The Pluses And Minuses Of The 13th Amendment
By Malinda Seneviratne -July 21, 2013
Malinda Seneviratne
Thirteen. Thirteen Plus. Thirteen Minus. That’s the talk in the politico-ideological streets. It is almost like a rudimentary arithmetic problem. In July 1987 Sri Lanka may have been plus or minus or average compared to other members in the community of nations. Wherever the country may have stood, it was dragged in the negative direction by the Indo-Lanka Accord.
Did the Indo-Lanka Accord deliver on ‘peace’? No. Did India, as it pledged, subdue all military groups including the LTTE? No. Indeed, India in effect reneged on the deal more than twenty years ago.
A bloody conflict that was about to be ended, was given a lease of life. It lived on for 22 years more. Took 100,000 lives or more. The Accord precipitated a bloody insurrection that took 60,000 lives. If even 1% of the dead were ‘smart’, we are talking about a monumental loss of invaluable human resources. That’s the genesis of the HR crisis Sri Lanka faces right now. All in the minus column.
Sovereignty. India inserted clauses to subvert Sri Lanka’s right to commerce with other nations on matters of security. The accord sought to concretize random boundary lines in terms of a homeland claim that has no basis in terms of history, archaeological record or demography, effectively helping turn myth into fact. Drop that in the minus column.
Legality. The bill was presented in part to Parliament. A 9-member bench of the Supreme Court could not conclude on constitutionality. They were divided 4-4. It took a Chief Justice (who happened to be a Tamil) to interpret the opinion of the 9th member in favor of ‘constitutional’. The Provincial Council bill was passed immediately after the Indo-Lanka Accord was passed, as though father and son were birthed together. Minus that! Read More
