Peace-Making In Sri Lanka: Challenges, Aspirations & The Future
Dr Imtiyaz Razak
Winning peace after war in deeply divided societies is daunting. It is daunting, because such peace-seeking efforts deal with the forces attached to the war and conflict, and thus their need to be genuine compromise at elite level to seek political settlements. For this reason, it is better to seek peace without engaging war and violence. But when war was fought and casualties were recorded with blood and pains, the path to peace is daunting.
Competing Goals
This week, the regime in Colombo announced it would open a forum to receive submission from the public for the new constitution. To win peace, dominant part or parties in the conflict should have willingness for accommodation and compromise. In other words, winning truest is key to begin a process for peace. Sri Lanka experiences suggest that the Tamil Tigers, who were forced to silence their guns in 2009 wanted partition. Though the Tamil Tigers were resolutely defeated, the aspirations they shared still have a greater political influence. The major political goal of Tamil nationalism was separation. On the other hand, the key goal of the Sinhala nationalism was and is to consolidate unitary state structure. In between the Tamils and the Sinhalese are the Muslims who form their identity based on their faith. Muslim political elites would seek political accommodation that would not radically challenge the aspirations of the Sinhalese who are the majority in the island of Sri Lanka.
There is a belief that a democratic system will liberate masses from the burden of ethnic, religious, and gender discrimination. But experiences from Sri Lanka would contradict such an understanding. Sri Lankan experiences suggest that a highly competitive electoral system, due to politicians’ desire to win power at any cost, helped increase religious and ethnic tensions and hostility among different groups. Also, Sri Lanka’s experience suggests that the opening-up of political modernity in the absence of economic democracy has created destructive religious and ethnic forces that are able to manipulate sensitive emotions for political gain, and thus pave the way for instability. However, the future offers three formulas to gain stability and progress, and to strengthen democracy.
