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Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka
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Joining Peace Boat from Singapore were
four university students from different backgrounds:
Hindu Tamil, Buddhist Singhalese, Muslim and a Dutch
Berger, but all from Sri Lanka. Sitting around chatting
on the main deck as the ship passed through the Straits
of Malacca, it would be hard to tell that these young
people came from four different sides of a conflict
that has divided Sri Lanka for over 20 years.
The Singhalese Buddhists make up 70 percent of Sri
Lanka’s population. Violence broke out in 1975,
a few years after the Singhalese majority created a
constitution that left out the Hindu Tamil minority,
which had formerly been favored under British colonial
rule. Under the new constitution, the Tamils felt oppressed
and rebelled against the government. The ensuing conflict
that has killed 65,000 people out of a population of
18 million. |
So what has prompted peace
talks between the various sides?
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Sri Lanka Muslim student Shahina
Zahir |
Shahina Zahir, a Muslim
and 4th year law student, says there are several reasons,
but the main one has been pressure from the general population.
"People are really asking for peace and the government
realized that it [peace] is something they have to try
to deliver. And the economic damage caused by years of
violence has also forced the Singhalese government to
stop using self-defence as a reason for continuing to
fight the Tamils” she said. According to Shahina,
"The government always thought there was a military
solution and they went in without really thinking about
peace."
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| In 2001, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
asked Norway to play a mediating role in the conflict.
A peace process was put in place by April 2002 and continues
to evolve today. Niran Anketell, a Tamil
student, says that since the peace accord was struck,
relations between the different racial groups have improved
a lot and negotiations with the Tamils that were once
unpopular are now expected to continue. "It seemed
like it [the peace process] was working when the leaders
came down from their pedestals and made concessions,"
said Niran. |
Chilaw Hindu temple stella |
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Although the situation is markedly better now,
Sri Lankan people are still weary after 20 years of
violence. Shahina says no one wants to live in a war
torn country. But at the same time, she claims not to
want to live anywhere else either. "You can't exactly
live in fear all the time, though it is always lurking
in the back of your mind…where you will be when
the next time an attack happens?" said Shahina.
For Niran, who lost relatives because of the civil
war, things are not yet perfectly secure and stable.
"You're always worrying about whether you're safe,
whether as a minority group there will be a crackdown
on us, whether my civil rights will be safeguarded in
the future." Niran says it would be difficult for
him to return to the north, where his family comes from.
"As a Tamil, what's at stake is my future. I feel
the conflict is really a question about how many rights
I'll be able to enjoy in the future," said Niran.
Shahina says the war has also affected the lives of
many others. "The main actors are the Tamils and
the [Sri Lankan] government, but there are others like
the Muslims." Christopher Weeramantry, a former
judge of the International Court of Justice and current
Guest Educator onboard Peace Boat agrees, saying it
is easy but dangerous to forget about the innocent people
caught up in war. "The newspapers tell us exactly
how many soldiers have been killed, but we don't hear
about the others who have suffered: the ones who have
lost their hearing, their eyesight or their ability
to walk. They are not in the newspapers and the public
forgets all about these people." |
A Japanese Peace Boat participant
prays at the Chilaw Hindu temple
Sheamal Samarasekera and Niran
Anketell (L to R) |
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