What is discrimination?

G. D. C. Weerasinghe

The sixth part of the serialisation of the book 'Conflict Resolution Lessons for Sri Lanka'. The fifth part was published on March 19.

Is there any basis for the claim by the Tamil political leadership that the Tamils are discriminated against? For this purpose, it is necessary to understand what discrimination is.

I will give a few examples of how discrimination exists in other countries so that the meaning of the word discrimination can be understood.

I reproduce herewith a passage from the London Economist of June 18-24, 2005. Such tension do boil over. Earlier this month, some 50,000 Kurds gathered in the dusty centre of Qumishli, the main (largely Kurdish) town of the north-east, to protest against the mysterious murder of a popular reformist preacher, Sheikh Mashuq Khaznawi.

Kurds claim that when a smaller group tries to join, police beat them back before parting ranks to allow a rabble of slum-dwelling Arabs to pillage Kurdish owned shops.

Pamphlets had earlier been distributed that accused the Kurds of being 'agents of Bush and Mossad'. Kurdish activists say most of the looters appeared to be from the Baathist youth groups." (page 38)

Treatment

"Syria's Kurds, who constitute 10 per cent of the country's 18 million people, are used to such treatment. Forty years ago, 100,000 of them were stripped of Syrian nationality.

They and their descendants still have no right to passports, official employment or property ownership. In the 1970s, thousands more lost their lands when the state "Arabised" a 10km (six-mile) strip along the long Turkish border.

Syria has no Kurdish ministers, generals, senior judges or Baath party officials. The country's Kurdish parties that demand such language rights and fair Parliamentary representation are officially banned. Amnesty International lists Sheikh Khazanawi as the sixth Syrian Kurd to have died in the past 15 months alone, due to police torture."

I also wish to draw your attention to the Economist of March 19-25, 2005 pertaining to the section on surveys. "The more moderate Turkish Kurds want to be allowed to speak their own language, to be taught their language in school, and to hear it broadcast - all of which they are slowly and grudgingly being granted.

DEHAP's Party Congress this year was attended by Mr. Ocalan's sister and Feleknas Uca, a German Member of the European Parliament. Both addressed the Congress in Kurdish. The Kurds' cause has received extensive publicity abroad. Leyla Zana, a Member of the Turkish Parliament imprisoned for ten years for speaking in Kurdish in the Parliament building was released last year after intense pressure from abroad."

I draw your attention to a passage that appeared in the Newsweek of July 14, 2003. "Bayram Alting, who lives in Kazanci, southeastern Turkey, was 15 when he nearly landed in prison for saying he's Kurd. At school last December he was summoned to lead his classmates in their daily pledge of allegiance to the Turkish Republic.

Instead of ending with the word, "How happy is he who calls himself a Turk" the boy substituted "Kurd" for "Turk". Furious teachers took him to the police station where criminal charges were filed against him under Turkey's notorious Article 312, which punishes those who "threaten the unity of the State" with up to five years behind bars.

"Just one wrong word, and your life can be ruined," says Alting's father, Memduh, a stocky farmer. "I am afraid of Turkish law."

Iran has a population of over 70 million of which about 16 million are Azeris. No schooling or broadcasting for the Azeris is allowed. There are also Arabs, Valuchi and Kurdish minorities. They are also similarly discriminated against. The language of administration, education and broadcasting is Parsi, the language of the Persians.

Tamil is an official language. The majority of the Tamils live in the South among the Sinhalese. There is absolutely no discrimination, legally or socially. In fact the majority of the population of a suburb to the south of Colombo called Wellawatte, are Tamil people. They are also spread out over the rest of the South of Sri Lanka among the Sinhalese. The Tamils can point to no discriminatory law in Sri Lanka.

The regrettable incident was the anti-Tamil riots in 1983. This was a pre-planned act by the Tiger terrorists who wanted to create unrest in the country. To do this, they killed 13 soldiers in Jaffna. The reaction to this was a communal riot in which Tamils were killed. Adequate steps were not taken by J.R. Jayawardene government to curb it. This was a breakdown of law and order and not discrimination.

President Jayewardene allowed the rioting to continue for a considerable period of time.

This enabled Tamil racists to paint the Sinhalese as barbarians round the world. A number of countries opened their doors to Tamils. Thus a Tamil diaspora was created. This diaspora is now financing the Tiger terrorists. The J.R. Jayewardene Government cannot be forgiven for the harm it had done to this country. How can the devolution of power assist the Tamils in Jaffna if there is a breakdown of law and order in Colombo?

Racist agenda

Sri Lanka gained Independence in 1948. In 1949, Tamil racists formed the party - "Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi." The exact translation of these words is "Party of the Tamil state" or "Party of the Tamil kingdom.

"The naming of the party itself reveals the objective of the Tamil racists-creation of a Tamil state. In 1949, long before any touble broke out the Party was called by this. But in English it was called "The Federal Party."

The leaders of the Federal Party were vellalar. They were agitating for what they called a Federal state which I believe was precursor to an Independent state. Their agitation was carried out within the law.

The agitation outside the law was handed over to the non-vellalar who resorted to the use of arms. A crucial matter for discussion arises now. We in Sri Lanka unfortunately have only politicians, not statesmen who had a vision to create a cohesive and integrated Sri Lankan community.

Bearing in mind the fact that the vellala leadership already had started creating an ethnic division, the country's leadership should have had the vision and political acumen to take the country under one banner. The total Sri Lanka Tamil population in the country was about 12.1% when census were last taken in 1981. The bulk of the Tamil population is in Jaffna. In addition are the Tamils in the Eastern Province.

Quite a number of Tamils from the North and the East reside in Colombo. In fact, the majority of the Tamils reside in the South. Let us assume that the Sri Lankan Tamils who constitute 12.1% of the population of Sri Lanka, reside only in the North and the East.

The bulk of this population would be in the north that is if 9% of the Tamils reside in the North, the balance 3% would reside in the Eastern Province. The 9% of the Tamil population consists of vellalar and non-vellalar. All Tamils living in the Eastern Province virtually are non-vellalar. Therefore, the small vellala Tamil population was having a stranglehold over the Northern Province as virtually all MPs were vellala.

I have described as to how the vellalars were treating the non-vellalars. In the 1970s, a friend of mine went to Jaffna to attend a case. He was a Chartered Accountant and one time President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

When he was going to courts in the advocate's car, he had noticed that there were two persons in the rear, seated on the floor of the car. When he asked the advocate as to how they were, he was informed that they could not sit on the seat as they were from a low caste.

It is regrettable what we had no statesmen who had the vision to spot these fissures, and to evolve a strategy that helped the non-vellalar to escape the stranglehold of the vellalar. This would have been a great service to the non-vellalar and they would have been grateful and supportive of our national cause-a united Sri Lanka.

Instead, the Sri Lankan politicians were so shortsighted that they got the non-vellalar to join the vellalar. In Switzerland, the population consists of 70% German speaking people, 20% French speaking people, 09% Italian speaking people and 01% those who spoke Romansh.

The people of the country have the right to decide the langauge in which their children are educated. This is a democratic right exercised in every country. No French speaking child can be compelled to study in German. This principle applies to the children speaking other languages as well.

What is the situation in Sri Lanka? No Tamil child can study in Sinhala in a State school. Similarly, no Sinhala child can study in Tamil. How did the parents lose their democratic right to decide the langauge in which their children are educated.

Coalition

The Government formed during the period 1965-1970 was a coalition of 07 Parties. The Prime Minister was Dudley Senanayake and the Minister of Education was I.M.R.A. Iriyagolla. The government issued a circular that all Sinhala children should study in Sinhala and Tamils should study in Tamil.

This was the most devastating step that prevented the creation of a cohesive and united Sri Lanka. My wife who was a teacher at Isipathana College at that time told me that a number of Tamil students who were studying in the Sinhala medium did not want to follow the Tamil medium. But, they were unable to exercise this right in consequence of the directives of the Government.

Gamini Iriyagolla, the son of I.M.R.A. iriyagolla, the then Education Minister, was a friend of mine. He informed me that the Federal Party which was in the coalition of seven Parties had insisted that if this principle - that Tamil students should only be educated in Tamil was not accepted, they would leave the Government. This would have led to the fall of the Government.

This is the most insidious and corrosive move made by the Tamil racists alias the Federal Party to prevent the creation of a United Sri Lanka. This prevented the intermingling of Tamil and Sinhala children in schools.

They studied in separate media and there were no opportunities for mixing. The fact that Tamil children might study in Sinhala in Colombo does not mean that they lose their Tamil identity. In fact, the leaders who led the Sinhala and Tamil resurgence were educated in English schools.

They had not lost their Sinhala or Tamil identity. The fact that tamil racist leaders wanted Tamil children educated in Tamil depriving parents of the democratic rights of choice clearly illustrate their aim of seeking to establish a state of Eelam.

Policy of the State

It was necessary for our political leaders to have borne in mind that we were a small island inhabited by a small population. As a result, we were liable to be buffeted by international forces to a much greater extent than the larger countries with bigger populations. Our leaders also should have been aware of Lord Palmerston's doctrine "....we have no eternal allies and permanent enemies. Our interests are eternal and it is our duty to follow them."

The second principle was that in formulating policy, our geographical situation had to be borne in mind. In an unwritten understanding amongst World Powers it was an acknowledged fact that India is a Regional power in South Asia.

Therefore, when formulating our policies, we have to keep these two principles in mind - that is, nobody will help us unless it is in their interest. Secondly, India's geo-strategic interest must be taken into consideration when formulating our policies. It is a geo-strategic reality that we are located adjacent to the large and populous India. Our leaders did not have the sagacity to understand these principles.

After Independence, the two most pressing objectives the Government should have addressed were the resolution of the so-called ethnic conflict and the raising of the living standard of the people. This could only have been done through the development of light industries and agro-business. Sri Lanka is too a small country for the development of major industries.

Major industries would mean the development of power industries because without power no industry can exist. Power can be generated in several ways such as via hydro, coal, thermal, wind, solar, nuclear etc.

Any long term plan would involve the generation of power in the cheapest form for steel, machine tools, precision instrument, chemical and petro-chemicals, ship building, automobile building and other forms of heavy industries.

Sri Lanka as such will not be able to develop these industries and that is why we should go for light industries which are essential for the development of the country. I have stated that one of Sri Lanka's major objectives should be the creation of a united and cohesive national group with the combination of various ethnic groups.

Let's examine how England became a great country. The English were an ethnic group in the islands that constitute Great Britain and Ireland. Originally, there were England, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall and Ireland with Celts occupying all these countries.

The Celts, by the middle ages were driven to the fringes by the Vikings, the Normans and the Anglo Saxons. The Anglo Saxons ultimately occupied England. The language spoken in England was English. The language spoken in Cornwall was Cornish, the language spoken in Wales was Welsh, the language spoken in Scotland was Gaelic. The language in Ireland was Erse, a form of Gaelic.

Britain came into existence with the Act of Union of 1707 by which England was united with Scotland. By this time, England had already occupied Wales and Cornwall. United Kingdom came into existence with the merger or Ireland and Britain in 1801.

The English destroyed the Welsh language, Cornish language and Gaelic language spoken by the Irish and the Scots. I wish to draw your attention to the March 2006 copy of the National Geographic Magazine.

With reference to Celtics on page 81 it states "The English and the French banned or restricted their languages, their instruments and music, their names, their right to own property, and in the case of the kilt-wearing Scottish Highland clans, even their clothing. It is a bit miraculous that the Celtic civilization survived in any form. By clinging to the fringes, geographically and culturally, the Celts refused to be obliterated."

The English destroyed these languages and made one United Kingdom. The southern part of Ireland was inhabited by Catholics. They were treated badly by the English, who were Protestants. As a result, there were major disturbances in Southern Ireland and the British gave Southern Ireland Independence.

It is called the Irish Republic. In fact, according to the National Geographic magazine only about 01% of the population of Scotland speak Gaelic. Even in the Irish Republic though there were strong anti-English-feelings, the language largely used is English and not Gaelic. Most people in the Irish Republic do not understand Gaelic. Rulers of England have to be congratulated for making England such a great power.

This small ethnic group called the English brought the country together as United Kingdom and made themselves known as the British. Whilst uniting Britain, they built an Empire on which the sun never set. They introduced the English language around the world. English is the official language of the United States of America, which is the only super power in the world.

It is the language of Australia, New Zealand and Canada excepting Quebec. English is the official language in South America and used widely in India. The language of international diplomacy is English. Before the Second World War the langauge of international diplomacy was French. The language of international commerce is English. Over 70% of websites on the internet are in English.

In Sri Lanka, Tamil is an official language. As stated earlier, there was no discrimination. Unlike the English who erased the Gaelic, the Cornish and the Welsh languages from their country, the Sinhalese never attempted to erase Tamil as a language used in the country.

To be continued