TAKE SRI LANKA BOLDLY ON THE ROAD TO PEACE

President Kumaratunga has, once again, touched the hearts of millions in this country by reassuring them that the prospects for peace are indeed bright. "Our chances of achieving peace are far better today than in the past. War can stall the development process for many years," the President was quoted as telling the 15th national convention of the SLFP on Friday.

Earlier, the President was reported as saying that some 80 per cent of Lankans favoured a negotiated settlement of our conflict, based on power devolution. What could be more propitious for peace in Sri Lanka? Here's the Head of State and Government of the country speaking in the most unambiguous terms of returning Sri Lanka to peace and that too on equitable terms. For, it should be plain to see now that there could be no peace for Sri Lanka, outside a devolution of power framework.

We call on the Government to abide by these terms and ensure that nothing gets in the way of a just peace and the country, which has been suffering silently for so long, watching its daughters and sons being devoured by the fiercely-rising and terrifying flames of war. We believe that no ear should be lent to those unreasonable, self-centred, vociferous voices which are raised against a just settlement.

Fortunately for all of us, the SLFP has realized the gravity of the situation. At its recent convention a number of resolutions were passed, which, if fully implemented, would enable Sri Lanka to breathe the wholesome air of peace, prosperity and brotherhood. One of these was presented by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and could be considered the most crucial one in view of its implications for resolving the ethnic conflict and bringing a just peace to the country. This resolution emphasized the need to launch peace negotiations between the Government and the LTTE soon. The need for a political solution based on power devolution was highlighted. Of equal significance in this resolution was its stress on the need to ensure the rights of all ethnic groups while preserving their identities. All this must be achieved while protecting democracy and the Rule of Law.

As important as the resolution presented by Minister Mangala Samaraweera on establishing a new political structure in the country was the one brought forward by Minister Susil Premajayantha which emphasized the need to forge ahead with the country re-building programme of the Government. It was stressed that the needs of the tsunami-ravaged areas in the country should be met equitably.

These are indeed forward looking, optimistic and positive initiatives which should be pursued vigorously and with visionary zeal. We believe it is high time the country was informed of the factual situation it is in.

Time is fast running out for Sri Lanka. If Sri Lanka is to forge ahead, forces opposing progress and development should be upstaged and the country taken boldly to the new dawn of peace which is awaiting us. It is time indeed to turn "swords into ploughshares."

HUNTER AND THE HUNTED

Man no longer needs to hunt wild animals for his survival. That is best left to the animal kingdom itself, where the axiom 'survival of the fittest' still holds true. Nevertheless, there are persons among us who like the sheer 'thrill' of hunting - in reality, watching an animal die, writhing in agony and screaming in pain. They do not hunt for food or to control the animal population - their goal is to kill for the sake of killing.

Thankfully, most countries are bringing in laws to ban hunting and other such pursuits as hare coursing. Britain's ban on foxhunting received wide publicity worldwide. No hunting is permitted in any of Sri Lanka's national parks and wildlife sites. But now, hunting aficionados have found another way out - killing animals by remote control.

An agency report from Texas describes the new craze in detail. A company called Live-Shot.com has added a modern, controversial twist to the primal desire to kill: Internet hunting. Now anyone with a computer and a modem can log on and fire real weapons. Howard Giles did it a few weeks ago, becoming the first known Internet hunter to bag a wild hog by remote control. Giles was sitting behind his computer in San Antonio. The pig was munching on corn about 50 miles away in the Texas Hill country. The remote control hunters can see the action through two cameras. They control the rifle with four arrows and pull the trigger by remote control by clicking on a "fire" button.

This is indeed a bizarre twist in the hunting saga. The possibilities are alarming, to say the least. A person sitting comfortably at home in South Africa could [theoretically] kill an animal in New Zealand. Hunting - taking an animal's life for pleasure - has become a video game, more or less. But the blood is all too real. In the words of Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of USA, "what started as a depraved idea has apparently become a sickening reality - it is pay-per-view slaughter."

The appalling idea of Internet hunting has generated plenty of criticism. Killing animals with just a click of the mouse has offended many right thinking people. A Republican representative in the Texas Legislature has already offered a bill to ban the practice.

But the very nature of the Internet will make that an uphill task. While shooting live targets is the latest abhorrent practice on the Net, it offers plenty of other diversions which are either illegal or unethical. Tracing these sites and their administrators is no easy task, as the Internet is a virtual, not physical, entity. Guardians of the laws - and morals - must however keep up the fight.