The sacking of Sri Lanka’s prime minister bodes poorly for India and the US but is a welcome sign for China.

The entire country, not to mention the international community, was taken unawares on October 25 when Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former president.

(This is a translation of a recent article by M Nilanthan. The translator has sought to provide some context and as such it is not a direct translation.)

It’s said that fools rush in where the wise fear even to walk. I tiptoe hesitantly, conscious that I am no historian (my discipline was Literature) while the author is perhaps the most eminent of Sri Lankan historians writing in English. The hope is that what I write will be taken as a layman’s perspective and contribution to discussion.

Part One

Introduction

This essay is in two parts. Part one deals with the Tamil –Muslim relationship and the recommendations by the author to bring both Tamil-speaking communities together. Part two titled “Easing Tensions between Muslims and Non-Muslims”  will be published at a later date.

Part Two

(In this part the author’s primary readership is the Muslim Community and the actions that may  be pursued by its leaders to ease tensions between Muslims and Non-Muslims)

Frances Harrison is a British journalist who worked in Sri Lanka between  2000 and 2004 as BBC Correspondent.  She is the author of “Still Counting the Dead". The book, based on eyewitness accounts of survivors, provides an illuminating narrative of the final five months of the civil war in Sri Lanka.