Lessons learnt

When the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) was established there were many who dismissed it as a worthless exercise in eye washing and a partisan affair of the Government. Among them were Sri Lanka’s usual distracters across the seas and the cohort of NGOs and INGOs with dubious links.

Nevertheless there was huge public response. Hundreds of persons went before the Commission to give evidence or made written submissions thus placing their confidence in it. They belonged to all communities, all faiths and all localities. This fact alone is sufficient to disprove the distracters’ allegations of partisanship.

The Commission had handed over its interim report to the President few weeks ago. As soon as he received it the President appointed a high level committee headed by a Deputy Solicitor-General to study and implement its recommendations.

Now that Committee has worked out ways and means of implementing some of the LLRC recommendation. On the vexed question of land ownership it proposes to use the existing constitutional mechanism of Land Kachcheries under Government Agents.

The 30-year-old war and the unauthorized land disbursements by the LTTE in areas that were once under their control had complicated the whole land ownership. The Government expects to give owners of lands that were taken over and given to others by the LTTE alternative lands through these land Kachcheries. To expedite this work the Government had accelerated the de-mining program currently in force.

The Inter Agency Committee headed by the Deputy Solicitor General is also looking into the problems of persons detained for suspicion of links with the LTTE. The latter committee had interviewed a majority of the detainees by now. These interviews would end soon. Thereafter those that could be released without trial would be released while others would be charged under the law of the land ending the present unsatisfactory state of being in detention for long.

Meanwhile the Government heeding the request of the Courts is gradually clearing the High Security Zones (HSZ) for civilian use. Already several hundred families have been housed in the Palaly HSZ. The total land area earmarked so far for release to civilians in the HSZ amounts to 2500 ha.

Initiatives have been taken to speedily solve the housing problem of former IDPs. When the projects under the 100,000 housing program is completed by 2012 more than 90 percent of the housing problem would be solved.

The Government has also initiated a dialogue with the Tamil political parties including the TNA, who earlier worked as a proxy for the LTTE. Besides, attempts are made to win over sections of the Tamil Diaspora, especially for Northern reconstruction efforts.

Attempts are also being made to implement the official languages policy too. Already several hundred Tamil Police officers have been recruited. Several hundred more are to be recruited shortly.

These are all lessons learnt. There is no need to lament that no lessons are learnt.

Lessons are being learnt. The lessons don’t end here and now. There are more lessons to be learnt. In that the LLRC could play an important part. Let us wait patiently for its report.

There is no doubt that the evidence gathered by the learned Commissioners would contain much from which many more lessons could be learnt.

Now that the war is over and peace reigns relatively, it is time for retrospection and introspection. War is only continuation of policy by other means.

War is only the outcome of a problem and not the cause. For over six decades after political independence it has not been possible to achieve harmonious relations between different ethnic communities inhabiting our island nation.

While the majority of all communities would like to live in peace and harmony it is the politicians and other persons with vested interests that spoil the harmony and spread hatred and contempt among fraternal communities. There is also no doubt alien powers too had used internal dissention to fish in troubled waters to suit their own geo-political interests.

It is time to ponder and charter a path of peace. It is not only the Government but also the public of all communities that should learn the lessons. Without an open and dispassionate dialogue such peace cannot be won. Hence, it is necessary for all, especially the Tamil community to openly discuss their concerns and fears so that a way out could be found. It should not be a blame game but a sincere effort to find out where we faltered in order to prevent a recurrence of the ugly past.