Jaffna Trade Fair and what it does for national unity

The reality of trade in general is that it does more that earn money. It opens the route of one heart to another, albeit through the route of trade and money which humans need to survive upon this earth.

Thus trade earns friendships and disposes of preconceived notions about people and communities through more exposure in doing business with varied ethnicities, religions and cultures which diverse communities are segmented to. 

Prejudice is what occurs within narrow boundaries that restrict interaction to race and religion. Sri Lanka’s post colonial reality was that (with strategic help from political entities), educational and economic prosperity of one segment of Sri Lankans was seen as a threat to another. Therefore this nation pitched itself for over seven decades on lines of economic separation, envy and pettiness, demarcated by the ‘otherness’ of the neighbour. 

This is what made Sri Lanka different from countries such as Singapore which was carefully moulded and built upon the racial, religious and economic equality of every citizen and the ensuing long-term result was national prosperity. Sri Lanka witnessed the direct opposite, with petty minded policy making, racial riots, and finally escalation of hostilities resulting in a full fledged conflict and through this the elimination of thousands of lives in its prime that could have been of valuable use to building of the country. 

Economic jealousy

In the backdrop of all riots across the world, and wars, with World War II a clear example it is economic jealousy that builds up consistently over a time that results as fodder to feed the manipulative needs of anyone who wishes to push race or faith based fears of one community against another. The 1983 ethnic riots in Sri Lanka that saw three decades of enfolded horrific loss of lives, property and global investment and later, the 2014 Aluthgama riots targeting the Sri Lankan Muslim community, all enshrouded one fact; that economic envy was at the core. This included nonsensical rumours surrounding eateries and fashion stores based on which ethnic community owned these establishments. 

This brings us to see that trade fairs held within multi ethnic countries do much more than help people to sell various products. It helps them to interact with other humans from districts or provinces which otherwise would have not been possible. Hence in this new era that Sri Lanka is still struggling to usher, where a pure heart based governance eliminates all that is crass and dismal, we need all district level leaders and for all municipal councils in the nation to note that for both economic and unity based maladies, the organising of multi-ethnic trade fairs could be the answer. The Central Government based leadership could also recognise this fact and provide more encouragement for the districts to organise their own revenue generating and community interaction based trade and industries promoting events.

One of the trade fairs that have been occurring in Sri Lanka for the past 15 years successfully uniting entrepreneurs across the island and thereby acting as a catalyst for positive interaction between people which is a prerequisite for the trading success of any country, is the Jaffna International Trade Fair (JITF).

Collective patriotism

The JITF was held once again from 24 to 26 January at the Muttraweli grounds, launched this year under the theme ‘gateway to the North.’

In the Harmony Page coverage of the JITF this week we hope to focus on the importance of this event for ethnic harmony, understanding and domestic tourism.

In any country, in house domestic tourism plays a key role in the maintenance of the economy in a robust manner and in Sri Lanka this was evident during the time of the corona pandemic where it was local visitors from around the country that buoyed the April-May season in Nuwara Eliya. 

Likewise, in this timeframe where Sri Lanka is on the cusp of strategising the transformation of its economy, the Jaffna International Trade Fair could be a model for how district level uniqueness could be promoted fostering a sense of collective patriotism. This means emphasising equal citizenship rights and economic opportunities.

We will be thus presenting the Jaffna International Trade Fair through the eyes of those who exhibited in it and the visitors to it.