Colombo/Brussels, 20 November 2012: The Sri Lankan government’s refusal to
negotiate seriously with Tamil political leaders or consider reasonable forms
of power sharing is heightening ethnic tensions and damaging prospects for
sustainable peace.
Sri Lanka: Tamil Politics and the Quest for a
Political Solution, the latest report from the International
Crisis Group, examines political opportunities and challenges in finding a
realistic strategy for the Tamil community to claim its rights against a
government that remains opposed to powersharing. The administration of
President Rajapaksahas failed to honour agreements with the Tamil National
Alliance (TNA), broke promises to world leaders and refused to implement
constitutional provisions for minimal devolution of power to Tamil-speaking
areas of the north and east. Instead, the government is pursuing a policy of
militarisation and biased economic development in Tamil and Muslim areas.
“Three
and a half years after the end of the civil war, President Rajapaksahas delayed
long-promised elections to the northern provincial council – elections the TNA
would be nearly certain to win”, says Alan Keenan, Crisis Group’s Sri Lanka Project
Director. “Rather than address Tamils’ legitimate demands for a fair share of
power in areas where they have traditionally been the majority, the Rajapaksa
administration has begun discussing a new amendment to reduce provincial powers
even further”.
The
government’s position follows a long tradition in Sinhala nationalist thinking
that rejects the Tamil and Tamil-speaking character of the north and much of
the east. Military and economic policies have been institutionalising this
ideological position with vigour. The de-facto military occupation of the
northern province and state-sponsored cultural and demographic changes appear
designed to undermine Tamils’ ability to claim the north and east as their
homeland. In the face of the government’s aggressive policies, Tamil leaders
are under increased pressure from their constituents to adopt more
confrontational language and tactics.
International
actors should press the government for the speedy establishment of an elected
provincial council and full restoration of civilian government in the north.
They should insist that the government start serious negotiations with the TNA
and that it make no new moves to dilute provincial powers.
At the
same time, Tamil leaders need to rebuild relationships with Muslims – damaged
by years of war and Tamil Tiger abuses – while making clear the links between
the Tamil struggle for equality and the growing unease among Sinhalese at
corruption and government abuse of power. Tamils are likely to win their rights
only when the broader national struggle for the restoration of democracy and
the rule of law, including the independence of the judiciary, has made
substantial progress.
“So
long as the government refuses to devolve power to those areas in the north and
east where Tamils and Muslims have for centuries been the majority, separatist
demands are likely to be attractive to large numbers of Tamils in Sri Lanka”,
says Paul Quinn-Judge, Crisis Group’s Acting Asia Program Director. “This would
be a recipe for continued ethnic polarisation and political volatility”.
No comments:
Post a Comment