Friday, 30 January 2015 00:31
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IN Sri Lanka change takes years and then gains the speed of light. After six years of waiting for acknowledgement of their losses it is likely that Sri Lankans will be given an unprecedented chance to jumpstart the healing process on Independence Day.
President Maithripala Sirisena and his Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal by Acting Foreign Minister Ajith Perera and Minister of Home Affairs Joseph Michael Perera to make a special statement expressing solidarity and sympathy with all victims of the 26-year long civil war on 4 February.
The celebrations that had already been transferred from their costly location in Hambantota after former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was ousted, in favour of a muted celebration at parliament grounds will likely go down in Sri Lanka’s history for its effort at empathy and inclusivity.
The decision is interestingly in line with the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its 2011 report but was never implemented by the previous regime.
In chapter 9.285 of the landmark report that has become the basis of international calls for reconciliation and accountability in post-war Sri Lanka, the LLRC recommends a special event be set up apart on National Day to express “solidarity and empathy” with all victims of the conflict.
The LLRC Report also calls for a commitment to be made at the ceremony to “ensure that there should never be such blood-letting in the country again.”
The Commissioners said in the observations and recommendations section of their report that such a gesture at what they called a “high political level” will provide an impetus to the national reconciliation effort. In this instance it will likely come from the highest source possible, that of President Maithripala Sirisena, though exact details are yet to be released.
The public used to the standard triumphalist diet at every national day event, with speeches about patriotism and military valour and massive shows of military strength will undoubtedly positively anticipate this statement.
In addition, viewers of Independence Day celebrations of years past are likely to be joined by many others, whether they be Sinhala, Burgher, Muslim or Tamil to be part of this historic occasion. Suddenly the tone of the Independence Day has changed with more reconciliatory and peaceful overtones than before through if practices are anything to go by there will still be the fair share of military parades and related hoopla.
This is yet another instance of how a comparatively small gesture can go a long way. The previous Government for reasons best known to its leaders never understood the importance of humility and generosity – even if it is by word. Steps that could have been taken easily to establish a common ground that could then be used as a foundation for stronger inroads into ethnic harmony were routinely ignored with the entire country paying the price.
While the focus will be on the war, ethnic divisions post-war can also be addressed through the same means, bringing together 20 million people for the first time in decades.
