Begin typing your search above and press return to search.
proflie-avatar
Login
exit_to_app
Democracy that banks on the electorate
access_time 28 March 2024 5:34 AM GMT
Lessons to learn from Moscow terror attack
access_time 27 March 2024 6:10 AM GMT
Gaza
access_time 26 March 2024 4:34 AM GMT
The poison is not in words, but inside
access_time 25 March 2024 5:42 AM GMT
A witchhunt, plain and simple
access_time 23 March 2024 9:35 AM GMT
DEEP READ
Schools breeding hatred
access_time 14 Sep 2023 10:37 AM GMT
Ukraine
access_time 16 Aug 2023 5:46 AM GMT
Ramadan: Its essence and lessons
access_time 13 March 2024 9:24 AM GMT
When ‘Jai Sree Ram’ becomes a death call
access_time 15 Feb 2024 9:54 AM GMT
exit_to_app
Homechevron_rightWorldchevron_rightIn the midst of...

In the midst of sufferings ethnic divide blurs in Sri Lanka

text_fields
bookmark_border
In the midst of sufferings ethnic divide blurs in Sri Lanka
cancel

Colombo: In the bad times people will shun their petty egos and forget their racial and political identity issues, coming together to set things right like people walking on a desert do, looking for the shade of a palm tree.

This is exactly what is now happening in Sri Lanka, the tiny island just a stone's throw away from India, where discordant racial and ethnic fault lines are getting blurred in the face of the biggest question: the collective survival.

People may be inwardly asking why fight for silly things when things fall apart. According to The Indian Express Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim, at least for now, are united in one cry: "Go Gota go".

Protesters flooding on the streets, the report say, chant they were not divided by class or by race, sending the message of convergence against the formidable in power, across the nation.

The new generation Sri Lankans who lead the protest against the Rajapaksa family are apparently unmindful of Sri Lanka's complicated ethnic divide that would otherwise keep them apart.

The Rajapaksas, both Gotabaya and his brother Mahinda, instead of bridging the divide, reportedly, went on to feed it despite the civil war ended in 2009.

Now that people are converging, anything that might undercut this unity is not welcome. The most recent example comes from Tamil parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran who reportedly "politely deflected" Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin's offer of essential supplies for Tamils in Sri Lanka. He told The Indian Express, thanking the chief minister for the offer, that assistance should be for all Sri Lankans at this time, not just Tamils.

Sri Lankan Tamil community knew better than accepting the offer entirely for themselves, thus playing into the hands of disruptive elements as well as sending wrong message to the majority Sinhala-Buddhist community in the nation.

Showing the evidence of changes, Sumanthiran pointed at the placards on the streets that apologised the killings of Tamils during the war. Meanwhile thousand flooded the streets in Colombo on Saturday demanding the government to go. They chanted that the corruption should end and the President could not go in power, and all the Rajapaksas must go.

To end the political impasse, Opposition parties are about to finalise an agreement amongst themselves on future course of action if they were able to put an end to Rajapaksa rule as the parliament meets again on April 19.

After President Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa lost its majority, they offered the Opposition to share in the power which the Opposition spurned. As the nation spiraled down in protests, President tried to placate people by disbanding his cabinet and he has not since appointed a new one. The new finance minister threw up hands and resigned in 24 hours of taking up the charge.

The Indian Express mentions the likelihood of President Rajapaksa continuing in power resorting to the unthinkable "Myannmar model" as the military is reportedly loyal to him after empowering them to defeat LTTE.

Show Full Article
TAGS:Rajapaksa government
Next Story