The national conflict in Sri Lanka has intensified and become acute since majoritarianism pervaded the politics in this country without respect for justice and fair play.

As the British colonialism handed over the reins of administration to the nationalists, it passed into the hands of the majority Sinhalese. This led to Sinhala racism and domination of the Tamils by majority community.

The Parliament of Sri Lanka has passed unjust legislations against the Tamil community in favour of the majority community. Since the numbers are considered more important than quality, the Tamil community was at the receiving end. Whenever the Tamils demand justice and fair play , the Sinhala leadership denied their reasonable demands by using the voting strength in the Parliament which is the advantage of the majority community.

There are reports that the present government intends to make use of this voting strength of the majority community to sort out another issue affecting the Tamil people. The Sunday observer, a government media, quoting a senior official of the Presidential Secretariat has stated that a referendum might be held to determine the future of the Ceasefire Agreement signed between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE in 2001.

One wonders whether the government is interested in seeking a mandate through a referendum over the CFA in order to launch a full scale war. Is the government trying to find a lame excuse to go for a full scale war by explaining to the international community that the people of this country have given a mandate by rejecting the CFA?. That is the meaning that lies in the news story published in the government media.

Under the constitution, an executive President is vested with powers to declare either war or peace. Therefore, President must decide, by virtue of powers he enjoys, to extend justice and fair play to the minority community without depending on vote bank.

The proposal to hold a referendum to determine the future of CFA is an attempt to make the CFA a dead letter.

An English translation of the Editorial in Sudar Oli, a Tamil daily, based in Colombo

Comments (3)

Subscribe to this comment's feed