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Excerpts from the fifth M. A. Bakeer Markar memorial lecture, delivered at the Mahaweli Kendra, Colombo on Sept. 12

by Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne (Continued from Sept. 24)

Due to time constrains I am not going into details of this Gandhian model of sustainable development, but I would like to say a few words about the People's Path to Peace, which we have been following for over four decades. Starting from 1960 we tried our very best to prevent the escalation of violence due to communal differences.

When in 1983 July the country experienced the worst wave of violence we immediately started a programme called 5R, meaning Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction, Reconciliation and Reawakening especially in the North and East. We put in our maximum efforts and implemented this programme and right through urged for a peaceful solution to the conflict. In 1990 we published the Sarvodaya Peace Action Plan and to this day we are following it step by step.

In that plan we projected a course of action to be taken, immediately, in 5 months, in 01 year, 05 years, 10 years, 50 years, 100 years and 500 years. In other words our today's thinking and actions should contribute to sustainable peace for future generations. In that document we pleaded for a Ceasefire and stated 10 basic conditions for the ceasefire which I am quoting below:

1. Guarantee safety of all citizens everywhere (freedom from fear)

2. Guarantee freedom from summary execution, torture, terror and humiliation.

3. Guarantee free movement of all people everywhere (the right to travel).

4. Guarantee freedom of ideas, information and political expression (democracy).

5. Guarantee freedom of religious and spiritual expression.

6. Guarantee freedom and equality of culture, language and creative expression.

7. Guarantee respect for the persons and property of all citizens.

8. Guarantee non-interference with work and the opportunity for right livelihood.

9. Guarantee democratic and non-violent participation in governance.

10. Guarantee the right of self-determination of every individual and community.

We are happy that the Government and the LTTE came to an agreement on a ceasefire and nearly 18 months have passed. In spite of minor problems they are continuing to talk and negotiate. It is our fervent hope that the kind of ceasefire we are having today will evolve itself to fulfil the above conditions. As far as we are concerned while we fully support a peaceful resolution to this conflict we continue to work with people on an appropriate and a long term vision.

What our Action Plan indicates is our belief, inherent in a Buddhist Vision, that action in only one domain is not adequate. For easy understanding and communication to the people, the very complex situation with its multitude of factors, has been interpreted in terms of three significant areas for action: Consciousness, the Economy and Power. In the area of transforming consciousness we have launched the Sama Bhavana (Peace Meditation) programme. In the field of economics an Artha Dharma Vidya Programme (Economics with an ethical foundation) in several thousands of villages.

The Grama Swarajya - Deshodaya - programme is in the area of power. Changes have to be made in all these three domains in a simultaneous, integrated and comprehensive manner. Such changes are very slow to begin with. But we believe that as more and more people are affected positively by these changes, they will gather enough momentum to influence political parties and Governments, religious leaders and institutions and usher in an era of lasting peace, harmony and prosperity for all people in our beloved country. Except this kind of a People's Pathway to Peace I cannot conceive of any other alternative.

It is in the field of "Power" that there is much misunderstanding. Hence I would like do dwell on this in a little more detail. In particular I wash to clarify what Sarvodaya is attempting to do. A few have misunderstood the Sarvodaya work as attempting to capture "political power" as is currently understood. Anyone who has read and understood our publications on this will know that all along, from our very inception, Sarvodaya has denounced "Party Politics".

I may briefly summarise the position thus. For more than 50 years we have been governed by Sri Lankans and not by the British or any other foreign nation. The political power has been at the "top" and wielded by those "at the top". While there has been some changes of the composition of the "top", it has continued to be the "top" which has governed this country. in spite of the rhetoric, the people at the bottom have had no "political power" in the sense of being a principal party to take decisions, which affect their lives. Very evidently those who have governed us for over fifty years must take the responsibility for the present sad state of our country. I need not expand on the latter. The experience of more than fifty years has shown very conclusively that the "top" has failed the country.

It is extremely unlikely that cosmetic changes of the "top" will improve the "governance" of this country. Even if the "top" is bifurcated or divided into even smaller portions so long as the "top" retains the present type of party political power, the people at the bottom, be they Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim will by and large remain powerless.

The Sarvodaya attempt is to make a reality of the rhetoric to which all so vociferously subscribe, namely, give the power to the people with the top exercising only those powers, which the people are willing to give them and not the other way around.

For more than the last four decades Sarvodaya has been laying a firm foundation for the people at the bottom to exercise "power" in the sense of making decisions for the development of their communities and implementing those decisions with primarily their own resources supported by educational interventions designed in consultation with the people and augmented by whatever other resources Sarvodaya was able to channel to the communities.

The Deshodaya programme, which Sarvodaya is currently engaged in implementing, implies a very significant expansion in the decision-making domains of the people. The people at the bottom are now being sensitised to the powerful forces, which dominate their lives, exercised primarily through an increasingly dominant state. People feel helpless in the face of changes they do not like. Some harmful influences they may not even be aware of. The manipulation of the collective consciousness of the people by the powerful mass media dominated by the "top" is a very insidious development which is making heavy inroads into our traditional culture based on the "the fear and the feeling of shame of doing something wrong."

To the mass media a netball match is an exhibition of the female anatomy. The viewers are not educated on the finer points of the game. It is as important to show the legs of the TV announcers as their faces. Under Deshodaya people are being educated about national level developments, which may affect their lives adversely. Food security, access to water and access to other resources, which traditionally the people have enjoyed, may be eroded.

Expanding the decision-making domain brings with it the attendant question of implementing the decisions. An individual is helpless. A lone community may also be in the same position. A number of communities acting together may be a different proposition. Deshodaya puts such a vision before the communities. The use of modern communication technology in linking communities is being experimented with. One advantage the communities will have in implementing decisions under Deshodaya is that on the whole what is required is the collective will and not finance and material resources.

If Deshamanya Al-haj Mohamed Abdul Bakeer Markar is alive today I am sure he will be a foremost leader in this sort of non-party, non-political, non-sectarian and non-violent constructive approach to re-awaken our country as a shinning example to the world for peace and harmony.

I wish you all a peaceful future and thank you very much for this opportunity. (Concluded)

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