Sunday Times 2
Nandikadal – becoming a distraction
The ninth year celebrating Vesak, now universally recognised by the United Nations as a global event, has come and gone. Whether this has been an opportunity to reflect on the events of the past fifty years in this little island, is to be seen.
This country has championed the compassionate discourses of the Prince Siddhartha. The ancient city of Anuradhapura in the north central region of the island was a cradle of Buddhist civilisation and teaching. The splendour of the city with its monastic complexes lies within the walls of the current ‘ancient city’. Barely, eighty kilometres to the north and east is Nandikadal in the Mullaitivu district.
End of the war: The Nandikadal area nine years ago
A gust of wind over the drying sands of the Mullivaikal beach in the Mullaitivu district of the northeastern region of Sri Lanka heralds the arrival of the dry season. The gusts cause swirls of sand and dust like mini ‘tornadoes’ exposing further the ‘war-scape’ with the beach still strewn by pieces of clothing both civilian and military, shirts, trousers, sarongs, fatigues etc., appear. Semi buried shoes, boots and rubber slippers lie everywhere.
Each northeast monsoon season incrementally uncovers the horrors of the recent past like peeling an onion. One can only wonder and whimper, speculating about the owners of such residue. The caravans of the print and visual media have long gone. There is only the sound of muffled distant drums beating from Hambantota to Toronto. What is dominant is the eerie and deafening silence of the vacuum of political, social and economic development. There is little resource input to a depopulated area that is not being actively resettled.
In May 2009, a small slither of land all but surrounded by the warm waters of the Indian Ocean located along the northeastern coastline of Sri Lanka became the focus and attention of the whole world. “Nandikadal” became a globally recognised name. It captured yet another episode of man’s inhumanity towards his fellow beings. The execution of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s military leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, along with his family and young son went viral in the age of rolling news and internet access. The soldiers of the Sri Lankan military machine supplied much of the visual footage. To this was added the images of scores of civilians maimed and killed and a Vietnamesque picture of the young and beautiful female announcer of the LTTE TV channel, Isaipriya. She had been raped and killed.
The global Tamil diaspora vociferously clamoured for, and demanded an international inquiry. They felt betrayed by Sri Lanka’s neighbour, India, and the so-called free world. While it may be years before the atrocities committed are forensically and legally established, the prima facie evidence of brutality is there for all to see. The brutalities committed in the two world wars, extending to Palestine, the wars in Indochina and the atrocities committed during the partition of India and Kashmir by our ‘friends’ demonstrate the global imperviousness to horror.
The more recent wars in Bosnia, Burundi, Uganda, Iraq and Syria merely confirmed that any reliance on our ‘friends’ for moral guidance was misplaced. The Mahinda Rajapaksa regime also found that much of the sentiments expressed in the western hemisphere resonated well with its own rhetoric. The LTTE being described as the ‘most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world” (US State Department), “if you are not with us, you are against us” (George W. Bush), “standing shoulder to shoulder” (Tony Blair), “shock and awe” (General Schwarzkopf): All such utterances in the name of freedom and democracy. There is a growing belief that the Indian navy blockaded the only exit from the Nandikadal to the open ocean, forcing the LTTE leader to take his own life or be killed: Sonia Gandhi’s revenge for the assassination of her husband in 1991, the then Indian Prime Minister. The Americans provided satellite images while China and Pakistan poured in armaments. This was a truly global effort.
Assassinations and killings have been a tradition in Sri Lanka. In the contempory era stretching from the murder of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to the death of Prabhakaran, many have died in atrocities committed by all sides, groups and the state. They included: Gamini Dissanayake, Lalith Athulathmudali, Ranasinghe Premadasa, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Neelan Thiruchelvam, Kumar Ponnambalam, Suppiah Paramu.
Thamilselvan, Mahathya,Uma Maheswaran,Lasantha Wickrematunge, Joseph Pararajasingham, Thiagarajah Maheswaran, Nadarajah Raviraj, Appapillai Amirthalingam, Alfred Duraiappah, Arumugam Thiagarajah, Rohana Wijeweera, Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra, Vettivelu Yogeswaran, etc., to name but a few in no particular order. Many have been professionals and intellectuals and others politicians. Overt killings evolved into ‘disappearances’ in white vans and death in mysterious accidents and circumstances. This must represent a disproportionate number of killings per million of the population. A record, if not a ‘hub’. For this to stop, it needs vision and brave political leadership. Difficult and seemingly unpopular measures have to be formulated and sold to the people for the greater good.
The storm created by the all round atrocities of the final events fuelled the churning bellies of the Tamil diaspora and equally helped create the spectre of a regrouped LTTE amongst the Sinhala Buddhist south. Nine years later both are seemingly on the wane judging by the attendance at meetings and the diminishing rhetoric. Here lies the opportunity to make strides in bringing about crucial political and developmental changes and rapidly push the Sri Lankan national agenda forward. Such a “national” agenda by definition will bring about reconciliation between the two major linguistic groups and all communities. Currently ‘reconciliation’ is only an often reported and repeated platitude. Positive actions alone will create the atmosphere of ‘trust’, which is the other side of the coin.
Several opportunities have been missed
The recommendations of the government-sponsored LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission) headed by the late C.R. de Silva are yet to be implemented. The Commonwealth Heads of Governments facilitated the mechanism for learning lessons and bringing about reconciliation under the chairmanship of Cyril Ramphosa, a doyen of South African politics. This too fell by the way side. Such reports in the main were widely supported and their acceptance may have well avoided relentless and continued global scrutiny.
Investigating the whereabouts of missing and disappeared persons
Along with identification of assassins and their prosecution is basic human rights and a legal requirement in any civilised society. At an individual level, it brings about closure and more widely allows for reconciliation. This should include the period from 1970 when the southern insurrection erupted.
The formulation of a new Constitution
Should be viewed as an opportunity to put into practice global standards of human rights — equality for all, equal opportunities for all, elimination of narrow racial, linguistic, religion or colour based discrimination and a celebration of diversity. The restoration of the independence of the judiciary and the clear separation of the legislature and the executive should form the cornerstone of such a constitution. The current constitution has twenty versions including the original. This in a period of twenty years and clearly not fit for purpose. Although, always referred to as the J.R. Jayewardene constitution of 1978, it actually bears little resemblance to the original. There are now twenty versions. Very few constitutions in the democratic world can aspire to so many changes in such a short time. Undoubtedly, what could be a one-page document would be converted to a tome to be closely scrutinised by the erudite Members of Parliament before implementation.
State occupation of privately owned land would be anathema in any society during peacetime. Large tracts of such lands around essential areas for economic development have negative impact on the livelihoods of people and serve only to be a thorn in festering flesh. The reversal of such policy and the restoration of civilian economic activity will be a major leap in reconciliation and heal a fractured nation. Economic development has to be supported by infrastructure that includes funding of projects and transportation. The restoration of Palaly airport and Kankesanthurai harbour in the north for civilian function is a no brainer in achieving this.
There is now a political opportunity
Locally in the northern province as well as in the global diaspora. There is a schism and an evolving ‘opinion change’ that has been brought about by the lack of economic progress in the war devastated regions which mere political rhetoric is failing to achieve. This is becoming more evident in the recent utterances of the global diaspora such as the Global Tamil Forum and even in statements made by the chief minister of the Northern Provincial Council.
Four years after the election of the Tamil National Alliance to govern the provincial council, some of the developmental aspirations of the population are yet to be fulfilled. Regular visitors to the north, especially the diaspora who are permanently settled abroad, have noted this. They are questioning the lack of solid and sustainable progress. Certainly there are more banks and financing institutions, but this only illustrates the continued dependence on a remittance economy that is well entrenched and has a negative social and economic impact. There is a crying need for vocational training institutions and easing of the climate to ‘do business’.
The multi-tiered bureaucracy needs to be navigated meticulously, whether it is for agricultural development, health care delivery or setting up of commercial enterprises. This can be frustrating. Private-sector investors both local and foreign would simply find the going too hard. Indeed, it would not be amiss to ask whether all these layers and non-productive expenditure is justifiable. Can we as a country afford for the government to be by far the largest employer?
The bringing about of reconciliation is multi-faceted. The process has little meaning if attempts are made to implement such policies around tables in air-conditioned offices. One needs to get out and ‘smell the coffee’. As we move away from the narrative of Nandikadal, sustainability of long-term peace has to recognise the ground reality. As the old adage goes: “It’s the economy stupid”. Economic development has to underpin all of the political and judicial measures that protect individuals and communities. It is for the leadership to formulate policy and articulate the benefits and the developmental needs. In short, lead opinion. In the absence of this, the experience of this country is one of insurrections in the south and the north.
Who is going to step up to the plate!