Sugath Kulatunga
Among Sri Lankans, there are
two distinct ideologically opposing groups. One group trust in the slogan
Loken Utum Rata Lankawai”. And the other claim Sudda Hitiyanam wada hondai.”
Yet others pray for a Lee Kwan Yew and argue that Sri Lanka is a failed state
because we have not adopted the development models followed, for example by
Singapore or South Korea. Every country is subject to unique internal and
external demands and constraints. The geography and history of a country play a
crucial role in its destiny and are inescapable.
Some of these dynamics which
have influenced the destiny of Sri Lanka are indicated in point forms for
reasons of brevity.
1. SL inherited an economy
dominated by plantations run with imported Indian labor resulting in the
neglect of non-plantation agriculture.
2. The presence of a large
number of Indian labor in Ceylon gave a platform for Indian interference in the
domestic affairs of the country.
3. Indian Interference
continued from the time of Independence with increasing detriment to Sri Lanka
as given below:
i) On the Citizenship issue,
India did not act in the spirit of Article 8 of their own Constitution.
ii) India did not take any
serious measures to curb illicit emigration to Sri Lanka.
iii) India harbored,
trained, and armed separatist groups to fight against Sri Lanka.
iv) India forced an Accord
and a 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, which has been grossly
unfavorable to the unity and peace in Sri Lanka.
V) In a dubious procedure of
letters exchanged, India dictated terms on our foreign policy, use of our
harbors and airports, Trincomalee Oil farm, and broadcasting.
Vi) India continues to
impose unequal trade and investment conditions on Sri Lanka.
Domestic Constraints
1. Inability to forge a Sri
Lankan identity due to non-acceptance of the majority status of the Sinhalese
by the minority community. This was due to Tamils, though a minority of around
12 percent enjoyed during British rule privileges inconsistent with their
numbers and were determined to perpetuate them. The favored status of the Tamil
minority at Independence is described by former Indian High Commissioner in Sri
Lanka J.N. Dixit (who cannot be considered as a friend of Sri Lanka’) in his
book Assignment Colombo. He concedes at page 10 Tamils were disproportionally
influential in the management of Sri Lankan political and economic affairs
right till the country’s independence despite their being a minority. Tamils
were also dominant in the non-agricultural sectors of Lankan society”. Tamils
considered that the Sinhalese were in every aspect inferior to them and were
resolute in demanding lopsided rights even before Independence.
a) they demanded 50 –50”
representation for a 12 % of the Tamils in the 1930s.
b) they opposed universal
franchise.
c) They established a Tamil
Maha Jana Sabhai on a communal basis which led to the establishment of a
Sinhala Maha Jana Sabha.
d) Federal party proposed
the joining of North and Eastern Provinces to Tamil Nadu. (A.J. Wilson
-Biography of SJV)
e) At the ‘Throne
Speech’debate in the first House of Representatives on the 26th of November
1947 Chelvanayakam said: – “If Ceylon is fighting to secede from the
British Empire why should not the Tamil people if they feel like it, secede
from the rest of the country?”
f) Launched Illankai (Thamil
Arasu Kachchi (Tamil State Party) on December 18, 1949.urging a separate state.
These were years before
grievances on Colonization, Sinala only or Standardization.
g) After the signing on 26
July 1957 Bandaranayake/Chelvanayagam Pact-on 28 July, FP repudiated the
Agreement at the National Convention held in Batticaloa and reiterated the
unalterable determination to achieve an autonomous Tamil linguistic state.”(
Appendix D- Reimagining Sri Lanka, Published by International Centre for Ethnic
Studies 1999)
h) Rejection of the 1972
Republican Constitution by the Tamil representatives.
i) Vadukoddai Resolution in
1976 called the Tamil Nation in general and the Tamil youth, in particular, to
come forward to throw themselves fully into the sacred fight for freedom and to
flinch not till the goal of a sovereign state of TAMIL EELAM is reached.
j) TULF Election Manifesto
1977-proposed a constitution for the State of Tamil Eelam and to establish the
independence of the Tamil Eelam by bringing that constitution into operation
either by peaceful means or by direct action or struggle.
Tamil Eelam will be born
only through violent struggle and bloodshed. We are ready for the bloody
struggle” – Amirthalingum at TULF victory meeting at the Ramakrishna Hall,
Wellawatte (1977).
k) In Thimphu proposals
–demanded the recognition of a Tamil homeland and the right to
self-determination.
l) 1987 -A.J. Wilson before
the Sub Committee on Foreign Affairs submitted that the contiguous Provinces of
Northern, Eastern and Uva should be made recognized as a single Tamil Unit.
m) The continuing
intransigence of the Tamil parties reflected in the speech of Sampanthan at the
14th Annual ITAK convention (May 2012) describing the development programs of
the government as a ‘death trap”
The Tamil separatist project
was encouraged by the action of the UNP with the –
a) Violent resistance of the
legislation on Sinhala only and Reasonable use of Tamil by every opposition
party.
b) Sabotage of the District
Council scheme agreed to by Tamil parties,
c) With the Black July 1983,
which resulted in the violence against Tamils resulting in expansion of the
cadres of the LTTE and mass emigration to Western countries and creating
pockets of anti-Sri Lankan agitation abroad.
The Indian interference and
the domestic constraints resulted in a 30-year bloody war, which according to
India’s former National Security Adviser and Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar
Menon cost the country around US$ 200 billion. https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2016/dec/13/sri-lankas-internal-war-cost-us-200-billion-1548433.html.
This is around two and half times the GDP of Sri Lanka. The war may have
resulted in the loss of 150,000 lives. The opportunity cost of the war in the
loss of production and investment was enormous.
JVP insurgencies resulted in
60,000 mainly youth killed and the wanton destruction of buses, trains, rail
tracks, railway stations, electric transformers, pylons, power lines, power
stations, electricity substations, tea factories, agricultural extension
centers, and telephone lines. JVP insurrection in 1987-89 froze economic
activities and brutalized the community.
In addition the 2004 Tsunami
resulted in the destruction of 79,100 houses, damaging about 4,500 industries
and left more than 45,000 dead and 1.5 million displaced. The economic loss was
estimated at 1454 million US $.
https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/import/downloads/social_and_economic_impact_of_december_2004_tsunami_apdc.pdf
and <https://www.asiafoundation.org/News/summit/tsunamiresponse.html>.
All these events placed
enormous pressure on the government, curtailed production, discouraged
investments, and traumatized society. The attention of the government was
diverted away from development and the best talent was wasted in the war.
The impact of these terrible
episodes on the economy and society and the psychology of the people are
immeasurable.
These destructive
experiences were not shared by Singapore and most East Asian economies. They
had free play in development.
We must be thankful that Sri
Lanka has survived the tribulations of the past and yet maintained our human
development achievements at a high level.
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