Protecting the Tamils

Two foreign dignitaries visited Sri Lanka this week. One was a religious leader and the other, a top-flight diplomat. The Government had one message for both - that its aim to evolve a solution to the situation in the North and East to ensure that the Tamil people are protected and assured of their rights.

During his meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams on Thursday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa emphasised that finding a just solution to the ethnic issue was the top priority for the Government.

The Government has never wavered from that position, President Rajapaksa said. Similar sentiments have been expressed at his meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.

This message is very significant at this juncture because the LTTE and other internal and external forces inimical to Lanka had disseminated false propaganda to the effect that the Sri Lankan Government was not interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict and that it was suppressing the rights of the Tamils.

However, history is replete with examples of the LTTE’s backtracking with regard to the peace process.

Successive Governments initiated talks with the LTTE with or without foreign facilitation and each time the LTTE walked away from the negotiating table citing flimsy excuses. It has never shown its willingness to discuss the core issues of the conflict which could lead to a final solution.

Moreover, the LTTE is also guilty of restarting hostilities after each peace effort. It started attacking Security Forces barely a month after President Rajapaksa assumed power and has violated the Ceasefire Agreement thousands of times.

The Government had to respond to these acts in the interests of national security and public safety, though it exercised utmost restraint for a long period in the face of LTTE provocations.

Civilians are invariably caught in the crossfire in any conflict and ours is no different. Civilians of all ethnicities have been killed, maimed and displaced by the conflict but Tamil civilians, especially those living in LTTE-dominated areas, have been the worst hit.

They are used as human shields and their children are abducted for LTTE military training.

On its part, the Government has taken cognisance of the human rights concerns of the local and international community. The Security Forces have been instructed to strictly adhere to human rights guidelines when they question or arrest suspects. Probes are underway, with foreign help, into several high-profile cases.

An International Eminent Persons Group is helping the Presidential Commission appointed to probe human rights violations. These are positive indications of the Government’s commitment to human rights.

The liberation of Tamil civilians in the East from the LTTE’s grip and the attempts being made to resettle them also show the Government’s keenness to ensure better times for the Tamils.

Another aspect, which has conveniently been forgotten by detractors of the Government, is that the main ruling party, the SLFP, has already submitted its proposals to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC).

Many parties including the main Opposition are yet to do so. Various opinions have been expressed on the SLFP proposals and the Government has pointed out that they are by no means ‘final’. They can be discussed, amended and refined further.

In any case, the APC will examine all the proposals and draft a formula which would be acceptable to all.

As the Archbishop of Canterbury has rightly pointed out, minorities living in a pluralistic society should feel secure and experience a sense of belonging. This is exactly the aim of the peace effort underway at the All Party Conference.

Our final aim should be a country where no community feels they are a minority - all should truly feel that they are Sri Lankans, irrespective of ethnicity and religion.