Minority aspirations and peace

PRESIDENT Mahinda Rajapaksa's instructions to the State peace delegation that issues concerning minorities be taken-up for discussion at the upcoming Government-LTTE talks, could be considered a high-point in Lanka's peace effort.

The conflict in Sri Lanka has its roots in the grievances of our minorities and it is in the fitness of things that these issues are thrashed out among the parties concerned.

It is well that the LTTE is reminded about the origins of the conflict at a time when it is making huge claims for itself. One of these is that it is the sole representative of the Tamil people. The plurality of opinion in the Tamil community is the most sound refutation of this claim.

Besides, the grievances experienced by other minority communities are a pointer to the highly complex nature of our conflict.

The Tigers, no doubt, will be listened to but the State would be aiming at arriving at a comprehensive solution to the conflict based on a holistic view of the Lankan crisis.

For instance, the Muslim community, no less than the Tamil community, has been suffering some disabilities. The solution envisaged would need to address the totality of these issues, to prove durable and permanent.

Accordingly, it is highly relieving that the issues of all our minorities would be placed on the negotiating table. In fact, the State has acted with foresight by calling on its Panel of Experts to report on these issues.

Acting on this report and sorting out the problems of minorities in a comprehensive fashion could set the stage for resolving the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

Some of these problems are well-known. For instance, although Tamil is now an official language of this country, it is no secret that much progress remains to be made to make this a reality in our State institutions.

Substantial arrangements are yet to be made to use the Tamil language widely in Government bodies.

As a result, the Tamil-speaking public are gravely affected and most of their needs are going unmet. Thus does disaffection set in and the seeds of rebellion are sown.

Likewise with the colonisation of North-East land. The alienation of land has not always been carried out on the principle of equity and justice and this issue too has fanned the flames of discontentment.

One could be glad that this issue too is now being addressed by the State. No doubt, with the resolution of the land issue, many of the grievances of the minorities would be defused.

Equally encouraging is the mooting of the issue of an Upper House of Parliament where the minority communities would be adequately represented.

At bottom, the conflict in Sri Lanka is all about the feeling among some of our minority communities that they are helpless and powerless.

An Upper House, where their representatives would have a hand in the shaping of legislation would go some distance in answering this problem of powerlessness.

While all such measures could help in resolving the conflict, it is the feeling among our minorities that they are at home in Sri Lanka that would take away the appeal the slogan of separation has for some sections. It would not be a bad idea for the State to ban racism in all its forms in Sri Lanka.

This would give the minorities the sense that their dignity is being upheld. It would help in preparing a conducive atmosphere for the perpetuation of the peace process.

While one could be glad that the State is proactively involved in taking-up and resolving the issues of minorities, this message must be spread far and wide.

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