An Ethical Policy Index - why not?

Our troubled world is in possession of a series of indices, such as, the Human Development Index, the Corruption Index and the Freedom Index, to measure its progress or decline in a multiplicity of public spheres. While these yardsticks are proving important, why don't we also devise an Ethical Policy Index?

This all important question was posed by none other than Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala, one of our most well known International Civil Servants and at present, Secretary General of the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat. He was speaking on the occasion of receiving an award for his efforts in the area of international peace and understanding from the Dr. A.M.M. Sahabdeen Trust, which also honoured an Indian and two other Lankans for their achievements in a number of fields.

Dr. Dhanapala was dwelling on the subject of global peace and security and was underscoring the need for polities and their rulers to base their actions and conduct on time-honoured ethical principles and values-the erosion of which have led to steady civilizational decline, terrorism, bloodshed and war.

We need to address our minds to a pertinent poser raised by Dr. Dhanapala, in this context: terrorism, nihilism and anarchy - "are they the result of perceptions that the policies pursued in the past have been divorced from ethics?"

A peep into the blood-splattered history of modern man suggests that this question needs to be answered by us in the affirmative. Right through the twentieth century and now at the beginning of the 21st century, it is all too apparent-whether it be at the global or national levels - that the policy of military aggression just doesn't pay.

Hatred, in other words, doesn't cease by hatred. Hatred only ceases by the bestowal of love and compassion on each other. Put simply, the core values of our religions need to be sincerely practised.

In the case of Sri Lanka, the need for these values is abundantly clear. The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE have done well to keep a ceasefire going for three years but it is increasing cooperation between the parties - such as through the P-TOMS - which could steadily defuse suspicion and anger between them. A reversion to armed aggression would only mean national ruin and devastation.

Therefore, it is as clear as day that policies and practices of important entities, such as states and even non-state actors, need to conform to an Ethical Policy Index, if the world is to experience a degree of peace and security. Opportunistic policies based on power calculations, only breed terrorism and bloodshed. There is no getting away from the need to practise the core principles of our religious traditions.