Scots and Tamils

Hotsprings, 1 December 1997

There is a parallel between the political experience of the UK and Sri Lanka, which seems to be little appreciated in both countries. Both countries are not homogneous entities they ae made up of diffent people who constitute the majority of the resident population in compact, well demarcated territories within each contry. In the UK they are Scottish, Welsh and Irish people in Scotland, Wales and Nothern Ireland rspectively. In Sri Lanka the Tamil people in the north-east provinces.
The parellel with Scotland is even more intriguing as it has a different system of law from the rest of the UK just as the thesavalamai system of personal law applies to the Tamil population in the north-east province, but not to the rest ofthe island's population. The Scot' pride themselves on their presumed educational superiority to all else in the country, much as Jaffna Tamils do in Sri Lanka.The Scots are notorious for their parsimony and provident ways - attributes widely accorded to Jaffna's Tamil people.

The attitude of the English to all this posturing and threats to leave the union in not one of murderous hostility. On the contrary it is one of rather amused disbelief that these three people can go it alone in the modern world and pay their way. In the streets I have asked english acquaintances whether they wish to wage war to prevent the break-up of the union and recieved responses which though pilite, left on doubt that such question could only have been asked by a barbarian. I have abondened these attempts in order to save genuine friendship.

The World's history does not contain a single example of devolution, however extreme, buying off a natin's aspiration for sovereign independence. The Sinhala nationaists in Sri Lanka who make this point hve history on their side. Where they go wrong is their conviction that where devolution is certin to fail, all-out military suppression will succeed. The lessons of history is that neither works. That is way all peace making efforts from Palestine to Mindanao have aimed for rational accommodation with armed independence movements continuing to retain their arms and territory after the settlement. Nothing else has been found to work.