Satheesan Kumarasamy :
(From previous issue)
Tamils were propagating through Tamil media outlets and academic journals in countries where Tamils live, such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, etc., that Tamils lost their kingdoms after the occupation of their countries from foreign invaders. Thus, proponent of the primordialist theory on ethnic conflict is valid in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict because, in the context of South Africa, blacks saw whites as a threat to their identity and allowed them to marginalize in all sectors of their lives including economics and politics.
The meaningful case study and the theory applied in South Africa is valid, and is the case in point. Even though Sri Lanka does not allow the international community to intervene in the internal conflict, the growing issue of human rights abuse is crucial. International pressure often produces meaningful truth commissions or some other forms of accountability, especially as international human rights norms have developed. As truth commissions have become more common and gained more adherents, they demonstrate alternative, inherent benefits of their own and not simply a second-best option to criminal prosecution.
Despite the fact that the mechanism of redressing past wrongs is relatively new in peace-making and peace-building processes, more than 20 truth commissions were established worldwide in the past 20 years. The most prominent was South Africa’s TRC, set up in 1995, which ultimately captured the world’s attention because of the unique opportunity and challenges associated with this novel initiative being used in a very polarized and fragile situation. The restorative framework based on the South African context is relevant to Sri Lanka’s situation, and the question of what is needed for meaningful reconciliation primarily relied on the government to take the next step to heal the wounds of the people rather than deepening the wound.
METHODOLOGY: This research study is based primarily on library and Internet sources, and the case study will be taken from South Africa. Since the South African study was successful, it is pivotal to study this case because the Truth Commission of South Africa was created after years of apartheid rule. This commission attempted to heal the wounds of the victims in order to create a sense of trust among the affected people. The commission in South Africa was aimed at healing the wounds of the minority as the majority ‘blacks’ targeted the minority ‘whites’ for what the ‘whites’ had done to the ‘blacks’ during the colonial era. It was due to the magnanimity of Mandela and Tutu that the commission was a success. But the case of Sri Lanka was that the majority the ‘Sinhalese’ targeted minority ‘Tamils’ for what the minority ‘Tamils’ enjoyed during the colonial era. It is meaningful to see if such commission as in South Africa would bring permanent healing to the wounds caused among the warring parties in Sri Lanka. It is vital for Sri Lanka because the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils, as well as Tamil-speaking Muslims, were affected by the war, even though overwhelmingly the Tamil-speaking people were the victims. Little has been done to heal the wounds in Sri Lanka.
CASE STUDY-SOUTH AFRICA: After the Britons captured the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, the British were dominant, even though they were the minority in the country. The minority ruled the majority with discriminatory policies. The policy of consistent racial separation was introduced in 1910 through laws that further curtailed the rights of the black majority. Further discriminatory policies were implemented, and insurgency was not preventable because of the discriminatory policies of the Britons.
(To be continued)
