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Whither
the Sri Lankan identity? It is in this context that one needs to look at a serious issue that has sprung up in recent weeks -- the formation of a Regiment in the Sri Lanka Army exclusively for Muslims. The Government's thinking on the issue has not been made clear and there has not been much discussion on it either. The one thing we know is, that it came about on the eve of President Mahinda Rajapaksa's recent state visit to Pakistan. The
Muslim political leadership itself is mute on the subject -- pleading
ignorance rather than making their views known-- in favour or otherwise.
Some argue that a separate Muslim regiment is a long-felt need in the Sri Lanka Army. Others say that it is to assuage rising Islamic militancy in the east and divert it into the mainstream military. Still others believe it is to train Eastern Province Muslims to defend themselves against armed Tamil militants. Then, there are those who trot out the argument that the British Army, and the Indian Army has its ethnic regiments. But all this has to be looked at from a historical perspective and what such regiments stand for today. And surely, not every model of Britain and India needs to be replicated in this small country if the comparison lacks credibility or acceptance? Arraigned
against this argument is the thought "whither the Sri Lankan
identity?" It goes against the very grain of this concept which has been accepted by a vast majority of the people, and certainly by the mainstream political parties and their followers that the promotion of a Sri Lankan identity is the answer to the separatist movement. For too long, the bane of this country has been ethnic politics which has now resulted in the emergence of religious political parties. The rise of the Walid Regiment is surely going to sow the seeds for a Tamil Regiment - the Elara Regiment - and then, one would ask, "why not a Sinhala Buddhist Regiment?" The move, thus seems ill-conceived, designed to achieve short term gain at the expense of inevitable long term consequences. Moreover, it is fraught with danger even for the Muslim community as has been pointed by influential leaders of that community, blessed with moderate and rational thinking. They reason that were this regiment to be deployed to quell a Tamil-Sinhala riot for instance, any excesses on their part would ignite tension in other areas where Muslims live, and let us not forget, they are spread through the length and breadth of the country. By trying to defuse tension in one area, we could well be lighting torches in many places. Muslim officers and soldiers have been an integral part of the Sri Lankan armed forces and the police, and have played a key role in the defence of this, their motherland for which a grateful nation salutes them. But, what is needed now, is integration and assimilation - not further division on ethnic lines. The security establishment may see the need for a counter-offensive against the LTTE in the Eastern Province, and the need to ensure, at whatever cost, the bifurcation of the North and the East so that the Tamil separatist movement does not have one contiguous landmass to call their own. But that may be looking at things with a telescopic view. The
bigger picture is that of a frightening monster in the making. |
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