Prospects for Peace in Ilankai
Equality or Symmetry of Status A Must

   – Prof. Peter Schalk

Anpu nanparakale, Vanakkam.

I thank the Tamil Students of Toronto University for having invited me. I feel it as privilege and I am deeply honored.

Today I shall try to identify the prospects for peace negotiations to start between Ilavar and the Sri Lankan Government. Both sides have sent positive signals, but there are also obstacles to overcome. I have followed the conflict for more than 30 years. I have no illusions left about the possibility of a sudden change of mind-set of both parties. Both carry the heavy burden of a painful memory, but there is also a sense of rationality and pragmatism on both sides to which I appeal today. The alternative to peace negotiations is a protracted war that no party will win. The Sri Lankan economy is in ruins, which forces the Government to come to the negotiation table. The Tamils realize that their ultimate aim, to provide a first class educational system for coming generations in their territory of control, cannot be accomplished before a settlement is reached. It is not my task to tell the two parties what concessions they should make. I only know that the Tamils and Sinhalas constitute peoples, having a history, language and territory of their own. This qualifies their representatives to be accepted with equal status in negotiations.

1. Negotiations

The very concept of negotiation implies that that there is equality or symmetry of status between the two parties. The “negotiations” in 1995 failed in part because there was no symmetry, and the Norwegian facilitators were rejected by the PA-Government because they strictly applied the principle of symmetry. The Norwegians were unjustly blamed for being partial. If there is no symmetry, there is a hierarchy. In a hierarchy you do not negotiate, but you give orders from top to bottom. This is not conducive for the peace process. Today, an application of this principle is incompatible with the status of the LTTE as proscribed organization. The ban on the LTTE must be lifted. The UNP-Government and the LTTE have both asked the Norwegians to involve themselves again. This is a positive signal, because it implies that Norwegians’ strict application of their principle of symmetry is accepted by both parties. The Norwegians will also put the negotiations on an international level for the world to follow what each party offers. It is implied also in the very concept of negotiation that there is preparedness for making concessions.

2. Embargo

The embargo of goods to the Vanni should be lifted. A positive signal was sent by the new Minister for Rehabilitation, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardhena. He provided immediate relief to the people and started a massive rehabilitation program. He is aware of the policy of earlier Governments to exploit the misery of the people to make them react against the LTTE. This strategy has failed and is incompatible with elementary norms of humanity. The fact that the new minister for the Tamil areas is a Sinhala should not be used against him. He has shown civil courage before. His main headache is certainly not caused by the Ilavar, but by the opposition from Sinhala ethnonationalists.

3. The 6^th Amendment to the Constitution

There is no positive signal that the 6^th amendment to the Constitution from 1983 will be taken off. Even in the Draft Constitutions, the formulation reappears. The present formulation says that no person shall directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of as separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka. This formulation is an obstacle to the peaceful formation of dissident views. It suffocates political discussions and is therefore not conducive to peace. Peace negotiations demand an atmosphere of freedom of expression. It should be made possible for the LTTE to transform its political wing into a political party having Tamililam on the agenda and have it tested in a free political discussion and elections.

4. Human Rights Violations

It goes without saying that each violation of human rights counteracts the peace process. Each violation adds fuel to the fire. I welcome the initiative by both parties to agree to a time-limited truce that should be combined with a complete stop of human rights violations. I am concerned about the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in this case, especially about their systematic rapes of Tamil women, even in prisons. The SLAF seems to have developed into an autonomous body. Amnesty International has recently started a campaign called Rape in Custody(ASA 37-001-2002). It says “not a single member of the security forces has ever been found guilty of rape in custody although one successful prosecution has been brought in a case where the victim of rape was also murdered”. This fact is unacceptable and counteracts the ongoing peace process.

5. Sinhala Ethnonationalism

Rationally and pragmatically thinking politicians in the present UNP-Government are counteracted certainly not by Ilavar, but by Sinhala ethnonationalists. They represent the most important danger to the peace process. I am especially worried about the latest development of Sinhalatva, which has taken extremist, even hysterical forms. Its ideologues have heard about the concept of the clashes of civilizations and apply this concept to their situation. They say that the Sinhala-Buddhist civilization is surrounded by the Hindu civilization that supports the LTTE. It is surrounded by the Jewish-Christian civilization that supports the Norwegian facilitators. We are used to note the famous minority complex of the Sinhala majority, but it is limited to a relation between Tamilnadu and Lanka. In the present version the whole world is allegedly against the Sinhala-Buddhist civilization. These enemies are also defined in religious terms, which gives a special edge. It also exploits politically the present hunt for terrorists by ascribing to these inimical civilizations a terrorist nature. It is our duty as intellectuals to objectify Sinhalatva, analyze it in detail and verbally counteract it. As Sinhalatva often uses references to past conditions, it is our duty to mobilize historical counter-arguments that are convincing. I am aware that most of you present here today have chosen to study computer science and engineering, professions that pay, but this does not exclude that you internalize a critical knowledge of history. It is a matter of survival of the Ilattuttamils.