By P.K.Balachandran

For the first time in the history of the observance of Sivarathri in Sri Lanka, issues of inter-ethnic reconciliation overshadowed religious observances this year.

Even as the All Ceylon Hindu Congress (ACHC) urged President Maithripala Sirisena to address the long-standing grievances of the Tamil community and announce alleviating measures to mark Sivarathri, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe urged all, including the Tamils, to play a constructive role in bringing about reconciliation.

“It takes much to achieve freedom, co-existence and equality in challenging times, especially when various attempts are underway to force the country back to dark times. With certain elements striving to create racial and religious disharmony, let us make this a momentous occasion to overcome such pettiness and work towards a constructive engagement with all,” the PM said in his message.

On the one hand, opposition groups led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa are opposing, on security grounds, the Sirisena government’s promises to meet the Tamils’ legitimate demand for the restoration of normalcy after the war. On the other hand, a section of Tamils entrenched in the Northern Provincial Council, have raised the ante making radical demands.

The latter is accusing the Lankan state of committing genocide. It seeks self-determination, a foreign judicial mechanism to probe charges of war crimes against the Lankan armed forces and the removal of the army from the North.

The moderate Tamils, represented by the ACHC, want government to allow war refugees to settle in their own land, and the release of Tami war time detainees, some of whom are on an indefinite fast.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government finds it difficult to reconcile the antagonistic groups and form a generally acceptable policy.

Courtesy:New Indian Express