civilians, the LTTE cadres including their leader Prabkaaran. First, he did not cooperate with the UN Secretary General’s three experts panel led by the former Indonesian Former Attorney General Marzuki Darsman to study the human rights violations. In its report, the panel states, “Tens of thousands lost their lives from January to May 2009, many of whom died anonymously in the carnage of the final few days. Most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling”

Secondly, he formed an eight member Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) to investigate the charges leveled against the army. Thirdly, the allegation of human rights violations was shown on Channel4’s Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields with gruesome and distressing footage and charged that the Sri Lank army and government had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the final stages of the war against the LTTE, the president is told to discredit the show as a film shot in Tamilnadu, or an event of shooting of Sri Lankan army by LTTE man etc.

Indian history reveals that the great Maurya King Ashoka, after winning the battle of Kalinga killing thousands of soldiers, not only left the throne and returned the territory won, but also became a monk putting on Buddhist robe to follow the path of peace. It is peace that can conquer the heart of the vanquished, although they can be captured physically.

History says that Ashoka sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghmitra to propagate Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and other East Asian countries. Perhaps, since then, Buddhism has been surviving and flourishing there. It is said that the Singhalese people were the original migrants from Orrisa, a eastern state of India.

Finally, the government has undoubtedly succeeded in keeping Sri Lanka united with military force. First, one of the reasons for his victory was that no country liked another country to be divided. Secondly, the sole aim of LTTE leader V Prabhakaran of having a separate eelam for the Tamils living in Sri Lanka could be another reason for the victory of the government, and his defeat in return. Had he gone for a political settlement within an united Sri Lanka, perhaps, he could have succeeded in attaining his goal and such a vast misfortune and loss of lives could have been averted.

Now it is time for both the government and the Tamils to settle the issues amicably in their own interests. The elections have shown the mood of the people. The government must address the genuine aspirations of its people time