Professor Maithree Wickremesighe, wife of PM Ranil Wickremesighe, said, many Sri Lankans still remain deeply conflicted and wounded because of government’s frequent failures to stem xenophobic campaigns – especially against the Tamils, Muslims and Christians in this country. She was speaking at the recent book launch, ‘Testimonies of Silent Pain’, compiled by The Social Architects.

This is an extremely problematic statement. She identifies the aforementioned ethnic and religious groups as foreigners of this country. The obvious culprit implied is the Sinhala Buddhists. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the veiled allegation of this statement.

Wickremesighe noted that it has been eight years since we annihilated terrorism. It is widely accepted that the birth of terrorism was after the 1983 riots, conveniently ignoring the reasons for the riots. Riots ensured because of the then government’s creation of a highly volatile situation. Ironically, Wickremesighe’s husband was a cabinet minister of that government and his uncle was the executive president.

When 13 soldiers were ambushed and killed by the terrorists, the government deliberately allowed the tensions to build. First, they made a big show by bringing the bodies of the slain officers and men to Colombo, than send with quiet dignity to their respective homes. The inordinate delays as people waited for these dead soldiers made the tensions of the public taut with raw emotions. The situation spiraled out of control at the sight of these 13 coffins.

Second, when public order disintegrated as devastatingly as it did, and lives of Tamils got targeted and their property destroyed, the government refused to act. The riots lasted for a couple of days, during which time people got killed and their homes and businesses were torched. The government remained silent.

In the recent floods and landslides, it is the people who swung into action while the government was otherwise busy approving monies for luxury vehicles only to decide against it and appointing new deputy ministers. Likewise, during the ’83 riots, it was the people who came to the rescue of the victims while the government watched. The incumbent PM’s indifference to the plight of the current victims who has lost loved ones and homes to floods and landslides, and are without food, medicine, cloths and shelter, as he continued with his plans to vacation in the USA was matched by the ’83 government.

It is most unfortunate that the brave efforts of the Sinhalese to protect his Tamil neighbor and friend is yet to be acknowledged by any quarter. Despite the terror reign of couple of days, the actual number of deaths was around 300. Considering the small Tamil population in predominantly Sinhala neighborhoods, the number of deaths should have run into thousands, if indeed the Sinhalese were behind the riots or if they did not hide the Tamils in their very homes and premises from the hooligans.

The then government’s inaction, which is the real culprit, is brushed under the carpet, letting the full blame to rest on the Sinhalese who neither approves nor excuses the riots. Hardly anyone – from the Sinhala community, religious leader, politician, political analyst, historian or at the very least the Tamils who were rescued by the Sinhalese – has tried to correct this misperception.

It is believed that the then government deliberately allowed the situation to disintegrate thus to impress upon India the consequences if they continue to sponsor terrorism. The then administration was trying through various efforts to stop Indira Gandhi’s despicable act of funding and training the terrorists. The full tilt to USA was also one strategy.

However, that administration’s strategies not only failed, but in fact worsened the situation. Its foolish attempt to set our own people against each other backfired in unexpected proportions. For the next 26 years, terrorists grew in force and we faced many atrocities, but the ’83 riots justified the terrorist’s existence.

During these 26 years, the Sinhala Buddhists were especially targeted by the terrorists. Some of the indelible atrocities committed against the Sinhala Buddhists were,
– Anuradhapura massacre in 1985, killing 145 Buddhist devotees
– Aluth Oya massacre in 1987, killing 127 Sinhala men, women and children
– pogrom against the Sinhalese in the East in 1995, 120 Sinhala villagers hacked to death
– Petta bus bombing in 1987, killing 113
– Aranthalawa massacre in 1987, 33 Buddhist monks, most of them young novices, and four civilians hacked and shot to death
– Kallarawa massacre in 1995, killing 42 Sinhalese
– Temple of the Tooth attacked in 1998, killing 17
– Gonagala massacre in 1999, 54 Sinhala villagers hacked to death
– Kabathigollawa massacre in 2006, killing 66

Yet, the Tamils continued to live among the Sinhalese throughout these long and terrible years. Even after the attack on the Temple of the Tooth, a place sacred to Buddhists as the Vatican is for the Catholics and Mecca for Muslims, Tamils lived amongst the Sinhalese without harm or harassment. In fact, the Tamil population began to increase in the south as they escaped from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from the North and East. According to 2012 census, the Tamil population in the Colombo district was 258,654, where as in 1981, the Tamil population was 190,414. Conversely, when the last gun fell silent on 18 May 2009, there was not a single Sinhalese living in the North.

In the east, as reported by Irida Divaina, time and again villagers from Mangalagama, Sippimaduwa, Divulapothana and Keviliyamaduwa have tried to highlight the enormous challenges they are faced with trying to rebuild their lives since the end of the war. During the terrorism era, they hid in the jungles at night to escape the LTTE’s ‘blooding’ exercises. When the situation deteriorated beyond hope, they even had to leave their ancestral homes and seek sanctuary elsewhere.

During these forced ‘transitions’ they lost their valuables, including documentation such as their national identity cards and land deeds. In some cases, the original owners have deceased, making it harder for their children to lay claims to their parents’ properties. The relevant officials instead of issuing fresh copies of these lost/damaged documentation are treating them like illegal immigrants. They have thus taken steps to evict over 50 families in Keviliyamaduwa from their lands through court orders. Without their land deeds, they are unable to prove ownership. Out of about 85 families in Keviliyamaduwa, only 55 people have voting rights. None of the benefits, to rebuild houses or to cultivate are provided to these people. They are not even granted samurdhi beneficiary status, despite their obvious poverty.

Clearly, the Sinhalese were victimized by terrorism. The double whammy though, they are also blamed for it and somehow made out to be the perpetrators too. The fact that violence was largely contained to the LTTE infested areas is because the Sinhalese differentiated between the Tamils and the terrorists. This is largely ignored. When the Tamils were at the receiving end, especially in 1983 and in 2009 when the LTTE held Tamils as a human shield, the valiant part Sinhalese played to safeguard them is unacknowledged.

Furthermore, the Sinhala victims of war are unrecognized. Through a concerted effort, the Sinhalese who were living in the North and the East are discouraged from returning to their property and the victory against terrorism is turned into a war crime.

The reasons for discouraging the Sinhalese returning to the East are obvious. This will create mono-ethnic groups in clearly demarcated areas in the Island. Yet, these moves are beyond the radar of the so-called international community, who insist on plurality. Their silence comes not from ignorance of the situation, but their precise understanding of the geopolitics and the convenience of having a destabilized Sri Lanka.

In this game of securing minority rights, the objective is never on minority rights. Different people stand on the same platform for very different agendas. While the extremist politicians seeks to be crowned as kings in their ‘homeland’, the international community lends a helping hand. A country in conflict translates into a country laden with debt and confusion, which is as good as being under colonial rule.

Neville Ladduwahetty in his article, “UNHRC and its resolutions on Sri Lanka” points out how the UN Resolutions grew over the years to what we have to deal with today. The 2012 Resolution contained only three paragraphs, essentially calling on the Government of Sri Lanka to implement an action plan to “implement the constructive recommendations made in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” and address alleged violations of international law.

The 2013 resolution is six paragraphs long, which was an expanded version of 2012. The 2014 resolution was 12 paragraphs long. The first three was a repeat provisions in the 2013 resolution, and the remainder referring mostly to procedural matters. The 2015 resolution on the other hand was completely different to all the previous resolutions.

This resolution was brought with the backdrop of regime change, which was engineered to serve US and Indian hegemony. Over their worry of China’s One Belt One Road, they sought to destabilize Sri Lanka for the Island was poised to become a strategic partner.

“Without realizing the complexities involved in meeting the commitments in the Resolution, the Sri Lankan beneficiaries of regime change saw the Resolution an opportunity to contain their political opponents,” writes Ladduwahetty.

In the government’s attempts to follow the Resolution, our military intelligence network is exposed and officers who directly contributed to the demise of the LTTE are being hauled before various investigations. The peace that prevails in the north and the east would not have been possible if the security forces had not destroyed the LTTE. Yet, the security forces are treated as suspects of a serious crime. Senior officers like Major General Chagi Gallage are denied the Australian visa, even though he is not even implicated over any crime other than serving his division. Still, no one bats an eyelid when provincial councillor MK Shivajilingam warns the president of Sri Lanka from visiting the north during their ‘remembrance week’.

Given the facts and events of recent history, the Sinhala Buddhists are not the problem. For that matter, nether is the ordinary Tamil and Muslim citizen. When Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith takes the stand that Buddhism must continue to be given the foremost place for other religions in Sri Lanka to survive, then Christians are also not the problem. The problem lies with the west funded civil groups, who sees religious invasion in a Vesak decoration and its unquestioning audience.