A sound start to finding peace
A positive start has been made to the
establishment of the long-elusive Southern consensus on resolving our
ethnic tangle with all parties at the inaugural All Party Conference
called by President Mahinda Rajapakse agreeing that the negotiatory
process with the LTTE on finding a solution should be launched
forthwith.
This could be considered a resounding 'yes' to peace and a strong
rebuff to those detractors who consider the Mahinda Rajapakse
administration as being unenthusiastic about forging ahead on the
negotiatory path.
Considering the multiplicity of political parties which have thus
called for immediate peace talks - barring the TNA- it could be said
that the democratic sections of our polity are largely unanimous on the
issue of negotiating an end to our problem.
Where - it could be asked - is the much feared "hawkishness" in
particularly Southern Sri Lanka? Here is proof that the Lankan polity is
on the whole peace-oriented and not desirous of pursuing a military
solution to our conflict.
These revelatory developments, while reflecting well on the Mahinda
Rajapakse administration is also a strong vindication of President
Rajapakse's position that a negotiated solution should be found to the
conflict.
One of the inferences which could be drawn from these developments is
that there are not many takers for war.
Lankan opinion is largely pro-peace and the time should be seen as
right to call the Tigers to the conference table and hammer out a
solution with them which would be fair by all our communities.
No doubt, we have a long way to go before we could rest from our
labours in the peace-making sphere, but a very propitious start has been
made and we call on all relevant parties in this context to be
consistent in their efforts from now on to arrive at an equitable
solution.
The momentum in working out a solution should not only be sustained
but increased in the days ahead.
There is, of course, the volatile and unpredictable LTTE to deal
with. The LTTE's willingness to cooperate in finding peace is, indeed, a
troubling poser, but the onus would be very much on the Tigers from now
on to collaborate in the peace effort.
If it does not, the LTTE will stand exposed as nothing more than a
terror outfit which is orientated towards self-aggrandisement and power.
Such a development would only prove which many have been suspecting
right along - that the Tigers have no support base among the Tamil
people worth speaking of and cannot profess to project their concerns.
We hope the LTTE understood very clearly, Sinn Fein chief negotiator
Martin Mcguinness' principal position that a prolonged, armed rebellion
would only prove counter productive as time goes on.
Today, the IRA in Northern Ireland, which had a long-running war with
the British government, has decided to down arms and give a
power-sharing deal with their Protestant antagonists a try.
A crucial consideration in this decision is the realisation that an
armed insurrection does not help in resolving a purely political problem
in the long run. We hope the LTTE would benefit by these insights.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Lankan polity would need to realise that a
solution which is not based on power-sharing and mutual accommodation
would be difficult to work out. Southern Sri Lanka would need to think
beyond popular slogans and habitual ideological fixations.
There is a price to be paid for peace and this must be met. However,
the geographical oneness of Sri Lanka is non-negotiable. |