BETA

On the 2nd of January 2006 five young Tamils were killed and two were wounded in the Tamil East. They were all students and on holiday. At the time of the killing they were in a Sri Lankan Army (SLA) run high security zone. Thus the local community blamed the Sri Lankan security forces for this war crime. The Sri Lankan institutions denied this and a cover up was organised.

On the 5th of August the same year fifteen young Tamils who were working for the French humanitarian organisation, Action Contre la Faim (ACF) were shot and killed in a SLA controlled area. Local Tamil community and the International ceasefire monitors, Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) blamed the SLA for the massacre. The then SLMM head Ulf Henricsson, called these killings a "committed act of assassination" and "one of the most serious recent crimes against humanitarian aid workers worldwide."

Again Sri Lankan institutions denied this and a cover up was organised.

Since ACF, an international Non Governmental Organisation and the SLMM got involved in the second massacre it became a headache for the Sri Lankan President.

Thus he ordered a Commission of Inquiry (COI) promising transparency and justice. By doing so he tried to make his anti Tamil war related human rights violations into a law and order problem.
 
For months no one heard of anything from the COI.

Again the ACF and others complained.

Later a body called the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) was asked by the international community to observe and comment on the COI actions.

Every one has been waiting for the above said transparency and justice since then.
 
This week the International Independent Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) said that the COI probe lacks transparency and fails to meet international standards.
"The persistent disregard for IIGEP's observations and recommendations, by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Commission of Inquiry, tends to render the IIGEP’s continued role irrelevant" it further lamented.

This is not a surprising turn of events for us, the Tamil expatriates. We express sadness and hopelessness.

We present this failure of just another Sri Lankan institution as just another example of the anti- Tamil institutional racism in Sri Lanka.

For ever in Sri Lanka, the majority Sinhalese population, through sheer numbers and both economic and political will have the power, resources, media and status over Tamils. This allows them to put their anti-Tamil prejudices into action and to maintain these for as long as they see fit. That's how Sri Lankan institutional racism works. It starts from every day prejudices by an individual belonging to this dominant community. It then becomes routine, part of the accepted culture. Then it is validated by other group members as cultural norms, no matter how discriminatory this is.  Finally it is formalised and maintained by the institution dominated by that particular community, be it the home, workplace, college or other. Sadly this inhumane process started there more than four decades ago.
 
Sri Lanka is institutionally racist not because it is of a dominant Sinhalese language and culture but because it promotes only that language, culture and type of people, and that which is acceptable only to them, in every sphere of life without acknowledging difference in a positive way. This one simple fact dictates everything else which happens in that country.

Sinhalese media does not accommodate any difference, it reflects only its own views and at no time is this more obvious than when there is something on 'Tamil terrorism' mentioned in the news. That is racism at its most pernicious: by omission, exclusion and invisibility through a basic lack of respect for a diverse community.

The Majority of the Sinhalese people live in denial about how racist they are but wear their values, culture and feeling of superiority with a singular pride that denigrates others and denies their value. That is why the Sinhalese far right is gaining ground because racism is never far below the surface and requires only a few significant triggers to bring it to the forefront.

Sri Lankan institutional racism thus denies respect to the Tamils and makes them powerless. That's the real damage of anti-Tamil racism, particularly in the deliberate lack of media coverage and acknowledgement of injustices.

A lack of respect for people and how they feel, how they want to be treated and their worth is the first step in denying them their views, denying their aspirations, denying their successes, their individual needs, tangible services and provisions and, ultimately, denying them their very existence.

“The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people.” The (United Kingdom) Macpherson report points out.

“Institutional racism is that which, covertly or overtly, resides in the policies, procedures, operations and culture of public or private institutions - reinforcing individual prejudices and being reinforced by them in turn." The UK Institute of Race Relations maintains.

"If racist consequences accrue to institutional laws, customs or practices, that institution is racist whether or not the individuals maintaining those practices have racial intentions." The UK Commission for Racial Equality points out.

That's what institutional racism really means and, unless the Sinhalese address it openly, discuss it and also take its conclusions on board to improve the overall quality of live for everyone in a mixed society, not just the privileged majority, we will always be engaged in futile exercises of persistent name calling without the substance or will power to change things for the better for anyone involved.