Challenges in post-war rebuilding

Keynote address by Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe at the Seminar on “Winning the war to winning the peace: Post-war rebuilding of society” at Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo yesterday.

The word “peace” and the phrase “rebuilding of society”, are to my mind, fundamental conceptual paradigms that we must gain a common understanding of and evolve consensus on.

What then is this “peace” that we aim to win? As I recently recalled at a meeting of the Sri Lanka-America Society’s Forum, quoting the famous words of Spinoza, that peace is not the mere absence of open violent conflict but an innate predisposition towards benevolence, confidence and justice. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, also perhaps inspired by the sentiments expressed by Spinoza, put it thus: “Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.”

Values of peace

Thus it appears that what is necessary is to internalize the core values of peace if we are to achieve the societal goal of ‘winning the peace’. To do this, we must be committed to demonstrating benevolence through tolerance and accommodation of our fellows, confidence and trust in one another and justice predicated on principles of equity and equality.

This leads us to the next concept of the rebuilding of society. To my mind, there are four limbs to the rebuilding of society which are closely interconnected and interrelated. They are:

reconstruction, resettlement, reintegration including rehabilitation and reconciliation including democratic political accommodation.

I will, in the ensuing minutes, expand on these four areas. All these facets must be supportive of the generation of and spread of peace, in the terms I outlined earlier, within our country. Allied with these main facets are the provision of safety and security as a condition precedent and democratization to maintain long-term stability.

Preventive measures

We also have to put in place preventive measures which will forestall a resurgence of violence and conflict. The debilitating and corrosive influence of nearly three decades of conflict, on the entirety of society and its institutional structures, needs to be gradually and carefully redressed.

I believe the three sub-themes you have chosen amply cover the scope and ambit of these interlinked aspects of rebuilding society. The cardinal rule that must govern all our actions is that the new society that we build for ourselves must be better than any we have known, learning from our past mistakes and building on our successes.

Prior to all of this we must take measures to care for those who are the immediate victims of the conflict. Much is spoken of the situation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) rescued during the humanitarian operation in the northern theatre of conflict. Less is spoken of the casualties of war in the South - the dead, wounded and disabled amongst the Security Forces and the police and also their families. We need to care for all these persons to see to their welfare. There are also older categories of IDPs - among these are Muslims who were evicted from the North by the LTTE nearly 20 years ago - that we have undertaken to resettle in a durable and sustainable manner.

Resettling

In talking about the approximately 270,000 IDPs in several districts - mainly the welfare centres and relief villages in Vavuniya District, I have just received reports that in 2009 over 15,000 displaced persons have been resettled in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara and Mannar Districts. We have screened and readied for release over 10,000 persons from welfare centres and relief villages who are elderly, are pregnant or lactating mothers or are children. We have a population of 10,000 persons (including child recruits) who have been members of the LTTE or affiliated with the organization in some way, in centres who are subject to rehabilitation programs.

All these persons are deserving of our care and attention. We are in the process of registering them, with well over 50 percent having been registered to date.

The issue of their freedom of movement is currently being canvassed before the Supreme Court so I will not delve into the details but can state that the Government bears a responsibility to the rest of the people of Sri Lanka to care for their safety. We have reliable information that LTTE cadres have infiltrated the ranks of the IDPs.

Screening process

Until the screening process is complete and these elements are identified and apprehended we have to take utmost care in permitting even limited freedom of movement as the risk exists of LTTE cadres posing as civilian IDPs and entering the general population.

This is a chance we cannot afford to take. The decision was not taken lightly but rather by a careful balancing of the rights of the IDPs against those of the rest of the population, especially given the LTTE’s propensity to cause maximum carnage among the civilian population by launching terrorist acts.

International dimension

There is also an international dimension created by the intense pressure brought to bear on the political leadership in countries that are host to the widespread Tamil Diaspora. We need to engage with those nations and with the Diaspora itself to convince them that we are working to rebuild a new Sri Lanka; one in which the diversity that has characterized our polity is cherished, celebrated and nurtured.

Our multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural social structure must be safeguarded and given space to express itself. It is only then that confidence in an overarching, cohesive and common Sri Lankan identity can be fostered that will enable us to move forward as one nation and one Sri Lankan people. It is only then that we can collectively overcome all the post-conflict challenges in our way as well as other new challenges that any modern nation state is called upon to face.

Attracting expatriate

We must seek to attract the vast pool of expatriate Sri Lankan talent - a resource which is vital to the rebuilding of the conflict affected North and East. We must encourage the Tamil Diaspora to invest in these areas and let their brethren enjoy the benefits of their expertise and entrepreneurship.

At the same time we need to be on our guard against those, particularly Western, media outlets which, by disseminating disinformation spread by the LTTE network’s remnants and their proxies, constantly seek to besmirch the name of Sri Lanka. Just recently we saw a respected UK newspaper reporting of tremendously exaggerated numbers of supposed mortalities in the IDP welfare centres and relief villages in Vavuniya.

Overstated number

When we did check on this reportage, we found that the number was grossly overstated. A few days ago a horrifying video of supposed executions of Tamil persons in January this year was played on a Western television channel’s news program and the canard was immediately picked up by many news organs and given wide publicity.

On both these occasions, we were able to ascertain the truth and promptly denounce the distortions and untruths for what they were. The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, a proscribed LTTE “front” organization, continues to spew out the most outrageous falsehoods regarding the situation of the IDPs.

These are attempts to generate ill-will against Sri Lanka and distance her from her many friends and we must be alert to such machinations. These efforts were at their height during the final phases of the conflict when pressure was brought to bear at several international forums. Sri Lanka faced those pressures and emerged victorious.

To enable us to continue to hold our heads high on the international stage, our foreign policy must be geared towards portraying the truth about Sri Lanka overseas and must be aimed at constructively engaging and cooperating with our international friends and partners while at the same time preserving national sovereignty.

There also others who, for reasons best known to themselves, are domestically spreading false reports about the situation in the relief villages and welfare centres.

Just last week, I was able to inform Parliament of the steps taken to mitigate the risks of flooding and of diseases spreading due to the pre-monsoonal rains experienced in the North.

Exaggerated stories of deteriorating conditions and catastrophic outcomes raised alarms and the national legislature decided to conduct an adjournment debate on the issue. The Government was able to respond fully to all queries and explain the many preventive and mitigatory measures it had taken.