As
the minutes roll by, the intransigence of the vast majority of the Sinhalese
on the Tamil Problem is getting stronger or worse. Indeed, in some quarters,
and surprisingly at the higher echelons of society, one could perceive,
today, a marked and naked hatred of the Tamils displayed by the Sinhalese.
Intransigence of the Sinhalese is not of recent origin. I would say that
it has been there for the last 75 years and perhaps was the cause of the
rise of the Tamil Problem. This must be clearly understood by the
international community, if they are to play some part in helping to sort
the crisis in Sri Lanka. And, it is this same intransigence of the Sinhalese
that is preventing "Peace with Justice" in Sri Lanka even at the moment.
When exactly did the intransigence of the Sinhalese start to rear its
head? Historians say that, way back in 1922, Sir James Pieris and Mr. E.J.
Samarawickrema gave a written undertaking to Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam
that he would be supported for the special seat to be created for the Tamils
in the Western Province. These two Sinhalese gentlemen went back on the
written undertaking given to Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam and Sir Ponnambalam
Arunachalam left the Ceylon National Congress in disgust, and refused to
work with the Sinhalese from then on. The Sinhalese gentleman receded from
the agreement on the basis that they did not want to have communal
electorates. But when it suited the Sinhalese, they thought it fit to carve
out a Sinhala electorate in Amparai and another in Seruwila all to
themselves and salved their conscience by making the contiguous Pottuvil and
Mutur electorates multi-member constituencies for the Tamils and Muslims.
In January 1936, under the Executive Committee system of the Donoughmore
Constitution, the Sinhalese thought it fit to set up a Pan-Sinhala Board of
Ministers, a cabinet comprising exclusively of Sinhalese. This effectively
shut the Tamils from the decision-making process in the Island's government.
The reaction to this type of intransigence of the Sinhalese was the
demand, in June 1936, for balanced representation in Parliament, which was
affectionately referred to as the 50-50 cry, where the proponent demanded
that whilst 50% of the seats in the supreme legislature could be given to
the majority Sinhalese. the other 50% must be reserved for all the
minorities put together, namely, the Tamils, Muslims, Indians, Burghers,
Malays and the Europeans. By this way, the proponent expected to thwart any
attempts on the part of the Sinhalese to make laws to the detriment of the
minorities. This was seen, then, as the only way to effectively counteract
the establishment of the Pan- Sinhala Board of Ministers.
In May 1944, President Jayewardena brought a resolution in the State
Council that Sinhala should be made the only official language of the
country. This further underlined the intransigence of the Sinhalese, which
was now assuming the coloring of racism. Ironically, it was Mr. S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike who seconded an amendment to the J.R. Jayewardena resolution
moved by Mr. V. Nalliah to the effect that both Sinhala and Tamil should be
the official languages of Ceylon. I say 'ironically' because it was the
self-same Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who, a dozen years later, in order to
become Prime Minister and in a fit of bravado, thought it fit to make
Sinhala the only official language of the island "within 24 hours" and
brought the now infamous Sinhala Only Bill in June 1956 which had the effect
of creating a watershed in the history of the country and putting the clock
so far back that it has today almost truncated the little island.
Anyway, President Jayewardena's racist resolution in May 1944 again had
its attendant reaction, in that. the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) was
set up quickly in August I 944 in order to take stock of the situation and
play the role of the watch-dog of the Tamils.
The intransigence of the Sinhalese was further glorified in 1948 when,
soon after independence, the D.S. Senanayake Government thought it fit to
bring the Ceylon Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948 which decitizenised the
Tamils of recent Indian origin, the very people who made Ceylon economically
what it is today, being still dependent largely on tea, rubber and coconut.
From then on, the ill- effects of that grotesque act was sought to be
mitigated by successive governments as a result of Tamil agitation and this
process has still not been satisfactorily resolved - nearly 50 years after
the devastating event.
An equally devastating and intransigent act was the passing of, what is
popularly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act - the Official Language Act.
No. 33 of 1956. When the move to make only one language - Sinhalese - the
only official language of the country was mooted by the Sri Lanka Freedom
Party (SLFP), the other main party, the United National Party (UNP), not to
be outdone jumped the bandwagon and, at its Kelaniya Convention of 1956,
adopted a resolution to make Sinhala the only official language of Ceylon.
This type of intransigence on the part of the Sinhala party had its
necessary reaction in that the self- respecting Tamils, who till then were
members of the UNP, abandoned the party forthwith. Of course, the caliber of
Tamils then was different from what it is today. Today, Tamil
representatives can be slammed by the government as being dishonest and good
for nothing and you will get those self- same Tamils putting their tails
between their legs and supporting the same government with greater devotion
and servility!
Anyway, the Sinhala Only Act was passed notwithstanding Section 29 of the
Soulbury Constitution of 1946, the constitution that was in operation at
that time. Section 29 was the only provision in the Constitution that gave
some degree of protection to the minorities and was incorporated only
because the Soulbuiy Commissioners did not want to accept the 50 - 50 demand
put before them. Though Section 29 was expected to give some sort of a
safeguard, the wisdom of the 50-50 demand itself was seen very clearly in
1956 - only a decade after the promulgation of the 1946 Constitution and the
rejection of the 50- 50 demand - in that a Sinhala majority Government was
able to pass a law that was detrimental to the Tamils.
There were members of the Left community who, in 1956, stoutly opposed
the Sinhala Only Act and clamoured, together with the Tamils, for parity of
status for the Sinhala and Tamil Languages and even prophetically came out
with the now famous words "One language, two Nations; two languages, one
Nation".
The liberal attitude one expected from the Left did not last for long.
Because, very soon after 1956, even those of the Left who spoke of the "one
language, two Nations" theory could not resist the galloping intransigence
of the Sinhala Nation and startlingly abandoned their stand for parity of
the two languages and instead adopted the "Dudleyge bade masala vadai"
slogan which, politically, meant that Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake had
sold the Sinhala Nation to the Tamils.
In June 1956 when the Sinhala Only Bill was due to be presented in
Parliament, the more ardent of Tamils decided to show passive protest and
performed 'satyagraha' on Galle Face Green, a promenade close to Parliament.
Sinhala goondas were used to turn 'violence on the Tamil satyagrahis who
were mauled so mercilessly that some had blood all over their head and face
whilst others had to run and seek sanctuary in a nearby hotel when they were
stripped naked. Such was Sinhalese intransigence then. A Tamil could not
even show protest by silently sitting down!.
It was about this time that we saw the rise of the political phenomenon
that has characterised the Island's politics and glorified the intransigence
of the Sinhala Nation. I refer to the phenomenon that whenever an incumbent
government wanted to do something politically that would assuage, even to a
very small extent, Tamil sentiments or aspirations, the Sinhala opposition
would cry from roof -tops that the government had sold the Sinhalese to the
Tamils. This would put the fright of Moses into the Government leading to
the unashamed abandonment of the measure contemplated.
We saw this first in the case of the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam pact (B-C
Pact) in 1957. Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike sought to mitigate the
rigours of the Sinhala Only Act by signing a Pact with Mr. S.J.V.
Chelvanayakam, the leader of the Tamil Party that enjoyed the support of the
vast majority of the Tamils at that time. This Pact was resisted and
ridiculed by the intransigent Sinhala opposition led by Mr. J.R.Jayawardena
of the UNP and Mr. Bandaranaike was constrained to unilaterally abandon the
B-C Pact.
Incidentally, at that time, the Tamils were talking and wanting
"concessions" from the Sinhalese. The intransigence of the Sinhalese was
such that they were not prepared even to consider or grant "concessions" to
the Tamils. Today, the situation has changed. Today, the Tamils want many of
their "rights" recognised and their "aspirations" conceded.
In August 1958, the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of
19g8 was passed. This provided for regulations for the reasonable use of
Tamil in the North and East. Sinhalese intransigence prevented this law
being implemented.
In 1965, another Pact was signed, this time between Prime Minister Dudley
Senanayake and Mr. Chelvanayakam. It was called the D-C Pact and it sought
to set up District Councils as a solution to the Tamil Problem. The District
Councils system was a concept which was even less than the Regional Councils
system that was sought to be created under the B-C Pact. Mounting opposition
to even the District Councils system forced Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake
to unilaterally abort the D-C Pact and abandon the District Council Bill
midstream. Even here, the Leftists opposed District Councils with a
vengeance. This was, then, an instance of Sinhalese intransigence that did
not permit a solution that was, admittedly, even less than the solution that
was mooted about a decade before then.
Regulations under the Tamil Language Act of 1958 were formulated and
published, for the very first time, in the Government Gazette on 2nd March
1966. Sinhalese intransigence prevented even these being implemented.
In 1972, Sinhalese intransigence saw to it that a system of
standardization was introduced by the SLFP - led United Front Government
that had the effect of requiring a Tamil student to obtain more marks to
gain admission to the universities than his counterpart in the Sinhala
Nation. It was the system of standardisation that led to the youth of the
Tamils to come to the fore in political agitation and to the rise of Tamil
militancy and the side- lining of the conventional moderate Tamil
leadership.
1972 also saw the birth of a new Constitution for Sri Lanka where the
very person who spoke of "'Two languages, one Nation; one language, two
Nations" thought it fit to even do away with Section 29 of the 1946 Soulbury
Constitution, which was the only safeguard given to minorities by the
departing British Colonial masters. Not only this, he brought in the word
"unitary" into a constitution for the first time and also took away the
right of the courts to pass judgment on the legality of laws. This was again
another instance of Sinhalese intransigence. The Sinhalese component of the
National State assembly, rejected every amendment put forward by the Tamil
representatives during the deliberations of the new constitution.
In 1974 when the International Association of Tamil Research was to hold
its Conference in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan government wanted the Conference
held in Colombo instead of the only logical place, which was Jaffna. This
attempt was resisted by the Tamils. When the government could not do
anything, it sought to prevent foreign participation by making it difficult
for them to obtain visas. When there was widespread Tamil protest and
international opinion was turning against the Sri Lankan Government over
this matter, the Government gave in. One could see Sinhalese intransigence
even in the matter of a Tamil cultural event. But during the mass rally on
the final day of the Conference, the police, for some obscure reason, fired
at the electricity wires that ran over a section of the crowd, which wires
naturally snapped and fell on the people, leading to the electrocution of
nine Tamils in the gathering. This incident became a political rallying
point and an impetus to Tamil youth militancy.
These cumulative acts of Sinhalese intransigence finally led to the
Tamil-youth engineered demand for the separate state of Thamil Eelam, which
was given a formal status in May 1976, at the Tamil United Front's
Convention at Pannakam in Vaddukoddai.
In 1978, when another new Constitution was drawn up for Sri Lanka, the
UNP, reflecting Sinhalese intransigence, refused to bring back Section 29 of
the 1946 Soulbury Constitution. What is more, the 1978 Constitution provided
for a 2/3 majority in Parliament and a Referendum for any amendment of the
Constitution which made it next to impossible to get any amendments that
favored the Tamils to be passed. This Constitution also brought the flag
into it for the first time and in that process, surreptitiously substituted
four Bo leaves in the four corners of the Lion Flag in place of the four
lines that were there! Such was Sinhala machination.
Those who received a mandate for the setting up of the separate stale of
Thamil Eelam, inexplicably capitulated and without receiving a mandate to
abandon their stand for a separate state, agreed to the setting up of
District Development Councils (DDC) as a solution to the Tamil Problem on
the basis of their famous but notorious "thangu madam" theory - the
"stepping stone" syndrome. In other words, the District Development Councils
were seen, by the TULF, as a stepping stone to the ultimate separate state!.
At the 1981 DDC elections, Tamil youth protest over the DDC system saw
much violence and the Sinhala Sri Lankan Government retaliated by burning
down the famous Jaffna Public Library which contained a collection of
invaluable Tamil books.
This act created a blot for Sri Lanka in the eyes of the international
community which, I hope, has still not been erased. And, it is my hope and
wish that it will never be erased because it shows to what extent Sinhalese
intransigence can descend to teach the Tamils a lesson. If there was one
stand-out incident which justifies the demand for a separate state for the
Tamils, it was surely this.
When the DDCs started functioning, widespread complaints came from the
Chairmen and members of the DDCs in Tamil areas, that the Government was not
providing adequate funds to work the DDCs properly and very soon the DDCs in
the Tamil areas came to a grinding halt. Such was Sinhalese intransigence.
The Sinhala administration strangled DDCs in Tamil areas by not giving
money.
In 1983 the Sri Lankan Government brought the Sixth Amendment to the
Constitution which made it an offense to espouse the creation of a separate
state. This tried to put paid to the freedom of speech and association of
the Tamils to articulate a political cause. Though this Act, again,
underlined Sinhalese intransigence, it certainly did not drive the then
Tamil members of Parliament away from Parliament. I say this because of the
dishonest attempt by the TULF to claim for themselves a favorable position
as a result of the Sixth Amendment : They say that piece of legislation
drove them out of Parliament. Nothing can be further from the truth. The
TULF had decided on Saturday, 22nd July, 1983, at their Mannar Convention,
not to go to Parliament after 22nd July 1983 because the 1982 Referendum had
immorally extended the life of Parliament. This decision was taken,
therefore, before the holocaust of 1983 and long before the Sixth Amendment.
If the TULF is taken to be honest, then surely, it must be this decision of
theirs not to go to Parliament after 22nd July 1983, that did drive them out
of Parliament and not the Sixth Amendment! Further, when the Sixth Amendment
was brought in Parliament, on 8th August 1983, no TULF MP was there to
protest. For, the more high profile of the TULF MPs had abandoned the Tamils
for the comfort and safety of Tamil Nadu, whilst the less well known of them
remained with low profile in Mannar and the Jaffna Peninsula.
The whole of 1984 was taken up by President Jayewardena's All Party
Conference (APC) which sought a solution to the Tamil Problem. It was at
this Conference that the Tamils first put forward their demand for
Provincial Councils for the merged Tamil Linguistic North East Province.
After talking for 12 long months, the APC ended in a fiasco with a Report
which was prepared to grant only District Councils to the Tamils.
President Jayawardene summed up the respective positions of the Sinhala
and Tamil Nations with the momentous words, "Sinhalese say District Councils
and no more, whilst the Tamils say Provincial Councils and no less". Even at
the point where the island was literally torn asunder by violence and its
attendant bitterness after the 1983 holocaust, Sinhalese intransigence
prevented it from considering something more than its position in 1981,
which was District Development Councils.
From 1984 another totally new phenomenon emerged that showed Sinhalese
intransigence. That was that, we in Sri Lanka would talk for a whole year
about seeking a solution to the Tamil Problem without more! This is
literally what took place in 1984 at President Jayewardena's APC.
1985 was also taken up by President Jayewardene's Political Parties
Conference (PPC). Talk and nothing achieved.
The
Thimpu Talks in July and August 1985 were very important. For the first
time, the Tamils wanted four basic principles to be accepted by the
Government. They were, that the Tamils were a nation, that they had a
traditional homeland, their right to self determination, and their right to
equality and citizenship. The government refused to accept these principles.
further emphasizing Sinhalese intransigence.
1986 was largely occupied by behind the scenes talks and maneuvers with
P. Chidambaram of India and with meetings at Bangalore where President
Jayewardena, P.Chidambaram and V. Pirabaharan figured.
In mid 1987 the Indo Lanka Agreement was sprung on the political
firmament of Sri Lanka as a surprise both to the Sinhalese and the Tamils.
That this Agreement was kept a closely guarded secret from the Sinhala
Nation itself shows that even the powers had accepted the intransigence of
the Sinhalese and were afraid that if the terms of the Agreement was made
public or put up for discussion by the people, it would not see the light of
day. Indeed, that is what really took place. When the provisions of the
Agreement had to be made public after its signing, the Sinhala masses
refused to accept the Agreement and they took to the streets and there was
violence, vandalism and distruction.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution gave legal status to the
Indo-Lanka Agreement and led to the setting up of Provincial Council. Even
after a completely lopsided elections in 1988, the North-East Provincial
Council was unceremoniously dissolved in 1990 by way of two dubious pieces
of legislation, only a year and a couple of months after Provincial Councils
were set up. In fact, the only Provincial Council for the Tamil areas, the
system which was set up due exclusively upon Tamil agitation, was dissolved
to accommodate Sinhalese intransigence. True, in this instance there was
agitation from Tamil quarters also for the dissolution of the North-East
Provincial Council. But a honest Sinhala government should have resisted it
and taken steps to do away with the matters on which the Tamil quarters had
complained of, instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
1988 was largely occupied by electioneering by the Sinhala parties who
were looking forward to the Presidential Elections in December of that year
and the General Elections in February 1989. But some of us lesser mortals
drafted the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) Manifesto with which today's
Prime Minister went before the People at the Presidential Elections of 1988.
This Manifesto was drafted by representatives of eight political parties
over eight long months. The political parties concerned were the Sri Lanka
Freedom Party (SLFP), the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), the Janatha
Vimuktht Perarnuna (JVP), the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the Eksath
Lanka Jathika Peramuna (ELJP), the Liberal Party (LP), the Democratic
Workers Congress (DWC) and the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC).
Days after Madam Srimavo Bandaranaike lost the Presidential Elections,
today's pompous Deputy Minister of Defense, Ratwatte, told me to throw the
DPA Manifesto out of the window. And this was said in the immediate presence
of Madam Bandaranaike. So much for justice; so much for peace; so much for a
political solution from today's regime and so much for Sinhalese
intransigence!
The circus started all over again in 1989. This time it was under the
patronage of President Premadasa. In April 1989, President Premadasa's All
Party Conference commenced and I think it went on till the time of his death
in May 1993. Thank God the ACTC bailed out of these meaningless talks quite
early in its tortuous route which was sometime in 1990. Here, too, it was
just a question of talking all the time with nothing achieved. The Sinhalese
could not afford to have a solution. If it did, it has to face the wrath of
the Sinhala masses.
In 1990 started the Parliamentary 8elect Committee sittings chaired by
Mr. Mangala Moonesinghe. This, too, went on from 1990 till 1993. The only
point this PSC decided was that the Eastern Province should be separate from
the Northern Province. This consensus satisfied Sinhalese intransigence,
because it was a step backwards. From a point where we had one Council for
the North and East, this PSC decided that we should have two Provincial
Councils. A case of jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
After President Premadasa came President Wijetunga in 1993. Sinhalese
intransigence till a new level during his time. He, it was, who started the
Sinhalese off on the now fashionable position that there is no Tamil Problem
and that there is only a terrorist problem. It was he who came out with the
position that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala land. It was he who said that the
Tamils were only creepers on the Sinhala tree. And it was he who said that
the Tamils had been given a plate full and that nothing more need be given
because the Tamil plate could not hold more!
It was President Wijetunge who started the Sinhalese off on the question
as to what were the grievances of the Tamils. After a problem that was
existing for almost the last 75 years, President Wljetunga had the audacity
to query, "what are the grievance of the Tamils?". Could Sinhalese
intransigence hit a higher watermark? It soon became the fashion of the day
for most Sinhalese to ask, simply and innocently, "what are the grievances
of the Tamils?". We see this strain even today. One has only to open the
center pages of the Island's "The Island" English daily news paper to know
what I mean.
There are a whole horde of Tamils in Colombo who buy "The Island" only to
see the center pages and sigh over the Sinhalese intransigence and venom
spit out on those pages.
What is the position after President Kumaratunga came into power in 1994?
The situation has not changed. We still see the golden thread of Sinhalese
intransigence running right down the political fabric of Sri Lanka. Where
does today's Head of State and Head of government stand? Described as the
"Dove of Peace", more by the Tamils than by the Sinhalese, what has she
done? In an interview to the Tamil daily "Virakesari" on 1st May 1994,
President Kumaratunga said that her proposals on a political solution to the
Tamil Problem were being drafted. Yet, at the General Elections of 1994 nor
at the Presidential Elections of 1994 did her manifesto have a word about
the proposals.
After she took office as Executive President, she told in a number of
interviews, to the press and television, that her proposals would be out
soon. If there were any proposals, and if those proposals were for a
solution of the Tamil Problem, and if they were primarily for the Tamil
People, as President Kumaratunga has always been saying, why did she not
make the proposals public immediately after l9th April 1995? Was that not
the real test of her honesty, sincerity and transparency? Her proposals
finally came out on 3rd August 1995, three weeks after a war was started
against the Tamils. The Tamils were running helter skelter trying to dodge
the bombs that were being dropped from high heaven. Could one reasonably
expect a single Tamil to have the inclination or opportunity to consider any
proposals under those circumstances? Can one find a more startling example
of Sinhalese intransigence? President Kumaratunga, then, presents a legal
draft of those proposals in January 1996 when the Tamils were literally on
the road and on the now-abandoned rail tracks, both coming into this world
and dying under trees by the roadside, and going through many similar
hardships. Could any reasonable human being expect the Tamils to be studying
the draft legal proposals in the situation in which they found themselves?
But it suited President Kumaratunga to put these proposals out when she did
because it was done not to solve the Tamil Problem but to court the
international community and to, thereby, not only get them to publicly voice
their support for the Government but also to get their second hand military
equipment to use against the Tamils. She succeeded in both.
What is now taking place in Sri Lanka is a military solution to a
political problem. Can one get a more glaring example of Sinhalese
intransigence than this? But this is the run-of-the-mill situation and most
Tamils, who have their head on their shoulders, have learnt to live with
Sinhalese intransigence. But what the Tamils cannot live down is that the
Tamil guardian - angels who are warming the seats of the legislature and who
cry from roof-tops, still, about a "political solution", have, today, not
only acquiesced in the military operations in the North-East Province of Sri
Lanka, but also are lending active support in the operations, whilst some
others are secretly very happy that a path is being cleared for them to go
to Jaffna! This is the tragedy of the Tamil Nation.
That the Sinhalese do not want a political solution to the Tamil Problem
was shown by the fact that Sinhala parties like the MCP boycotted the
Parliamentary select Committee on the constitution on the days set apart for
them between the 7th and l0th May 1996. The Sinhala dominated Parliamentary
Select Committee showed its own indifference to a solution of the Tamil
Problem by not having a quorum on three out of the four days set apart for
its sittings
Sinhalese intransigence was again highlighted when the PA Government's
and President Kumaratunga's hand-picked Minister Mangala Samaraweera, the
principal executive on ethnic matters, gave an interview to "The Sunday
Island", on l2th May 1996. that "a political dialogue for peace on a
resolution of the Tamil Problem can only be on the Government's terms and
within its own strategies and that there are further steps to be taken" -
whatever that means! This attitude displays exactly what some non-servile
Tamils were always articulating and were afraid of, namely, that once the
military option showed it had achieved something, then the intransigent
Sinhalese were going to tell the Tamils to go to hell. This fear has been
proved correct by Minister Samaraweera.
The intransigence of the Sinhalese is shown in another matter as well.
Some foreign countries have, over the course of so many months, offered
their good offices to mediate on the Tamil Problem. Perhaps the most
important factor on the side of the Tamils - the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) - too, has, time and again, requested foreign mediation. But,
successive Governments in Sri Lanka, the Premadasa and Kumaratunga
Governments, have completely rejected this avenue. In fact, as recent as on
16th May 1996. President Kumaratunga told a press conference in Japan that
Sri Lanka will solve its own problem. As if this is not bad enough, there
has been two occasions on which Buddhist and Sinhala organisations in Sri
Lanka have objected to, and protested against, Tamil quisling political
parties in Colombo even meeting representatives of foreign missions in
Colombo! Can one get a more intransigent set of people? Sri Lanka will never
solve the Problem which she has had on her hands for the last 75 years nor
will she allow anybody else to help solve it.
The long and short of the matter is simply this - that the Sinhalese
intransigence is such that the Sinhalese cannot afford to have a solution to
the Tamil Problem. This situation has been summed up very aptly by no less a
person than an erudite Sinhala scholar Ven. Dr. Walpola Sri Rahula Thero.
Vice Chancellor of the Kelaniya University who has said in an interview to
"The Sunday Times" of 5th May 1996 that "Sri Lanka is a Buddhist Sinhala
Country. It is not a multi-national or multi- religious state. 2000 members
of the Sangha including the Mahanayakas are against the devolution package.
The solution has to be the solution of the majority of the people." There is
a marked similarity between these sentiments and that of Minister
Samaraweera.
Taking all these into account, I wish to state that Sinhalese
intransigence is intractable. It is getting worse day by day. This, coupled
with the fact that the Sinhalese do not want international third party
mediation, there does not seem to be much room for ''Peace with Justice".
When the British were there, it was possible for the Tamils to get things
done with memoranda. After independence, responsive cooperation, parliament,
dialogue, pacts, satyagrahas and fasts yielded nothing. It is only the show
of force that has jolted the intransigent Sinhalese. It is my position that
even peace packages are non starters because the whole approach is wrong. We
will hobble along for sometime more before the Sinhalese and Tamils together
herald the separate state of Thamil Eelam. It seems only this will bring
"peace with Justice".
