Eliminating communalism

Sri Lanka has made vast strides in terms of development since independence, but the question remains whether the resulting benefits have been equitably distributed among all nine provinces.

The Western Province has benefitted the most from the development process, while Northern, Eastern, North Central and Uva provinces have almost been neglected.

This inequitable distribution of wealth, resources and the fruits of development has led to resentment among the residents of such regions.

This was amply demonstrated by the famous 1980s slogan 'Kolambata Kiri Apata Kekiri' (Milk for Colombo, Cucumber for villages). Two youth insurgencies were fuelled by such inequalities.

Similarly, separatist elements have carried on a propaganda campaign that successive Sri Lankan Governments have neglected the North-East.

This campaign has been peppered with communalist undertones - that the majority community has neglected the welfare of the minorities.

While no Government has deliberately erased the North-East from the development map, it is true that more could have been done to develop these areas well before the emergence of armed terrorist groups. A full-blown conflict is hardly conducive to development activities.

This was the crux of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's message to the Nation at the opening of the Moragahakanda-Kaluganga project, which will help irrigate thousands of acres in North Central, Northern and Eastern Provinces, benefitting the entire population in the three provinces.

He said the Rs.38,500 million project will douse the fires of communalism by uplifting the lives of thousands of people in those areas, regardless of their ethnicity.

"Remember that what we will douse from the waters released from Moragahakanda to the North and East is the fire of communalism spread in those two areas by deadly terrorism.

Had this project been implemented 20 or 30 years ago; had expressways from Colombo to Jaffna and Batticaloa been constructed then as it is proposed today, we can be certain that the terrorism of the LTTE would have been stillborn," President Rajapaksa said.

Indeed, had development embraced all nine provinces on an equal footing, there would have been no room for insurgents and terrorists to spread their deadly message of hatred.

As the President correctly pointed out, the most powerful weapon against communalism is being fair and doing justice by the innocent Tamil people. If not, the cruel forces of communalism can completely destroy the great Sri Lankan civilisation.

Terrorists have made several attempts in the recent past to instigate a repeat of the 1983 Black July, by bombing civilian targets and even places of worship. They did not succeed, thanks to the restraint of the majority of peace-loving people.

The Government too is engaged in an endeavour to stamp out the causes and forces of communalism by guaranteeing the rights of minorities all over the island.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have unfortunately suppressed the very community that they claim to 'liberate'. This was exemplified by its extensive use of Tamil civilians in Vakarai as a human shield.

Thousands of civilians managed to escape the LTTE's stranglehold and come to cleared areas, where the Security Forces welcomed them warmly. The civilians' immense suffering finally ended with the liberation of Vakarai by the Security Forces.

This operation proved beyond any doubt that the Security Forces have the ability, will and strength to defeat terrorism. But as the Government has stressed, a military campaign alone cannot bring peace to Lanka.

A political solution is imperative to address the genuine grievances of the Tamil community. Such a mechanism is being evolved at the All Party Conference and the All Party Representatives Committee.

In the meantime, the Government has expressed the view that the doors are still open for negotiations with the LTTE.

The Government deserves plaudits for going ahead with a massive project of this nature, entirely funded by the Treasury, in spite of the escalating defence budget.

This proves that unlike many previous regimes, this Government does not want to cite 'war' as a convenient excuse for abandoning development projects.

By committing its own funds to this mega project the Government has sent a powerful signal to all, including the separatists, that communalist tendencies would have no place in the political and social sphere.

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