The NE merger; only an Interim Arrangement?
[August 22, 2003]

By RK

Since the GOSL and the LTTE reached a Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), 19 months ago there has been relative peace in the Island. Some analysts do argue it is only an absence of war and not peace. However tensions have been rising intermittently in Eastern Sri Lanka. 

The influential Catholic Bishop of Batticoloa Reverend Dr. Kingsley Swamipillai sums up the situation succinctly,   ‘Blood is hot these days and one has to act prudently’ he says. Bishop Swamipillai warns ‘It looks like anti-peace elements are attempting to stall the peace process’.

Wednesday August 13, two Muslims from the northeast town of Muttur were shot dead. Two more in the area were abducted and beaten. This led to riots over the weekend in which nine were wounded when police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of Muslims protesting over the attacks.

The riot last weekend is not an isolated incident, as there have been several sporadic outbreaks of clashes between Tamils and Muslims, allegedly triggered by the LTTE, the LTTE however vehemently denies involvement.

The CFA deals mostly with the LTTE, a militant group that claims to be the sole interlocutor of the Tamil people. Muslims comprise eight percent of the country’s population; a large majority of them are in the East, a third of the populace there. They are Tamil speaking but are a separate ethnic group.

The Muslims of the East accuse the LTTE of extortion and abductions despite the truce that has been in place in the past 19-months. Naturally they fear for their predicament under a proposed LTTE interim administration. A high-powered LTTE delegation is now in Paris studying the ‘third’ set of Interim Administration or Provisional Administration proposals offered by the GOSL.

In July, the National Joint Committee (NJC), comprising religious leaders, academics and community leaders, called on President Kumaratunga to hand in a memorandum calling for the de-merger of the North East Province. The NJC wanted the temporarily merged North and East to be de-merged and to establish a separate Administrative Unit for the Eastern Province.

The NJC noted that all three communities Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim inhabit much of the coastal belt in the Eastern Province, and that the agreed ‘merger’ of these two provinces, projected, as the solution to the ethnic problem, would in fact be a precursor to the future fragmentation of the country.

“The Northern and Eastern Provinces are two distinct and separate administrative units. The law contemplated separate Provincial Councils for them” says Dr. Piyasena Dissanayake, NJC Secretary, in an article titled “North and East stand de-merged”. (Midweek Review, Island, Wednesday 20, 2003)

Is the NE merger outdated?

The ‘merger’ of these two provinces, a result of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, was based on a certain condition, namely the decommissioning of arms by the LTTE.  Further President Jayawardene by a proclamation, September 2, 1988, under the then Emergency temporarily merged the two provinces, which was valid only for one month, in other words till October 2, 1988.

The law also specifically required the Government to hold a Referendum within one year to enable the people to determine whether the merger should continue or not.

“Although 15 years have lapsed since the merger, neither the Referendum has been held nor have the Tigers laid down their arms…but despite several changes of government, the illegality continues signifying the political opportunism of our ruling elite!” says Dr. Dissanayake.

It is the responsibility of the current leaders to find a permanent solution, one, which caters to the needs of all our communities. The persisting dilemma in the East is evidence enough that action has to be taken, within the Constitution.

Sums up Dr. Dissanayake, “…any efforts to override the Constitution with a view to accommodating unreasonable demands of the LTTE may lead to unimaginable consequences and must therefore be averted under all circumstances.”

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Last Updated Date: September 25, 2003 .