Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond
Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond
Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond
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to power shar<strong>in</strong>g. This behaviour, together with what they hadexperienced of the S<strong>in</strong>hala political leadership over the last fivedecades had conv<strong>in</strong>ced the <strong>Tamil</strong> people that there was little todist<strong>in</strong>guish between the Presidential contenders. As far as the<strong>Tamil</strong>s were concerned Wickramas<strong>in</strong>ghe and Rajapakse weresimply two different sides of the same S<strong>in</strong>hala chauv<strong>in</strong>istic co<strong>in</strong>.The <strong>Tamil</strong> people’s collective decision to refra<strong>in</strong> from vot<strong>in</strong>g wasbased on this assessment.It is vital that the <strong>in</strong>ternational community which seeks to helpforge an endur<strong>in</strong>g peace does not cont<strong>in</strong>ue to delude itself byregard<strong>in</strong>g those with a veneer of western sophistication or liberalpretensions to be less chauv<strong>in</strong>istic than those who are openlyso.In times of crisis the façade always cracks and the chauv<strong>in</strong>ismstands exposed. The most recent example was the outburst byDr Dhanapala a seasoned diplomat and Secretary General of thePeace Secretariat <strong>in</strong> Colombo who launched vituperative attackson the LTTE and the <strong>Tamil</strong> people <strong>in</strong> the course of his addressesto audiences <strong>in</strong> Wash<strong>in</strong>gton. As this writer put it “Dhanapala’sunbecom<strong>in</strong>g conduct ought to be an eye opener to those whosubscribe to the notion that S<strong>in</strong>hala chauv<strong>in</strong>ism is simply conf<strong>in</strong>edto the JVP and the ‘patriotic’ parties. The extent to which thischauv<strong>in</strong>ism has permeated S<strong>in</strong>hala polity comes to the fore attimes of crisis. This is when the likes of Dhanapala, despite theirveneer of sophistication become undone” 7India, the regional powerIt is only natural that India, the regional power, should havean abid<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> the manner <strong>in</strong> which the conflict <strong>in</strong> theIsland of <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> is resolved. It is unfortunate, however, thatIndian policy makers have persisted with the policy that was set<strong>in</strong> motion almost two decades ago when <strong>in</strong> a misguided attemptto reverse its earlier policy of arm<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Tamil</strong>s, India <strong>in</strong>tervened toprotect the ‘unity and <strong>in</strong>tegrity of <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>’.29