Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond

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two goals. 1.) Get the international community to lull the LTTE toengage in fruitless peace talks, and thereby 2.) Give the Presidenttime to prepare his armed forces and his constituents for war.Majority domination of minoritiesThe Sinhalese love to talk of satisfying the aspirations of allcommunities when seeking a solution to the ethnic tensions thatdivide this nation, when in fact all they are concerned with isfulfilling their own wishes of remaining the ruling power overevery other community in every part of the island. They haveconsistently chosen to deny the very simple fact that the Tamilsare indisputably the regional majority in the NE, despite theunforgivable Sinhalese effort to change the demography of theregion through colonisation. They cannot bring themselvesto frankly recognise that their irrevocable objective is to keepus Tamils and other ethnic entities under their control, whileours has been to free ourselves from that menace. How can onereconcile such utterly inconsistent policies?As stated before, the Sinhalese press suggest that Rajapakseshould talk of a united country instead of a Unitary Constitution.This will no doubt appease the international community,who keep mouthing the formula that separation is out of thequestion. Unfortunately, they fail to realise that a United Nationor a Unitary Constitution boil down to the same thing, namely,uncontrolled Sinhalese control of the fate and future of the Tamilsand others.Devolution vs. autonomyMr Rajapakse made that clear by implication when he said thatthe most he was willing to grant by way of surrendering even asemblance of power to the Tamils under the concept of a “UnitedNation” is to adopt the policy of “Devolution of Power.” As pointedout by Chief Justice Sharwananda in the XIII Amendment case,Devolution was Constitutional under the Unitary Constitution,as it enabled the Central Parliament to withdraw whatever theydevolve to anyone at any time. What type of surrender of powersis that?8
In short, Rajapakse’s conception of a Unitary Constitution and aUnited Nation are synonymous with each other. The question theinternational community should ask these Sinhalese journalistsand leaders is this: What is your concept of a united country?Does it mean the opportunity for the Sinhalese to continue tocontrol, and limit the ambitions, hopes and expectations of theTamil youth? Or does it envisage granting to the North Eastsufficient autonomy to avert such repression while the NorthEast. remains part of the same nation?To the Sinhalese, the proposals in the Interim Self Governingauthority (ISGA) demanded too much autonomy. What does thatsignify? An obvious determination not to release the Sinhalesehold over the Tamils? Whether it be under the guise of whatis described as a United Nation or what can be described as aUnitary Constitution, the end result is identical, to deny theTamils any right to determine their own rights and obligations.Sinhalese journalists hope for a tangible improvement in race relationsby maintaining the right of the Sinhalese to retain Sinhalese supremacy,which has been the evil that sparked the crisis in the first place. Theyrefuse to recognise that the Tamils have every reason to seek autonomybased on the hideous history of Sinhalese discrimination that hasdominated this nation since the Sinhalese obtained Independence fromthe British in 1948.Multi-ethnic vs. majority-dominated polityThe Unitary Constitution made this a Sinhalese dominated nationinstead of a multi ethnic one. Unfortunately, the Sinhalese usedtheir majority in the single parliament to illegally abolish thecrucial entrenched protections the British provided for the otherethnic groups on the island.The whole focus on “Federalism” is farcical, for, as Mr H.L. deSilva ((Sinhala Nationalist) has vividly pointed out, Federalismcan only succeed if the parties trust each other. It should beobvious to anyone, judging from statements from both sides, thatneither side trusts the other.9
Page 7 and 8: ContentsIntroduction ..............
Page 9 and 10: IntroductionThe prospects for peace
Page 17 and 18: that I haven’t voted in the elect
Page 19: Is Peace Feasible?- Wakeley Paul[Wa
Page 23 and 24: their leader should be? Obviously n
Page 25 and 26: The Vaddukodai resolutionIf there i
Page 27 and 28: due to the depopulation of vast are
Page 29 and 30: east because the Muslims reacted to
Page 31 and 32: usually tends to be obfuscated in d
Page 33 and 34: consider federal structures based o
Page 35 and 36: The official languageThe question o
Page 37 and 38: the LTTE-led Tamil National Movemen
Page 39 and 40: the LTTE to deliver humanitarian ai
Page 41 and 42: to power sharing. This behaviour, t
Page 43 and 44: political stand of the overwhelming
Page 45 and 46: Sudan’s Interim Power-sharing and
Page 47 and 48: of Norway and with the support of t
Page 49 and 50: inception of the CFA, they laid out
Page 51 and 52: determination, many analysts and co
Page 53 and 54: The peace talks were mediated by th
Page 55 and 56: Sri Lanka and Tamil Eelam: The Part
Page 57 and 58: e trusted on a permanent basis. The
Page 59 and 60: their times and climes but their vo
Page 61 and 62: 4. Consequently the feeling of a mi
Page 63 and 64: The Armed StruggleIn the arena of c
Page 65 and 66: aircraft, the world has chosen to l
Page 67 and 68: Former President Bill Clinton, who
Page 69 and 70: epresentative, was “review of the
Page 71 and 72:
says: “The governments of India a
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