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Taking the bitter with the sweet

Predictably, the LTTE has taken the position that it would be presenting counter-proposals to the Government's broad configurations of an Interim Administration for the North-East.

While describing the Government proposals as having "several shortcomings", LTTE political chief Thamilselvam was quoted saying that the LTTE would be making a response which could satisfy the interests and expectations of the Tamil people.

Apparently, the Government proposals are being subjected to close scrutiny by the LTTE, which has said that it would be making a studied rejoinder to the discussion paper, while not rejecting it out of hand. It is essential that this aspect of attempting to keep an exchange of views between the major parties going, is focused on.

The current situation, therefore, is pregnant with the possibility of kickstarting and resuming the peace process.

Thus are we in possession of some positives, which need to be built on. As for the LTTE's reference to "counter-proposals", it could be said that this is at it should be. For, proposals and counter-proposals are the life blood of a fruitful exchange of views. They form the dialectical process without which forward movement in the negotiatory process is impossible.

Unfortunately, the tendency is great among most minds to seek the "line of least resistance". The simple and the uncomplicated is usually preferred to the complex and the difficult. Simplifying models are preferred to intellectually challenging paradigms of conflict resolution.

It would be preferable for all relevant sections to come to terms with the fact that the way ahead to peace is not paved with roses. In fact, the path to peace and reconciliation is thorny. So, the bitter needs to be taken with the sweet.

We are compelled to repeat these seeming home truths because there are forces which are working overnight, as it were, to undermine the current peace effort. In this destructive drive they would be exploiting, in particular, the human tendency to favour the seemingly simple, convenient and the simplistic to the more exacting and intellectually-challenging possibilities and policy options.

If those seeking to undermine the peace effort succeed in their attempts we would be back in a mire of deep uncertainty, with the threat of conflict and strife looming over us. So, patience and endurance could prove invaluable at the present juncture. It must be realised that there is no magic formula for the resolution of the conflict.

We cannot run away from the need to address the pressing needs and anxieties of the minority communities. Any realistic peace formula would take these factors into account.

On the other hand, such arrangements are unlikely to be favoured by all sections of the majority community. Thus we would have conflicts of interest which would require both the best of expertise and the deepest forbearance for their resolution.

The people, therefore, need to prepare themselves for an exacting and exhausting onward journey. Cutting the Gordian Knot which is the ethnic conflict, however, is a cooperative enterprise between the Government and the people. The latter must bear with the former and the former needs to act with the best of intentions.

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