An Indian Or Sri Lankan Ethnic Problem?

By Izeth Hussain -December 28, 2013 |

Izeth Hussain

To solve a problem we must address that problem, not something else, and we must also understand that problem in all its dimensions. In this article I pose the question whether our Tamil ethnic problem is an Indian problem or a Sri Lankan one. Obviously it is a Sri Lankan problem and it will be perverse to deny that. But it will also be perverse to deny that it is at the same time an Indian problem, because no Government in Delhi will be able to ignore the fall-out in Tamil Nadu of what happens to the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Furthermore – I will argue – our ethnic problem will be a minor local affair, hardly a problem at all, with no international resonance whatever, if not for the Indian dimension of the problem. In that sense, our Tamil ethnic problem is more an Indian than a Sri Lankan one.

I have been motivated to write this article by statements made by President Rajapakse when he addressed Parliament in the course of the recent Budget debate. Those statements indicate that the Indian dimension of our ethnic problem is not fully comprehended by our Government. He invited Sampanthan and Wigneswaran to join hands with him for peace and national reconciliation: “All communities must come together … It is time we showed commitment to national reconciliation”. To that Sampanthan responded later that the TNA was ready for talks, but the Government must reciprocate with a “credible response”. He referred to earlier invitation to talks to which the TNA had responded by setting forth proposals for a political solution, but the Government had failed to make any response. He pointed out that meetings had been scheduled for 17, 18, and 19 January, 2012, for discussions on issues relating to the Parliamentary Select Committee, but the meetings had not taken place then or afterwards. The Government, he charged, not the TNA was solely responsible for keeping away from talks.

The President’s recent statement amounts – at least for the most part – to not much more than rhetoric which we cannot be expected to take quite seriously. But the following is of a different order: “Rather than look for a solution from another nation we can find our own solution which we can be proud of and present our example to others”. Here he is referring to the famous “home-grown solution” which has grown dreary through repetition, and which too cannot be taken too seriously. But he definitely breaks new ground with the following phrase: “Rather than look for a solution from another nation …”. He is of course referring to India, and he is proposing that we find a political solution leaving India out of our calculations altogether.Read More