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Peace in Sri Lanka

After a protracted and treacherous war we now see light at the end of the tunnel with successful negotiations so far held between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. The LTTE has stated that it has abandoned its Eelam demand and its present stand on the political structure for a federal unit under a unitary state is a solid base for further negotiations towards permanent resolution of the conflict.

Towards negotiating for a federal system of government, the issue at stake is the creation of a unit for a federal self rule for the North-East under a unitary state. Therefore, future political deliberations have to be focused on the structure of the federal unit acceptable to all communities living in the North and the East. Eventually it could be one unit under an amalgamated North-East or two units - one for the North and the other for the East fulfilling the aspirations of the three major communities living in those two provinces.

The other seven provinces ought to be reverted to direct central government administration as there are no ethnic issues in those provinces. The Tamils and the Muslims are scattered in those provinces and not concentrated in any particular area. There are equal opportunities in business, employment and political fields to all ethnic communities living there. Hence there has never been any agitation for a separate unit.

The creation of a federal governing unit can be constructed as the result of a peaceful or agitational/bloody campaign in the concerned area and countries with federal structures have preserved their unitary character by acceding to demands of minority ethnic groups. For example, Switzerland has 3 federal units carved out to satisfy the three ethnic groups concentrated in those 3 cantons. In our neighbouring India, for the purpose of governing the diverse ethnic groups with their own language, the country has 24 State governments with the Central Government at the helm.

In Sri Lanka there is no geographical justification for such a settlement except the North and the East. The majority of people living in the South are averse to the existing Provincial Council system which is a drag on the economy and it can be eliminated and replaced with a federal system of self-rule but limited to the North and the East.

Therefore, under a final peace deal, it is hoped that a federal unit of government would be established only for the North and the East under a new constitution approved by the people and the other 7 provinces to be vested with more powers by forming village committees at grass-root level and by strengthening the local government institutions there with minimum interference from the Central Government.

E. B. JAYATILAKE, 
Balangoda.

Ushering in lasting peace - responsibility of political leadership

Presenting the draft constitution in Parliament on August 3, 2000 President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, while accusing the UNP, then in the opposition, of "deepening the ethnic crisis and causing the war" posed the question as to whether the UNP had no responsibility to act in a mature manner, claiming that her government had taken the responsibility at the risk of their lives to establish permanent peace.

The President also took upon herself to dwell on the ordeals and trauma that the Tamils have had to undergo all the way. She said, "the Tamils are only asking for their just rights. Their just rights were denied to them for 52 years but they were assaulted, killed and burnt on 4 occasions upto 1983, and in 1983, petrol was poured on them and they were burnt alive, their properties were looted, burnt and destroyed."

It is common knowledge that it was also President Chandrika who had earlier proposed, in August 1995, a system of Union of Regions for devolution of power as a solution to the vexed problem. In a recent statement from the Presidential Secretariat, the President had stated that "the PA was the only political party to spell out its devolution of power proposal as a draft constitution in 1997, and still upheld the question of devolution of power along a federalist or an Indian model within a United Sri Lanka.

In her subsequent Swarnavahini interview on 14.1.2003, she had claimed that the PA proposals go beyond federalism, even though the word federal is not specifically mentioned. It was indeed a federal system that the late S W R D Bandaranaike had commended as far back as 1926, as the best recipe for the Island-country's unity. In fact it was the Kandyan Sinhalese who first made a claim for the establishment of a federal set up, first in l927 and then again in l947, with 3 units on the lines of Maya, Ruhunu and Pihiti of yore.

So, given especially the President's stated position favouring a federal solution, there is every reason why the PA should offer its constructive support to consolidate the ongoing peace efforts, which the international community acknowledges was started by the President herself.

In fact, a leading Washington Think Tank, viz., the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), in its prognosis titled " Fragile hope in Sri Lanka", released on the eve of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to the United States July last year, stressed "that success requires an unprecedented multi-layer effort with steady nerves on all sides".

Terestia Schaffer, a former US Ambassador to Sri Lanka , now Director of the Think Tank's South Asia Program, who authored the report, has stated, inter alia, "that that the peace effort is moving at all in testimony to the existence of a peace constituency in Sri Lanka". And the report, while acknowledging that President Chandrika was the first leader to tap into this vein in her first 2 elections in l994 despite her Party's defeat in the December 2001 elections, the fact that the peace effort is considered good politics is probably "her best political legacy". However, any viable solution, the report added, will need to go beyond a modified Indian-style constitution model that was proposed in l995.

It is common knowledge that the LSSP and the CP, both constituents of the PA, are explicitly supportive of the peace process and a federal solution. On the other hand, it would be a supreme illusion to regard the JVP now as a Left or progressive force as the President has opined. The mention of devolution, a normal democratic exercise, is anathema to the JVP, their political bankruptcy being so monumental.

To conclude, a word on the recent Thaipongal festival. As usual, there was a flurry of messages from the President, the Prime Minister and a host of other sources .

The festivities this time around, the second after the horrendous war was stopped and the ceasefire agreement put in place, have been unprecedented, in that the Pongal ceremony was held at both the Presidential palace as well as the Prime Minister's office for the first time ever, with the respective incumbents personally participating, with also the traditional Tamil "Nathaswaram" music reverberating the entire environs of the Presidential palace.

This what could be dubbed the Summit Pongal should not pass into history as an act of political gimmickry and hypocrisy, for it is now, more than ever before , the inescapable responsibility of the political leadership to usher in lasting peace. Playing politics should no longer be the name of the game. Enough is enough.

V. THIRUNAVUKKARASU., 
Former MMC - Colombo, New Left Front.

The Pramuka crisis

Laws are enacted; rules and regulations are framed in this country, but for whose benefit? The mass media have often spotlighted these shortcomings in no uncertain terms on many instances. A glaring case of this lapse has been the causes that led to the suspension of the Pramuka Savings and Development Bank (PSDB).

It was barely a month before the suspension of the PSDB that the Central Bank published a notice in the local newspapers warning people against the investments in financial institutions that are not licensed by the Central Bank (CB). PSDB was in the "safe" list.

This undoubtedly convinced the people they might continue their investments in PSDB.

Among the customers of PSDB are old age pensioners who are surviving on the interest from savings of their hard earned money: the parents who have deposited funds for the future of their children and the young planning their future.

This situation has led some of them to near suicide. It is therefore most inhumane for the hierarchy to turn a blind eye to this grave situation caused by a premier govt. institution.

The depositors have petitioned the President and the Prime Minister. There has been no response whatsoever. The Deputy Finance Minister has insinuated that if the depositors were attracted by high interest rates it is their funeral (the Pramuka interest rates were not high when compared to the rates offered by other banks at the same time).

The Opposition is silent. It is most disheartening that all those who are responsible for the welfare of the citizens of this country have not an iota of sympathy for the suffering masses. Politicians of all hues take to the streets at the drop of a hat, supposedly for redress on behalf of the public. In this instance there is deafening silence. Why? This is nothing but bad Governance.

The populace will certainly give their verdict at the forthcoming elections.

A.D., 
Colombo 6.

Garbage in public places

Halpe Lane or Garbage Lane? Supposedly one of the best residential areas in Kandana, Halpe Lane is fast becoming a garbage dump. What greet the eye when one enters the lane are little 'siri siri' bags containing rubbish of all kinds strewn by the wayside. The responsibility for this disgusting state of affairs lies not only with the authorities but also with the residents themselves.

Ever since the former Pradeshiya Sabha run by the PA arranged a private cleaning service to collect garbage, it has become customary for the people of the lane to collect all their garbage in thin transparent polythene bags and dump them by the roadside. As the service started garbage collection happened on a daily basis which as time went on, dwindled to perhaps once a week. Then it stopped altogether.

We were told by the cleaning company that the authorities owed them huge sums of money and as a result they were forced to withdraw their services. Nevertheless the people continued to put their garbage by the roadside with callous disregard to their own as well as other residents' sanitation.

The current authorities, after a few months since assuming office reintroduced the cleaning service, this time by the Pradeshiya Sabha itself.

This too is only on two days of the week. Yet garbage piles up daily to the delight of all the dogs, the cats and the crows.

The rubbish even contains used sanitary towels not to mention left over food.

What is surprising is that no one realizes the extent of pollution that each person is creating by putting garbage in public places.

No one also seems to realize that they are being instrumental in breeding mosquitoes that spread deadly diseases like dengue. Sadly civic consciousness has left our people as the very moral values that make up a society keep eroding daily.

The primary responsibility of keeping a city clean obviously lies with the city council. They must make sure that the environment is kept free from pollution on a daily basis and not on an erratic basis. Council members are generally from the area and that makes them even more accountable for providing a disease free environment for the public to live in.

All they have to do is take a walk down the roads and they will see for themselves the extent of pollution their inaction has created.

D.R., 
Kandana.

"Nationalism is an infantile disease"

The American-German born great physicist and mathematician Albert Einstein (1879-1955) said: - "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is like measles of childhood.

By what he said, the genius inferred that national leaders, politicians, educated and uneducated people and people in positions of influence, past and present, who have thought and are thinking in terms of nationalism, are puerile in their lines of thought. With globalisation, what the intellect said is more applicable today than 70 years ago.

Guathama Buddha in one of his discourses said 2550 years ago:- "Extend your loving kindness to all living beings without discrimination."The living saint Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba reiterates what was said by the Lord. Buddhism is a global philosophy.

Sinhala-Buddhists in Sri Lanka have no right whatsoever to claim 'ownership' to Buddhism and discriminate between Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Hindus, Christians, Islamics etc. etc. and overrule what was said by the Lord.

We Buddhists in Sri Lanka do exactly what Buddha said not to do. We repeat the panchaseela several times a day like parrots, but how many of us follow the 5 precepts enunciated by the Lord. We have the highest incidence of crime, murders, alcoholics, drug-addicts and mental patients, school-boy and student-vultures. Our prisons are jam-packed with criminals.

Thousands of prisoners are released on nationally important days to make room for the tens of 1000s that follow. Socially disintegrated Sri Lanka is really a disgrace. So how on earth can we be entrusted with the custodianship of Buddhism. There are many people of other religious faiths, who thought not labelled as Buddhists, follow Buddha's preachings and the Buddhistic way of life.

In this era of globalisation, we must all forget about the puerile ideas of and short-sighted views on nationalism and extend our loving kindness to all living beings. This is the best way to pay our respects to the great leader. There had never been 'Buddhist-wars.' We should forget the past and not harbour grudges with other ethnic groups. We must all support the peace process initiated by Ranil, G. L. Peiris and the facilitator Norwegians.

The best way to pay respects to our great leader is to practise his preachings. Buddha has said that by the year 5000, all religions will disappear and the last religion to disappear will be Buddhism.

The following sayings of men of wisdom bear a relevance to the peace process in Sri Lanka:- John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). The intellectual, philanthropic U.S. President said:- "People who make peaceful resolutions impossible, make violent revolutions inevitable."

"There had never been a good war or a bad peace."

"The problems facing the world today are not susceptible to military solutions." (unlike during the time of Dutugemunu and Elara) "People who love war are those who do not fight."

It is very encouraging that the security forces are all supporting Ranil in the peace process.

Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964). The 5-star US Army General who received the Japanese surrender in 1945, said:- The soldier, above all other people prays for peace because he suffers the deepest wounds and the scars of war." Our Army Commander, General Lionel Balagalle must bear these in mind. Now that the Sinhala-Tamil conflict and the war has reached this stages due to the foolish, short-sighted actions and inactions of selfish weak-minded national leaders (political traders) of the past, the only solution that we have to avert island-wide blood-shed and heart burn is a compromise.

If the war continued without the ceasefire and the MoU, our security forces and the Sinhala race could have got decimated by now.

This is the reason why the intellectuals Ranil and G. L. Peiris embarked on the MoU, which we all must support without criticism and hesitation in keeping with the philosophy of our Gauthama Buddha who said:- "Patience, tolerance and understanding are the highest virtues that we should possess". Norwegians are more 'Buddhistic' in their actions than Sri Lankans.

Time is a healer, and problems will solve as we go on the road to universal peace. We must all bear in mind that we are born in the various ethnic groups and religions by chance, and it is futile to cultivate hatred to other ethnic groups and religions.

We must all toil for the welfare of man and extend our loving kindness to all living beings as enunciated by the Lord. Some critics of the MoU have called Ranil and G. L. Peiris cowards. In the context of permanent peace in our Motherland, what was said by the greatest poet of Germany Tiet Heine (1797-1856) must be kept in mind:-

"The noble art of losing face,
May one day save the human (Sinhala) race,
And may turn into eternal merit,
What weaker minds would call disgrace."

DR. P. A. C. DE SILVA, 
Retired Colonel, Commanding Officer, 
Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps. (V)

What a price to pay?

Shoe prices are an interesting example of the prices creating an affordable impression and obtaining an higher receipt without the buyer realising immediately that he is paying a higher price. E.g. a shoe priced at Rs. 29.90 gives the impression that the price is Rs. 20 odd and when paying the buyer is paying Rs. 30 hardly expecting even the cts 10 change. Cts 10 is not in circulation though still legal tender. (A typical example of the parting of folk way and the state way).

The minimum denomination in coins is Re. 1. Even the 25 cents and 50 cents have found a safe haven somewhere. There is meticulous pricing and billing. It is like the supersonic aircraft covering the airborne distance in minutes and circling for hours to find a landing slot and the passenger taking days to reach his destination from the airport. There is no coordination to ensure the percolation of the benefits. E.g. CEB bills are to the last cent if the bill is for 276.43 the consumer has to pay between Rs. 277 to Rs. 280 at the counter where the stock in trade is cash without the small change.

Those who have to keep sufficient coins in all denominations do not use it at the counter but hands over to bigger customers in bulk. Those customers in turn release them grudgingly to their customers.

The normal ruse adopted in shops as an alternative to small change is to offer a cheap toffee or higher weight than asked for. If an item costs Rs. 15, half of it is not Rs. 7.50 but Rs. 8 or Rs. 7.50 plus a toffee or they offer another 10 grams and ask you to pay Rs. 9. You have to cuff out another Re. 1.50 and be saddled with an excess item.

Why all these ruses to gain a few rupees? Any businessman knows that it is the little bits that go to build the mighty big amount.

If the Cents 50 overcharged is multiplied by 1,000 buyers who ask for half a kilo the surreptitious earning amounts to 1000 by .50 another Rs. 500. This is not confined to the wayside boutique or the vegetable vendor only. This is extended from the private sector to the state sector where payments and receipts are involved.

The price list too could be extended ad infinitum, from postage stamps (Rs. 4.50) to cycle tyres and tubes (227.50) items costing 27.05 and so on.

Surely in the state sector the pricing can be more practical with either the consumers' benefit or that of the institution in mind and not for the surreptitious lining of the pocket by the tenders and vendors in-between. Surely the CEB bill can be either for Rs. 276 if it is consumer-oriented or 277 if they are institution-oriented.

What happens is the institution may get Rs. 276.43 as part of a bigger total but the consumer is called upon to pay from Rs. 277 to 280 for a bill that could be for 276. Automation offers accuracy to even 2 for 3. Or more decimal places. Its usefulness must accrue to the consumer or the institution and not the intermediary without a stake in the transaction. The hearing of coins in private hands, in tills, in collection boxes, vending machines, etc without regular replacements by the cost conscious suppliers of coins is causing undue hardships to the consumers as well as the well meaning vendors but affords an opportunity for unscrupulous to line their pockets.

This is being totted as a means of increasing the earnings by shrewd individuals in all walks of life who dispense goods and services.

The pricing must be straightforward and in affordable whole numbers or if priced in odd cents the necessary coins must be made available and be given a change to the hapless consumers.

R. SUNTHARALINGAM, 
Urumpirai

www.peaceinsrilanka.org

www.2000plaza.lk

www.eagle.com.lk

www.helpheroes.lk


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