Bringing about Change

The election of Barack Obama in November 2008, brought an air of optimism that ‘change’ was possible in any situation.  There were many in Sri Lanka who also wrote with optimism of the possibility like in the US for someone from a minority to be elected president of Sri Lanka.  Many cynics will counter argue that perhaps Sri Lanka has a long way to go before that happens.  Of course incidents in Sri Lanka over the last couple of weeks such as the assassination of the editor of a Sunday news paper and the attack on a private tv station amidst signs that the Sri Lankan army is winning the war against the LTTE are indicators of the challenges that perhaps face the country in moving forward beyond the conflict. 

However one thing that struck me whilst watching as I am sure everyone did, the inauguration of Barack Obama was how much he talked about everyone needing to play a part in forging change. 

The key is to start with ourselves as Mahatma Ghandi once said that ‘if you wish to see change in the world, you should be that change’.  This is none more apparent than here in Sri Lanka.  We can argue till the cows come home about political and military solutions and the failures of our leaders and there have been failures from all sides in this conflict; Failure to ensure the safety of civilians; failure to tolerate dissent; and failure to enjoy media freedom. The tragedy though is that we are as guilty as those we complain about.  I have been struck by how much we ourselves have to be self critical when I read some of the comments in response to my blog.   Whilst the comments have complained about the bigotry and intolerance of others, the comments and view points themselves betray their writers’ own intolerance and bigotry.  This is indeed the sad fact of the conflict in Sri Lanka.  And so there is no hope of moving forward if we cannot even remove the mistrust, intolerance and hatred. 

We have to have the intellectual empathy to acknowledge that everyone has justified grievances.  The Tamils (as do the other minorities) has justified grievances against the State to their treatment.  This of course does not justify armed struggle or the slaughter of civilians or for that matter the acts of ethnic cleansing against the Muslims in the northern province in 1990.  The State has the right to ensure that everyone within its shores are looked after justly and equitably and that civilians are not harmed in any way.  Because let us face it those who are fighting and those who are backing the fighting are not necessarily those who are suffering from the results of the war.  It is the civilians who are the biggest losers. 

Moving beyond the conflict will have to require everyone to play a part.  The most important legacy that we can leave our children’s children is a country that is united in its diversity.  However this is no easy task.  I recently was in the company of a few young men and women in their mid twenties.  One thing that stuck me was their ability to look beyond the differences that existed between them.  However what also struck me was of their ignorance of what was happening in the country, who the key stakeholders were and what the issues were.  I remember thinking to myself, that if this next generation who are born and bred in Sri Lanka coming not only from Colombo but from other parts of the country are so indifferent and apathetic to the suffering of the people of their country, then there is certainly a lot to be done.  People need to be educated to help them understand the mistakes of the past so that it is not written.  The new Generation will have to understand that you measure someone based on their character, behavior, attitude and moral integrity and not on which community they belong to or how rich they are or what their faith is.

This is the monumental task to be done by all concerned, State and Non State actors, organizations and individuals. At the 2007 Commonwealth People’s Forum in Kampala, civil society leaders called for ‘the creation of an enabling environment to foster: unity in diversity, where there would be respectful and meaningful dialogue and collaboration between people with different identities and values; and practical grassroots action and community linking partnerships to build peace, prosperity and well-being for all Commonwealth Citizens’.  It is with this vigour that people will have to work to create that environment.

Whilst Barack Obama’s election brought optimism for change, the War on Gaza at the beginning of the year has shown us how great a challenge lies ahead in order to move away from political violence flavoured by faith (culture and identity) where the world is seen through a singular lens of ‘good’ and ‘evil’, ‘us’ vs. ‘them’.  The inability for the world to respond shows the weakness that still exists.  However the key thing is not to lose hope.  This is the key message for Sri Lanka as well.  It is for everyone to be loud so that we can shout against injustice no matter where it is committed and who commits it.  For as Martin Luther King said, ‘the tragedy of  the situation is not that the bad people are loud but that the good people are very quiet.’

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