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The challenges ahead

The great undertaking of carrying forward the peace process requires restraint, tact and patience and the public is likely to be glad that the State displayed these qualities in ample measure during the recent "hostage crisis" in the East.

That the six soldiers who were in LTTE custody have now been released is proof that acting calmly and patiently, but with consistency of purpose, is the ideal approach to be adopted by the Government, when confronted with serious challenges to the continuation of the ceasefire agreement. Certainly, reacting emotionally and instinctively in such situations could prove very costly and we are glad that the Government has provided an object lesson in allowing the head to rule the baser self.

However, the opposition and its backers seem to have favoured a solution based on reacting emotionally, when, right throughout the hostage crisis, they derided the Government for seeming inaction. The same point was made when they harped on, what seemed to be to them, shortcomings in the peace process. Essentially, their approach was to pinpoint what they thought was the humiliating position to which the LTTE had reduced the Government.

One could only be glad that wise counsel prevailed in Government ranks and that they went about resolving the crisis unhurriedly and rationally. The peace process could have been seriously undermined if the Government lost its cool and, for instance, attempted to brow beat the LTTE into releasing the six soldiers.

The larger interests of the peace process should prevail over petty considerations and the peace-loving public is likely to be glad that the Government was ruled by this principle.

There is obviously a link between the freeing of the six soldiers and the release on bail of two LTTE cadres taken into custody by the State. This development is being seized with glee by the opposition and the critics of the peace process in an effort to prove that the LTTE is calling the tune in its relations with the State. For, the six soldiers were freed by the LTTE only when its operatives were granted bail and released.

However, what is easily forgotten is that the LTTE in Trincomalee was, at one stage, pressing for the unconditional release of its cadres. The Government, however, stood firm in its position and the LTTE in Trincomalee finally agreed to the bailing out of its cadres after consultations with the Tiger leadership in the Vanni. This is proof that the LTTE acted out of deference to the relevant legal norms, although arriving at that position took some time.

We are here speaking in terms of a rebel organisation which has, for long years, treated legal norms with wanton disregard. Under scrutiny is a group which didn't recognise the existence of the Lankan State and its laws. However, we now possess evidence that the LTTE is beginning to act in deference to the prevailing legal order, although not with the desired readiness. Given the LTTE's general orientation, this is a significant development.

Nothing important would be proved by the critics of the peace process, by pointing out future instances of LTTE "intransigence" and "recalcitrance". It goes without saying that the LTTE would experience extreme difficulty in adapting to the new order of things where it would have to deal with an entity which is obliged to operate within a legal framework.

However, if the LTTE is constructively engaged by the State - and this is the prime challenge - it would slowly but steadily begin to be guided by the legal norms of the State.

One negotiates with one's enemy. There is no escaping this principle. The skill of the Government negotiators would lie in their ability to build on the existing consensus for a negotiated settlement and in getting the LTTE to observe the terms of the ceasefire agreement; a difficult task which has to be handled with patience.

Meanwhile, every effort must be made to convince the LTTE of the need to dialogue with the security forces whenever problems arise in observing the terms of the ceasefire.

The recent incident in Kalmunai, where two persons were killed, is proof that stricter observance is necessary of the MoU.

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