Students Courage: Reconciliation for Sustainable Peace

(By Nipunika O. Lecamwasam )

It’s been three years since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) has been militarily defeated and the three decade old armed conflict has officially come to an end. Since then ‘reconciliation’ has become the key operative word in socio-political discourses in post war Sri Lanka. It is today the main apprehension of both state and non state actors operating in the island. While there is no ideal strategy that could be employed in bridging deep ethnic divides, it is important to understand that every action taken in the name of reconciliation today will bear significance in the future and therefore gearing reconciliation has become a tricky subject. Most actors involved in reconciliation attempts focus on a societal transformation that concerns the political aspect of change. Much neglected is individual transformation which is crucial in sustaining peace in its truest sense.

The writer by no means underestimates the importance of a political solution in reconciliation, but insists that no solution will be viable without the support of the people concerned. Be it a proposal for a unitary state or a bid for self-determination, it has to be supported by the people whose lives it will affect. The sole stimulant of societal inspiration to make genuine efforts towards reconciliation is the presence of a significant number of individuals who crave it.

This article intends to bring into light one such commendable attempt of lining up a critical mass who would champion the cause of reconciliation.

Nena Guna Weduma: Sisu Diriya National Programme, conducted by the Office of Director (Social Development Affairs) to the President of Sri Lanka was launched in 2006 in Northern and Eastern Provinces and has been in operation since then. Since the end of the armed struggle in 2009, the programme became part of the country’s massive reconciliation attempt but with a different outlook than most of its contemporary counterparts. The project aims to establish ethno-religious harmony based on a fundamental sharing of a collective identity that is attained through an attitudinal change that cuts across ethnic and religious barriers.

Students of different ethnicities celebrating the beauty of unity

According to Mr. Nandana Wijesinghe, Director, Social Development Affairs to the President, the project incorporates a variety of methods ranging from Art Exhibitions to Dance Performances, Medical and Counseling Camps to Skills Training workshops in order to empower individuals and communities at grass root level.

The project in its quest to foster sustainable reconciliation especially focuses on Advanced Level students who are on the threshold of adulthood. The young mind has enough innocence to have faith in an ideally harmonious world – as opposed to adults – and enough intellectual stamina to take concrete steps towards that end – as opposed to children – and hence the youth comprise the perfect target group for any reconciliation attempt. Therefore the youth is intended to be used as an agent of change through communicating positive messages of love and kinship, the greatest heritage of our ancestors who harmoniously co-existed since time immemorial. Mr. Wijesinghe further states that apart from moulding a generation of youth committed to peace and social development, the project aims to identify youth who require economic assistance and intends assisting them by creating a dialog to voice out their grievances between them and the rulers.

The project covers the educational zones in North and East and is laying the foundation for the emergence of a strong civil society consisting of empowered individuals and communities. In order to achieve this end, the programme employs an assortment of schemes at individual, school, local community, district and national levels.

A remarkable feature of the programme is its regard of individuals as subjects rather than objects of peace and reconciliation. Deviating from the traditional method of centralized decision-making, Sisu Diriya provides its beneficiaries with an opportunity to air their opinions regarding social transformation and effectively contribute to determining the course of the programme.

Another noteworthy point is the project’s genuine effort towards re-humanizing the war affected mindset of the population of North and East that was continuously and systematically de-humanized by the many harmful and depressing consequences of war. The project therefore aims to place these people in the focal point of its efforts and to empower and make them subjects of peace rather than objects. As Mr. Wijesinghe believes empowerment does not mean the mere handing over of power to people. Rather, it means enhancing the power that is inherent in every human being in a way that makes them capable of actually using it by joining hands for a greater cause of social benefit.

Students participating in sports and recreational activities at the recently concluded Sisu Diriya Programme in Mullativu and Welioya.

Sisu Diriya therefore has wisely understood the importance of a bottom-up approach in slimming down the social divide that infected the country for decades and has utilized social capital for the realization of lasting peace in Sri Lanka. An approximate definition of social capital is that it is the collectivity of mutually beneficial qualities such as trust, reciprocity and networking present in relations between two or more individuals. Though these qualities are inherent in human nature, social capital is not a natural phenomenon of human social behaviour. It is rather a deliberate effort that aims at transforming these qualities into an aggregate that has reciprocal benefits.

As pointed before the target group of Nena Guna Weduma consists of students who have lived in ordeal for nearly three decades due to the war. Their consciousness is thus conditioned by fear and suspicion. The organizers of the project are mindful of this issue and therefore all programmes carried out under Nena Guna Weduma involve a note of religiosity in which student participants are exposed to other religions and cultures and are taught to respect each other’s faiths. Mutual visits to different religious institutions are organized in attaining this end. This is a constructive purposeful intervention in generating bridging social capital that is positive relations across different groups which in this case comprise of ethnicities and religions.

Different workshops that cover a wide variety of subjects ranging from skill development to information technology, health and beauty are important in the sense that these provide students from different backgrounds the opportunity to meet and form relations that in turn expose them to cultures they were previously alien to. This exposure is essential in building trust which is a fundamental requisite of a lasting peace.

Hopes for a brighter tomorrow

Beneficiaries of the project are also annually given a chance to showcase their talents on ‘Deyata Kirula’ stage, an opportunity that opens many avenues for them. Apart from the obvious and immediate benefit of being provided with a wide and appreciative audience, these students have also got job prospects by displaying their talents.

Sisu Diriya has therefore been successful in setting actual reconciliation in motion. It has taken up upon itself the crucial task of moulding a future generation devoid of ethnic hatred which is needed for a lasting peace. The project wisely has focused on changing the war affected mindset of the wartime victims of North and East to that of a peace loving, compassionate one.

The victims of war are those who most fiercely oppose violence and would resist a relapse to it at any cost owing to their personal encounters with same. Sisu Diriya correctly understanding this aspect has embarked on a positive venture in inspiring future generations to reconcile when the need for it is felt more than ever before. Mr. Wijesinghe expects to expand the project to other parts of the country as well since reconciliation is not limited to North and East only.

Since the bleak past is not the best motivation for reconciliation in the country, it is important to be part of a bottom up solution such as this because it focuses on a future built on solid action taken at present.

- Asian Tribune -