Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva stated that it was through a “bottom up” approach rather than the failed “top down” approached of the 13th Amendment that would eventually help formulate a solution to the ethnic conflict in the country.
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| Former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva |
“We have to formulate solutions or remedial measures firstly in broad terms and flesh out each item addressing the needs from the grass root level upwards” he said speaking at the inauguration of the 103rd annual sessions of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka on 1st October 2009 at the BMICH.
Justice Silva said problems between the two main ethic groups began with independence “when the lid of foreign domination was removed upon gaining independence, the ethnic divisions of our plural society began to brew.
At first, affirmative legal action was taken to redress grievances from the perspective of the Sinhalese with the enactment of the Citizenship Act of 1950 which effectively disenfranchised the upcountry Tamil plantation workers and later the Official Language Act No. 33 of 1956 which stated that ‘The Sinhala Language shall be the one official language in Ceylon’. This led to a plethora of demands by the Tamil people resulting in firstly a demand for a Federal State and later to a separate State” he said.
According to him the 13th Amendment had never worked as a solution to the ethnic problem. “The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is the direct result of intervention by the Government of India. Many of its provisions are drawn from the Indian Constitution.
But the preference voting system is our own creation introduced by a later Act of Parliament. It has not been implemented in the Northern Province being the seat of our conflict. As for the rest of the country Provincial Councils mean nothing more than a string of staggered elections characterized by bitter rivalry for preference votes. A drama now performed by real life actors and actresses”, he said.
He also said Sri Lanka could learn a lot from the European experience after the World War II. “We can learn from the experience of post 2nd World War Europe. Europe was devastated by the worst war in recorded history namely the 2nd World War.
In May 1948, the Congress of Europe was convened at The Hague attended by over 600 delegates from 16 countries comprising former Prime Ministers, Ministers and leading citizens from different sectors of the community.
The Congress adopted a “Message to Europeans” which was the road map for subsequent European integration peace, harmony and prosperity which has now become a reality. We have a lot to learn from these experiences.
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