Divisions barred

A glance at the national problem:

Tamil patriot

During British colonial times from about mid 19th century to Independence in 1948, Tamils from North and East enjoyed an advantage over other communities by having a large majority of Government jobs.

This was partly due to more favourable educational facilities, especially in the North through missionary schools.

As such the average Tamil man who came from a harsh climate and barren landscape in the north prospered in the only way he could through education and employment in public service. It was the Permanent Pensionable Public Service that was their utopia and created what was known as the Money Order economy for the North.

ANTECEDENTS

All this changed radically after independence with enactment of Sinhala as the official language and soon after, introduction of Swabasha education, resulting in scraping of English education replaced by local languages, Tamil and Sinhalese, which had a very adverse impact on youth employment prospects in both North and South. As a result, the major life line of the Tamil man had been closed for ever.

Tamil politicians agitated for parity of status for Tamil language which was slow in coming, but acceded in 1987 under the Indo-Lanka Accord. By then the damage had been done and the rebellion of the youth in the North had reached maturity under LTTE and Prabhakaran. The war against the Government in the South has continued since then with a short break from 2002.

Agitation by Tamil politicians led by Chelvanayakam for a Federal state was rejected by the Government in the South and implementation of Sinhala language was firmly entrenched from early 60s under Mrs. Bandaranaike coupled with strong discrimination against minorities in the public sector.

Also, Tamils were progressively overlooked for admission to universities from early 70s under a policy known as Standardization. Sinhala nationalism prevailed for several decades, culminating in the pogrom of 1983 against Tamil civilians in the South. The 1972 Constitution which eliminated all protection for minorities was enacted.

The Vaddukottai Resolution by TULF of 1976 further polarized both communities, when Tamil politicians resolved to fight for a separate State for the Tamils in the North and East. All this gave fuel to an armed conflict sponsored by Prabhakaran and the LTTE who became firmly entrenched in the North and East and slowly carved out a quasi state with substantial funding by the international Tamil diaspora. They eventually eliminated all opposition by other Tamil groups and called themselves the “sole representatives of Tamil people”.

Frustration

What has been conveniently forgotten by the Tamil politicians diaspora and the rebels, is that from almost the time of introduction of Sinhala language in the State sector, the public service became a poisoned chalice, i.e. government jobs ceased to be lucrative due to their inability to keep pace with inflation.

In fact employment in public service was a matter of great disappointment and frustration to a majority of people so employed due to inadequacy of salaries to keep pace with growing inflation. Also, there was privileged class being created in the South by introduction of so-called international schools, with facilities for English education at a price not affordable to majority of youth.

Furthermore, the agitation for recognition of Tamil language was irrelevant and unproductive as it was not a solution for an unemployed youth population or development of the North and East.

The sequence of events since Independence, Sinhala nationalism accompanied by chauvinism from about the late 50s, resulting in counter claims by Tamil politicians until the late 70s and the rise of Tamil nationalism from the early 70s resulting in an extended civil war, have all caused considerable and irreparable damage to the country, especially the people of the North and East.

Wrong policies

It has polarized the two sections of the community to a point of extreme hostility and isolated a large section of Tamils from the mainstream of life and progress in the country. The resulting mass migration of Tamils to greener pastures has fostered the continuing insurgency and civil war at a very high cost with destructive results.

The euphoria of unlimited power enjoyed by the Sinhala majority after Independence, coupled with aspirations of poorer sections of the majority community who were isolated from mainstream colonial society for generations, fostered onset of Sinhala nationalism, resulting in excesses in policies and actions by governments and their agents.

This in turn gave rise to Tamil nationalism with devastating consequences. Tamil leaders and society were unwilling to accept their change of status after independence from an affluent and influential minority during colonial times to one that was being marginalized by changes introduced to give greater recognition and benefits to majority Sinhalese.

What has been overlooked in this entire process is that the causes of conflict that prevailed over 50 years ago are not relevant in terms of needs and aspirations of Tamil society today. Tamil leaders also need to appreciate that a culture of confrontation and hostility generated over a long period of time against a majority community had adverse impact on their people and isolated them from the mainstream society.

The mistake made by Tamil politicians in the post independence and pre-LTTE period was to demand recognition of Tamil language on equal footing with Sinhala, which would not have been a solution for employment of Tamil youth in the long term.

As evident over the last four decades, recognition of Sinhala language in administration of Government departments and agencies had only marginal impact on youth unemployment, resulting in two insurgencies in the South. Also, the agitation for a Federal state was designed to transfer power from the Government in the South to a regional or provincial one.

While there are merits in such a demand, it was and is not a solution for displacement of English education, fuelled by nationalism in the North and South, which has been the major setback for education and employment in the post Independence period. Devolution of power is a means to an end and not an end in itself.

Need For Reforms

There was a need for Constitutional reform which had not been looked at constructively by politicians int he South as well as North. What needed were not only safeguards to protect minority rights, but also greater participation of minorities in the central Government.

The Constitutions of 1972 and 1978 did not address this need for greater inclusion of all sections of the community in the Government. In fact they did just the opposite and eliminated any semblance of minority rights enshrined in the Soulbury Constitution. Rather than persuading politicians in the south for reform of the central Government.

Tamil politicians had a single minded purpose of agitating for autonomy in the North and East based on a Federal state, which gave rise to suspicion of plans to divide the country. It was this culture of confrontation against the Government by Tamil politicians that has been progressed into an armed conflict by the LTTE, which has devastated the country, especially people and landscape in the North and East.

TAMIL GRIEVANCES

In respect of language, education and employment, there were and are grievances among Tamils, especially the youth in the post-independence period due to not only discrimination in policies but also in actions by the Government, both by politicians and its agents.

However, these are dwarfed by the lack of foresight and action by Tamil leaders over several decades in not addressing the genuine problems of people in the North and East for economic and social development and for reform of education, especially restoration of English education.

There is also a perception among not only the Tamil politicians, but also the community that there is only one avenue for progress and prosperity. That is through employment in the Public sector. We also need to look at grievances of other minorities such as Muslims, Indian Tamils, Malays, Burghers, Boras and Parsees and consider to what extent minorities have been marginalized since Independence.

Evidently, it is largely the Jaffna Tamil community in the North and to a lesser extent East that has claims against Government on grounds of discrimination. While they are the largest minority, they are disappointed by loss of power and influence in the Government and employment opportunities enjoyed in colonial times.

To be continued