That is where a political solution comes into place if the hard earned military gains are not to be viewed as forcing the will of the victor on the vanquished. But, the Rajapaksa administration could still show to the rest of the world, that it also cares for its own citizens, though the collateral damages of its military campaign were disturbingly high- - perhaps because it was forced to match the ruthlessness of the enemy it confronted. By spearheading a political solution, the Rajapaksa administration could show to the rest of the world, that a 60-year-old democracy, no matter how flawed it is, had not destroyed all its social fabric in order to emerge victory in its fight against a monstrous terrorist group.

It could showcase to the rest of the liberal democracies that it does not seek political legitimacy through the barrel of the gun alone like most of its new found friends like Burma and Iran would do.

Therefore, a generous political solution, even before it addresses the grievances of the Tamils and of course, the Muslims, would redeem our name and re-establish us as a respected member of the international community.

That is why the ongoing campaign against the 13th amendment, executed largely by an articulate microscopic minority is counter-productive and self-destructive, not only to the Sri Lankan state as a whole, but also to the very Sinhala Buddhist identity promoted by the ultra-nationalist campaign itself . Identity politics has ruined this island nation which held so many promises at its independence to a socio-economic backwater, if not a basket case.

Compelled to fight

For three decades, we were compelled to fight an ethnic insurgency born out of perceived ethnic discrimination and paid the war machinery from the hard earned money remitted by our women toiling in the abusive Middle Eastern households. The majority of Sri Lankans of all ethnic communities are victims of this identity based populist political scheming, which produced only frustration, disenchantment with the state and a long line of political and economic refugees fleeing the country.

The unfolding ultra-nationalist campaign is the present day torch bearers of this self-destructive ideology, which has no coherence, but a heavy doze of racial prejudice.

Their success against the 13th amendment could only vindicate the Eelam lobbyists who argued in defence of the brutal separatist insurgency waged by the LTTE, the essence of whose defence was that the Sinhala Buddhist state would not grant rights to the Tamils on a platter and that the Tamil militancy is a byproduct of the indifference of the hegemonic state to the decades of peaceful campaigning by the moderate Tamil political leadership.

True that those claims need clarification--Tamil militancy is more of an Indian enterprises than that of locals--without generous Indian assistance in the form of arms and training carried out in a several dozen of camps in Tamil Nadu, none of the Tamil militant groups of the early 80s could not have passed the initial stage of the guerrilla warfare, i.e., the stage of recruitment and organization. As the theory goes, a guerrilla movement which passed though the second stage - strategic defence-- is harder to overcome and would expand as we have experienced in the rise of the LTTE.

But the fact that the Sri Lankan state had for decades been reluctant to address even some of the most obvious grievances of its minority communities cannot easily be ruled out. They range from the disenfranchisement of the Indian Tamils in the immediate aftermath of the Independence to the broken pledges of the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam and Dudly-Chelvanayagam pacts to the forced eviction of Tamil lodgers to the North-East.

Sensitive to the minority

True that some of the deep-rooted grievances of Tamils- such as language rights- were addressed, at least on paper through the 13th amendment passed under an Indian initiative. Equally, true that subsequent governments since then had been sensitive to the minority concerns, however, the worsening military conflict and the maximalist enemy in the name of the LTTE overshadowed any subsequent efforts to win over the minority communities, especially the Tamils. However, tables have turned since then. The militant LTTE is annihilated.

Now the onus is on the Rajapaksa administration to prove that it cares about all its people-- Sometime back, a lead article of the Economist magazine, of which recent edition was seized by the Sri Lanka customs challenged the Sri Lankan government to prove that it was not an elected dictatorship. It is a challenge that many people in this country want their elected government to meet.

Should a minority of bigots, whether in the name of Champika Ranawaka or Wimal Weerawansa be allowed to hijack the future of this country as did a previous generation of their ilk did through a series of militant street protests since 1956, driving this country in a ruinous path.

One could only pray that history would not repeat - but unfortunately, as our recent past indicates, our prayers had not been heeded.

COURTESY:LAKBIMA NEWS