NOW that terrorism is on the verge of being wiped out, SL needs to look beyond the military means of eradicating terror, to a final settlement of everyone's long standing grievences. It is important that the military gains do not get diluted in the political process, since a just solution will necessarily have to come from a reversal of injustices to all.
This means addressing the reasonable political aspirations of all people in Sri Lanka for representative power sharing in ways that lead our nation as a whole towards a visionary future. It also means providing security to all, so that anyone can live in any part of the nation, irrespective of linguistic, religious or any other differences. In addition, it would also entail removal of barriers, legal or otherwise, to ownership of property in any part of the country for anyone who is a Sri Lankan citizen.
Property rights form the basis of electoral rights for anyone in any part of the democratic world. Local government level voter registration requires domicle and denial of property rights to anyone is a denial of legitimate democratic rights to the individual who is thus denied the right of political representation. Any and all such laws or practices need to be abolished as a starter for all Sri Lankans to possess equal rights within the constitution.
It is for this purpose that the denial of property rights under Jaffna Tamil Thesavalami Laws are unacceptable. Thesavalami, obviously a concoction of racist nationalistic ferver of times gone by states that no one who is not of Jaffna Tamil origin is allowed to own property within the territories administered under its rule. Such racist, tribalist laws do not belong in the present day world and belong in the same grave with all the tribal, racist tamil goons.
Sri Lanka deserves a fresh start. Some seem to think that the fresh start needs to be essentially one in which the Sinhalese majority needs to be apologetic to the Tamils or anyone else who feels aggrieved for reasons real or imaginary. Without a single doubt, that would be the wrong foot to start on and will only lead to further problems in the future as well. Instead, it is the right time to abolish all systems of discrimination along the lines of race, religion or sex by the use of all means at the disposal of the government. Discriminatory laws such as Thesawalami must be abolished and their practitioners given severe punishment.
This means addressing the reasonable political aspirations of all people in Sri Lanka for representative power sharing in ways that lead our nation as a whole towards a visionary future. It also means providing security to all, so that anyone can live in any part of the nation, irrespective of linguistic, religious or any other differences. In addition, it would also entail removal of barriers, legal or otherwise, to ownership of property in any part of the country for anyone who is a Sri Lankan citizen.
Property rights form the basis of electoral rights for anyone in any part of the democratic world. Local government level voter registration requires domicle and denial of property rights to anyone is a denial of legitimate democratic rights to the individual who is thus denied the right of political representation. Any and all such laws or practices need to be abolished as a starter for all Sri Lankans to possess equal rights within the constitution.
It is for this purpose that the denial of property rights under Jaffna Tamil Thesavalami Laws are unacceptable. Thesavalami, obviously a concoction of racist nationalistic ferver of times gone by states that no one who is not of Jaffna Tamil origin is allowed to own property within the territories administered under its rule. Such racist, tribalist laws do not belong in the present day world and belong in the same grave with all the tribal, racist tamil goons.
Sri Lanka deserves a fresh start. Some seem to think that the fresh start needs to be essentially one in which the Sinhalese majority needs to be apologetic to the Tamils or anyone else who feels aggrieved for reasons real or imaginary. Without a single doubt, that would be the wrong foot to start on and will only lead to further problems in the future as well. Instead, it is the right time to abolish all systems of discrimination along the lines of race, religion or sex by the use of all means at the disposal of the government. Discriminatory laws such as Thesawalami must be abolished and their practitioners given severe punishment.
There are thousands of muslims and Sinhalese who lost their property in the northern areas when the LTTE began its ethnic cleansing activities. A large number of these people still live in the Mannar-Puttalam areas in camps that are unfit for human habitation. Justice must be done by these people and they must be relocated to their lands and any opposition by the neighborhood tribalists must be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly. A bullet in the face would effectively settle most such problems.
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