A lot have being said about the on going offensive of the GoSL and the ethnic conflict in the war torn nation of Sri Lanka. In addition to the military operations, couple of other war’s has being fought by both parties through the media, International community, Diaspora with no party giving up its offensives or surrendering, in any form. One may call it “War on terrorism” another call it “Genocide”, while some others call it “Human Catastrophe”. But whatever the call may be, my view of the subject is quite neutral and unbiased to any ones opinion, and would like to open up a discussion on how “Cricket” and “Cricketers”, which has being my passion, could heal a Country that desperately needs a helping hand in building the bridge between different ethnics, religions and communities of Sri Lanka.
The current conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils did not begin in the recent history, but can be dated back as 160bc, when the Sinhalese King Dutugamunu famously fought a battle against his counterpart, a Tamil king known as Elara to unite Sri Lanka under one flag. Ever since then, in the 2500 year old History of Sri Lanka, at times the nation was governed as one country, while at other times, several states of Sri Lanka was administered by different regimes and kingdoms. So the problem persisting now and the arms taken to combat against it, is nothing new to the Sinhalese and the Tamils of Sri Lanka. It is imminent that with the current offensive of GoSL, the rebel group known as the Liberation Tamil Tiger of Eelam (LTTE), formed to protect the civil rights of the Tamil people will be defeated militarily. But rest assure, the problem will not end there. History has proven to us that the conflict will continue and our only hope is that it won’t be violent and destructive as what we are experiencing now. The challenge for the government is not wining the war, but wining the hearts and pride of the Tamil community and the Diaspora living in western countries that were funding the LTTE for its valiant cause.
So let us examine the reasons for this war and what can be done to prevent it happening again. As I said, the route cause of this problem is the ethnicity of the Sri Lankans and understandably the differences we perceive our selves to be with our Culture, Race and Religion. Like in any ethnic conflict we try to differentiate between our self’s depending on the above ideology; intentionally or not. Understanding our difference is the key to resolving the conflict through a political settlement and I leave that to the democratically elected politicians to come with resolution having heard all stakeholders to the conflict. This should involve minority parties, the civilians who have suffered, and the rebels who have surrendered, diaspora community, mainstream movements, and the clergy of all religions. I am no expert when it comes to politics, but the plea is quite unanimous and simple. We need peace in Sri Lanka, and everyone should live with equal opportunity while protecting human rights.
While I leave that aspect to the politicians, let us now discuss the similarities amongst our self’s as I think this is another key aspect in building relationships between us. Although I can think of many, the obvious one to note is the general passion and admiration we share for Cricket and the pride we hold our self’s as one nation. We have a Cricket team who are world beaters, and the team consist of players from all ethnicities. We’re all proud of our Cricketers, and the infrastructure of Cricket in Sri Lanka could be another block to use in building this bridge that needs mending. The vision should be to promote and encourage Cricket in the North and East areas of Sri Lanka, especially the war battered areas, and get young Tamil boys (and girls) to play the game and enjoy what Cricket has to offer them. We need to get Cricket grounds build for these communities so that they can too have the privileges we share in having to watch a cricket match during their leisure time. I might be too buoyant in saying, why don’t we get International Cricket to these areas, but we still need to have the vision of achieving this someday. For starters, at least we could get the national cricketers to go and play matches in these areas, so that the young children can cherish the moment of seeing their role models in action (understand that with the attacks the team suffered in Lahore this might be something the cricketers will think twice). The current Inter-provincial system should now be expanded to cover all areas of Sri Lanka, and the target should be to get cricketers of these areas playing for the Country very soon. I honestly do believe there is immense talent amongst these kids, and who knows we might even find our next Murali very soon. Talking about equal opportunities, we should give these communities the chance of representing the country and let them know that their part of Sri Lanka and they have all the right to represent Sri Lanka. While the points I make can also be attributed to other sports, the general message on the topic is to promote sports in the region and to get their talent to represent the country. Although it’s easier sad than done, every effort must be made to achieve this dream.
