For A Political Solution In Sri Lanka, Negotiate With Buddhist Hierarchies – OpEd
Language academies associated with linguistic purism, protectionism and prestige, accept that the Tamil language is the oldest in the world, dating back to pre-history – the second millennia BCE – Before Common Era.
Until the arrival of Prince Vijaya from India in 543 BCE, there was no archaeological evidence either concerning Buddhism or the Sinhala language, in the island of Sri Lanka. Of course, just like what happens presently in Sri Lanka, even in the good old days, Buddhism and the Sinhala language used force, laying down various foundations through their dictatorial path.
Buddhism and the Sinhala language have their roots in North India. Buddha was a Hindu from India - the Sinhala language is a compilation from Pali and Sanskrit. The Tamil language dates back to pre-history.
There is no doubt that Lord Buddha was born in 623 BC in Lumbini located in southern Nepal on the Indian border. So how can Buddhism and the Sinhala language have been in Sri Lanka long before the Tamils and their native religion Saivaism (Hinduism)?
This is the reason why one of the Buddhist orders in Sri Lanka started an international lobby, saying that that Lord Buddha was born in Sri Lanka! They met various diplomats and lobbied in the last session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Buddhists in Sri Lanka follow Theravada Buddhism, practised in Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, and Laos. In Sri Lanka, there are many Buddhist orders - Malwatte, Asgiriya, Amarapura, the Ramanjana, Amarapura Maha Nikaya, Ramanjana Nikaya and a few others led by Buddhist hierarchies.
Before the first colonisers arrived from Portugal in the present Sri Lanka, there were three Kingdoms - Jaffna Kingdom, North and East (Then North), Kotte South (South West) and Kandy in the Central highlands.
However, until the third coloniser, the British, amalgamated the three Kingdoms in 1833, all three colonisers ruled the three Kingdoms separately. The Portuguese ruled from 1505 to 1658; the Dutch from 1658 to 1796, and the British from 1796 to 4 February 1948.
During the British period in 1862, Tamils from Southern India were brought as indentured labourers to work on the tea plantations in the hill country. The native/indigenous Tamils in their homeland in the North and East are different in identity and origin to the Tamils in the hill country. I say this, because Sinhala Buddhists disseminate exaggerated propaganda saying that the Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka came to the island only during the British period.
The British, as they were leaving the island in 1948, handed power to the numerical majority, the Sinhala, with minor safe-guards for the Tamils in the "Soulbury Constitution" which remained until 1972.
Soon after the British left the island, a massive Sinhala colonisation scheme started, initially in the Eastern province. Gal Oya in Batticaloa, Allai and Kathalai in Trincomalee were colonised under the pretext of development.
On 15 November 1948, the Tamils who worked for many decades in the Tea plantations were deprived of casting their votes and selecting their own representatives to Parliament. More than a million plantation workers were rendered stateless. In 1964, under a pact with India, the Tamils in the hill country whose citizenship was denied were repatriated to India.
Communal riots
The first communal riot carried out by Sinhala Buddhists was against Muslims in June 1915. This caused heavy casualties among the Muslims. According to available records, 36 Muslims were killed, 205 injured, and raped. Nearly 85 mosques were damaged and more than 4,075 Muslim-owned shops were looted by the Sinhala rioters.
In 1956, 1958, 1977, 1980, 1981 and, in July 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms broke out in the island. Many Tamils were massacred, properties worth millions of rupees belonging to Tamils were looted and destroyed by the Sinhala Buddhist rioters. Some of those riots had the support of the governments in power.
On 10 January 1974, Sinhalese Police unleashed unprovoked attacks against those attending the prestigious "4th World Tamil Research Conference" in Jaffna, leaving nine innocent civilians dead.
In June 1981, an anti -Tamil pogrom was unleashed in Jaffna, in the North. The Jaffna Public Library was burnt down by the Sri Lankan armed forces, allegedly under the direction of two senior government ministers, Gamini Dissanayake and Cyril Matthew. 95,000 volumes of books including numerous culturally important and irreplaceable manuscripts, and the buildings were destroyed by arson. The Jaffna city market, the office of the Tamil daily newspaper "Eelanadu", the office of the political party Tamil United Liberation Front - TULF, etc were burnt down by the Sri Lankan security forces.
In July 1983, a major anti-Tamil pogrom took place all over the island. The then government in power accused the JVP, the present NPP responsible for those riots. The JVP was banned, and its members went into hiding.
During four days of riots, more than 6,000 Tamils were killed, and over 250,000 were rendered refugees. Thousands of Tamils fled the country and went to India and to Western countries. Tamils' properties worth billions of rupees were looted and destroyed by the rioters.
During the same period, 27-28 July 1983, fifty-three (53) Tamil political prisoners were massacred inside the walls of a high-security Welikadai prison in Colombo by Sinhala inmates.
During the same period, hundreds of youths from the North and East joined the Tamil militant movements, and the TULF Members of the Parliament sought asylum in India.
The JVP/NPP government has now been in power for a year. They were able to arrest and jail a former President. If they had no involvement in the July 1983 riots, why are they reluctant to prove their innocence? Either they were the culprits or they were in favour of what happened to the Tamils.
The world has seen the motives and the policies of the JVP/NPP government towards the Tamils, in their actions of demerging the North and East in 2006 and making the P-TOMS (Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure) null and void in July 2005. Locally and internationally, some are dreaming that this government will bring a political solution to the bloody ethnic conflict.
Political moves since 1957
On 14 June 1956, then Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranayke – SWRD, proclaimed the "Sinhala Only Act" making the Sinhala language the only official language of the island.
On 26 July 1957, SWRD signed an agreement known as "Banda Chelva" pact with a Tamil leader S.J.V. Chevanayagam - SJV. It was based on a federal system devolving certain powers to the Tamils in the North East provinces.
Within a week of signing the 'Banda-Chelva' pact, it was unilaterally abrogated by the Prime Minister due to vehement protests staged by the opposition United National Party - UNP, Buddhist clergy and government back-benchers. The UNP undertook a march to Kandy in protest against this pact.
On 25 September 1959, the Prime Minister SWRD, who signed the agreement with the Tamil leader SJV was assassinated by a Buddhist monk – Talduwe Somarama Thero.
When Somarama Thero was sentenced to death by the Court, he converted to Christianity. He was baptised in his cell by an Anglican priest before he was hanged in the gallows at Welikada Prison.
On 24 March 1965, an agreement known as "Dudley-Chelva" Pact was signed between Dudley Senanayake and Tamil leader S. J. V.
This agreement was also abandoned without being implemented due to opposition from the SLFP, the Buddhist clergy, and UNP backbenchers, mainly motivated by J.R. Jeyawardena.
In 1972, Sri Lanka became a Republic. In the new republican constitution, even the minor safe-guards for the Tamils in the 'Soulbury constitution' were removed and Buddhism was given foremost place in the constitution.
During the same period, the government introduced "standardisation" in Education, to prevent studious Tamil students from entering the Universities.
On 14 May 1976, the TULF was formed by the Tamil leaders. The TULF contested the Parliamentary elections of July 1977, on a mandate of establishing the 'right to Self-determination' of the Tamils in the Tamil homeland, the North and East. The TULF won overwhelmingly in the 1977 elections.
In 1979, the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) was initially passed in Sri Lanka as a temporary measure to counter the growing Tamil militancy in the North and East. Then in 1982, it was made a permanent law. This authorises the security forces to arbitrarily arrest and detain people without warrants for up to eighteen months. It violates fair trial rights, and puts detainees at risk of torture or other ill-treatment, amongst other violations. Many men and women disappeared. This PTA is still in use.
On 8 August 1983, the government enacted the 6th amendment to the constitution, rejecting the right to self-determination of the Tamil people. It outlawed the mandate voted by the people in the North and East.
In 1984, the government gave free hand to the security forces to arrest, torture and kill anyone in the North and East. Many men and women disappeared. Also, severe losses and damage to the people and to their properties were caused by artillery shell fire and aerial bombing.
From 1984 onwards, many negotiations took place under the mediation of India and Norway. Nothing brought a productive outcome for the people of the North and East.
Talks were held with Presidents - J.R.Jeyawardena, R. Premadasa, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Ranil Wickremasinge and Mahinda Rajapaksa. More than seven decades of negotiation have found no political solution to the people of the North and East. So what is lacking in the governmental negotiations?
Meanwhile, between 1984 and 2009 May, Tamils had, by an armed struggle, established a de-facto government with all infrastructures – welfare institutions, banks, judiciary including appeal court, police, etc. covering seventy percent of the territory in the North and East. The only things lacking were their own currency and UDI – a Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
In 2015, President Maithiripala Sirisena said that he became the President with the vote of the people of the North and East, and that he would find a political solution. But he did nothing, like the other leaders.
Realities to be considered
If one analyses more than seventy years of negotiations, failures, processions to Kandy against written pacts, unilateral abrogation of pacts, one sees the proof that Buddhist hierarchies in Sri Lanka are not in favour of any political settlement to the bloody ethnic conflict.
Buddha's preaching taught Buddhist monks not to have attachment to material things. But in Sri Lanka, the Buddhist leadership and clergy manipulate politics behind the scenes, advising governments in power on ethnic issues.
Now it is time for the International community to realise indisputable adamant facts and take action. Even though there are many other reasons, the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony and their opposition to a pluralistic society are the main reason for the lack of a political solution.
Unlike the Dalai Lama of Tibet or Buddhist leaders in other countries, Sri Lankan Buddhist monks/leaders support violence. Whoever rules Sri Lanka, regarding ethnic issues, they must listen to Buddhist leaders. Otherwise, their days in power are numbered. There is ample evidence of this.
In 1956 the 3rd Prime Minister, Sir John Kotelawala said in a public meeting that he would 'remove the yellow robes from the Buddhist monks and paint tar on their back side'. This statement brought an end to Kottalawala politics.
In 1959, SWRD was shot by a Buddhist monk. In hospital SWRD described his assailant as a 'foolish man in robes'.
Before the 1977 election, J R Jayewardene said that the Buddhist clergy should keep away from politics.
So far, how many communal riots, how many massacres and killings have taken place in various parts of Sri Lanka? Have any members of the Buddhist hierarchy or Buddhist orders condemned any of those incidents?
Way forward
Some of the Buddhist Monks misbehave in Sri Lanka, against Lord Buddha's teachings and preaching. They are highly involved in politics, establishing political parties, contesting in elections, participating in political rallies and voicing the worst hate speech to fuel the lay Buddhist people. Also, they booze, smoke, chew beetle, become intoxicated, drive vehicle, steal, lie, behave with sexual misconduct and kill.
The facts above, clearly indicate that any political solution for the Tamils in their homeland, the North and East, is in the hands of the Buddhist hierarchies. It's sad to note that, so far, not a single Tamil leader has spoken of this practical reality.
Firstly, whoever wants a peaceful political settlement in Sri Lanka should approach all three colonisers. The Tamil diaspora in the United Kingdom should reach the UK government, and the Tamils in Europe should reach Portugal and the Netherlands. This is to motivate them to come out with a statement that during their period in the present Sri Lanka, there were three Kingdoms in existence separately. The UK should also say it was they who amalgamated all three Kingdoms in 1883.
Secondly, Tamils in Norway, should ask Norway to issue a statement that when the ceasefire agreement was signed between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - LTTE in 2002, there was a de-facto government with all infrastructures, and it covered more than two-thirds of the North and East.
With all this evidence and with the help of other Buddhists in Theravara countries - Thailand,Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, Laos - those who are for a peaceful political settlement in Sri Lanka should approach the Buddhist orders in Sri Lanka.
Any meaningful negotiation should take place with them, because they are the stumbling block to every peaceful solution to the Tamils in the North and East.
If bad comes to worse, Tamils will be forced to seek solutions through the United Nations – either through 'Non-Self-Governing Territories', or the 'Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues'. There are reasons why the Tamils haven't made any attempts through these paths in the past.