The divided island

Many would maintain that, surprising as it was, Tuesday’s potential constitutional crisis in Sri Lanka was in the making for some time. Tensions were building up on many counts and on many fronts, especially after the peace talks were suspended in April last. But the LTTE’s counter-proposals of October 31 were clearly the final straw on the back of Sri Lankan constitutional camel, already troubled by the opposing stands of the two main political parties on the strategy to be adopted in dealing with an issue so vital for the future of the country. It is sad that in spite of two decades of violent polarisation in an intrinsically plural and democratic Sri Lanka, the divide between the two major political parties, if anything, appears to have deepened. But the trigger, obviously, has been the LTTE’s proposals which are nothing more than a thinly disguised agenda for the creation of a separate sovereign state for itself.

Even a cursory study of the October 31 proposals of the LTTE indicates that the Tamil Tigers have followed their favourite strategy of putting forward extremist demands and keep enough leeway for its hardliners to take charge when things actually start to move toward some sort of resolution. It seems that, contrary to what might have been expected after the breakdown of the peace talks last April, the LTTE has not put forward a workable proposition on which dialogue could restart. At the same time, the details of the present proposal would indicate that the LTTE would want to see negotiations breakdown in the face of its over-reaching demands, while it continues to consolidate its position to achieve long-term objectives. There have been reports of the Tigers expanding their rule in the north and establishing positions around Trincomalee bay in the east.

The problem is not merely one involving the extremist goals and tactics of the LTTE, but the divisions between Sri Lanka’s dominant political parties. No country can handle serious challenges to its security and sovereignty without a bipartisan consensus on the goals and methods of dealing with them. A fractious polity is just what the LTTE has always tried to take advantage of in the past and has been a major factor in complicating the situation. The two political parties must come together in dealing with the fundamental challenges to the security and survival of a plural state. India has always stood for these and sacrificed the lives of nearly 1,200 of its soldiers to ensure that the integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka is sustained and strengthened. The present crisis would have served a great cause if it helps rekindle a bipartisan consensus to deal with the grave challenges that the country so obviously faces.