The long chase

The latest upheaval experienced in Sri Lanka resembles in many ways the deadly convulsions that routinely rattle and shake South Asia and other volatile regions in Africa to their foundations. That the island nation continues to lose its way nearly a decade after it emerged from the detritus of the 26-year civil war with the Tamil Tigers is a tragedy of epic proportions both for its people, as well as the region and the world at large. The crisis brought on by the dismissal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe exacerbates political tensions and threatens to erupt into a cauldron of violence — shades of which are already becoming visible. Sadly, much of the current tensions can be faulted on the apparent failure of Sri Lanka’s top leaders to set aside their personal differences in the larger interest of peace and stability. Such a clash of bloated egos has rarely brought any good for a country. The Maldives, one of Sri Lanka’s neighbours is a vivid case in point.

Unless urgent measures are not taken to find a democratic and fair solution to the crisis, there is little chance of the island nation navigating a safe course and avoiding the dangerous regional affliction of instability.

This is a time when Saarc members can step in and help mediate a peaceful end to the crisis. Before that option is explored, it would be worthwhile mounting a last-ditch attempt to invite all of the country’s political parties on a single platform and get them to convince the opposing sides to narrow their differences. There should be a robust, single-minded approach to stub out the flames of division. After a quarter of a century of civil war, Sri Lanka can ill afford to squander the chance for peace. Its people have already paid the price for interminable war. They should not be expected to pay any more.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2018.

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