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Peace in the East - crucial for peace process

It is in the East that the Sri Lankan peace process will be tested as this is where all communities have to live together and work out a political arrangement that will not be seen as unfair to anyone.

In this region the Tamils are in a majority and it is vital that they protect the rights of the minorities the Singhalese and the Muslims living there.

As they are a sizeable group, the issue of the Muslims is paramount and the negotiators at the peace talks have paid special attention to this subject. At present both the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have said that safeguarding both the rights of the Muslims as well as their physical security will be given priority when issues regarding the East are discussed.

The inclusion of Muslim representation at a high level at all sessions of the talks is an indication of this special attention.

However yesterday's report that there has been an increase in ceasefire violations in the East is a reason for some concern.

The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission was reported as saying that eleven complaints of abductions have been reported from Batticaloa during the past week and it bucked the trend of a decline in reported violations of the Ceasefire Agreement over the past three months. The SLMM spokesman was quoted as saying that the rise in reported abductions "was quite unusual."

According to the complaints received by the Police and the SLMM, all the abductees are Tamils and were politically active in groups opposed to the LTTE. The parents and families of the lost persons have accused the LTTE of carrying out the abductions.

The SLMM has said that they would raise the issue with local LTTE leaders at a scheduled meeting shortly.

The country has gone from a full-scale civil war to a state where there is no fighting but a final peace settlement has not been reached. It is a condition of no-war and no-peace.

In this situation the consolidation of the ceasefire is very important, as any major violations will act as a spoiler to the entire process. In order that the ceasefire is maintained, and violations diminished all parties, whether they are the State and the LTTE or other actors involved must behave with a high sense of responsibility as they must realize that anything that would arouse emotions and rake up fears could plunge this country into another crisis.

If any one believes the path to peace will be smooth as silk, then they are wrong. The two chief belligerents, the State and the LTTE are still getting used to the fact that they are actually now not fighting each other.

The other parties concerned such as the Tamil paramilitaries, Muslim and Singhalese groups which have been at loggerheads with the LTTE are also fearful at what would be the end result of the current negotiations.

The LTTE has also expressed concern that the paramilitaries continue to be armed and operate freely. The concerns of all these parties must be addressed and should be the joint task of the Government and the LTTE.

It is a fact that many decades of hostility, fear and suspicion cannot be overcome easily.

In October when there were accusations that the LTTE had abducted Muslim civilians, the situation became very serious in the East and the resulting rioting caused destruction and instability. The severity of the situation warranted the deployment of the Security Forces.

Eventually a detailed police investigation found that there had been no such abduction, and that interested parties had blown the entire issue out of proportion. But the incident served to remind the nation of the tensions existing just below the surface and what a delicate situation the country is in at present.

In this context it is vital that the Government, the LTTE, the SLMM and civil society in general examine the allegations of the recent abductions carefully. If these violations have been committed then they must be exposed as such and appropriate action taken.

A final pronouncement should be made after careful study and investigation so that the public is given a clear and fair picture of what has happened.

If not, niggling suspicions would come to the surface and would provide ammunition for the extremists on both sides to derail the peace process.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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