Reform and reconciliation in Sri Lanka
Text of the speech by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha,
MP at the Australian National University, Canberra held on May 23, 2011
Let me begin by thanking the High Commission here, and the Consuls in
Sydney and Melbourne, for inviting me to Australia and hosting my
programme. I should also thank all those, in particular the Sri Lankans,
Burghers, Muslims, Sinhalese and Tamils, who have come to meet me. I am
more appreciative of this because, given distances between places in
your towns, and the weather, I think getting out for such meetings
requires considerable effort.
As indeed emigration did, for many of you, over the years. And one
wonders why, as the English said of the Scottish many years ago, so many
people thought the best thing about Sri Lanka was the way out. This is
absurd, given the potential of Sri Lanka, and its beauty, the greatest
compass of natural beauty in such a small space in the world - but the
fact remains that we closed down opportunities for our people,
especially our young people, over the years.
Political system
I do not think this was deliberate. It was part of what seemed an
intellectual consensus at the time Sri Lanka got independence, the
notion that equality was one of the greatest goods available, that this
had to be achieved through the state, and that levelling downward was
the best way of achieving equality. I believe that this was not
wickedness, but it was certainly insensitive, and it allowed people to
concentrate on those they considered the most deprived, often translated
into those they saw as their particular clients in the first past the
post Westminster style political system we had.
Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP |
This I think explains two actions that had far-reaching negative
consequences. The first was the declaration of Sinhala as the only
official language of Sri Lanka. It could be argued that this was no
different from what has been done in other countries such as Malaysia or
Indonesia, but it was done suddenly, and imposed on top of an education
system that had entrenched monolingualism in our different communities.
That had been done in the forties, when the principle of education in
the mother tongue was made compulsory.
There was a measure of egalitarianism in this, Sinhalese to be
educated in Sinhalese, Tamils in Tamil, but the result was generations
unable to communicate with each other, with no serious effort to ensure
knowledge of the other language, or of English as a link language. This
in turn had appalling consequences with regard to employment, after
Sinhala was made the only official language, and with regard to dealings
with the public service, when monolinguals in one language had to seek
support from those who were monolingual in another language.
Alternative opportunities
Similarly, when standardization was introduced in 1972, the
consequences were negative for many. In theory positive discrimination
is an acceptable practice, and at that time certainly it was not
racially oriented, since Tamils from hitherto underprivileged areas, the
Eastern Province, the Wanni, the Hill Country, benefited as much as
Sinhalese from such areas in the South. But the areas that were hardest
hit were Colombo and Jaffna and, whereas the youngsters of Colombo had
alternative opportunities, in particular a relatively prosperous private
sector, other professional qualifications, easier access to foreign
qualifications, the bright students of Jaffna had no such compensations.
And then, when in 1979, after standardization had been abolished in
1977, it was reintroduced in another guise, the rationale was
racially-oriented, in response to false claims by Cyril Mathew, who did
so much to destroy Sri Lanka over several decades.
Education system
These problems however could have been corrected and, though it took
a long time for this to happen, action has now been taken, with Tamil
having been made an official language in 1987, the introduction of
compulsory bilingualism in the school system in the nineties, the recent
regulations that make knowledge of the other official language mandatory
for new recruits to the public sector.
Much more however needs to be done, and that is why we are also
reforming our education system, encouraging private institutions and
input into tertiary education and skills training, strengthening the
English medium option that was introduced in 2001, promoting
opportunities for youngsters to meet and realize that they have much
more in common than they had hitherto thought.
But much more requires to be done, and I hope that those of you who
did benefit from our education system when it was comparatively good
will assist in the process.
You can contribute to educational exchanges, to endowing scholarships
at your old schools, to supporting training for youngsters who were
deprived, in particular the former combatants who, in particular those
from the Wanni, had to abandon schooling early when they were
conscripted.
Public sector
Another area in which reform has begun, but needs to be fast
forwarded, is that of recruitment to the public sector, and in
particular to the security forces. It is often ignored that minorities
continue to occupy high positions in the armed forces, and in particular
in training establishments where they were relatively safe from the
particular animosity against them evinced by the LTTE, but certainly in
the last few years recruitment has been less. With regard to the
military, security considerations were involved, including the targeting
by the LTTE of Tamil speaking officers, even during the so-called
Ceasefire Agreement period, but there was still continuing recruitment
in some areas, including to the Cadet Corps, for education as well as
cadet training.
The Police continued to recruit from all communities at all levels,
and at the height of the war 700 odd officers passed out from the
Training School at Kallady in the East. However, applications were few,
given fear of the LTTE. Fortunately this changed after the LTTE in Sri
Lanka was destroyed, and a few thousand applied, and a couple of batches
of several hundred each have now been trained, and appointed, in
particular to stations in the North.
Former combatants
With regard to the public sector in general, we believe there will be
greater interest now that the threats that confronted so many bright
youngsters in the past have been eliminated. I can only hope that
efforts to resurrect the LTTE abroad, and to continue to argue for
separatism, will not blight the ready willingness of youngsters in Sri
Lanka, from the North as well as the East, to take their proper role in
the government sector.
However, we need also to recognize that the orthodoxies of the
sixties and seventies, when statist socialism reduced the size of the
pie - so that everyone’s share, if increasingly equal, was decreasing in
actual content, as John Rawls so tellingly put it in his ‘Theory of
Justice’ - have given way to an almost universal understanding that the
engine of growth and development needs to be the private sector. Though
the excesses and the insensitivities of the crony capitalism that was
the alternative, in much of Asia, to statist socialism in the seventies
must be avoided, and we must continue with and develop the services that
ensure equality of opportunity, education and health and infrastructure
and utilities, we need also to ensure much more initiative, much more
investment, much more support for entrepreneurship.
Decentralized budget
In this regard, I would like to mention an initiative undertaken with
part of my decentralized budget. I have a particular concern for the
former combatants, who were so brutally abused, but who have within a
short period seemed to adjust, into the bright and energetic youngsters
they would have been if not forced into combat by the LTTE. I had wanted
to start a primary English training programme for the girls but by the
time I got my funds, all the girls had been released.
The Commissioner General requested instead that some of the funds be
used for a training programme in psycho-social care, with some of the
former combatants being trained to use such skills in the Wanni area.
That programme, conducted by a body based in London, including
expatriate Sri Lankans, was concluded successfully, and sufficient
funding has now been secured for a follow up. But I also wanted some
skills training, and we decided therefore on an entrepreneurship
development programme.
Better services
This was an eye-opener. Over a hundred former combatants applied, and
30 were selected, and proved extremely enterprising. You can see some
details of the event, including the very heartening thank you speeches,
on the Reconciliation Website, www.peaceinsrilanka.org - the very first
articles on the home page, for which you have to scroll all the way
down, since that was what I used first when I revived this website. But
what also impressed me was the conceptualization skills. Asked to
suggest areas in which enterprises could be set up, two groups chose
agri-business, the two others, construction.
This fits in well with what government has been planning, to make a
much better and productive place of the Wanni, neglected for so long by
successive Central governments, by the much more advanced entrepreneurs
and educationists of Jaffna, and most shamefully by the LTTE who
prospered there and did not permit modernization, advanced education or
better services despite the funds pouring in from 2002 onwards. The area
is incredibly fertile and, with the irrigation schemes now being
developed, it will provide abundant harvests.
Indeed, even at the height of the war, the paddy harvest was
excellent, and government actually purchased stocks from the area for
distribution to the displaced, even though we knew that the LTTE would
commandeer much of the payment. We need however to ensure that the
inhabitants of the area benefit from their labour, and not middlemen. To
promote food processing and added value products is essential, and we
believe the youngsters there can take on the challenge. But it would be
helpful if they could be provided with start up funds, and I hope some
of you will think of collecting funds for micro-credit schemes for the
area.
Vocational training systems
With regard to construction, it must be obvious that, with the
rebuilding going on, there are great opportunities for workers as well
as suppliers. Unfortunately much of this now benefits people from
elsewhere, but it will not take much to build on the vocational training
systems already started, while also developing management and accounting
skills. In the short term, as well as in the long run, empowering the
people of the area to participate actively in development is the only
way of ensuring an equitable share of the prosperity the whole country
should be moving towards, now that the terrorist threat, which blighted
the Wanni in particular, has been removed.
Civilian casualties
I believe government has done extremely well thus far in the
resettlement process, and in providing basic infrastructure, including
schools, roads, water and electricity and better communications. It has
also restored the local administration, led by extremely experienced
Government Agents, some of whom did a superb job even while they had to
work in areas controlled by the LTTE before 2009. The lady who ran
Mullaitivu and supervised the distribution of supplies till just a few
months before the conflict ended, is now in charge of Jaffna.
One of her greatest achievements, it should be noted, was in
conducting the national Ordinary Level Examination in December 2008, for
the children too of those the LTTE had forced into going along with them
in their retreat from the Western part of the Wanni. The LTTE asked that
the examination be boycotted, but the people did not give in and, after
some sporadic efforts at violent prevention, their will prevailed. The
gentleman who looked after Kilinochchi, and kept all services going
right upto the time our forces took over the town, with hardly any
civilian casualties, now heads the Secretariat in Mannar. The lady who
was in charge of Vavuniya right through the period of conflict and
displacement is still there, and ably developing new initiatives, while
Kilinochchi is looked after by the first senior member of the
Administrative Service born and bred in that area.
In Mullaitivu we have someone who previously worked in Mannar during
the conflict, with first hand experience of the problems faces by the
displaced. However, while appreciating the work of these senior
officials, we can do much better in developing human resources more
comprehensively.
Policy development
With regard to the public sector this is true not only of the North,
since the second and third layers of administrators nationwide, given
the decline in communication skills and decision making capacities, are
not as capable yet as the senior officials mentioned above.
But we need too to develop local community leaders, and mechanisms
for ensuring that the schools for instance have teachers as well as
equipment, that in addition to the main hospitals we have midwives and
social workers and child care officials to fill up the cadre positions
that are now empty. Proper training, better deployment and more
efficient monitoring are essential to ensure that all areas have proper
access to services that are essential. And, while affirming that
government is responsible for ensuring the provision of such services,
we need to develop private-public partnerships to facilitate more
effective delivery, whilst also developing simpler and more accessible
structures of both responsibility and accountability.
In the ongoing negotiations with Tamil political parties, we should
also discuss the establishment of better structures at all levels, so as
to ensure empowerment of the people, on whose behalf government
functions. For too long now our debates have concentrated on the balance
of power between politicians from different areas, whereas we should
also be thinking of how power can be exercised effectively, with
transparency and accountability. For too long now, accountability has
been to institutions dominated by those who need to account. In place of
the confrontational politics of the last couple of decades, we need to
develop structures that enhance bipartisan approaches to monitoring and
policy development, even though decision making rests in the hands of
those elected for the purpose.
We have made a start on this with the much more healthy relationship
between parties on the Standing Committees of Parliament, as I can
testify with regard to the Committees on Public Enterprises and on
Standing Orders on which I serve. We are also trying to strengthen the
role of the Consultative Committees, and it is good to see members of
all parties actively involved in at least some of these Committees and
the positive approaches of the Ministers concerned when problems are
raised.
Policy issues
I am pleased too that government has now produced proposals with
regard to a Second Chamber based on equal representation for Districts
or Provinces. Though this is not a substitute for developing more
effective structures on the ground to ensure the empowerment of people
with regard to matters that affect them closely, it is also important to
ensure a stronger voice for the periphery at matters that will be
decided at the Centre. All parties agree that security matters,
including financial and food security, need to be entrusted to a Central
government, and it was a pity that previously there was no interest in
ensuring greater participation of other interests in decision making in
these areas. Active involvement of all segments of society in policy
issues and decisions is essential, and it is a welcome advance that this
too is now recognized on all sides.
It is also important to entrench rights as well as responsibilities
and to ensure public awareness of the basic principles on which
government and society should operate. At the Ministry of Disaster
Management and Human Rights, we developed a Human Rights Action Plan,
which was near finalization at the end of 2009. Unfortunately, with a
series of elections, this was held up and then, with the assumption that
Human Rights could be steered by the Foreign Ministry, some priorities
were forgotten.
Civil society
However the matter was entrusted to the Attorney General, who steered
the principle through Cabinet last August, so that we were able to have
final consultations with civil society and the officials who formed the
steering committee. The final draft was then prepared by a special
consultant, and it should have been put to Cabinet this month. Perhaps
even more importantly, our Ministry was able in 2009 to get a draft of a
Bill of Rights, as the President had pledged in his 2005 manifesto. That
too was put on hold during the election period but, with the Action Plan
recommending a dedicated agency for Human Rights, I hope that the Bill
too can be finalized by that Agency and, after going before Cabinet, be
entrenched soon in the constitution.
To be continued |