A Northern Path To Reconciliation In Sri Lanka
By Muttukrishna Sarvananthan -November 5, 2013
Dr. Muttukrishna Sarvananthan
Northern People Humble the “People’s Dynasty”
I salute the people of the Northern Province for showing the door to the self-proclaimed “People’s Dynasty”; the only province in the country to do so, which is a glimmer of hope for re-establishment of democracy in the country. Although I am not a fan of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), I wholeheartedly welcome its landslide win in the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) electionsas a symbolic defeat of corruption, crime, cronyism, militarism, and nepotism of the Rajapaksa regime.
Avoid Triumphalism
However, it is only the beginning of a long road ahead. The TNA should not ask for the sun and the moon and squander this golden opportunity as did LTTE at every single opportunity that was offered to it during the twenty-five years from 1985 (Thimbu talks) to 2009 (end of civil war). TNA should not also follow President Rajapaksa and sweep the past, particularly of the Tamil community in pursuit of ‘liberation’, under the carpet and indulge in triumphalism as a result of the unprecedented mandate it has received from the northern people. The mandate received by the TNA in 2013 was higher than its predecessor TULF received in 1977 at the parliamentary elections. (Read The Myth of “no more minorities” by this author)
True political leadership is to be magnanimous in victory, which is what the President of Sri Lanka sorely lacked in the aftermath of the total defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 but this author presently expects from thefirst-ever Chief Minister of the Northern Province. It is such magnanimity in historic victory that will elevate the moral ground of the Tamil minority community vis-à-vis its political aspirations.
