Lanka’s role in Saarc
Heritage For Coexistence: Situating Sri Lanka’s Role
in the SAARC region:
SUDHARSHAN SENEVIRATNE Director General. Central
Cultural Fund Professor of Archaeology. University of Peradeniya
Excerpts from the D.A. Rajapaksa
memorial lecture 2008 by Sudharshan Seneviratne, Director General,
Central Cultural Fund and Professor of Archaeology. University of
Peradeniya
We are gathered here today to commemorate the revered memory of a son
of mother Lanka who represented and empowered the ‘voiceless in the
South’. In addition to the silent service D. A. Rajapaksa rendered to
the poorer village folk in the South, he also endowed to this nation a
leader who has embarked on a mission to liberate the voiceless from the
oppression of totalitarianism and consequently be the ‘voice of the
voiceless’.
D.A. Rajapaksa rendered a yeoman service to the Nation |
What D. A. Rajapaksa envisioned for the south as a region-building
process, is now being translated into a nation-building process by his
descendants. I therefore consider it timely that we dedicate the
sentiments expressed in this lecture, not only to celebrate the fond
memory of D. A. Rajapaksa, but also recognize the futuristic role this
country is destined to play in the international arena in general and
our region in particular under the stewardship of his eldest son, the
President of Sri Lanka and incumbent Chairman of the SAARC.
I wish to dwell into this subject as a Sri Lankan, South Asian and
internationalist. Firstly, we are fortunate indeed to be born to an
island society because it compels our vision to be focused beyond the
narrow confines of its shorelines and be non-parochial. Secondly, we are
the proud inheritors of a heritage that has blended external and
indigenous elements into a uniquely Sri Lankan personality and gifted to
the world a colourful island culture that has so vibrantly incorporated
tradition with modernity.
Thirdly, South Asia today is at the threshold of either choosing
socio-economic prosperity within the Global system or terrorist anarchy
perpetrated by fundamentalists of different shades. More than any other
member nation in the SAARC region, with the exception of Afghanistan, we
have withstood for over three decades the bloody carnage unleashed first
by southern terrorists followed by northern terrorists led by the LTTE.
More than any other member
nation in the SAARC region, with the exception of Afghanistan,
we have withstood for over three decades the bloody carnage
unleashed first by southern terrorists followed by northern
terrorists led by the LTTE. |
We have drawn upon the strength of our historical legacy, social and
cultural base including material gifts endowed by nature to absorb the
ravages of terrorism that would have destabilised any other country by
now.
Our Motherland yet boasts of a high literacy rate and education, a
good per capita income level in relation to most countries in the
region, commendable health conditions and infrastructure development.
Above all the present regime has, both, through political wisdom and
military strategy proved to the world that it is capable of ending the
curse of terrorism on its own terms.
The experience of survival we have gained through these destructive
years makes us the role model for our partner countries in taking that
vital decision of defeating terrorism for a better tomorrow. Therefore
both, historically and geographically, we are destined to play a more
decisive role in our cultural zone, the SAARC region. Above all with our
President as Chairman of the SAARC, we must accept this role with
humility and carry out that mission to its logical conclusion and
present the region with a new road map of sustainable peace, coexistence
and prosperity.
Sri Lankan mosaic
Let us first look at the key words in this presentation. They are:
Sri Lanka and the SAARC region, heritage and co-existence. These key
words provide the basis for an understanding of Sri Lanka’s role, which
is pivotal for being a major player in the region with a vision for the
future.
It is not an exaggeration to state that the historical and cultural
mosaic of Sri Lanka in fact represents the personality of the SAARC
within one single geographical entity. Transoceanic routes brought into
this island diverse language, ethnic, cultural and technological groups
throughout its history from east Africa, Europe, West Asia, South Asia,
South East Asia and the Far East. As a consequence, in its small
geographical boundaries the personality of this island society boasts of
all such representative cultures characterizing a unique mosaic of
diversity reflecting the very nature of the SAARC countries.
Sri Lanka is located at the southern end of the Indian sub continent
in the SAARC region. The history of humans in Sri Lanka dates back to
30,000 BC.
During the subsequent Historic Period, large monasteries, inland and
port cities, massive hydraulic systems, aesthetically beautiful gardens
and other religious and secular monuments were constructed while the
culture in general was flavoured by Buddhist and Hindu traditions.
The post 13th Century era witnessed the intrusion of Islamic
traditions through the spice trade and a new third dimension was
introduced to the cultural mosaic of this island. Subsequently
governance through western mercantile communities and the Colonial
regimes of Portugal, Holland and England left behind a permanent legacy
on the art and architecture, music, language, religion, culture,
society, economy and the political structure of Sri Lanka.
Three Centuries of Western influence on this island society
introduced a strong cosmopolitan flavour into its personality that has
given Sri Lanka an identity somewhat different from its other South
Asian neighbours. The Sri Lankan mosaic therefore symbolizes an island
society representing a unique multi-cultural and multi-ethnic diversity
natured by a rich cultural legacy inherited from its past, which in need
is the combined personality of the SAARC as well.
Redefining South Asia
From the sublime let me now deal with the reality of SAARC. How do we
identify and determine the geographical region South Asia? The physical
area covering the present SAARC geo-political region, until the
introduction of Afghanistan into its fold, was a Colonial construct. It
largely incorporated British Colonial possessions and protectorates of
the pre 1949 period, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka forming its component countries.
Is this regional identity logical? Should we pose the question about
the illogical character of the Colonial definition which is a narrow and
vertical presentation? How are we to overlook the reality of a
historical connectivity through our shared culture for over 3000 years?
If so, should we not redefine SAARC on a broader historical and cultural
map? It is therefore an imperative that we recognize the actual
geopolitical and cultural reality of the region and redefine South Asia
so as to incorporate an expanded region.
The South-central physical zone dominates the Asian landscape in a
unique manner. Its clearly demarcated physical area is also an entity
that has its own cultural personality. It is a historically evolved
region representing a varied and rich cultural and natural landscape.
The social philosophies and the culture of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam
horizontally connected us with their rich civilisations and we are
indeed proud inheritors of that vibrant and diverse heritage of
plurality.
From the western sector, we now have Afghanistan incorporated to the
SAARC. This is indeed a welcome development, but a small consolation.
Afghanistan should have received full member status much earlier. The
rich tradition of the Vedic civilisation, Mediterranean and Central
Asian cultures, Mahayana Buddhism and later Islam traditions that
filtered through Afghanistan enriched our region and even regions beyond
that through the Silk Route.
The South-central physical zone
dominates the Asian landscape in a unique manner. Its clearly
demarcated physical area is also an entity that has its own
cultural personality. It is a historically evolved region
representing a varied and rich cultural and natural landscape. |
This is sufficient justification for the incorporation of Afghanistan
into our fold now enjoying equal status with other member countries.
From the eastern sector why are we not extending our warm hands
towards our fraternal brethren in Myanmar? They are essentially part of
the great South Asian civilization. Some of the earliest bronze
technology and probably rice cultivation entered our region through
ancient Suvarnabhumi or Myanmar. Sri Lanka enjoyed thousands of years of
cultural connectivity with this country. How are we to isolate this
land, its people and its culture away from the SAARC?
Thus the physical area demarcated by the Indukush in the west, the
lower Himalaya in the north, the Arakanyoma in the east and the Indian
Ocean in the south forms the logical and natural and cultural boundaries
of the SAARC.
This demarcation of the regional boundary will only enrich us as it
did for thousands of years in the past. We will stand politically
stronger and economically and culturally richer by this expanded
incorporation of the region. To redefine the present boundaries of the
SAARC therefore is not only essential but it is a historical reality at
this juncture.
South Asia and the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR)
The region thus redefined has to be contextualised within the broader
physical scape, which is the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR). The unique
formation of the Indian Ocean Rim is little understood by our Region
itself. The role of the SAARC and within that the pivotal role played by
Sri Lanka, must be situated on this broader canvass of the international
cultural and political map.
Firstly, the Indian Ocean Rim countries form an interconnected
transcontinental crescent in a most unique fashion. Its component
physical entities extend from East Africa along South Asia to South East
Asia. Thus it forms an unbroken chain of connected physical and cultural
zones that interacted from a very early period in history and nurtured
each region through economic and cultural contacts. This region threw up
some of the most advanced and spectacular civilisations that enriched
the world as a whole.
Quite significantly, the Indian Ocean Rim is also strategically
situated in relation to two major World Systems that had a symbiotic
relationship with each other from an early period in time.
To the West, the Indian Ocean Rim was connected to the rich
civilizations of the lower Nile valley and the Mediterranean Sea. To the
East, the Far Eastern region, dominantly identified with the Chinese
mainland had a long standing connectivity to the Indian Ocean Rim. This
interactive process binding the culturally and resource- rich regions
with the Indian Ocean Rim enhanced its value as a melting pot of
international connectivity within the World Systems in antiquity.
Personality of the SAARC
Our region has a population of 1.5 billion making up the largest
regional entity in the world housing a fifth of its population. This
population represents different cultures and different social and
economic layers.
The 2008 August issue of the Himal, published out of Katmandu, notes
its vision as “to restore some of the historical unity of our common
living space without wishing any violence on the existing nation
States”.
Thus the personality of our shared region is to be recognised not by
looking at its political entities (that came together in 1985), but by
touching upon our trans-political commonalities representing this region
to the world as a uniquely composite heritage zone. This is aptly stated
by the celebrated journalist of India, B.G. Verghese as “South Asia
is... not merely a geographical expression, but also an association of
ideas, experiences, interactive cultures and aspirations straddling the
past and future”.
However, it is ironic that during the very period of globalisation,
we have constructed vertically arranged ethno-national compartments and
the region as a whole is yet venturing along a painful path coming to
grips with the hard realities of social change, identities and access to
resources and power in a post Colonial context.
Heritage undoubtedly is the end
product of human thought and action essentially reflecting
higher achievements and refinements of any society.
Heritage cannot be situated in a vacuum and also its character
must be thrust beyond the narrow confines of culture per se.
|
Compartmentalisation of our society was a legacy of the Colonial rule
where ‘imagined’ racial categories, mythic martial races along with
policies of divide and rule formed the basis for multiple dichotomies in
South Asia. The Post Colonial period witnessed the continuation of such
dichotomies resulting in sharper polarisation and marginalisation of
communities through imagined categories introduced from above.
One nation or culture cannot exist in isolation because human
populations construct their cultures in interaction with one another.
Even the Diaspora does not to form an isolated entity.
One of the critical challenges we face in South Asia is bridging
national, religious and cosmopolitan identities with a futuristic
vision. It is said that even more than the shared past it is allure of
the common future that now beacons and binds the SAARC together. It must
be our collective endeavour therefore to strive towards our connectivity
as a key to sustaining the spirit of the SAARC as a gift to the next
generation. This in fact is the tangible and intangible personality of
South Asia.
For centuries the rich cultural personality of South Asian countries
was based on cross-cultural interactions. We in South Asia are nurtured
within a legacy of a shared heritage for over three thousand years and
its ethos is a classic representation of diversity and commonalities.
Our heritage is essentially inclusive and not exclusive. The shared
heritage of the people of South Asia is a key to understanding that
diversity, which is the bench-mark commonality in our society.
Redefining heritage
The focus therefore has to be on heritage, as an area of refinement
providing the basis for coexistence.
In this discourse Heritage is to be considered as a multifaceted
catalyst. Heritage in the main is viewed as a source of people to people
connectivity in peaceful coexistence in South Asia. It seeks to
understand the Pre Colonial heritage and question exclusiveness against
inclusiveness; grass roots level people’s connectivity cutting across
ethnic, language, religious and political divides juxtaposed to
divisions imposed from above by Colonialism and later by local
decision-makers. It looks at heritage as an idiom that expresses a
common language of humanity where people reach out to each other for
understanding, sharing and coexistence.
Heritage undoubtedly is the end product of human thought and action
essentially reflecting higher achievements and refinements of any
society.
Heritage cannot be situated in a vacuum and also its character must
be thrust beyond the narrow confines of culture per se. We seek to
redefine heritage as: culture, environment, knowledge and the next
generation as its integral components providing it with a deeper
construct.
Heritage cannot be explained simply as the culture that we are born
into. Elements representing culture such as food habits, speech, attire,
religious beliefs etc. do not stand alone. Culture is essentially
situated within a natural environment.
Everything about our past culture and its behaviour within a
particular environment, that has shaped our present thoughts and action,
is known to us through knowledge.
To be continued |