Challenges for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is certainly in the midst of a paradoxical situation.  You would not be far wrong to surmise that depending on where you visit, you will see different aspects of Sri Lanka that makes you wonder whether you are in the same country or not.

If you are in Colombo you would no doubt be enjoying watching the finer aspects of cricket as Sri Lanka entertains visiting teams from  Pakistan and New Zealand.  Go down south and you would have experienced one of many marathon beach parties that have taken place to entertain the many summer visitors that flock annually to Sri Lanka’s shores.  In the central province of Kandy, the annual  Esala Perehera  (a  Buddhist festival unique to Sri Lanka consisting of dances and richly-decorated elephants) came to an end a few weeks ago and other smaller Pereheras have also started to wind down.  In the northern parts of Sri Lanka, election fever was rising as candidates campaigned for the first time in a long time in local government elections, one of many anticipated for this year in a run up to early presidential elections perhaps in 2010.   Despite the poor showing at the polls, people (mainly the government) still were buoyed by the fact that they took place. As the IMF loan  begins to trickle into the  country there certainly seems to be an upbeat mood, as imports are trickling back in and the tourists are heading back to the shores.

However this positive energy is tempered by a sudden dose of reality as one realizes the true challenges facing the country.  The residents of Manik Farm in Vavunia are now entering the third month after the defeat of the LTTE.  The chaos of the initial months have now disappeared and a system has been established for running the camps.  The problems of the toilets are still there and food is sometimes inadequate.  The medical needs are tremendous and there are still challenges for proper access to the camps by agencies, particularly those where there are foreigners.  There is still a little bit of confusion when it comes to the smooth operations of the camp and coordination is proving to be an arch nemesis. Hence there are some agencies that are choosing to coordinate with each other in what is called ‘cluster groups’ whilst others are choosing to work on their own or directly with the government.  Individuals / locals though seem to have better access into the camps and it has been heartening to hear of few stories of individuals helping out the best way they can.  The worry now is that as the monsoon season approaches, flooding will occur.  Already, over the weekend, floods caused the ‘temporary’ resettling of 400 residents in one of the zones in Manik Farm.

Another challenge is the final resettlement of the people who have been displaced.  The amount of investment that would be required for such a feat is still uncertain, but it needs to be given a priority.  The execution of this needs to be done in a well thought out manner.  Whilst some resettlement is already taking place and there was a token opening of the A9 road to Jaffna, there is still a lot of uncertainty as to the process of resettlement.  This process can’t just be for political gain but will need to involve real consultation at all levels to ensure reconciliation.

The real big challenge though is keeping these issues news worthy as it appears that the vast majority of the public seem to have forgotten the plight of the people.  As the news has slipped from the front pages of the newspapers or the headlines on the TV, so has the awareness of the plight of the displaced.  One reporter at a dinner the other day was remarking on how difficult they were finding it to obtain news for their broadsheets.  It seems that the war was good business at least in terms of paper sales.  When I asked him what about reconciliation and reconstruction and the pledge of the government to tackle minority issues, he remarked wryly, ‘let us wait and see’.  And so this is perhaps the mood of the norm.  ‘Let us wait and see what the President or the Government does’.  No one seems to be willing to take the first step; No one is even bothered about the historical significance of the President’s statement ‘There are no more minorities’.  People I have talked to are just apathetic enough to wait for the politicians to come up with something rather than taking the challenge up themselves. How does one go about ensuring the eradication of ‘minorities’ from their vocabulary?

There are enormous challenges at all levels in Sri Lanka: micro / meso / macro.  Some of the challenges are inter and intra ethnicity and faith.

Take for example, the clashes between rival mosques in southern Sri Lanka a couple of weeks ago which turned bloody leaving scores dead and injured or the incident where police were accused of attacking people on the pretext of searching for terrorists or members of the underworld or the supposed impunity and liberty that people are still accusing the armed forces of behaving with. These incidents serve to underline simmering tensions that exist under the surface. 

These tensions are to do with economics, deprivation, poverty; ignorance and lack of understanding.  What is important to realise is that whilst this may be in existence within communities, it also exists between communities and will need to be addressed.  People are still talking about the challenges facing  ‘their’ community be it Tamil or Muslim or any other.  There is still no sense of a collective identity.  What is sad is that people have abrogated their individual responsibility to do something about it.

The new fight that Sri Lanka now faces is not of  minority issues (although this is also important) but addressing equitable distribution of resources so everyone benefits.  This is the path towards ensuring a new collective resolution to solving the country’s issues.