Discrimination, both real and imaginary, has given rise to and fuelled the conflict that has had a debilitating effect on Sri Lanka’s development over the past three decades. However in a multi-ethnic society any allegation of ethnic discrimination should be made with caution because unless it is objectively evaluated and verified it can sow the seeds of suspicion of discrimination in the minds of ethnic minorities which can in turn erode the good relations among the communities.
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Despite all the years of bitter conflict there still remains an abundance of goodwill among the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people at the grass roots level as evidenced by their living amidst each other in harmony even today. This is in contra the situation in Northern Ireland where the Protestants and Catholics have lived physically apart during the years of conflict and are only now trying to reach out to each other. This goodwill must be protected and nurtured by carefully examining and verifying any perceptions of ethnic discrimination before publicly articulating any allegations of ethnic discrimination.
Discrimination in any form is condemnable, and whether intentional or otherwise has the same disempowering effect on the person or persons at the receiving end. Undoubtedly there are and have been instances of discrimination in Sri Lankan society which need to be addressed but only after careful study and well thought out action. There are two types of discrimination- personally or individually exercised acts of discrimination as well as systemic forms of discrimination.
Systemic discrimination is easily identified and is capable of objective evaluation. Remedial action is not too difficult, subject to of course the existence of political will. Non systemic or discrimination by one or more individuals is more difficult to verify as well as to address because the discriminatory intent is in the mind of the individual or individuals perpetrating the act of discrimination. It is possible to come to a conclusion that any particular action is based on ethnic bias only on the strongest possible evidence and only if such evidence is inconsistent with any other rational explanation including discrimination on grounds other than ethnicity e.g. political discrimination.
Let me elaborate. A member of a minority community who is best qualified for a particular position in a State institution may be overlooked in favour of a less suitable candidate from the majority community. The first impulse is to allege ethnic discrimination. But closer examination may reveal that the lesser qualified individual had been selected only because he had the backing of a very powerful politician rather than him being a member of the majority community. In such a situation it would be wrong to allege ethnic discrimination when the undoubtedly condemnable discrimination was of a different kind.
Even intellectuals and analysts who write on public issues sometimes fall prey to this malady. Recently former diplomat Izeth Hussain whose contributions to the press are always well argued and thought provoking in an article published in the Island suggested that Muslims are discriminated in cricket. This writer begs to disagree. Thankfully the sports scene in Sri Lanka has been spared the tugs and pulls of ethnic rivalry. This is as it should be because Sports is one of the great levellers where only performance on the field matters and other factors extraneous to the sport including ethnicity do not count. In support of his contention, Izeth Hussain cites the exclusion of all rounder Fervez Mahroof from the national cricket team. This writer would, however, like to suggest reasons other than ethnicity for the non selection of Fervez Mahroof.
Mahroof is undoubtedly a talented all rounder who has served the Sri Lankan team well. However his not being selected for the national team currently may be due to any one of several reasons which have nothing to do with ethnicity. It could be due to an error of judgment on the part of the selectors which is of course subjective in nature. It could be due to Angelo Mathews grabbing the opportunity with both hands and clinching his place in the team when Mahroof was initially injured and the selectors’
understandable reluctance to change the composition of the team later when it was performing well.
One may recall that many felt for a long time that leg spinner Malinga Bandara should have been played as a second spinner but the selectors felt otherwise and opted for a fast bowler instead. In that case no one alleged mala fides or discrimination of any kind on the part of the selectors but only criticized them for making, what looked to many cricket fans, as a flawed selection. Marvan Atapattu was persisted with despite his repeated failures at the start of his career due to his undoubted class and the decision paid off handsomely. Jehan Mubarak another classy batsman was given several chances despite his failures due to his batting abilities but he has not been able as yet to prove the selectors’ right and secure a place in the national team.
Sports administration in Sri Lanka is certainly in a big mess and is conducted in violation of most of the values that sports is meant to inculcate in the players as well as those associated with any particular sport. Some sports selections for national teams don’t seem to be done fairly. Yet one does not find any evidence to suggest that ethnic discrimination plays a part even in the most unjust of team selections.In a country which has witnessed a cruel conflict based on real and perceived discrimination it would do great harm to the process of national reconciliation and nation building to allege ethnic discrimination where there is none.
In fact the struggle to address real ethnic discrimination issues will be greatly undermined if one alleges discrimination where in fact there is no such discrimination on ethnic grounds. (javidyusuf@yahoo.com)
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