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Sri Lanka - The unitary and federal controversy

The United States' top intelligence agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) says that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the most dangerous and deadly extremist organization in the world. The official website of FBI in its tops story said that LTTE is far more dangerous terrorists outfit than al Queda, Hezbullah or even HAMAS. Read more...

The unitary and federal controversy

By Lt Col Anil Amarasekera 5^th February 2009

This country has a written history found in the Mahavamsa, Deepavamsa and Chulavamsa that is perhaps one of the oldest in the world dating back to over 2500 years. This written history commences with the advent of Prince Vijaya from India. Prior to the commencement of written history there is legendary belief of a Manu, Tharaka and Mahabali civilizations followed by the Ravana civilization. More information in this regard is claimed to have existed in Helaatuwa and Atthakatha that can no longer be found. According to available written history this country was first known as Heladiva or Sivuhela (Sivu meaning four) as it was inhabited by four tribes or groups of people known as Devas, Nagas, Yakshas and Rakshas.

While Prince Vijaya himself an invader from India was able to establish a kingdom of his own in this country (483 to 445 BC) it was not until the reign of Pandukabaya (394 to 307 BC) that the country was brought under one flag and could have been truly called unitary. Though this country has retained its unitary character for a considerable length of time during the span of 2000 years ,� there have been invasions from time to time and kingdoms established for short periods in parts of this country disrupting the unitary nature. However ancient Sinhalese kings and their subjects were able to defeat these invaders convincingly to reestablish the unity and territorial integrity of our nation for posterity. This they did sacrificing their blood, sweat, tears, toil and sometimes even their very life and limb.

Therefore it was not a new exercise for the President and the people of this country to defeat LTTE terrorism which could be even identified as a hidden invasion to take hold of the North and East of this country to establish a bridgehead called Tamil Eelam and then to extend this hold to the remaining parts of our country to make the whole nation into the state of Eelam. While the indigenous people of this country who are the Sinhalese have welcome migrant populations and allowed them to integrate with the Sinhala society, they have never allowed their heritage and culture to be destroyed by such invasions. When they were threatened in this regard, they have always rallied round their leadership to defeat such efforts and it is a similar effort that is currently in progress.

During the last Presidential Election one of the main promises in the election manifesto of Mahinda Rajapakse was to protect the unitary nature of our country. Majority of the people voted him to power and not his opponent Ranil Wickremasinghe who was inclined towards a federal solution to the LTTE problem.� The desire of the majority to see this country remaining a unitary state through the defeat of the LTTE is evident to all but the blind if one were to travel the length and breadth of this country today. It is indeed difficult if not impossible to find a house, a building or for that matter a vehicle that is not flying a national flag to support the President and the Security Forces in their effort to protect a unitary state for posterity.

The LTTE did have many supporters for their abortive effort to divide our country but they were the INGOS, the NGOS and individuals living on dole outs coming from vested interests and not from the majority of people living in this country. Therefore it would be prudent for the President to remember who voted him into power and who will do so for his second term in office and to hounour the pledge he gave to the people to protect and preserve a unitary state, without yielding to pressure that may be brought to bear on him by foreign countries and vested interests for a political solution that would usher in federalism.

It is obvious to any intelligent person that the very same INGOS, NGOS and individuals influenced by foreign countries and vested interests that were supporting the LTTE in its effort to divide this country through a war of attrition are now supporting a political solution through the introduction of federalism. They are leaving no stone unturned to persuade the All Party Representatives Conference to present a federal solution to a nation that has given a mandate to its elected President to protect a unitary state. Those who were unable to enter the house through the front door are now trying to do so through the back door for federalism is only a stepping stone to division following the doctrine of Mr. S.J.V.Chelvanayakam Q.C., M.P. who knew that a separate country could not be achieved in a single leap and therefore advocated the policy of �A little now and More later.�

Even the 13 Amendment to the constitution that was forced upon us together with the merger of the North and the East amounts to the same policy of Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayakam of taking little now and asking for more later. While the temporary merger of the North and the East was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, it is not so with regard to the 13^th Amendment, which is constitutionally valid. However those who want this amendment implemented do not realize that the powers vested in the provincial council can and will make life difficult if not impossible for the Sinhalese living in the North and the East. Appointment of doctors, distribution of water for agriculture, alienation of state land, appointment of Police Officers to Police Stations and teachers to schools and many other important administrative functions, which are now handled by the central government, will be devolved to the provincial councils under the 13^th Amendment.

A provincial council in the North or East that intends to ethnically cleanse the province of Sinhalese villages would have only to ensure some or even one of the following failures to induce a mass exodus of Sinhalese people to other parts of the country. Namely not providing adequate doctors to the hospitals serving Sinhalese villages, not maintaining irrigation canals which provide water to these villages, not alienating state land for village expansion, not entertaining complaints made by Sinhalese at Police Stations, not appointing teachers to Sinhalese village schools etc, etc.

Therefore the practical implications of implementing the 13th Amendment in a province where Sinhalese are a minority will never be understood by theorists and politicians who formulate such legislation seated in air condition buildings in Colombo. It is only by living and talking to people at grassroots level living in the villages that will be affected that one is able to understand the adverse implication that will accrue to these Sinhalese villages in the northern and eastern provinces by fully implementing the 13th Amendment.

The unitary nature of our state has withstood the test of time until challenged by separatist terrorists. Therefore those who formulate political solutions to the problem in this country or attempt to succeed in conflict resolution must evolve in the long-term just and fair solutions accepted internationally for implementation, without which post conflict reconstruction would be similar to building sand castles on the beach, since they get washed out to sea at high tide. Like in most countries here too the cause of the conflict is territorial ambition and as such it is necessary for the international community that includes the UN agencies to evaluate the claim for the disputed territory by both parties in a just and fair manner, giving due consideration to all relevant facts.

In this context the word ILAM (Eelam), today, comes into much prominence. It is, apparently, being used to connote the impression of �a land of the Tamils�. Indeed, the Tamil word ILAM was never before used in that sense. On the contrary, this Tamil word ILAM did not refer to Tamil land but to the �Land of the Sinhala people�. None other establishes this than the Tamil lexicon published under the authority of the highest seat of Tamil learning- the University of Madras. Page 328 of this Tamil lexicon has the following entry: ILAM, n< Pali, Sinhala, 1. Ceylon. What it says is that ILAM means the land of the Sinhala people. The Tamil word given as the meaning of ILAM reads �SINHALUM�. The term ILA in Tamil means �SINHALA�, having its origin in the word HELA, by which term the ancient people of LANKA were known. Thus ILAKKACHU in Tamil means �Sinhala Coins�- ILA means Sinhala, Kachchu means Coins. Similarly, since NADU means LAND, ILANADU means the Sinhala land. According to the said lexicon the word ILANADU was derived from ILAM. The foregoing establishes the fact that the word ILAM (Eelam) never referred to any Tamil land but always signified the Sinhala land. Therefore if one were to ask for ILAM (Eelam), what is being asked for is the traditional homeland of the Sinhala people.

�Taking these facts into consideration let us not endeavour to solve the current problem in this country by changing a Unitary Constitution to a Federal Constitution. Instead let us strengthen the unitary nature of our nation, more so when one considers the second Article in Chapter one of our Constitution wherein it is said that �The Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State.� Also if the will of the people for the protection of a Unitary State as expressed at the last Presidential election is to be honoured, due consideration has to be given to article three in the first Chapter of the Constitution that says, �In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in the People and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the power of government, fundamental rights and franchise.�� Therefore, the President should inform those who advocate federalism as a political solution that the mandate he has received from the people of his country is to protect a Unitary State and not to change the Constitution to provide for a Federal State.

Are we serious about a solution based on Indo-Lanka Accord ?

Read more about the 13th Amendment

Friday, 06 February 2009

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What is really happening in Sri Lanka today is that a blood thirsty racist group led by some misled Tamils called LTTE is terrorizing against the Government of Sri Lanka and its people irrespective of their ethnicity with an intention of carving out a separate state. There is no conflict as such between Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Sri Lanka. In fact, the majority of the Tamil community lives in peace and harmony among the Sinhalese population through out the country apart from the Northern part of Sri Lanka. The entire Sinhalese and the Muslims population who lived in the Northern area for centuries were either killed or chased away completely by the LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorists. At the moment, not a single Sinhalese or Muslim is living in Jaffna, but, many thousands of Tamils are living in Colombo in peace with the other communities. Based on 2001 census, the Tamil population in Colombo district is 12.1% (see 2001 census). So, who is discriminated ? Tamils or Sinhalese? Do you need more evidence ?

Caution: Images shown on this web site exposing LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorist atrocities maybe disturbing for some users. Please proceed at your own discretion.