Take a principled course

Avoiding ideological and political extremes is emerging as a foremost challenge for the Lankan body-politic, in the wake of the assassination of Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. In as much as LTTE terror needs to be denounced and stamped out and we support policy measures to this end, we would not also echo the crude nationalistic sentiments being churned out among some Southern quarters which smack of the jingoism which has been keeping Sri Lanka on the boil.

A policy perspective of prime importance has been set out by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and it is plain to see that this point of view is hard to beat in consideration of its finely-balanced nature.

That is; there is no question of the Lankan State succumbing to terror or condoning it but it is equally important that we defuse the root causes of terror by finding a negotiated, just solution to our conflict, based on a power-sharing arrangement.A 'Times of India' editorial which we front-paged yesterday, may very well have spoken on behalf of progressive opinion, locally and internationally, by calling the Government's resolve to continue to talk to the LTTE as "a courageous and commendable decision."

There is, therefore, no question of the Lankan State succumbing to the virulent jingoism of the South. This ideological virus no less than Tiger extremism has kept Sri Lanka burning for more than 20 years and time has proved that there is no alternative to wisdom and patient calm when it comes to dousing the hellfires which have engulfed us. However, the State would need to vigorously engage the LTTE rather than allow time to slip by, bringing its frustrations and disenchantments.

This is no pacifist course. There is no question of the State dancing to any interest's tunes. It is up to the LTTE to prove that it is capable of reflecting accountable behaviour and a priority of the hour is the reviewing of the Ceasefire Agreement which has enabled the Tigers to go on the rampage while paying lip service to negotiating peace.

The Tigers would be also making a tragic blunder by mistaking the accountable, restrained conduct of the State for weakness. The State has standards to keep. It cannot go the way of terrorists but it would do everything in its power to uphold the unity and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

The LTTE needs to ponder long and deep on this point. However, the Lankan State would not be imbibing the narrow, nationalistic brew of Southern Sri Lanka; this is for sure. Sri Lanka is for all its citizens, regardless of community, creed and social status.

This is a message of fundamental importance.That having been said, every pragmatic means needs to be deployed to end Sri Lanka's suffering. The UN Security Council has done well to denounce terror and remind us of the need to forge ahead with the peace process.

However, we hope that the brutal slaying of Lakshman Kadirgamar would jolt particularly the West into the realisation that terror in Sri Lanka cannot be curbed without its ready cooperation. Ideally, all countries concerned should outlaw the LTTE.

Having done this, concrete measures must be effected to end the overseas funding of LTTE operations. Besides, the LTTE's clandestine, global operations should be stifled and ended on a cooperative basis by all countries wishing Sri Lanka well. We hope, these concerns, which were also voiced by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, would meet with a ready response in the international community.

We are certain that a concerted drive from now on by the Lanka State to kickstart the peace effort and take it to its logical conclusion, would stir the world outside into cracking down hard on the LTTE. We hope that all systems would be operationalised from now on by the Lankan State to make a negotiated peace a reality.

We also hope procrastination, prevarication and slow-footedness would not be allowed to get in the way of resuming the peace process and keeping it ticking. Peace is a self-sacrificial, uphill journey but one which must be undertaken if Sri Lanka is to remain strong and whole.