Although the Independence Day has passed all the people of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others alike are more worried than ever about the future of independence, meaning the future of democracy in the country. Clearly everyone wants a new nation and all are fed up with the style of the one that exists. However, about what the new nation should be there is confusion, giving rise to conflicts and even to bloodshed.
All the pain associated with the confusion, conflicts and the loss is not only indicative of the deeply felt realisation that old politics and governance have failed but that there is a search for something new. This widespread consciousness about the need for something new is irreversible. It comes from a realisation that the old is dead although what the new is has not yet been defined. It reminds us of a story of a young Sri Lankan man who wanted to marry a Japanese girl and who when asked by an elderly Japanese as to why he wanted to do this said jokingly that there is a saying to the effect that “to be happy you need a Chinese cook and a Japanese wife.” To this the elderly Japanese replied, “Son, those women died fifty years ago.” It can be definitely said that the type of mindset among the people that existed fifty years ago no longer exists. The level of self consciousness of peoples of all communities has changed radically.
The realisation that the political system within which they live is a rogue one and that deception is the normal way in which the country is being ruled and that robbery and leadership go together is universal within the country. What will be the new Lanka? This is the quintessential question which even if it is not so openly asked still bothers everyone. How will the present confusion, conflicts and bloodshed end? Sri Lankan enlightenment and the creative genius in the coming years will be tested in the way in which this question will be answered. It is no longer possible to turn away from this question but at the same time it is also difficult to answer. Many are struggling to contribute to the problem from their own point of view. And some points of view have contributed to greater confusion and also even to bloodshed. But to sort out all these different points of views and to work out ways to create a new consensus is the task that is faced by everyone.
It is possible to see five different types of conflicts taking place at the same time and these conflicts overlap each other. These are: conflicts which arose with the introduction of adult franchise in 1931 which at the initial stage contributed more to the exploitation of racial, caste and religious prejudice instead of the development of consensus among different groups towards a more dynamic solution that could contribute to the happiness of all; there is also the conflict of modernisation vs. traditional society which is a conflict that faces all nations and to which each nation must find its own formula of resolution; then there is the conflict between democracy and authoritarianism and the 1978 constitution was a decisive turn to an authoritarian model of governance which in subsequent decades the people have found to have contributed to chaos in the country; there is also the conflict between the aspirations of all marginalised groups such as workers, farmers, educated young people coming from the previously poorer sections of all societies, women and also minorities, who have been suppressed by extreme forms of repression such as killings after arrest, forced disappearances, torture and the maintenance of torture chambers and a police and military culture in which all forms of restraints on the use of force and proportionality of punishment have been abandoned creating an entrenched culture of violence and impunity towards all communities; finally there is the most obvious conflict between the government and the LTTE which at the present movement has turned out towards the most blatant forms of violence ignoring even the rights of the civilians.
All these five conflicts mentioned above are a part of one political system and of a single history. Trying to isolate any one of these conflicts in an attempt to find a solution only creates more confusion, greater violence and frustration. All the deficits in the five areas of conflict mentioned above need to be taken together and a much more comprehensive and richer dialogue needs to take place with a view to achieve greater consensus. A suitable political model for future Sri Lanka can emerge from such a search for a genuine consensus. This certainly will have drastic consequences for all political parties and all political leaders, be they traditional political parties or new ones with radical orientation. There is no way out of facing up to this task for building a new consensus based on the admission of past failures and a comprehensive overview of all the five conflicts that the country is facing.
