Donne senza confini

THE FUTURE OF SRI LANKA IN CHANDRIKA'S HANDS

Probably the name Sri Lanka remembers only the label of the own t-shirt yet it is a state rich in history and art. And' an island with nineteen million inhabitants situated in the south of India, important for the numerous commercial activities that the multinationals have installed.
Sri Lanka constantly remains however a poor Country and the foreign investments decrease following the twenty-year civil war.
Sometimes on the Italian newspapers we are read short news on this small State and they are always unfortunately bad news of death and war.
The reason? The north of the country, the tamils, ask the independence from the central State. Countries Basque (Spain), Cecenia, North Ireland , could seem the same history but Sri Lanka is different above all because the future of the Country from ten years is in the hands of a woman, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Before formulating judgments on the role that has played the President Kumaratunga, it is better to reconstruct the facts to understand better the actual reality of the island.
The first installations go up again to the V or You sec. a.c., a nomadic population from the dark skin and low stature. Since such epoch the Sri Lanka (Cylon before the independence) the threat of the Indian conquest has lived always succeeding however to withstand.
The medioeval period was the maximum shine up to the arrival of the European colonizers, the Portuguese in 1505, the Dutch in 1658 and the English in 1796. The origin of the matter tamilese goes up again really to the colonization English in fact farmers tamilesi was deported from southern India to make to work them in the plantations of tea. There was also a minority of native tamilesi of the place and to them, the English, had submitted important roles in the public administration. The tamilesis speak their own language and they are induist while the rest of the population singalese is nuddhist however the mutual hate has been fomented by the behavior of the colonial power. The same has happened in Rwanda when the Europeans have supported an ethnic minority rather than another. In 1948 the Sri Lanka has gotten the independence from the United Kingdom and the situation has overturned. The singalese party gone to the power has clasped the rights of the tamilesis, preventing them the access to some jobs, formally imposing the Buddhism as primary religion and excluding the young tamilesis from the universities. Chandrika's father, president of the Sri Lanka, was murdered in 1959 while he was trying to recompose the dissension among the two communities. His widow, Sirimavo, taken his place becoming the first woman in the world premier. Beginning from the years '70 the tamils have complained a separate state in the north east of the country and to reach their objectives in 1972 the leader of the rebels, Velupillai Prabhakaran, formed a group , the "tigers tamil". The group subsequently became a trained called army "tigers for the liberation of the Tamil Ealam" (LTTE). Two etnies have never stopped fighting themselves. In 1983 government strengths effected an operation of ethnic cleaning that caused the death of 600 tamils. The situation became dramatic and the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, despite he had always supported the native tamilesis of India, he sent a strength of peace in help to the government singalese and for this reason he was killed during a conference.
In 1995 it was chosen as president of the Republic Chandrika Kumaratunga and her mother became Prime Minister.
(Chandrika)

She has always assumed a rigid line rejecting the dialogue with the tamilesis despite they made back footsteps in their requests. In practice the tamilesis would like a form of autonomy on the style of the Countries Basque in Spain. Chandrika has again won the elections in 1999. The strong economic crisis that has also struck the Country caused by the violent clashes, has forced Chandrika to elect Prime Minister in the 2001 Ranil Wickramasinghe, leader of the party of opposition United Front Party. The political line of the new president has not found a lot of accord Chandrika and the political cohabitation has appeared from immediately difficult. New premier has wanted to favor the dialogue with the tamilesis, he has eliminated the embargo toward the north east of the Country and he has accepted that Norway assumed the role of arbiter in the delicate political situation. The tamilesis in 2001 have signed a truce. The attempt of pacification has never been supported really from Chandrika. She was born in 1945 and she comes from a family of politicians. She has studied in France and she lived numerous personal tragedies: her father's murder when she was fourteen years old, her husband has been killed after few years of marriage in 1989. In 1999 she has suffered an attack and she has lost an eye. These personal vicissitudes probably strike again him on the Chandrika president of today. She has asked the elections for last 2 April following the political divergences with the premier and she has boycotted the role assumed by Norway as mediator. Chandrika has succeeded in her intent since her party has won the elections and the new Prime Minister is Mahinda Rajapaksa. She has assumed the role of Minister of the Defense to testimony of the wish to manage the matter tamilese. Meanwhile the separatist tamils have taken back the armed offensive after a two year-old truce. The new executive, that doesn't have the absolute majority in parliament, has announced to take back the negotiations. Real political strategy or search of international consents? Chandrika has again now the control of the situation, it is up to her to find a solution to a conflict thatsince 1983 it has already provoked 65.000 victims.

Federico Bastiani