Truce talks: Building mutual trust vital - Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne
 

P. KRISHNASWAMY

COLOMBO: In the wake of the successful conclusion of the Ceasefire talks in Geneva, the Daily News talked to Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne and veteran Tamil leader MP Mavai Senadirajah for their comments.

They said that this is a remarkable achievement in the ground situation that was prevailing after the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse and clearly reflected his resolute commitment towards finding a negotiated settlement to the national ethnic problem.

Excerpts :

Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Leader of the Sarvodaya Movement:

"I think we have to be happy over the outcome. What is important in the initial stages is building mutual confidence and trust. It is good that after three years, the Government and LTTE delegations have met in Geneva for cordial talks.

We should appreciate the way the President set about this peace task. He has put in fresh blood into this. The delegations of both the Government and the LTTE have to be congratulated for what they have achieved.

According to Solheim's statement, the CFA will be strengthened and both parties will adhere to it while the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) will continue to monitor it. Both sides have also agreed to stop hostilities against each other.

They have agreed that only the police and Government security forces will carry weapons in the government-held territories. And furthermore, they have mutually agreed to desist from causing hardships and inconveniences to the people of the North and East.

"The issues on which mutual agreements have been reached may look little but, I am certain, they will have far-reaching consequences. I am personally convinced that this is a constructive beginning.

The people of the country - Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims - should now extend their fullest cooperation to this process of winning confidence and trust by their conduct and speech.

We have to abstain from any comments or statements to the effect that this problem can be resolved through violent means. They should promote non-violence, peace and brotherhood among communities which attitude alone will help towards further progress in the next round of talks."

Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Professor of Political Science, Colombo University:

"There are two areas of progress in the talks. Firstly, the two sides have committed themselves to respect and uphold the CFA and they have reconfirmed to fully cooperate with the SLMM and respect its ruling. They have also committed themselves to ensure that they will not be violent.

Secondly, they have agreed to meet again in April in Geneva. The continuation of the dialogue is extremely important.

"These are two significant outcomes in the context of the fact that there has been a regime change in the country and there has been violence putting the CFA at great risk. It is now up to the Government and the LTTE to honour the commitment they have made. They should not have a gap between their commitment and the actual practice and ground reality. "

Mavai Senadirajha, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP for Jaffna:

"We came to know of the consensus reached between the two delegations only from the statement of Norwegian Minister and peace felicitator Erik Solheim. It is a good news that progress was made in the first round of talks.

"What we strongly feel is that clause 1.8 of the CFA relating to the disarming and disbanding paramilitary forces should be implemented in full for the success of the next round of talks.

The non-implementation of this clause of the February 2002 CFA was the root cause of all violence experienced during the last four years.

In this context we are cautiously happy over the outcome of the first round of talks. We will have to wait and see whether this clause gets genuinely implemented before the next round of talks."