If Sri Lanka is to be a truly multi-ethnic and multi-religious state then our main political parties must also have a blend and balance. Unfortunately that kind of healthy evolution is not seen in several originally Jaffna based parties and parties such as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress which today wields much influence in the PA government.
The SLMC came into being during the escalating atmosphere of ethnic politics of the 1980s. This scenario and the Executive Presidential System - where the minority vote is needed for election to that high office - have given parties like the SLMC much bargaining power. Perhaps a little too much for the common good. When the two main national parties fight it out, as they are doing with a vengeance now, minority parties could go to extremes as we have so often witnessed in the annals of our contemporary political history.
At the SLMCs annual convention in Samanthurai last week, the tone and the trend were somewhat disturbing if looked at in a national perspective. Some SLMC leaders for quite sometime now have glorified the soil of the Eastern Province as being sacred to the Muslims of Sri Lanka. They have openly called for a separate Muslim administrative unit in the area.
In the 1950s the Federal Party also started on that note and today we see how various factors have turned it into a bloody Eelam war.
Some speakers at the Samanthurai convention tried to portray the SLMC as a multi-racial party. Indeed it does have a Sinhala MP. But it will take much more for the SLMC to shed its image as a communal or religious party.
This little country cannot be carved up into ethnic or religious conclaves. Parties that promote such a dangerous trend need to seriously review their position and come up with a policy based on a broad vision and national goals if Lanka is not to become another Bosnia in time to come.
With Sri Lanka reaching glorious heights in world cricket, especially during the past year and last night in the Singer World Series Cup, arguments have also intensified over national priorities with a protracted war on the one side and a little bit of entertainment on the other.
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, in a characteristically pithy dinner speech to the teams in the Singer Cup last Wednesday, complained that politicians like him were not loved as much as cricketers. What would happen if we had a cricketer-President? In the afterglow of the World Cup triumph, skipper Arjuna Ranatunga was asked that question. Though he already has political connections, Arjuna cover-drove the idea saying he had a bigger following than politicians in Sri Lanka.
Anyway, whatever the hide-bound patriots or purists may say about cricket, none could deny that the current wave is helping a war-torn nation to restore its confidence and believe in itself again. We saw it last night after the smashing triumph against Australia in the Singer Cup Final. The whole of Sri Lanka was smiling again with millions of people of all races and religions singing, dancing and celebrating together on the streets and elsewhere. Politicians and others could not do that, but the cricketers are doing it. For that we need to be grateful.
In the Singer series, Sri Lanka have risen to even greater heights than in the World Cup, playing like a champion team. A high level of maturity and professional skills have helped Sri Lanka to stamp and reconfirm their class as No. 1 in the world. Despite security issues and uncertain weather, the Singer tournament was a mighty success and a boost to Sri Lanka and a big 'thank you' goes out to the teams, the organisers and the sponsors for a job well done.
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