{"id":107186,"date":"2020-10-02T01:05:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T07:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=107186"},"modified":"2020-10-01T17:53:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T00:53:17","slug":"ethnic-problem-and-constitution-reforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/10\/02\/ethnic-problem-and-constitution-reforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethnic Problem and Constitution Reforms"},"content":{"rendered":"

N.A. de S. Amaratunga<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

A new constitution is being planned and a committee\ncomprised of leading intellectuals has been appointed to draft it. One of the\ndifficult issues the committee would have to grapple with would be the ethnic\nissue. Several aspects of the ethnic issue may have to be taken into\nconsideration when tackling this matter; its genesis and evolution,  involvement of foreign powers, attempts at\nresolution, 13th<\/sup> Amendment and Provincial Councils may be some of\nthese aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis and Evolution<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Origin and growth of the Tamil ultra-nationalism could\nbe traced back to the times before independence in the 1920s. During that time\nthere had been cordial relations among leaders of all three communities and\nthey had formed the Ceylon National Congress with Ponnambalam Arunachalam, a\nTamil, as its president. The Tamil leaders felt quite comfortable in the\nLegislative Council as they had equal representation with the Sinhalese though\nthey were a minority community. The devide-and-rule policy of the British\nrulers had caused this anomaly in the composition of the Legislative\nCouncil.  This was due to the fact that\nonly the English educated people were entitled to vote and there were\nproportionately more English educated Tamils than Sinhalese. However when the\nColonial authorities granted voting rights for swabasha\u201d educated people also\nin 1921 the number entitled to vote increased from 3013 in 1917, to 54207 and\nthis number grew to 189335 by 1924. The Tamil leadership resented the idea  of the Tamils becoming a minority in the\nLegislative Council . In 1917 they were equal in number to the Sinhalese but by\n1921 their proportion fell to 1\/4th<\/sup>. This they could not stomach and\nconsequently the Tamil leaders left the Ceylon National Congress. They formed their\nown Tamil National Congress thereby perhaps causing the first rupture in\nnational unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil leaders did not stop at that, Ponnambalam\nRamanathan went to London to request the British authorities not to grant the\nDonoughmore Commission recommendations in 1931 which included scrapping the\ncommunal based voting system and implimenting population based franchise.  Tamils could not reconcile to the fact that\nSinhalese becoming a majority and Tamils a minority would be the natural\noutcome of universal franchise. Tamils did not want to give the rightful place\nto the Sinhalese as the majority in the country. GG Ponnambalam asked for a 50%\nrepresetation for the Tamils in the legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When independence was being considered in 1947 GG\nPonnambalam petitioned the British authorities demanding a separate state for\nthe Tamils and if that is not possible not to grant independence to Sri Lanka.\nRamanathan as far back as 1916 together with Ambalavanar  Kanagasabe had been for some time engaged in\ncommunal politics (see K M de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p 393). These\nactivities perhaps were the cause and origin of Tamil communal politics and\nseparatism in Sri Lanka. Sinhalese at that stage were not at all  involved in its causation. Though there were\nseveral Sinhalese organisations such as Theosophical Society of Ceylon\u201d,\nCeylon National Association\u201d and Anagarika Dharmapala’s anti-alcohol\norganisation, they had nothing to do with the seeds of dissention and conflict\nbeing sown by the Tamil leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of this intransigence of the Tamil\nleadership and the development of ideas about autonomy the Donoughmore\nCommission and also the Sinhalese leaders like SWRD started to talk about\ndevolving political and administrative power to provincial councils as a means\nof appeasing the Tamils. Leaders like SJV Chelvanayagam carried these ideas\nforward and in 1957 at Vadukodai took the extreme stand of calling the Tamil\nyouth to take up arms to win their rights. This call came to fruition and the\nLTTE was born in the 1980s. India helped the LTTE to wage an armed struggle.\nThis India did for geopolitical reasons and eventually they forced the JRJ\ngovernment to accept the 13th <\/sup> Amendment and provincial councils as a\npolitical solution to the ethnic problem. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However provincial councils and regional autonomy\nthough had been in discussion since 1920s \ncould never be granted by leaders like SWRD, Dudley, JRJ all of whom\nwithdrew their proposals because they knew granting it was political harakiri.\nThat is how finally it came to be forced down our throats by Rajiv Gandhi who\nhad his local South Indian politics and also geopolitical issues  to contend with. However, there was\nopposition to this high handed act within the government ranks and the JVP\norganized wide spread riots which had to be controlled by a declaration of\ncurfew. The people of Sri Lanka have never endorsed the 13th<\/sup> A or\nregional autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western involvement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western powers for geopolitical reasons have got\ninvolved in our internal affairs. They would like to have a foothold on Sri\nLanka. They have an intimate knowledge of the ethnic conflict and would not\nhesitate to make use of it to destabilize the country and create opportunities\nfor their involvement and interference. \nSri Lanka due to its strategic importance has become an arena for global\nhegemonic rivalry in the Indian Ocean region. Western powers want to thwart the\nrising power and influence of China in the region. The LTTE was a useful tool\nin their hands, they helped it to raise funds in their countries and purchase\narms. The Tamil Diaspora domiciled in these countries developed into  politically influential pressure groups and\nconsequently politicians in these countries started to raise a voice for the\nTamil course. They spoke on their behalf not only in their parliaments but also\nin UN bodies. Some called for a separate Tamil state. Trumped up charges of\nhuman rights violations were liberally utilized to pressure Sri Lanka to fall\nin line and support their agendas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus the so called Tamil problem was blown out of\nproportion in the global context. Western countries could not see evidence of\ndiscremination or oppression of Tamils in Sri Lanka yet they got involved\nbecause of Indian Ocean geopolitics and local politics in their own countries\ndue to the presence of a substantial vote base of Tamil Diaspora. India was\ninvolved for similar geopolitical reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus the global involvement is not due to the true\nnature of the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka or its seriousness or importance but\ndue to the hegemonic agendas of  the\nglobal and regional powers. Therefore the question arises whether Sri Lanka\nshould take into serious consideration and be influenced by the position taken\nup by the Western countries regarding the Tamil problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present state of the global power situation will\nalso have to be taken into consideration. How much pressure could the Western\ncountries excert on Sri Lanka, how much could Sri Lanka resist and what would\nIndia’s and China’s stand be in this regard are going to be the factors that\ngovern the determination of the course of action Sri Lanka has to adopt. Sri\nLanka had to capitulate when India \nforced the 13th<\/sup> A on us as USA or any other world power\nopposed to India did not come to the rescue of Sri Lanka. Today the situation\nis different, the West is not as powerful as before, China has enormous stake\nin Sri Lanka in connection with its Belt and Road project and India may not\nwant to get involved as much as it did earlier. Western countries and India\nwould not want to resort to military intervention. The worst they would do is\nenforcement of trade sanctions. Economic effects of such an action would be\nmitigated to some degree by Chinese inputs for the latter would not want Sri\nLanka to collapse.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts at resolution and their failure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the time of its origin there had been serious\ndiscussions to find a solution to the Tamil problem. It is unfortunate that the\nTamil leadership has refused to understand the real nature of the Tamil problem\nand see the unfairness of the position they take up when negotiating for  a settlement, for example the non-negotiable\nconditions comprising Four Principles put forward at Thimphu talks and the\nproposal for merger of North and East. Moreover the reluctance of governments\nto grant what is agreed upon at discussions and withdrawal from pacts entered\ninto must also be taken into consideration with greater understanding by the\nTamil leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example SWRD Bandaranayake withdrew from the pact\nhe entered into with SJV Chelvanayagam and so did Dudley Senanayake. JR\nJayawardena had discussions with Tamil leaders and also with Rajiv Gandhi and\nhad the 10th<\/sup>  Amendment\ndrafted as a solution but did not take steps to implement any decisions they\nmay have agreed upon until the latter forced him to accept the 13th<\/sup>\nAmendment. Often the reluctance of Sinhala leaders to implement devolution\npolicies are misconstrued as lacking in political courage and ideological\nstrength whereas the correct reading would be that they did not want to commit\npolitical suicide. Even the forceful introduction of the 13th<\/sup> A\ncaused lot of opposition within the government as well as riots by the JVP and\nboycotts by the SLFP.  Further the full\nimplimentation of the 13th<\/sup> A has not been possible and the once merged\nNorth and East PCs have been demerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The previous government presented to the parliament a\nnew constitution with federal features. What happened to those responsible for\nthis deceitful deed must be taken into serious consideration by the Tamil political\nleadership. They were wiped out from the political scene and people gave a 2\/3rd<\/sup>\nmajority to the new government to ensure that such things will not happen in\nthe future and a new constitution would be enacted that would secure the\nintegrity of the people’s single sovereignty and the territory of their\ncountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhalese may never agree to allow a minority\ncommunity to have special rights over part of the land that belongs to\neverybody. Further it is not the fair and just method to solve the ethnic\nproblem. As more than half of the Tamils live outside the North a provincial\narrangement with devolved administrative and political powers would obviously\nbe not the best way to solve their problem. There may be better options of\nsharing political power that suits the country and the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13th<\/sup> Amendment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13th<\/sup> A and provincial councils were\nintroduced to Sri Lanka as a solution to the ethnic problem but they were\ncreated by foreign vested interests to solve their problems than ours.  Indira Gandhi was tilted towards the USSR in\nthe global power equation and JRJ was pro USA. \nJRJ’s  foreign policy was disliked\nin New Delhi and Gandhi wanted to make JRJ realise the realities of regional\ngeopolitics and she sponsored the Tamil terrorist groups. After she was\nassasinated  her successor Rajiv continued\nher policies. Rajiv Gandhi had two issues regarding Sri Lanka which he had\ninherited from his mother. One was the danger of  Sri Lanka’s \npolitical leadership allowing the USA to use Sri Lanka to destabilize\nIndia and the other was the need to keep the South Indian politicians appeased\nwith regard to the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka. He tried to achieve both goals\nby forcing JRJ to accept the 13th<\/sup> A which was designed to grant\nregional devolution and also to prevent the USA from using Sri Lanka to act\nagainst the interests of India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However the LTTE did not accept it and waged war\nagainst the Sri Lankan government. Negotiations with them always failed as\ntheir goal was a seperate state or something close to it. They were militarily\ndefeated but their idealogy is carried forward by the present Tamil political\nleadership. Obviously Tamil politicians have not come to terms with reality,\nthe impossibility of getting what they want. Or what is more probable is they\nare abusing the national emotions of Tamil people for political gain. They\nshould know that when they resort to demanding the impossible the Sinhalese\nwill close rank as happened at the recent presidential and general elections\nand no government can go beyond what is granted at present i.e. 13th<\/sup>\nA without land and police powers. This arrangement, however, does not solve the\nproblems of the Tamils and other minorities as they are widely distributed in\nthe country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 13th<\/sup> A with its Land and Police powers\nhangs over us like a Sword of Damocles which could eventually pave the way for\na separate state.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provincial Councils<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is utterly absurd to divide this little island into\nnine political and administrative areas. It is too small to be divided. More\nthan 50% of the Tamils, for whom one of these areas are demarcated with some\nautonomy, live outside that area, therefore this division does not serve the\npurpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several\nProvinces have existed without their Councils with no breakdown of essential\nservices to the people for more than one year due to elections not being held.\nPCs were created as a solution to the so called ethnic Tamil problem but the\nsilence of Tamil politicians on the issue of delay in elections to the Northern\nPC is deafening to say the least. If they can do without their PC there cannot\nbe an ethnic problem of enormous magnitude which necessitated  the introduction by force of the 13th A by\nIndia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover the Provincial Councils do not serve any\nuseful purpose. Instead it is another bureaucratic barrier to the people that increase\nthe red tape, inconvenience, number of corrupt politicians that people have to\nbribe to get any official work done. The work done by these PCs could easily be\ncarried out by the GA and the kachcheri system we had previously without the\ninvolvement of politicians. Similarly administrative power could be devolved to\nthe North through the local government institutions. Thus the 13th<\/sup> A\nand its offspring the provincial councils could be done away with bringing\ngreat benefit to the people including Tamils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possible methods of resolving the Ethnic problem<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Tamils want is political and administrative\npower that would enable them to manage their own affairs in the areas of their\nhabitation and also have a say in the affairs of their country. Administration\ncan be decentralized via the existing local government institutions. These\ninstitutions could be further empowered to attend to the needs of the people at\ngrass root level. District level administration via district secretaries which\ncould be similar to the government agent system of yore could also be\nstrengthened without the yoke of the provincial council. If the local\nadministration which is the system that has to work in intimacy with the people\nand solve their day to day problems could be comprehensively strengthened and\nstreamlined more than half the problem would be solved. The PCs didn’t do this,\ninstead they made the local administration more cumbersome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several options for solving the political\npower sharing issue. The methods that have been discussed by political\nscientists of repute fall under two broad categories: (1) classical\u201d  political power sharing which they like to\ncall Consociationalism and (2) Integrationism which is also called\nCentrepetalism (Horowitz, 2000) . The former could have four areas of power\nsharing; 1) coalition government, 2) proportionality at all activities like\neducation, employement etc., 3) minority veto for selected subjects and 4)\nautonomy at the periphery for minority groups. Autonomy at the periphery has\nbeen tried in Sri Lanka with little success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Integrationism, which is propounded by those who\noppose Consociationalism, there is encouragement for cross ethnic cooperation\nand fair allocation of resources. Very often a combination of features from the\ntwo methods are found to be more effective and moreover are found to have\ncaused less possibility of enhancing ethnic differences and recurrence of\nconflict (Waller & Wolf,2011).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study carried out on 62 African and Asian countries\nhas shown that horizontal power sharing, (which means power sharing at the\ncentre), was more successful than vertical power sharing, (which means power\nsharing at the perphary) (Linder & Bachtiger 2005). Instead of political\npower devolution at the periphery which has proved to be a failure in Sri Lanka\nand which doesn’t solve the problem that pertains to the minorities distributed\nall over the country, an arrangement at the centre may be more suitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka may benefit from a method that combines power\nsharing at the centre and the principle of proportionality in all allocations\nand appointments. The former could be institutionlized either with a second\nchamber or ensuring minority representation in proportion to their population\nratios in all three arms of the government; the executive, the legislature and\nthe judiciary. The power of the sovereignty which belongs to the people is\nplaced in the custody of the president in a presidential system of government.\nThe president delegates this power to the cabinet, the parliament and to the\njudiciary. This tenet need not be changed so that the single sovereignty is not\njeopardised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proportionality which is the other major arm of the\npower sharing mechanism suitable for Sri Lanka, which has to be based on ethnic\nratios as mentioned earlier, could be adopted with constitutional guarantee,\nwith regard to appointments to high posts and allocation of resources for\neducation, employement, culture and religious matters and other vital subjects.        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.A. de S. Amaratunga<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N.A. de S. Amaratunga A new constitution is being planned and a committee comprised of leading intellectuals has been appointed to draft it. One of the difficult issues the committee would have to grapple with would be the ethnic issue. Several aspects of the ethnic issue may have to be taken into consideration when tackling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-n-a-de-s-amaratunga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}