PKL. Saturday, 26th Aug.2006. The argument that Professor Udyongkar makes about the yawning gap between Singhalese Buddhist majority's perception of quest of Tamil separatism and their willingness to give them provincial autonomy within SriLankan state from Tamil 's violent assertion of Maximal autonomy amounting for a distinct nation-state in North-east is not easily reconcilable.Particularly, after continued war and violence dominating over last several decades.Muslim identity in southern districts is further twist. Rajiv Gandhi and Indian Army have been fooled into losing even goodwill of both Tamil and Singhalese masses by untimely intervention on entreaties of President Jayvardhane and Premdasas in late eighties, leading to murder of untimely killing of young Rajiv at Sriprimbadur in 1991 by the sucicide killer is the sombre reminder of risks of a hasty interference by Indians in the regional civil-wars based on belligerent ethnicities.India should try to keep of of such adventure for the present.D. Goel
First of all Srilanka must understand that the conflict cannot go forever. Military solution is not the only solution.Srilankan politicians and the LTTE should come to the negotiating table. Bhuddists of Srilanka must be Bhuddists in the real sense. They should keep out of politics. Srilankan politicians should shed their slough of adamant behaviour. Unless and until Srilankan administration understands its adamant behaviour India cannot suggest anything. Does Srilankan govt want to lose precious lives in the future too? On both sides? In history there is no precedence that adamant behaviour in the ruler had everlasting reign.The govt should think of peace by negotiated settlement and not in military soution.Srilanka has forgotten the service done by Tamils to the nation and is still failing to acknowledge it.
My best advise is to keep off ,our experience with IPKF has been a disaster .India should stop supporting tamil seperatists ,are we not doing what Pakistan is doing to us in Kashmir and we blame the ISI .Our media is espousing the cause by even reporting about it ,I think it is biased . Srilankan should introspect what they are doing if they are harassing the tamils ,that is in being described by the media ,that should stop or the game goes on for ever
I read with interest Prof Uyangoda's interview with the Chief Editor. Having been a contributing correspondent to the Sri Lanka Sunday Observer and still being a Sri Lankan interested in a peaceful outcome to the conflict in the country, I feel that Prof Uyangoda's prescription is not the answer to solving the conflict. I say this for two reasons,1 Due to the very reasons ascribed by Prof Uyangoda, the paths of the Sinhalese and the LTTE will never meet, and if they are forced to meet by external influence, it will only be the begining of another problem 2 Asymmetrical devolution in the North and the East as a way to share power and provide an opportunity for equality and self determination does not tell us what happens, and what rights Tamils in the rest of the country, primarily in the Western and Central provinces will have compared to a devolved unit in the North and the East. Besides, leaving in droves to the North and the East, Tamils in the Western and Central provinces will have to either live as second class citizens (if they continue to feel discriminated) or they will have to continue to battle politically and who knows, militarily to win their demands.
Prof.Uyangoda's interview is a very insightful one. It has both the answers and the insurmountable hurdles preventing an acceptable solution. But it is also incomplete in some ways.
The interview does not touch on the sham democracy at the national level.It does not present the racist and theocratic nature of the state institutionalised under a unilateralist Sinhala Buddhist constitution which peramanently rankles the Tamils.
Above all, it does not touch on the mounting gross HR violations and crimes against humanity due to a denial of even basic criminal justice and the rule of lawlessness by an ethnic military and police. UNless and until these gross crimes are investigated and adjudicated upon by an international Special War Crimes Tribunal under international humanitarian law there is unlikely to be any peace, even temperory peace. On this is also likely to depend an acceptable political arrangement which guarantees security to life and limb of Tamils.
The politicians from the south in league with fundamentalist religious buddhist priests and other extremists like the JVP find it an easy option to climb to power by perpetuating racism and religionism. This is vicious
