A South East Asian Solution for the Muslims

Izeth by Hussain- April 11, 2014, 6:14 PM I want to argue in this article that the best prospect for the Muslims to live in peace, amity, and co-operation with the Sinhalese would be to emulate the Chinese example in South ast !sia, notably in the "hilippines# It will be now widely ac$nowledged, unli$e in the past, that Sinhalese-Muslim relations have become highly problematic# It is certainly true that historically the Sinhalese and the Muslims got on famously well together - there is an excellent boo$ on the sub%ect by &orna 'evara% - but that alas is no longer true at certain levels of our society# I believe that this transformation can be best understood in terms of a paradigm of racism# In the traditional societies there used to be - for the most part - harmonious inter-ethnic relations based on an ethnic division of labour# In Sri &an$a the Moors - the ma%or Muslim ethnic group in Sri &an$a - were for many centuries essentially traders, while the Sinhalese and (amil castes, which can be regarded as sub-ethnic groups, had their niches in the traditional ethnic division of labour# It was a relatively stable social order because there was not much socio-economic upward mobility, and therefore not much reason for economic rivalry and conflict# )ut that situation changed with the economic development ta$ing place in the course of the nineteenth century# It led among other things to the *+*, anti-Muslim riots which can be ta$en as signaling Sri &an$a-s advent into modernity. the riots resulted from trade rivalry, the conse/uence of the intrusion of low-country Sinhalese traders into the 0andyan "rovinces1 and the Sinhalese reaction to the riots was the beginning of modern nationalism in Sri &an$a# In the subse/uent period the Muslims developed a strong fear psychosis towards the Sinhalese that has lasted to this day# (hey withdrew into themselves, a drive towards a mollus$-li$e

withdrawal being a notable characteristic of Islamic societies in their phases of decadence# Most importantly they lagged behind in education mainly because of an Islamic fear of the possible secularizing impact of modern education# (hey came to be $nown as 2a bac$ward minority2# (he term 2bac$ward2 was certainly opprobrious, but all the same it was apposite because in the modern world it is education above all that provides opportunities for upward mobility# However, it was precisely that bac$wardness, I hold, that was the foundation for excellent Sinhalese-Muslim relations# 3nli$e the (amils the Muslims were not serious rivals to the Sinhalese in any way# )esides, they were, and remain to a large extent, an ab%ectly submissive minority# )ut that situation was bound to change# !t least some aspects of modernity had to catch up with the Muslims# (he provincial Muslims, unli$e the Muslim business elites, were going in for education in a big way, which was the catalyst for many other changes, and in the course of the seventies a Muslim consciousness of belonging to the wider Islamic world was catalyzed by the large Muslim presence at the *+45 6on-!ligned Summit Meeting in Colombo# *+45 can be regarded as inaugurating a new, and negative, era in Sinhalese-Muslim relations as it saw the "uttalam riots, actually a massacre of Muslims inside "uttalam mos/ue, which too was significantly ignited by trade rivalry# (hereafter there were anti-Muslim riots practically every year until 7887# 9et another phase, much more horrible than anything that preceded it, can be said to have begun around 78** with the hate campaign followed by anti-Muslim action of the ))S and other extremist groups# In this phase, in my view, it has become imperative for both sides, the Sinhalese and the Muslims, to do some serious rethin$ing about how they can live together in peace, amity, and co-operation# :or this purpose we must /uestion the conventional wisdom about Sinhalese-Muslim relations and try to get at the fundamentals behind those relations# !ccording to that conventional wisdom Sinhalese-(amil relations were bedeviled by the fact that the (amils are a minority with a ma%ority complex while the Sinhalese are a ma%ority with a minority complex# (hat made the (amils, the argument goes, excessively demanding, intransigent, and brought on their heads the terrible suffering of the thirty-year war# (he Muslims on the other hand, according to the conventional wisdom, showed a shrewd pragmatism and benefited greatly thereby# )ut the developments since *+45 that I have very briefly s$etched out above have blown that conventional wisdom s$y-high# (hose developments can best be explained in terms of a paradigm of racism as I have argued above# I must add that, in addition to the socio-economic factor, the racists among the Sinhalese power elite have shown an essentially racist drive to $ic$ the Muslims down# ;e must note the significant features of the new phase inaugurated around 78**# (he ))S clearly had the bac$ing of the Sri &an$an State# It was initially provided space for its head/uarters in a <overnment-owned building# =ne of its important meetings was given the explicit support of the 'efense Secretary# (he police played the role of passive spectators while the ))S openly flouted the law, but when some )uddhists held counter-demonstrations the police immediately too$ action against them# (his $ind of blatant State bac$ing for antiminority racist action seems to be something novel in Sri &an$a# !nother significant feature is that the anti-Muslim problem has ac/uired an international dimension, which could come to

have unforeseen fateful conse/uences, particularly as it is featured in the 3S-led 36H>C >esolution# 9et another significant feature is that the S&MC provided detailed information to the 36H>C on anti-Muslim action, and >auf Ha$eem supported that act of his "arty# (hat represented a defiant brea$away from the traditional ab%ectly submissive role of the Muslim politicians# :inally, the anti-Muslim campaign and demonstrations failed to ignite Sinhalese mass action against the Muslims, on which I will ma$e some observations later# !t present there is a prospect of governmental change, and the /uestion arises whether a new <overnment will inaugurate a new era of inter-ethnic peace, amity, and co-operation, or at least go some way towards that ideal# (hat may be possible to a modest extent, but we have to face up to the fact that five years after the war our ethnic polarization is worse than ever before# ;hy? It is a relevant fact that Sri &an$a does not have even one political party that is accepted une/uivocally by the minorities as an authentic national party in the way the Congress is accepted in India# (he State, according to the Hegelian notion, is supposed to rise above the rivalry and conflict in the civil society and unify the people# (he opposite is the truth in Sri &an$a. at the level of the people some degree of inter-ethnic peace, amity, and co-operation prevails, but since *+,5 the State has been a fierce divisive force in Sri &an$a# :urthermore it has shown a fierce hierarchical drive, so that what we have in Sri &an$a today is not a Sri &an$an State but a Sinhalese State# ;hat I am spelling out briefly in this paragraph are some of the fundamentals that underlie our ethnic problems# (hey won-t change in a hurry, and I can-t see that governmental or regime change will ma$e much difference# (here is another unpleasant fact that the Muslims must ta$e into account in determining their strategy on how to live in reasonably amicable relations with the Sinhalese# It is that democracy in Sri &an$a has been for several decades a limited and thoroughly flawed sort of democracy# ;ay bac$ in the eighteenth century >ousseau wrote about the most flourishing democracy of his time - that of )ritain - that on the day of the elections the )ritish were a free people but in between elections they reverted to being slaves# In fact, however, the power of an elected <overnment - under a fully functioning democracy - is held in chec$ by a vibrant and active civil society and a similar =pposition# If those two factors are absent, >ousseau-s description of democracy would be substantially correct, and that precisely is the horror that we have been experiencing in Sri &an$a# ! meretricious show of dynamism is given by our civil society because of the activities of the I6<=s but the indigenous civil society is a zombie-li$e affair characterized more by inanition than by dynamism# (his can be seen clearly in the civil society reaction to the anti-Muslim campaign# 6o one seems to doubt that the ))S and other extremist groups represent not much more than a tiny segment of the S& )uddhists# 9et civil society action to get the <overnment to restrain the extremists has been derisory# Some )uddhists organized counter-demonstrations but that /uic$ly fizzled out# (he =pposition too has shown more inanition than dynamism in getting the <overnment to restrain the extremists# Chandri$a 0umaratunge organized an interfaith meeting, which has been widely seen as her first salvo in a forthcoming "residential election campaign# I expect nothing useful to come out of her initiative, though it is obviously well meant, because the dynamic behind )uddhist extremism is not religious intolerance but rather something that has to be understood in terms of a paradigm of racism#

@(o be continuedA