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by S.T. Hettige , University of Colombo

Constitutional amendments alone, however far reaching they may be, will not bring about the necessary socio-economic changes in the country unless they are accompanied by socially desirable policies and programs in many areas

It is common knowledge that the most destructive conflict that has ravaged the country for nearly two decades has reached a critical stage today. The cessation of hostilities that came into effect following the election of the new UNF government a few months ago has created a sense of relief and hope across the ethnic divide. There cannot be many who would like to see a resumption of hostilities again. Yet, a lasting peace can only follow an amicable settlement to the conflict itself. On the other hand, our past experience as well as what has been happening in the country since the time of the cessation of hostilities point to the fact the latter is easier said than done. Nevertheless, what the vast majority of the people in the country have realized is that we do not have an alternative to finding a widely acceptable political solution.

I feel that it would not be possible to reach the most desired goal of peace unless all parties concerned fully appreciate certain ground realities. These realities can be outlined under several headings. They are:

a) the brutality of the conflict over the last two decades,

b) nationalist extremism on all ethnic fronts,

c) nature of national politics and political leaders and

d) perceived and real causes of the conflict.

I do not wish to deal with each of the above areas in detail for want of space. So, my comments will be very brief.

Brutality of the conflict

While a majority of people already have a sense of how brutal the conflict has been, a true appreciation of the suffering that many families have undergone, particularly in war torn areas and those affected by the loss of lives of family members in the south is necessary to understand the mistrust, and misunderstanding that divide the communities. In this regard, it is also important to note that fact that the destruction of property, livelihoods and collective symbols on both sides of the ethnic divide has been as devastating.

While the armed conflict has going on, people separated by military fences were virtually living in two different worlds. People in the south had to rely on military spokesmen or the government leaders to know what was going on in the conflict areas while those who were on the other side of the fences no doubt had to rely on communication channels controlled by the military organizations. Already this picture has changed to a certain extent when civilians, the journalists and others could travel across the former dividing lines. But, the wounds will take many years to heal, and the hardened attitudes will take many years to soften. It will certainly not happen before the real negotiations between the contending parties begin.

Ethno-Nationalism,

Ethnic consciousness is a fact. This is true for all communities, whether we like it or not. The problem is not so much with ethnicity as such but with extreme ethnic exclusivity. When at least some members of ethnic communities perceive themselves as distinct mutually competing entities, in a socio-political context, they tend to perceive competition as a zero-sum game; more jobs for them, less jobs for us, more university places for them, less for us, etc. When political power is the effective source of what is desired and valued, competition naturally becomes political, a contest for power. When the existing institutional and political arrangements do not constitute an acceptable framework for accommodating competing demands, there develops a cry for change.

Centralized State:

150 years of British rule created a centralized state which controlled much of the most desired resources ranging from public service employment to agricultural land. It also created a tiny westernized elite drawn from all ethnic communities and two large monolingual communities, one speaking Sinhala and the other Tamil. Post independence social and economic reforms made the state even more decisive a player in the distribution of life chances among the ordinary people.

Increasing state domination over the economy and the rapid expansion of the state sector after 1956 made the latter the most important source of socially desirable employment and many of the other public goods. Egalitarian and democratic values that spread across the country towards the end of the British rule created a widespread desire among rural lower class people for upward social mobility for their children. This usually meant public sector employment. Given the fact that the colonial educational policy had already reproduced linguistic segregation among upwardly mobile youth and that post-independence regimes made the situation even worse, access to employment in the public sector depended very much on the language policy that was adopted.

As we all know, Sri Lanka's state dominated economy soon ran into serious difficulties, particularly as a result of adverse external pressures and rapid population growth. In spite of attempts at import substitution industrialization, the structure of the economy that the national leaders inherited from the British colonial rule did not undergo significant change and therefore, was not capable of accommodating increasing demands placed on it by a range of restless constituencies. In the early 1970s, nearly a quarter of the labour force was unemployed, most of them, youth with educational qualifications and aspirations for upward mobility.

The oil shock and the worsening terms of trade led to a serious balance of payment crisis forcing the then government to cut back imports leading to even food shortages. Growing youth unrest culminating in the 1971 JVP youth uprising forced national leaders to take measures to appease southern youth constituencies and ignore the signs of similar unrest in the north.

Ethno-linguistic segregation

Thanks to a linguistically segregated education system which even educationists have been boasting about, heavy public expenditure on education produced two or three monolingual youth constituencies, they had very little to do with each other, both socially and politically. Being mostly monolingual and regionally and ethnically segregated, they could not transcend primordial boundaries and see the commonality of their predicament in a poor third world country. In fact, even today, many youth in the south as well as in the north have virtually identical aspirations, i.e. public sector employment. Is it any wonder that many of the most vociferous, extreme nationalist leaders come from these distinct youth constituencies. This is not to suggest that ethnic consciousness is insignificant in other social layers.

As for not-so-young, national political leaders, it should be noted that they have failed to provide enlightened leadership to their parties and followers in a decisive manner, without being too preoccupied with their own political gain. They failed to evolve much-needed national consensus on such a critical issue as the long standing ethnic conflict. President Jayewardene had to introduce constitutional amendments in 1987 under an island wide curfew, to prevent the opposition from going on a rampage.

Chandrika Bandaranaike fought a brave electoral battle in 1994 with a promise for radical constitutional reforms. She made every effort, at the beginning, to bring about such reforms but the main opposition party at the time, the UNP appeared to do everything to evade the issue. Later she herself diluted the campaign when she brought in extreme nationalist elements into her fold purely for the sake of political survival. When she made a last ditch attempt to bring constitutional proposals to parliament, the draft constitution was torn into pieces and burnt on the floor of the august assembly.

This was done by many leading players of the UNP, while their leader, the present Prime Minister looked on helplessly, without moving an inch from his seat. The thinking here seems to be that "the problem has to be resolved and it should be done by us, so that the credit comes to us. So, elect us to power".

Now that the UNP is in power, it seems that once again, the respective political roles have been swapped! These leaders should realize that the vast majority of the people in this country do not want them to continue to engage in this tug of war any more. People are frustrated to their limits and wish that the so-called national leaders work towards some consensus in the face of the present national crisis. Building consensus does not mean that everybody should agree with one thing or speak in one voice.

In a democratic setting, diverse opinions and interests have to be articulated by different constituencies and the members of civil society. People naturally look at a complex issue from different vantage points. Yet, the debate and discussion should be based on certain fundamental values such as equality, co-existence, human rights, democracy and social justice.

If all could subscribe to these values, building consensus and finding a reasonable solution would become that much easier.

Causes of conflict

And finally, to say a few words about the causes of the conflict. This is a subject on which there have been endless debate and discussion. Scholars have written whole books about it. Here I only want to offer a few brief comments.

In trying to identify causes, some people go back to pre-colonial times, while others confine themselves to what happened during the colonial period. Still others place greater emphasis on the post colonial situation. These various causes apart, how factual or perceived they may be, the fact of the matter is that the two main ethnic communities have not been able to find a reasonable and workable political and policy framework for co-existence and collaboration after independence. As discussed earlier, social, educational, and language policies, instead of helping to build bridges across ethnic divisions, have contributed to a further consolidation of boundaries, pushing many young people into their separate ethno-nationalist worlds.

The more politically inclined members of these youth constituencies perceive their respective liberation projects as antithetical to each other, leaving little room for accommodation.

Any attempt at ethnic reconciliation should take into account the above realities. The parties to the conflict and other stake-holders should appreciate the conditions under which a competition for resources and socio-cultural rights developed into a brutal conflict. We should also appreciate the fact that a peaceful settlement involves much more than formulating a new constitution providing for greater devolution of power. It involves the formulation and implementation of a range of policies and programmes that facilitate physical and social mobility of people, in particular marginalized youth in peripheral areas.

Measures should also be taken to guarantee the democratic rights and fundamental freedoms of the people wherever they live. In short, at the end of the day, people should feel that they are living in a country where there are no physical, legal or social barriers for mobility and socio-economic advancement and that they have equal opportunities irrespective of ethnicity, religion, social background, gender and caste. Constitutional amendments alone, however far reaching they may be, will not bring about the necessary socio-economic changes in the country unless they are accompanied by socially desirable policies and programs in many areas.

That is why policy making deserves as much attention as constitution making. On the other hand, we are unlikely strike a balance between the two unless we realize that the present crisis emerged largely as a result of past policy failures.

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