An Independent and Interactive Tamil Community Web Site

05-04-2006

Federal system will will ensure unity in diversity

Satchi Sithananthan, Subidcham

A federal system of decentralization has many dimensions; it need not essentially be on ethnic lines only. A federal system encourages active community partnership more intensely at the grass roots than a unitary system. This is necessary for Sri Lanka hitherto dominated by the urban elite of Colombo.

If there have been active political institutions at the grass roots in Sri Lanka from the dawn of independence, then the unitary system will have some credibility. This has not happened and Sri Lanka is much poorer for it.

The elite-controlled unitary system was exploited to such an extent that the country has paid a terrible price. Junius Jayawardene was able to turn it into a vehicle of presidential dictatorship during his regime. Two constituional reforms weakened the position of the minority Tamils, the second of which was directed by the Minister of Constituional Affairs of that time who was a Trotskyite himself.

Under a unitary system, Sri Lanka hailed in the dawn of freedom with an Act of Parliament that disfranchised a large proportion of Tamils in the hill country. Then there was that infamous Sinhala Only Act. No post-independent government has had the guts to seek and honour a secular state in a country that is the home of four major religious faiths of the world.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka for centuries has been familiar with a system of three kingdoms before they were exploded by colonial conquests, firstly by the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and finally the English. We had no good reasons to inherit the British model when we have known good governmental systems that are traditional to us.

It is unfortunate that the JVP leaders with their laudable ideals on a united Sri Lanka are unable to see the federal system beyond the ethnic divide. The JVP must recognize the traditional diversity of Sri Lanka and not hark on the fact that the minority Tamils are living in great numbers outside the East and West and even beyond the borders of Sri Lanka. This situation has come about by faulty governmental policies from the colonial governments to that of the Sri Lankan.

There are a great deal of cultural factors involved in a country's diversities. There are traditional homelands with their unique systems on many fronts from agriculture to the arts. These are healthy factors that must be encouraged and developed and they create bonds of unity. It is that kind of unity a nation must seek.

The response of the JVP to Mr Ananda Sangaree of the TULF is unfortunate because it has only viewed federalism as a racial divide and not as a cultural asset and a vehicle of unity. The JVP has viewed it like typical pseudo-Marxists who fail to appreciate cultural diversities as healthy factors in creating bonds of unity and understanding.

Unfortunately, just about everything in Sri Lanka continues to be seen with the eyes of communal spectre, such being the tragic post-independent history of Sri Lanka. All that we have achieved in the process are two sets of vicious and destructive ideologies - Southern racists and Northern terrorists who are holding the country to ransom.

The JVP itself was founded on a kind of terrorism but fortunately, this cloak was cast off and it has become a good political force. But, unfortunately, it is unable to recognize the reality that it is a vital element in seeking a just solution to the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.

The JVP has to break out of the shell of the wrong concept it has about a federal solution. Despite the circumstances in which Mr Ananda Sangaree has been operating with the Tigers roaring for his blood, he has stood steadfastly with the cause of unity in the country. It is time for the JVP to accept his hands and work together to serve the wider, larger and deeper interests of Sri Lanka.

The people of the south have given a warning signal to the JVP at the recent Local Government polls and this political organization which has great potential must be able to rise above all narrow constrictions that still seem to plague it.

Over fifty years the country has suffered under a unitary system. It has failed us and the Tamils in particular have lost their confidence in it totally. So much so, is it wrong for the community to see separation as the only way out if federation is not possible?

A federal system will ensure the unity of the country; a unitary system will bring about chaos and disaster.

Source-Subidcham.com