South Asia Citizens Web

May 2014 marked the fifth anniversary of the brutal end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, amidst massive human rights violations by rival armies that killed thousands of civilians. While many Sri Lankans felt relieved to be free of the fear of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, communalism has since been allowed to flourish and democracy and the rule of law undermined. Yet 16 August represents a very different sort of anniversary. Twenty years ago, through non-violent direct action, a heavily-armed dictatorial regime was forced to give up power and peace was temporarily restored in an island wracked by violence from many quarters. This was achieved in the main through mass action by ordinary Sri Lankans, though international human rights activism also played a part. Though the hopes raised by the 1994 general election were not completely fulfilled, I believe there are important lessons to be learned.

Sri Lanka is a textbook case of how a majoritarian democratic system can exclude minorities from political power by encouraging political mobilisation on the basis of ethnicity. Its 75 per cent Sinhala, 11 per cent Lankan Tamil and 9 per cent Muslim population each have their own ethnic parties. Political scientists have observed that in ethnically or religiously divided societies with democracy, parties are incentivised to campaign along narrow sectarian lines. So, instead of making Sri Lankan democracy inclusive, Colombo has promoted the ideology of a Sinhala Buddhist nation that excludes minority groups from political power. Such a majoritarian approach runs the risk of radicalising minorities again.

We are writing to you on behalf of Delhi Solidarity Group, a group to support people’s movements in the country, and invite you to join the rally to Narmada valley organised by the Narmada Bachao Andolan to meet the people, visit the villages and townships on the banks of Narmada and to assess the reality versus fake claims made by the authorities. . . . You must have heard about the decision taken by the Narendra Modi led NDA government to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. While there are thousands of families in the 177 villages of Madhya Pradesh alone and hundreds of families in the adivasi villages of Maharashtra and Gujarat who are “affected at 122 meters-the present height of the Dam”, the Union and the state government can’t carry further construction at the dam ! This being the legal position and the mandate of ‘No submergence without full rehabilitation of any family’ as well as compliance on environmental conditions, the decision is illegal! It is in violation of the Narmada Tribunal Award and other judgements.

In this age of economic globalisation and neo-liberal economy, the principle of profit over people plays a crucial role. Here, the state or a certain class of the society benefits from this economic globalisation, while creating a huge social inequality where certain sections, particularly the working class, become vulnerable in the name of development. In case of the RMG sector in Bangladesh, this claim is quite evident. While the owners become richer day by day, the workers die from factory fires, collapses, while suffering from hunger, malnutrition, and disease due to lower wages and lower safety standards of their workplaces.

This report by Amiya Rao, Sudesh Vaid and Monica Juneja was published in 1979 by the Delhi based People’s Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights, Delhi