‘Minority complex of Majority’ mindset was observed among the elite Sinhala leaders long before the country gained independence; when the Kandian Sinhala people wanted a federal form of government, the elite Sinhala leaders feared that federation would divide them into two units and that each of the Sinhala federation unit would become a minority in the country. The call for federation was thus rejected by them and that mindset had prevailed to date.
After independence the greed for power split the Sinhala majority into two, when breakaway from the ruling UNP formed SLFP and the country was never united again. As part of their survival game to retain power both fractions did invade into the rights of the minorities. This truth needs to understand first; for it was only because all safety measures built into the first constitution to protect the Tamil speaking people have been systematically removed by the state. This made the Tamil people vulnerable to state exploitation and the ethnic problem was born and was the prime cause for all the ills of the country. The repeated hardships caused by oppression, drove the Tamil youths to rise up against the state and their uprising caused the bloody civil war that dragged on for thirty years. War was brutally brought to a finish by the state tri-forces, but the defenselessness of the Tamil people remained unaddressed and the Tamil Diaspora was born.
There is a popular criticism particularly from majority of the legislators representing the Sinhala people that their counterparts in Parliament representing the Tamils encourage separatism and are calling for autonomous separate state within the state. In this backdrop today there is hope for the country with a President who is the leader of SLFP and a Prime Minister who is the leader of UNP and together they have formed the government. The President with a view to help the majority community to come out of the conflict-ridden mindset has told them first to find out the problems faced by the Tamils that drove them to this position. The President with the Prime Minister having taken control of a country in a mess is slowly making an attempt to put the country back to order, in spite of stiff opposition from the breakaway opposition in parliament. Already this government has agreed with UN to address all the grievances of the people affected by the civil war and have commenced work, but the progress is not appreciated well by the affected people, because already denied to them for over seven years for a resolution of their just grievances.
Reinstating all the safety measures into the first constitution into the proposed new constitution will eliminate the call for an Autonomous separate state within the state. Thereafter the Local Tamil politicians could join in to work hand in hand with the President and the Prime Minister to settle all outstanding issues such as poverty, unemployment and other socio-cultural and socio-economic problems faced by all people, particularly the Tamil community. It is now up to every right thinking citizen to rally behind the President and the Prime Minister, to lift the Country to respectability. For in true democracy there is no place for “Minority complex of Majority” mindset.
Northern Breeze 