Madhu Peace Zone

THE RECENT meeting between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Oswald Gomis in the company of Mannar Bishop Rev. Rayappu Joseph is a glimmer of hope that guns may be silenced at least in the sacred precincts of the highly venerated Madhu Church.

This is not the first time that a Peace Zone for Madhu has been proposed. The Church is in an area dominated by the Tigers and sadly, there have been attacks by LTTE units on Security Forces lines’ from that direction. However, the Forces have always taken extra care not to retaliate, lest the Church environs or pilgrims come to any harm.

The Government has always made arrangements to facilitate pilgrimages to Madhu by devotees from cleared areas. So far the LTTE has not jeopardised such moves. We hope that the LTTE would extend its support to the Church to make the Peace Zone proposal a reality.

The benefits of such a move will be immediately felt. A place of worship located even in a conflict area should necessarily be an oasis of peace and tranquillity.

Pilgrims will be able to enter the area and perform their religious obligations without any fear. Similar action should be pursued in the case of many other places of worship in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

It is also heartening to note that a Peace Task Force initiated by the Catholic Church and comprising leaders of all religions would travel to the Wanni soon to explore the possibility of putting back the peace process on track.

All religions espouse the cause of peace and the religious dignitaries must explain to the LTTE leadership that their destructive campaign would not bring any benefits to the very masses they are claiming to ‘liberate’.

President Rajapaksa and the Government have always maintained that the Government was willing to enter negotiations. It is the LTTE which has always walked away from peace negotiations. Their current actions do not indicate any desire for a negotiated settlement.

The religious dignitaries might succeed where facilitators and authorities have failed: Convincing the LTTE that terrorism cannot solve problems.

The civilised world has already appealed to the LTTE to give up terror and join the democartic mainstream, without much success. The voice of religious leaders will add to these calls and the LTTE should listen to them sooner rather than later.

Preventing child abuse

WE DO NOT have exact statistics on the prevalence of child abuse in this country, but it is not a problem one can ignore. Physical, sexual and even verbal abuse of children is common.

We have published a report on page one that should open the eyes of many a parent and guardian. It quotes a reputed Sri Lankan doctor as saying that a seemingly minor bruise or wound on a child could be a mark of molestation.

Children lead carefree lives and play injuries are common. Yet, parents and guardians must be vigilant about their children’s behaviour and strangers coming into contact with them. Any unusual injury or change in behaviour must be probed carefully in the light of these revelations.

Many Sri Lankans preferred to withdraw into a shell when the subject of child abuse was mentioned. These days are coming to an end with the society accepting the stark reality that child abuse exists. What is alarming is that in most cases, the child is molested by someone known to him or her.

This leaves a lifelong mental scar in the child, who is scared to come out with the truth. Some of them carry the trauma throughout their lives, becoming misfits in society.

Dr. de Silva has advocated increased awareness on the issue as a means of protecting children from abuse. It is time to break free of the cultural taboos that the society has imposed on itself in this regard and educate the children on the dangers of child abuse.

These programmes should also be targeted at parents, teachers, principals and medical practitioners who are very often called into help traumatised children. Quite apart from sexual abuse, there is a thriving trade in recruiting children for physical labour, which must also be dealt with.

The authorities have successfully conducted several programmes to prevent children falling prey to paedophiles.

The ‘No Child Sex Tourism in Sri Lanka’ campaign has been effective to a great extent in arresting tourism-centred child abuse. But more should be done to prevent the spread of this scourge, a blight on our culture and civilisation.