By Jehan Perera –

Jehan Perera

The dates May 18-19 highlight a continuing divide in the country with few willing to look at the losses on the other side though they were all Sri Lankans. These two days in particular surface the uncomfortable truth that the country’s people have different memories, including the manner in which the three decade long war ended. The Tamil people have commemorated May 18 as the day on which many of them, including LTTE members, were killed and the war was lost. This year there were commemorations in different parts of the country, including in Colombo. It was not only Tamils who commemorated their loved ones on May 18. Sinhalese did so too at ceremonies they organized. They were all sorrowful occasions.

The government commemorated May 19 at the War Heroes Memorial near Parliament, remembering both the victory that was won and the members of the security forces who were killed with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in attendance. The president emphasized the costs of war and price paid by people. He pointed out “Not only in the South, but also in the North, people hold up photographs of their husbands and children on the streets and mourn their deaths. To every parent, their child is precious. So, as a country that has faced such a massive tragedy, our responsibility today is to prevent such a war from happening again in our country.”

Both the Tamil people within the country and in the diaspora, along with the Western international community believe that large scale human rights violations and war crimes took place on those days. The government would be concerned at the decline in support it received from the voters in the north and east and not wish to add to that decline. The election results indicate that translating electoral support into governance requires more than symbolic gestures such as attending or not attending a commemoration event. The fact that Tamil people felt they could attend the memorial events in large numbers is evidence that the country is changing in the direction of reconciliation. State institutions too have cooperated in this process in creating a conducive climate for memorialisation.

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka wrote to the Inspector General of Police requesting him to instruct all policemen to permit the May 18 commemorations to take place undisturbed. They pointed out that on past occasions, even when the government gave permission for the May 18 commemorations the security forces arrested people citing violations of the law. In its missive to the police, the Human Rights Commission stated that it “is of the view that peaceful acts of commemoration and the distribution of food items cannot be considered forms of incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence, and are protected under the right to the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under article 14(1)(a) of the Sri Lankan Constitution”. This time around the police appeared to have followed this instruction in the spirit it was meant.

Early Warning

There are indications that the government is rethinking its approach towards the dissatisfied ethnic and religious minorities. The results of the recent local government elections in Sri Lanka’s north and east are an early warning of minority discontent with the government that it cannot afford to dismiss. In a country that has experienced deep ethnic fault lines, the success of Tamil and Muslim parties in these areas is a signal that minority communities are not convinced the government is prioritising their concerns. These electoral outcomes have revealed what lies beneath the surface: a persistence of unaddressed grievances and distinct aspirations that have not been adequately engaged by the NPP government. If the government is to maintain the legitimacy of its reform agenda and translate electoral gains into lasting stability, it must find answers to these problems of the minorities sooner rather than later.

The minorities of the north and east share common ground with communities in the rest of the country including the ethnic Sinhalese majority. These include poverty, lack of development, inadequate access to economic resources, and frustration with entrenched corruption. However, the ethnic and religious minorities also carry burdens specific to their historical and political context, problems the ethnic majority does not face. These include the military occupation of civilian lands, unresolved cases of missing persons, prolonged detentions without charge or trial under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), and a long-standing demand for regional self-rule.

In the face of these long continuing problems, taking the position that all people are equal and will be treated equally, as frequently stated by government leaders would be inadequate in itself. The persistence of these issues has deepened distrust, and the government’s cautious, often opaque, approach has done little to reassure affected communities. The NPP’s emphasis on equity in development and equal rights resonates in theory, but its real test lies in addressing the unique challenges that minority communities face. Repealing the PTA must be at the top of the list. Its repeal would be a powerful gesture of goodwill and an important policy shift that minorities (and international community) would take seriously.

The repeal of the PTA would also lead to release of many prisoners who have been incarcerated under this draconian law, first brought into the statute books in 1979 as a temporary measure for only six months but which has legitimised prolonged detention for over four decades under different governments. It also allows confessions obtained by security forces to be admissible in court though courts have also rejected these confessions or been careful in admitting them as evidence. Its continued existence is incompatible with the government’s commitment to human rights and democracy. It is another cause of grievance to the Tamil people. An NPP-led repeal of the PTA would mark a major shift toward democratic reform and human rights, aligning Sri Lanka with global norms and advancing lasting peace and reconciliation.

Potent Appeals

The release of land under military occupation would be another priority. The Jaffna District Secretary has confirmed that notwithstanding repeated assurances from successive governments, more than 2,500 acres of Tamil-owned land in Jaffna remain occupied by Sri Lanka’s military, navy, air force, and police, nearly 16 years after the end of the armed conflict. The return of these lands is not only a matter of justice but also of practical importance to displaced families seeking to rebuild their lives. The government has both the authority and the opportunity to address this without delay. It is unfortunate that on the contrary the government has published a notice that lands unclaimed in the north will be taken over by the government unless claimed in three months. The three month time frame is very short, giving rise to surmise as to why this is and whether it is another land grab by the state, as those lands have been inaccessible to the people for decades, and some have left the country and others are no longer amongst the living.

Provincial council elections are similarly a priority and need to be held without further delay. One of the shortcomings of the present government has been the lack of minority voices in national policy-making and key appointments. Elected provincial councils can make up for this void especially if the central government enters into engagements with them as partners rather than as rivals. The repeated deferral of these elections, now overdue for more than six years, has undermined the promise of devolution, and thereby the sharing of power, and stoked resentment.

The 13th Amendment, which remains the constitutional basis for power-sharing, cannot be meaningfully implemented without functioning provincial councils. The government must ensure that these elections are held without delay, and that steps are taken to revitalise and empower provincial governance structures. It needs to fully implement the 13th Amendment, which means devolving police and land powers, instead of undermining adherence to the constitution by not implementing a part of it at its discretion as successive governments have done.

So far it appears that the government’s strategy is one which envisions a national policy on reconciliation being drafted afresh before being debated in Parliament with the aim of consensual endorsement. It reflects a desire to move forward under the guidance of expert committees which will take a considerable amount of time. But the minority communities have waited many years for answers. They have no faith in lengthy deliberations such as All Party Conferences and Commissions of Inquiry that drag on for years and end up in file cupboards. The government needs to use the 2/3 parliamentary majority it has in parliament, given by the people, including those in the north and east, and act today to ensure national reconciliation.