De-Merger Demand Gathers Steam in Sri Lanka
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COLOMBO, Aug 25 (OneWorld) - The escalation of violence against Muslims by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka's Eastern province, has intensified the demand for the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces, with President Chandrika Kumaratunga announcing last week that she is seriously considering this option.
But while Muslims are keen on the de-merger, Tamils are vehemently opposed to it, marking a clear ethnic divide among civilians in the East. The Sinhalese, who comprise 32 percent of the population in the Eastern province, also support the de-merger. Muslims form 35 percent, while Tamils comprise 33 percent of the population in the Eastern province. In the Northern province, 85 percent of the population comprises Tamils, with Muslims forming a small minority here. After they were evicted by the LTTE in 1990, some 70 percent of Muslims now live outside the province. Declares local political activist from the eastern town of Kalmunai, M. Mashood, 41, "If the government and LTTE are unprepared to give us a separate Muslim Council merging all Muslim areas in the North and the East, we will definitely demand a de-merger." Interestingly, Kalmunei is Sri Lanka's largest Muslim town, forming the base of the Muslim majority council proposed by the country's main Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). The party first mooted the proposal in the late 80s. According to the SLMC proposal, the Muslim Council would link other Muslim areas in the East and the North in a non-contiguous arrangement. While the LTTE has strongly opposed this proposal, protesting that it violates their joint Northeast arrangement, successive governments virtually ignored it too. Subsequently, senior SLMC leaders also dropped the idea, fearing the community would be labeled "spoilers" of the peace process. Popular opinion about this is in stark contrast. If the government hands over the Northeast to a predominantly LTTE-led administration, the average Muslim still favors the formation of a separate Muslim Council. Fears Mashood, "There are signs that in its over-enthusiasm to placate the LTTE and seal a peace deal with them, the United National Front government may ignore the grievances of the Muslims and Sinhalese in the East. So we are requesting the President to use her powers to de-merge the two provinces." The Constitution has vested powers in the President, who also happens to be the leader of the main Opposition party, the Peoples Alliance (PA), to de-merge the two provinces. The Northern and Eastern provinces were temporarily merged in 1987 after the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord between India and Sri Lanka. While the merger was to be followed by a referendum in the East a year later, strong opposition from the LTTE has placed it on the backburner. Complains T. Thowfeek, 39, a petty businessman from the eastern town of Mutur, "Our right to decide the future of our province has been hijacked by successive governments. Nearly 70 percent of the population is against this merger, but we are not given a chance to declare our opposition." On the other hand, the Tamils, gripped by insecurity about their minority status in the Eastern province, remain strongly opposed to the separation of the two provinces. As P. Navaratnam, a government employee in the eastern town of Valachchenai, puts it, "The North and East are areas of historical habitation by Tamils. We don't want to be a minority in the Eastern province when we can be part of the merged North-East provincial administration." Another government employee here, Jayachandran feels the solution lies in providing Muslims adequate security. As he questions, "Is there any guarantee that they will not be subjected to similar treatment even after the de-merger of the two provinces?" Tamil politicians maintain that a de-merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces would scuttle the peace process. "The merger of the North and the East was a non-negotiable issue in all peace initiatives since the mid 80s," remarks V. Anandasangaree, leader of the leading Tamil party, the Tamil United Liberation Front. Says Anandasangaree; "It was after a lot of effort that our late leaders got the then J.R.Jayewardena government to agree to the merger of the two provinces. They also gave us to understand that a referendum would never be held in the East." Given this background, he feels a de-merger at this juncture, would mean reneging on pledges made to Tamils by successive governments. Anandasangaree warns that the President should not even consider this option, as it would trigger the LTTE's withdrawal from the talks and the collapse of the peace initiative. At last week's Cabinet briefing, Constitutional Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris also warned that a de-merger would weaken the peace process. |
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