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Sri Lanka: Democracy vs terrorism

As far as the Western world is concerned, the history of democracy begins during the times of ancient Greeks and Romans. However, coming as I do from the East, we are aware that a form of democracy existed in ancient India, long before Athenians even began to practice democracy.

The system of governance in ancient Sri Lanka also goes back several centuries before the Christian era, and many of you may be aware, that the history and culture of our island is intertwined with India's. That being the case, it is safe to assume, that some form of participatory democracy existed in ancient Sri Lanka as well.


Going ahead with development work in the Eastern Province after its liberation. Pictures by Chaminda Hittatiya

Despite its sheer size and diversity, India remains a stalwart of democracy, and Sri Lanka, despite the challenges it has had to face over the past several decades, with a bloody armed conflict that consumed over 60,000 lives, continues its democratic traditions and is currently engaged in a process of consolidation.

A little known fact is that in Sri Lanka, the seeds of democracy were sown long before its independence in 1948.

In fact, universal adult suffrage, an essential ingredient of democracy, was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1931; a mere 14 years after the U.S. afforded that facility to its people. Thus, Sri Lanka became the first country in Asia, where its people enjoyed the opportunity to vote without any distinction.

Addressing the Indian parliament on January 2, 1978, President Jimmy Carter said, "Democracy is like the experience of life itself - always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested for adversity."

Strength of democracy

Taken in the context of Sri Lanka, this compelling description of democracy by President Carter, involuntarily moves to a more powerful echelon of thought, for, democracy in Sri Lanka has indeed been tested more than once, for adversity. And, it is an achievement of considerable significance, that despite the challenges it had to face over the years, the democratic fabric of our country yet remains intact.

In fact, it ought to be said that, the strength of democracy in any country should be assessed, not when those countries are enjoying relative peace, security and prosperity, but when they are compelled to face adversity, and challenges, which threaten the very sinews of freedom and democracy.

This is the case of Sri Lanka: a country that has endured untrammelled terrorism for several decades, which has violently pulled apart the country and its people, as never before in history.

Despite the magnitude of the challenge and the death and destruction that spewed because of unmitigated acts terrorism, Sri Lanka, has no choice but to respond to such threats appropriately, in keeping with norms expected of democracies.

This, I must say, is not an easy task, and am confident that there will be no disagreement on that score.

History of Terrorism

The 20th century saw terrorism being practised widely when it became the hallmark of subversive movements, representing the extreme right to the extreme left of the political spectrum.

Technological advances, the spread of small arms and light weapons, deadly explosive devices that can be electrically or electronically detonated, and the ability to purchase air tickets on the internet, with freely available credit cards, and circle the globe, thanks to rapid air transportation, have given terrorists a new lethality and mobility.

The Baader-Meinhof gang of West Germany, the Japanese Red Army, Italy's Red Brigade, the Puerto Rican FALN, the Shining Path of Peru, PKK claiming to represent the Kurds, the universally dreaded Al Qaeda and the LTTE of Sri Lanka, to name a few, were among the most feared terrorist groups of the latter part of the 20th century.

The increasing use of terrorism to achieve political objectives, is a relatively new phenomenon that developed in the second half of the 20th century. At first, the world witnessed a spate of hijackings of civilian aircraft by Palestinian organisations.

Gradually it began to witness other acts of terrorism, such as the attack against the US embassy in Beirut in 1983, followed by another truck bombing against US Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut six month later, together causing more than 300 deaths. On the heels of these attacks, civilian airliners became targets.

Over the years, we have heard the LTTE, and similar organisations in many parts of the world, express their view, that their acts of terrorism can be justified, in exercising their right to self-determination.

However, it must be pointed out, that although the universal right to self-determination is enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and embodied in the International Covenants on Human Rights and in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, contained in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, none of those international instruments encourage or condone terrorism in pursuit of that objective.

Indeed, some groups tend to bolster their case by making reference, to the 1970 Declaration on Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States, albeit partially.

However, it is pertinent to point out that in 1993, having deliberated on the matter extensively, UN member States, while recognising that all peoples have the right to self-determination, declared, and I quote, "Taking into account the particular situation of peoples under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, the World Conference on Human Rights recognizes the right of peoples to take any legitimate action, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations." End of quote.

The crucial point made in the Vienna Declaration is that, those who seek to exercise the right to self-determination should take "legitimate action," and such action should be "in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

Unbridled terrorism

I need not emphasize here that acts of unbridled terrorism are wholly illegitimate and such actions are not condoned, or encouraged in the UN Charter.

The International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Relations, state that, "All peoples have the right of self determination and by virtue of that right, they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic social and cultural development."

However, both these conventions also make it clear that those rights can only be promoted, "in conformity of the Charter of the United Nations."

Focusing on the Sri Lankan conflict, language and standardization in university admissions, are among the major issues highlighted by the Sri Lankan Tamil community, to establish that their community was discriminated against, by successive administrations, thus, prompting them to demand a separate state.

To buttress their claim for a separate state, they also claim that the North and the East had been the traditional homeland of Tamils since time immemorial.

However, the fact remains that at no time in the history of the island was there a 'Tamil Eelam,' encompassing the North and the East.

Furthermore, when a separate sub-kingdom did exist in the North, it never encompassed the east of the island. Even the so called Jaffna kingdom came to a partial end in 1561 A.D. and to a complete end in 1621 A.D., when Cankili the Second, a usurper to the throne, was removed by the Portuguese to Goa, and was promptly hanged.

Therefore, the vain attempt made by the TULF in 1976, to claim statehood on historical basis, relying on an erroneous minute made by the first British colonial secretary Hugh Cleghorn, can be put to rest.

However, when the allegation of discrimination relating to the language issue is discussed, one can understand why the newly independent Ceylon decided to introduce the Official Languages Act (33) of 1956, with a view to making Sinhala the official language of the country.

Ceylon was emerging from colonial rule that had lasted several centuries, where English had been the language of administration, irrespective of the fact that over 70 per cent of the population spoke Sinhala.

From a Tamil viewpoint, the Official Language Act, while giving prominence to the Sinhala language, ignored the fact that Tamils comprised approximately 23 per cent of the population.

Even though the administration of that time attempted to address this lacuna, two years later, through the The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act of 1958, it must be admitted that, the measure did not fully remedy the situation.

Standardization was also a contentious issue, as the Tamils saw it as a measure to admit Sinhalese to the universities at the expense of Tamils.

However, the Sinhalese saw it as a corrective measure, to give the Sinhala youth their dues in university admissions, particularly to the medical and engineering faculties, which had a much higher percentage of Tamil students in comparison to their ethnic ratio.

Sympathise

While one can sympathise with the Sri Lankan Tamils, for losing the privileged position they enjoyed during the colonial era, it must be pointed out that even before independence, Tamil politicians made it a practice to make submissions to the colonial administration that their community was subjected to discrimination on several areas.

However, having examined the alleged discriminatory practices, the colonial administration said "a careful review of the evidence submitted to us provides no substantial indication of a general policy on the part of the government of Ceylon of discrimination against minority communities."

Similarly, responding to another complaint made by the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), that there was discrimination with regard to public appointments affecting their community, the Soulbury Commission said, "we received from the All-Ceylon Tamil Congress, complaints of discrimination against the members of their community in regard to appointments in the Public Services.

Grievances

Apart from real or perceived grievances, such as those relating to discrimination, Sri Lankan Tamils have other issues that make them feel they have been short changed by respective governments, over the decades.

Take for example, the pacts, the leader of the Federal Party, Chelvanayakam, signed in 1957, with then Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and in 1965, with Dudley Senanayake, representing the United National Party (UNP).

In both instances, two agreements signed with two different administrations in two different decades by Chelvanayakam, failed to see the light of day, due to protests, primarily from the opposition parties in Parliament.

First, it was the UNP, which opposed the Chelvanayakam /Bandaranaike Pact, and hit the streets with massive protests.

Eight years later, the SLFP returned the favour to the UNP. While Sri Lankan Tamils can fault the southern polity for reneging agreements signed in good faith, and for their inability to make concessions to the Tamils, there have been inherent weaknesses, not only in the manner in which agreements were negotiated, but also in the content.

One of the major drawbacks was, the administrations of the time, not understanding the importance of taking the electorate into confidence, and briefing them on the need for reaching accommodation with a substantial group of citizens, and getting their consent, which is part and parcel of participatory democracy.

Thus, both Bandaranaike and Senanayake, failed to make good of their understanding with the Sri Lankan Tamil leadership, and succumbed to political pressure exerted by opposition political parties of the day, whose interest was not to accommodate the Tamil leadership, but to use the opportunity provided to weaken the administration, in the hope of grabbing power.

The LTTE too, had no intention of reaching a political arrangement, in place of a separate state.

In the first instance, in its quest for power and unadulterated supremacy over other Tamil political parties, and the numerous Tamil armed groups that emerged in the late 70s, the LTTE systematically decimated leaders of other Tamil political parties and armed groups, until it succeeded in emerging as the single most powerful organization.

In this process of elimination, the LTTE assassinated the TULF leadership, including its party leader, A. Amirthalingam, along with politburo member, V. Yogeswaran, in 1989.

It can be safely said that the LTTE believed the goal of a separate state could be realized, not democratically, but only through violence.

The role of the LTTE in the ensuing years in decimating the Tamil intelligentsia, and in coercing the TULF to step aside and make way, was described by the current leader of the party, V. Anandasangaree, whose lone voice of reasoning is still heard from time to time.

CFA

The Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) in February 2002, was a watershed for the LTTE, as that event facilitated the LTTE to climb on to the world stage.

Moreover, thanks to the Norwegian insistence, the LTTE was received and recognized as an equal to the government of Sri Lanka.

The leader of the LTTE delegation was addressed by the Norwegian facilitator as, "Excellency Anton Balasingham."

Even though the CFA provided an ideal opportunity for both sides to reach an understanding, the LTTE was not prepared to negotiate in any real sense, for one good reason.

The writer is Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the US

To be continued

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