The last Presidential election was relatively peaceful and calm on the
day of the election itself, which has led the government to declare it
free and fair. However, there were several aspects to that election
that could do lasting damage to the country. One was the government’s
propaganda campaign that claimed a conspiracy to divide the country.
The support that the TNA publicly pledged to Opposition Presidential
candidate General Sarath Fonseka was said to hide a secret agreement
to that effect. In the last two weeks of the election campaign the
government controlled media saturated the air waves and print with
this propaganda. This had the effect of increasing the ethnic
polarization already inherent in society, as manifested in the
election results.
After winning those elections handsomely in most parts of the country
except for the north and east, the government needs to heal the wounds
and divisions its own actions have caused in society. However, the
sequel to the Presidential elections that saw General Fonseka being
unceremoniously arrested and a large number of high ranking army
officers compulsorily retired or sent on transfer has further divided
society. Not only has division rent the army, the much respected
Buddhist clergy too appears divided on the post-election issue of
General Fonseka’s arrest. It increasingly appears that division is
multiplying in society which only the spirit of magnanimity,
self-critical thinking and mutual understanding can bridge.
The reality of a continuing ethnic division manifested itself to me
when I attended a workshop for provincial correspondents of national
media organization in Gampaha a fortnight ago. Gampaha is a district
that is one of the strongholds of the ruling party and most of the
participants were sympathetic to the government’s point of view. The
objective of this workshop was to remind these journalists of the
continuing importance of a just political solution to the problems of
the ethnic minorities. During the discussion a question raised by a
participant was how to deal with an ethnic minority that might be
wishing the destruction of the country. Underlying this question was
the sense that the Tamil ethnic minority was not loyal to Sri Lanka
and constituted a threat to it.
Now with another important election on the horizon there are enough
and more leaders of the government who are going on public platforms
projecting themselves as the saviours of the Sinhalese ethnic majority
and of the country. They are fomenting divisive thinking that leads
people, who believe they are less informed than their leaders, to come
to extreme conclusions, such as the one put forward as a question at
the workshop for provincial journalists in Gampaha. Unfortunately,
the politics of trying to compete with the government for the votes of
the majority would probably dissuade the opposition from challenging
the falsehoods that are being propagated. The opposition would not
wish to inflict upon themselves the fate of General Fonseka who found
himself accused of being party to a conspiracy with Tamil separatists.
CIVIC ROLE
There is a need today to redefine what patriotism means. Leaders of
government affirm that they are patriotic by fighting against
conspiracies by Tamils, the international community and Sinhalese
traitors who oppose them. But patriotism is also about positive
values, like working for all citizens and alleviating the sufferings
of the victims of past conflicts. Patriotism is also about justice
that goes beyond one’s own side, as Mahatma Gandhi demonstrated when
challenging British rule. He dissented from his colleagues when they
sought to cover up the wrongs done by their own side. Today, when the
government claims a monopoly of patriotism and the people and polity
is divided within, there is a role for those who dissent without
trying to destablise.
In the current situation where nationalist propaganda is rampant, and
politically unchallengeable, an important task of being a
countervailing force devolves upon civil society and non governmental
organizations. Those opinion-forming sections of society that are
politically non-partisan, and do not seek to be direct beneficiaries
of the political process, are best positioned to be agents of healing
and reconciliation at this time. There are at least two important
attributes of civil society groups and NGOs that need to be
appreciated. One is that they are not necessarily dependent on
government or political patronage, and so can be politically non
partisan. Their main sources of support are the spirit of voluntarism
amongst the local population and the financial support they receive
from international donors.
Hopefully the role of civil society and NGOs as the main, or sole,
representatives of the values of healing and reconciliation will only
be a temporary phenomenon. The end of the General Elections may
permit the government to take the lead role in creating a more just
and ethnically balanced policy environment. Notwithstanding a greater
governmental commitment to addressing issues of reconciliation and
healing, there is also a second role for NGOs. This is to address
micro level issues, including the problems faced by individuals who
are left out of the massive macro-level government programmes of
relief, rehabilitation and development.
One of the government’s claims is that it is launching large-scale
infrastructure development projects in all parts of the country,
including the war-ravaged north and east. Roads, bridges and buildings
are being put up newly in some places and repaired in others and could
be of great benefit to the people in the future. However, while this
great development activity takes place, sometimes with foreign labour
as in the case of some foreign-funded projects, there may be many
individuals who are left out of the process, and who need to be looked
after. This is another area where NGOs , with their small scale,
personalised and grassroots approach can come in to play a useful and
supportive role to the government.
PERSONAL POSTSCRIPT
After the workshop for provincial media persons in Gampaha in the
Western Province, which is by far the most prosperous and urbanized
part of the country, I went right across the country to Trincomalee in
the war-ravaged Eastern Province. The event in Trincomalee was the
prize giving for school children who had taken part in a human rights
quiz competition. As the country has become free from guerilla and
war-related violence after the end of the war, and has become safe for
travelers, I took my three children along with me. Through the NGO
and religious networks that my organization has, I was able to visit a
school and also a transit centre for displaced persons, of whom there
are still a number even in Trincomalee.
At the time we entered the school, just before the mid-day interval,
the classes were in progress. But when the little children in the
school saw my children, they started waving at them and calling them
into their classrooms. Their school was a poor one, and so were most
of the children, but they showed an abundance of loving attention.
The attitude of these Tamil children towards Sinhalese children who
were strangers to them did not indicate the hostility of a community
that sought the destruction of the country. It meant that those Tamil
children had not been taught by their parents or teachers to hate or
be suspicious of those who were Sinhalese. This people-to-people
contact is the best answer to the question posed by the journalist in
Gampaha.
At the school some of the children we met were from the Wanni. We met
a little girl of 9 years who had seen her mother die in the shell fire
during the crossing from the LTTE controlled area into the government
controlled area. The family of five, father, mother, two daughters
aged 11 and 9 and son aged 1 had been fleeing for safety. The little
girl had insisted that her father carry their mother’s body with them,
and not leave it in the water. So the father had given the little boy
to the big sister and carried his wife’s body to a place where they
could bury it. They now live with relatives. But as they are not in
the welfare camp they do not get the resettlement allowance and other
welfare benefits they might be entitled to. There are many such
stories, one of a child with shrapnel that remains in her head and who
does not look quite normal, and a boy who lost his father. These are
all stories of people who fall between the cracks that the government
alone cannot close.
On our return to Colombo, my elder daughter, aged 6, informed us that
she had written an article in her notebook. The spellings were a
little off, but this is what she wrote. “February 25-02-2010.
Trincomalee. I saw a children’s school, home and a monkey on a tree
and a peacock running and I saw an elephant eating and another
elephant working and I saw camps and a mother and a child and I made
friends with a lot of children and may God bless them and keep them in
his care always.”