{"id":75795,"date":"2013-03-04T05:38:51","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T05:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=75795"},"modified":"2013-03-09T00:49:09","modified_gmt":"2013-03-09T00:49:09","slug":"halal-issue-highlighted-importance-of-social-integration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/halal-issue-highlighted-importance-of-social-integration\/","title":{"rendered":"Halal Issue Highlighted Importance Of Social Integration"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jehan Perera<\/a><\/span> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jehan Perera<\/p><\/div>\n

The immediate crisis over the issue of Halal certification by the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama<\/a><\/span> has been defused with the government\u2019s appointment of a high level ministerial committee to make recommendations on how to address it.\u00a0 The appointment of a parallel committee by the UNP is also noteworthy, not only because it is the main opposition party, but also because of the totally different composition of the two committees.\u00a0 The ten member government committee includes nationalist Sinhalese politicians, some of whom have expressed strong views against the ethnic minorities.\u00a0 On the other hand, the six member UNP<\/a><\/span> committee goes to the other extreme and comprises only Muslims.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see what the two committees come up with as their responses to resolving the Halal issue that has suddenly burst into national prominence and caused intense feelings of insecurity in the Muslim community but also fed into Sinhalese fears of being a beleaguered majority in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 The government is likely to follow the recommendations of its own committee.\u00a0 However, the UNP committee\u2019s view would provide a useful indicator regarding the degree of polarization that exists between the two communities, and whether it is more acute at the political level than at the grassroots level. Explaining his party\u2019s position on the matter, UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe<\/a><\/span> said, “All Muslims do not share the same opinion on the matter. As such, the issue should not be held against the entire Muslim community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the public mobilization of the Muslim and Sinhalese communities for confrontation is not visible there continues to be an undercurrent of communal polarization that is taking place at the grassroots level.\u00a0\u00a0 Shoppers at grocery stores are looking to see what commodities have the Halal certification on them.\u00a0 Some Muslim-owned shops are seeing a decline in their business.\u00a0\u00a0 There are messages being circulated on the internet that have a strong anti Muslim<\/a><\/span> sentiment in them.\u00a0 I received such a message from a person I would normally regard as being a pillar of middle class morality and religiosity.\u00a0\u00a0 This demonstrates the constant need for those concerned with social integration in a plural society to be at work.<\/p>\n

NEGATIVE ENVIRONMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

The surfacing of the Halal<\/a><\/span> issue has given the opportunity for public discussion about what it means.\u00a0 The public discussion has been positive to the extent that it has given Muslim spokespersons an opportunity to refute misconceptions about Halal certification.\u00a0 They have been able to show that the certification process is a voluntary process taken on by businesses that wish to sell their commodities to Muslims also.\u00a0 Businesses do not have to get the Halal certificate if they do not wish to sell to the Muslim consumer.\u00a0 In fact there are many businesses that do not have the Halal certification and are doing very well.\u00a0 However, businesses that do have the Halal certification contribute to economic integration and a common market for all communities in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the surfacing of the Halal issue has also provided an occasion for people in general to discuss about the Muslim community in general in a not-so-positive way.\u00a0 There is an unfortunate tendency of human beings to speak ill of others if they are given the opportunity.\u00a0 The targets of such critical commentary can be anyone, ranging from politicians to neighbours and even to less favoured family members.\u00a0 However, in the case of most people, these critical ideas are not voiced in public but are thought about in private.\u00a0 The problem is that when the opening is given via a problem that involves them, then the critical thoughts are given outward expression.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the surfacing of the Halal issue has provided an opportunity for people in general to discuss the Muslim community and their practices in a way that generates a negative momentum.\u00a0 The fact that there are some things we do not talk about in public was brought out in a recent discussion between several professionals who were discussing the Halal issue.\u00a0 The Muslim amongst them had turned to one of his Sinhalese colleagues and asked him what his caste was.\u00a0 The discussion immediately froze.\u00a0 The Muslim person then said that there were some things we do not speak about in public, such as caste, and another is religion.<\/p>\n

MAINSTREAMING RECONCILIATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The problem is that both caste and religion are not only personal matters, but also have wider social and political dimensions to them.\u00a0 For instance, caste factors are taken into consideration by families in making traditional marriage arrangements.\u00a0 They are also considered by political parties in selecting candidates who will be appealing to different electorates.\u00a0 Caste can also be an instrument of social oppression.\u00a0 Those lower in the caste hierarchy tend to suffer from economic and educational deprivation.\u00a0 These are matters that need to be discussed so that the problems they cause people can be solved.\u00a0 They should not be discussed in a manner that will make the problem of social oppression worse.\u00a0 The same is true of religion.<\/p>\n

Despite rapid strides after the end of the war, Sri Lanka continues to be a polarised and fragmented society with cleavages at various levels including the economic, social, religious and political.\u00a0\u00a0 This has led to a lack of communication and acute mistrust between parties on different sides of the various divides.\u00a0 There is a sense of exclusion among communities, who feel they are not being included in national decision making and in enjoying the fruits of development. The government\u2019s creation of a Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration reflects a positive effort towards more conflict sensitive policy that emphasizes the need to bring all social, ethnic and religious groups into the national mainstream.<\/p>\n

The Ministry, under the leadership of Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara<\/a><\/span>, who has been long time campaigner of socially excluded populations, has come up with a social integration policy that it is trying to implement.\u00a0 A recent cartoon in a newspaper showed him riding on a rocking horse, making efforts to move but staying in the same place.\u00a0 This represents the reality and the lack of priority that has been given by those more powerful in the government to issues of national reconciliation and social integration after the war.\u00a0 But now the need of the government to prevent the Halal issue and Sinhalese-Muslim tensions from getting out of control ought to impress upon the government the need to give more attention and resources to issues of national reconciliation and social integration.<\/p>\n

GOVERNMENT\u2019S ROLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past several years, the government used the war against the LTTE<\/a><\/span> as its primary mode of unifying this Sinhalese majority behind it and obtained its vote at successive elections.\u00a0 Now with the fourth year of the end of the war approaching there may be a need for new issues to keep Sinhalese solidarity perceived by sections within the government.\u00a0\u00a0 It may not be a coincidence that the government has declared its intention to hold three provincial council elections later this year.\u00a0 It has also denied that an early presidential election will be held next year.\u00a0 Those who view the government\u2019s actions as being directed towards its political advantage would notice that the Halal issue can be used to unify the Sinhalese majority in a common cause.\u00a0 However, keeping religious sentiments on the boil without creating a conflagration is likely to be impossible.<\/p>\n

In an election time it will be difficult for political parties, including the ruling party, to be critical of the prejudices of the majority community or be seen to be taking the side of a minority community.\u00a0 However, civil society organizations that have no such stake in party political outcomes can take on the challenge of correcting misconceptions and creating more empathy between the different communities.\u00a0 Civil society organizations hope to work with government agencies in building links between the diverse communities that will create better country-wide understanding of the continuing grievances of the different communities.\u00a0 One important tool for confidence building would be the implementation of the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC<\/a><\/span>) appointed by the government.<\/p>\n

The LLRC report calls upon civil society to play an active role in addressing issues of social and national integration.\u00a0 These include the formation of inter-religious committees at the grassroots level and people-to-people exchanges.\u00a0 These are areas in which civic groups have expended considerable effort in the post-war period.\u00a0 Although government leaders have pledged to implement the LLRC recommendations, there is skepticism regarding their seriousness in this regard.\u00a0 However, civil society organisations have only a limited role to play in the remaking of the polity, and that role is to play a complementary, supplementary and catalytic role.\u00a0 The government must provide an enabling environment by improving its relations with civic groups who campaign for inter-ethnic reconciliation and social integration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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