Columns

May 19th is, for some, the day of commemoration of the “Mullivaikal Massacre.” For others, it is Victory Day. Fifteen years ago, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was defeated, signalling the end of the armed conflict, but the wounds created by the war remain.

The country remains divided, with the different communities having their own set of grievances and suspicions. The root causes that led to the conflict, which erupted in violence that was spread over three decades, remain, with additional issues resulting from the fallout of the armed conflict still to be dealt with, thus contributing to keeping the communities apart.

Those who have lost their loved ones or have been crippled, whether belonging to the armed forces, the LTTE or innocent civilians who suffered in the crossfire, continue to grieve. The process of healing, which should have welded the nation into a strong, united country, has yet to take place.

The different administrations that have governed the country since May 9, 2009 have often made what have turned out to be feeble attempts at national reconciliation. Many of these efforts have often been confined to lip service and show little sign of progress.

The failure to make progress on this national need has been due not only to the actions of spoilers but also to well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning actors who have concerned themselves with the fallout of the conflict. There is also the failure of those at the helm of leadership in the country to carry the message of reconciliation to the lower ranks of the administration.

This is clearly seen in the response of the police to those who wanted to distribute porridge (cunji) in memory of their loved ones. Last week, the police obtained a court order to arrest Tamil women, alleging that they were violating the law by engaging in the distribution of porridge in memory of those whom they had lost in the war.

Parliamentarian Mano Ganeshan raised a pertinent concern when he queried the need for such arrests when there had been no symbols of any banned organisations like the LTTE when distributing porridge.

He also questioned why the police had to go to court in the first place to get arrests when there was already a law preventing the use of symbols of proscribed organisations.

Clearly, this sort of situation would not have been created if the police higher-ups had given clear instructions to the personnel on the ground with regard to the dos and don’ts of the commemoration and thus avoided any further aggravation of the feelings of the grieving mothers.

On the other side of the divide, Dr. Wasantha Bandara of the Patriotic National Movement (PNM) has called upon the government to take action to counter a bi-partisan resolution that had been introduced in the United States Congress calling on the government to work towards a referendum in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Dr. Bandara also points out that the US resolution underscored that although the LTTE’s conventional military power had been defeated on the battlefield, the Eelamist lobby was busy in Western capitals.

Most observers would agree with this contention but would argue that the best way to overcome the LTTE ideology would be for the Sri Lankan State to address the concerns of the Tamil people. An independent, credible domestic mechanism to investigate any excesses that may have taken place during the war, together with measures to get rid of the perception among the Tamil people that they are discriminated against, would greatly contribute to the LTTE ideology becoming irrelevant and clear the country of the allegations relating to the conduct of the war.

In a report released last week, United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk once again called upon the government to address these concerns.

“The government owes it to all those who have been forcibly disappeared. It is critical for these crimes to be investigated fully. These crimes haunt not only their loved ones, but entire communities and Sri Lankan society as a whole,” the report added.

The High Commissioner went on to say in his report that despite some positive formal steps by successive governments, such as the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the establishment of the Office on Missing Persons and the Office for Reparations, tangible progress on the ground towards comprehensively resolving individual cases has remained limited.

From the perspective of the national interest, it would be best if the many concerns raised in international forums are addressed and closure effected. This would result in Sri Lanka no longer being on the international agenda for the wrong reasons.

Internally, it would also help to reframe May 19 as a day of national reflection rather than Victory Day or as that of the Mullivaikal Massacre.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)