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serendipity
OPINION
Some years before his death in 2008, I sat in the modest Colombo home of
Mr Harry Goonatillake, a retired chief of the Sri Lankan Air Force, listening to
his reminiscences about flying Mr Lee Kuan Yew around the island when the
Singapore leader visited the South Asian nation in the 1970s.
With its strategic perch in the Indian Ocean, natural beauty, deep water
ports, ease of English use and a warm and welcoming people, the land was
one of great promise. Mr Lee, always wary of potential competition to
Singapore, was keeping a quiet eye on the fellow Commonwealth nation
whose emigres, bearing names such as Pillay, Perera and
Shanmugaratnam, had provided him so much talent as he went about
building his own island.
But every silver lining has its clouds and Sri Lanka's feuding politicians
handily served up their share. Majoritarian politics, which had reared its
head soon after Independence, came to the fore more vigorously from the
early 1970s, spreading disaffection among the Tamil minority,
which tended to dominate the professions and higher bureaucracy. The
country went through a name change - Ceylon got a Sinhala name - and the
Sinhala lion appeared on the flag. Buddhism was constitutionally given "the
foremost place".
ST ILLUSTRATION: MIEL
Faced with shrinking opportunities, Tamils, who are mostly Hindus and
but his pilot son, Group Captain Shirantha, was shot down by the Tigers
while he flew to investigate another crash.
The other son, Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonatillake, is now Chief of
Defence Staff.
BRINK OF OPPORTUNITY
The Tamil insurgency ended in 2009 and Sri Lanka once again stood on the
brink of unprecedented opportunity. Tourism rebounded: Last year, the
island received 1.5 million visitors, a threefold increase in five years.
Fisheries improved as fisher folk were once again allowed use of outboard
motors, banned during the war to prevent arms smuggling. The economies
of the North and Eastern provinces stirred to life as people began
cultivating their lands, although much land still remains in the hands of the
military.
Economic growth, which had touched its lowest of 1.5 per cent in the first
quarter of 2009 as the war approached its denouement, soared to a record
8.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Unfortunately, President Mahinda Rajapaksa proved to be a triumphalist in
victory. Soon after the Tigers were wiped out, he fired, then jailed, General
Sarath Fonseka, a true Sinhala hero who had survived an assassination
attempt on him by a Tamil Tiger woman bomber. He was evacuated to
Singapore, where expert surgeons patched him up. After several weeks, the
army chief had gone home - and straight into battle.
Some of Mr Rajapaksa's brothers, all of whom held high government
positions, were widely alleged to have had sticky fingers.
On top of all that, the President sought to move Sri Lanka's centre of
political and economic gravity to his own political base on the southern tip
of the island, Hambantota, in an attempt to trim the wings of the Colombo
elite.
competition can help you get badly needed infrastructure at bargainbasement rates.
In an interview he gave me on Oct 17, Mr Wickremesinghe gave me the
impression that while he will pay heed to India's security interests and
largely keep the Chinese away from the North and the East, provinces
closer to India, Beijing would have more room to invest around Western
Province and elsewhere, such as the South.
More importantly, he seemed to be aware that a lasting peace on the island
can be achieved only when the Tamil community is brought on board. For
that, some credible investigation of war crimes is in order. So, too, a proper
devolution of power to the provinces so the North and East can feel more in
control of their destiny. If he gets it right, the talented Tamil diaspora will
doubtless chip in to do their part for Sri Lanka. But how far should a war
tribunal go? It is not an easy question. The brutality was immense - on both
sides. And no political leader in the nation can go after people like Gen
Fonseka. Indeed, much of the misery the nation, including its Tamils,
suffered was because of the late Tigers leader Prabhakaran, who had
become a monster to his own people. This writer's memories are full of
people who fell to his blood lust - the list is long.
Now, Sri Lanka has one more chance. Perhaps its last one.
It is by no means an easy task and the Rajapaksas have enough money and
muscle to queer Mr Wickremesinghe's pitch. If Mr Wickremesinghe and the
national unity government find the sagacity to pull it off, the land whose
startling beauty gave us the word "serendipity" may rediscover its magic
and throw up a new Asian Tiger. Undoubtedly, that would fetch more visits
by Singapore prime ministers.
Posted by Thavam