A laudable act

According to Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa over 70 percent of Ex-LTTE cadres have been rehabilitated and integrated into society. This indeed is a praiseworthy act considering that a majority of these youth may well have perished had the war continued. Most of these youth were misled and brainwashed into joining Velupillai Prabhakaran’s fighting cadres, some plucked away from the first bloom of youth and forced onto the frontlines like sacrificial lambs.

Newspapers continue carrying moving picture captions of rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadres being reunited with their families and loved ones. There were also mass weddings of former combatants and other human interest accounts that tugged at one’s heartstrings. All this is a clear demonstration that the people of the North are awakening as a community after three decades of a nightmare existence. It is also a definite indication that normalcy has returned to the North and life is taking its ordinary course.

The Government has done a lot in this short period since the end to the war to rebuild the shattered lives of the people of the North. Not only that it has also opened avenues for them to integrate into the national mainstream and join hands with their Sinhala brethren of the South to be part and parcel of national life. It has also taken meaningful measures to foster harmony among the estranged communities and bring them together under one umbrella. The recent recruitment of men and women from the North into the Police Force is a case in point. This shows that barriers of race and ethnicity are gradually being dismantled paving the way for a harmonious co-existence as the communities integrate in all national endeavours.

The release of the Ex-LTTE cadres is but another step in this reconciliation process. It also shows the importance attached by the Government to healing of wounds, building trust and erasing the psychological scars of the bloody conflict. They will now be normal citizens of this country with the right to lead independent lives free of threat or harassment from any quarter.

These unfortunates were also deprived of an education and the joys of childhood. They were instead recruited to a terror machine with no value attached to their lives. Among them there may have been rare talents who may have adorned many professions and positions but for the cruel fate that deprived their blossoming out to realize their true potential. Thus, by giving them an opportunity to restart their lives and enter the mainstream of things the Government has secured for them a future worth looking forward to.

Now that their lives have been given a new direction and the path shown to progress it is hoped they would avail themselves of this opportunity to the maximum to rebuild and remould their lives to be productive law abiding citizens. While the Government should be lauded for redeeming this segment from a life of misery and certain death, steps should also be taken to follow up on their progress. As mentioned, most of these youth may be gifted in various fields and crafts. They should be found suitable employment and fitted into positions where their talents could be best utilized. Knowing the drive, enterprise and perseverance associated with the Northerner there is no doubt they would make the best use of this opportunity and acquit themselves well in whatever task entrusted to them to make their lives fruitful and meaningful.

While the Government is making every endeavour to fit these ex- LTTEers into society the private sector too could help by sponsoring projects and programs that could accommodate these youth. They could be offered employment opportunities and other avenues to make themselves worthy citizens.

The Government deserves all praise for not only liberating these youth from a cruel fate and giving them a new lease of life but also acting with consideration and understanding by securing for them a better future. It had all the reasons to shun these former terrorists and consign them to a life behind bars. Instead, acting like a responsible Government it viewed the whole issue with compassion, circumspection and a sense of goodwill.

Those Western countries who accuse the Government of human rights abuses should consider this action and alter their opinion. A Government that goes to great lengths not only to rehabilitate captured terrorists but also offer them a place in the sun can hardly be a perpetrator of war crimes. It did not torture and humiliate prisoners of war like the Iraqi captives were subjected to at the notorious Abu Garib facility run by the US Government.

As Minister Rajapaksa noted at the inauguration of Cash for Work program in Kilinochchi on Friday in some countries former combatants who were attached to terrorist organisations of such a scale as the LTTE were held in custody for more than 10 years, but the Sri Lankan Government has succeeded in rehabilitating over 70 percent of former Tiger cadres within one and half years. So much for the Human Rights of the West.