By Sue Bull
CANBERRA — Father S.J. Emmanuel, a Tamil Catholic priest from Sri Lanka, called on the Sri Lankan government to end its "War for peace" at a public meeting here on July 21. The meeting, called by Friends for Peace in Sri Lanka and endorsed by the Democratic Socialist Party, analysed avenues for peace in the war-torn country.
Emmanuel has been touring Australia talking about the situation in Sri Lanka and urging the intervention of a third party, such as Australia, for a solution to the violence. The Australian government has said it will help only if the Sri Lankan government invites it to do so. This is unlikely given Colombo's determination to settle on their own. Emmanuel also said that the international community is ignoring the war because the country is very poor and of little international strategic value.
The 30 people who attended the meeting heard about the enforced media blockade. "Why should a war be fought behind closed doors?", Emmanuel asked. "People in Colombo know all about the war in Rwanda, but not about the one in the north of their own country." He told Green Left Weekly that the media has nevertheless not hesitated to criticise his calls for peace and has demonised him as a "white" tiger — a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — making his return to Sri Lanka dangerous.
Throughout his speech, Emmanuel made it very clear that peace will only be achieved if the Tamils and their leaders are treated as equals. "Sri Lanka is one country but why can't two nations live in the same island? Can't there be recognition of self-determination? We have a right to determine our future. I do not wish more for the Tamil people than for the Sinhalese people."
He noted that Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country where the rights of all parties need to be respected. He rejected the "one nation" ideology of people like Pauline Hanson, arguing that it can only lead to violence and the denial of the rights of all but the majority group.
Emmanuel said there were many peace-making roles people could take on, especially the expatriate Sri Lankan community which can help spread the truth about the war. He added that the churches, which represent 7% of the Sri Lankan population — both Tamil and Sinhalese — could play a better role as they often have an elitist, colonial mentality borne of dealing with governments rather than the people.