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by Dr. Ranjit Perera

In any attempt to analyze the racial and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, perhaps the best point to start is to try and understand and acknowledge the complexity of the underlying problem.

Every conflict has a unique set of circumstances. In this case, something that is often forgotten by both sides is that unlike in Malaysia, Fiji, Guyana and some other countries in the world, the Singhalese and Tamil populations (other than the Indian Tamil population in tea estates) have lived in Sri Lanka for over 3,000-5,000 years.

Consequently, no Singhalese person can truly claim to be a pure Singhalese. Nor can any Sri Lankan Tamil person claim to be a true Tamil. At some point in their long history, almost each and every person in Sri Lanka is sure to have ancestors who are Singhalese and ancestors who are Tamil.

Nevertheless, there is a linguistic, religious and a cultural divide. And the present conflict is certainly a racial and ethnic conflict. The Tamil population in the tea estates - on the other hand is one of the most racially and ethnically disadvantaged groups in Sri Lanka Society. But their concerns are not a part of the present conflict.

Over the long period of history that the two ethnic groups have lived together in that island, at some periods in history, the Tamil population had control over a large part of the island. And some times the Singhalese population controlled most if not the whole country.

One significant phenomenon, in this conflict is that within Sri Lanka, today about 75 per cent of the population is Singhalese and the Tamil population is about 22 per cent.

But Sri Lanka is only few kilometres from South India, and from Tamil Nadu in particular. In this broader geopolitical environment the Singhalese population is a minority. Throughout the long recorded history of the Sri Lanka, there have been consistent invasions of neighbouring Tamil population from India into Sri Lanka, and this history has generated an ingrained fear among the Singhalese, a fear that usually exist among minority groups.

In much of the literature generated by the recent conflict by both Singhalese and Tamil Groups, in both the vernacular and in English, French and other languages of the world, and also in conversations around dinner tables in both Sri Lanka and within the expatriate community of Sri Lankan origin around the world, what one often hears is derogatory comments about the other ethnic group.

One also hears and reads about some historical claims based on periods in their history, when either of the two ethnic groups were dominant. Or one hears about the atrocities committed by the Sri Lanka armed forces and about the atrocities committed by the LTTE. Fortunately, there are however, a significant number of kindred spirits within both Singhalese and Tamil groups who are well grounded, in their commitment to find a mutually respectful resolution to the problem.

At the moment with the ceasefire negotiated by the Norwegians there is a window of opportunity. But a ceasefire is just a first step. The resolution of the conflict requires an evolution of a vision, a common space that the Government of Sri Lanka and the Singhalese people, and the LTTE and the Tamil people in Sri Lanka can come to accept, through peaceful and meaningful negotiations. At the moment, it appears that both sides have still a long way to go to arrive at a mutually respectful solution.

Based on the little information we have concerning the bargaining position of both sides, presently, even though they are willing to devolve some authority and responsibility to Provincial Councils, it appears that most of Singhalese people and the Government of Sri Lanka is stuck on maintaining the framework of a unitary state. The most they have been willing to concede is to adopt a constitution more or less based on the Indian model (a condition agreed to between Rajiv Gandhi and J. R. Jayewardene but not being fully implemented).

At the same time, separate state for the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, is totally not acceptable the Government of Sri Lanka, to Singhalese people and even for some Tamil people in Sri Lanka as well. Even India is totally opposed to allowing Eelam to become a separate state, as it will foster a spirit of separatism in Tamil Nadu, a situation they would like to avoid at all cost.

A genuine fear among the Singhalese population in Sri Lanka is that if Eelam becomes a reality, Tamil Nadu may absorb Eelam, and their fear of being a permanent geopolitical minority will become a reality. This may be only a remote possibility and even though LTTE has said that it is giving up on their demand for a separate state, it still is a genuine fear among the Singhalese population.

From an LTTE perspective they have fought for a separate state so hard and they will not be satisfied unless they have sovereign control over what they quite legitimately consider to be their homelands. Consequently, they are still seen to be bent on creating a separate state.

They were not willing to even accept the status enjoyed by the Indian States in the Indian Constitution, as in India the central government could dismiss the elected state governments and impose central control as Indira Gandhi and some other Indian prime ministers have done on a number of occasions, when they were in power. (The Federal Government in Canada does not have similar powers to dismiss provincial governments).

Many visionary peace activists of both Singhalese and Tamil origins, have - given the circumstances and the impasse that presently prevail - proposed that Sri Lanka, adopt a constitution similar to the Swiss Constitution, or the Canadian Constitution, wherein there is a clear division of sovereign authority, between the central and provincial, canton or state governments.

Another real genuine fear among the majority Sinhalese population in Sri Lanka is that the LTTE will accept a compromise of a truly Federal State, wherein the Central Government and the provincial governments are sovereign within their own areas of jurisdiction only as a further step towards a separate state, and not as a permanent solution.

They are particularly afraid that if Sri Lanka becomes a federal state like Canada, it will provide a legitimate means for the Tamil population to try and become a separate state following the process that Quebec has tried to follow in Canada.

Appropriate sovereign control over their traditional homelands through some form of a Federal State is not the only concern of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka.

The Tamil population in Sri Lanka would also want to ensure that while a part of their basic human rights may be protected through a truly federal form of government, their basic human rights within the areas that come under federal control needs to be also protected.

The problem they face in this respect is that the traditional West Minster, Parliamentary model, and even the US and French models of elected representative governments are majoriterian forms of government, and so long as localised racially or ethnically based representatives are a minority, they would mostly occupy opposition seats, or even if they are members of the governing party they will not have a fair chance to compete for high profile ministries, and they will inevitably be discriminated against in the distribution of governmental services and or benefits. Fortunately, in Canada this has not been the case, as both major parties that have governed Canada, has been committed to respect the rights of the French Canadian population in Canada.

To some extent and sometimes minorities are able to take advantage of adversarial party system that generally exist in most representative democracies. In situations where the two major competing parties are well balanced in terms of electoral seats, and they need the support of the minorities to have a controlling majority, the minorities are in a position to have significant political influence.

The minorities are then in a position to ensure that they would be treated fairly in the distribution of governmental services and benefits. In Sri Lanka however ever since the leaders of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka formed the Federal Party, the MPs representing Tamil electorates in the North and the Eastern provinces were almost invariably in the opposition. Consequently, the Tamil population in the North and the East were often discriminated against in the distribution of governmental services and benefits in Sri Lanka.

As opposed to what has happened in Sri Lanka, the French Canadian population in Quebec has worked within the two mainstream parties and has generally been able to have a considerable influence within the two dominant parties. As opposed to the Tamil population, the Muslim population in Sri Lanka have also been more successful in having a reasonable influence within the two predominant parties. Consequently the Muslim population have been able to gain reasonable access to power in Sri Lanka.

Apart from working through the existing political process, another means that we have adopted in Canada to ensure that minorities do not get discriminated against in the distribution of governmental services and benefits is by having a constitutionally guaranteed Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Particularly the equality rights clause in our Charter attempts to ensure that everyone (irrespective of race, national or ethnic origin) are being provided with equal protection and equal benefit of the law. In order for a provision of this nature to be effective, you require not only an independent judiciary but also an unbiased judiciary.

In most countries in the world however, you have a long way to go in having a truly unbiased judiciary. Often judges, who are appointed by the governments in power, often have the same mindset as the people who appointed them to the positions they occupy in the Judiciary.

This fact was even quite evident in the manner in which judges in the Florida Supreme Court and US Supreme Court ruled on the issue of recounting of the vote in Florida, during the last Presidential Elections in USA. In the instance of Sri Lanka however there is a landmark case wherein the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka has held the Government and the armed forces in Sri Lanka accountable for some atrocities, committed by them, in the Northern and the Eastern provinces, of the country.

Given the contextual framework indicated above, adopting a federal constitutional framework similar to that of Canada, and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms similar to the Canadian model, or a federal constitution along the Swiss model is possible solution to the racial and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. In actual terms however, the solution is not that easy.

In order to arrive at this point the Sri Lankan population of both Singhalese and Tamil origins would have to buy into such a solution. In order to achieve this end the Singhalese population and their leadership, will have to get over their fear that a truly federal arrangement along the lines of the Canadian Model is not going to be just a stepping stone to a separate statehood.

In order to get over this fear, the Government of Sri Lanka and Singhalese population. And LTTE and the Tamil population would need to come to a binding agreement that the solution adopted would be the final solution and a contract that cannot be broken on a unilateral basis.

Evidently the LTTE and the Tamil population would need a guarantee that the agreement reached is a binding agreement and that the Central Government in Sri Lanka is not in a position to reassert a unitary form of government, or turn back the clock at some future date. This is a vision that requires a lot of work and a lot of patient and complex dialogue and negotiations.

One of the most difficult issues that needs to be resolved for there to be a lasting solution is to address the LTTE demand for the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka to be unified to form a one provincial territory.

The obvious reason behind this demand is that in the Eastern Province the Tamil population is a minority of about 35% of its population. Approximately another 35% of the population is Muslims and the balance 30% is Singhalese. This demand would be equivalent to Quebec wanting to separate from Canada and demanding that that the Province of New Brunswick be amalgamated to the Province of Quebec.

Given that the fact that both the Muslim population and the Singhalese population in the Eastern province are totally opposed to the proposal to unify the Northern and the Eastern Provinces into one Province, and if there is a referendum on this matter in the Eastern Province, this proposal would indeed be rejected by probably over 60% of the population of that province, this demand would indeed be a totally unreasonable and an undemocratic demand. If the Government of Sri Lanka were to agree to this demand it would in effect infringe upon the right to self-determination of the population in the Eastern Province.

Consideration could however be given for some districts in the northern part of the Eastern Province, wherein the Tamil population is over 60% to be amalgamated to the Northern Province. But then the representation of the Tamil population in the remaining part of the Eastern Province would be further diluted, and their influence in that province further reduced. Consequently, it would be in the best interest of all parties to respect the territorial integrity of the Eastern Province and continue to keep that province as a separate province.

Indeed the work that the Norwegians have done to negotiate a ceasefire, to open up the road to Jaffna - the capital of the Northern Province - and to bring the two parties to the negotiating table is indeed very creditable. Canada could not have played this role as for various reasons, Canada was perceived by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Singhalese people to be very pro-LTTE. But this is not necessarily true.

Certainly within the Canadian government there are some people who tend to support the LTTE but at the same time the Canadian government never deviated from the fact, that the democratically elected government of Sri Lanka is the only legitimate government in Sri Lanka.

Because of the prevalent perception that Canada was very pro-LTTE, some informal offers that Canada had made to play a mediating role and to try and resolve the conflict, had been rejected by the Government of Sri Lanka. However, at the moment, the underlying circumstances are such that both sides may welcome a Canadian involvement in the ongoing peace negotiations.

Indeed Canada can play a very positive role in bringing about a peaceful resolution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, if both parties can be informally persuaded to seriously consider the Canadian Constitutional Model, our bilingual policies, our multicultural policies and our employment equity policies as potential elements for a solution to the problem of racial and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.

In order to work towards a resolution of this issue, it would also be very helpful to initiate a process, of consultation with Canadians of Sri Lankan origin within Canada. Such a consultation process should be transparent and should involve Canadians of Sri Lankan origin coming from both Singhalese and Tamil communities.

If Canada and Canadians of Sri Lankan origin can play a role in sharing this vision of a truly federal arrangement in Sri Lanka similar to Canada, including a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as a model of peaceful resolution of the racial and ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka it would indeed be a great achievement.

The time has now come for Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people, in Sri Lanka to formally or informally, work towards bringing about a resolution hopefully along the lines indicated above. Whatever the model the people of Sri Lanka choose to follow is something that people of Sri Lanka must decide for themselves. Whatever model they choose they must also ensure that the people of Sri Lanka can at least hope to live and work within a framework wherein, there is a clear affirmation that everyone have a constitutionally entrenched right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law, and their basic human right to achieve their potential as human beings is truly protected.

Whatever model the people of Sri Lanka choose to follow also needs to be a model where in Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities in Sri Lanka can live and work together in a spirit of mutual respect and dignity. The writer was the Associate Director General of the Human Development Division of Policy branch of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in Ottawa, Canada until he retired from the Federal Public Service after serving in CIDA for over 27 years.

However the opinions expressed in this article are Dr. Perera's personal views and should in no way be viewed as the position of CIDA or the Government of Canada concerning the Racial and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka.

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