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Wednesday, 11 May 2011

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Government Gazette

Ball in the TNA's court

It would give all those with the national interest at heart, the greatest satisfaction to learn that the government - TNA talks are, generally speaking, proceeding smoothly and that many a knotty problem that bedeviled this relationship over the years is being resolved to the satisfaction of both parties. We are happy at this continual engagement and wish it all the success.

There was scepticism in some quarters that the state would abandon the project of finding a political solution to our conflict in consideration of the fact that the LTTE was crushed and that no more problems to the Lankan polity would crop-up from the terror group. Well, such scepticism could now be laid to rest because the government - TNA talks indicate that the search for a political solution is continuing.

This is astute thinking on the part of the Lankan state. The LTTE was only an extremist group which emerged as a most painful, unsettling and wasting symptom of the conflict. It was not the disease itself but an ugly manifestation of it. It was necessary to be rid of this obnoxious symptom that got in the way of a peaceful resolution of the conflict, but being rid of the symptom did not guarantee that we were done with the 'disease'. However, the state-TNA talks are the reassurance that the causes for the 'disease' are now being remedied.

One cannot expect these ongoing talks to yield miraculous results. The 'disease' is decades-old and a tremendous amount of hard work would be required by both sides to see an end to the conflict. However, as we see it, there is no alternative to talks of this kind and we are glad that the discussion process is forging ahead.

The Tamil side would need to realise that the generality of the people of the North-East desire to live within a united and unitary Sri Lanka, in peace and harmony with the rest of the country's communities. They never wanted a fight with the state and this would continue to be their position. The separatist revolt against the state was really launched by a disgruntled section of the Tamil community which took the unprecedented step of escalating the revolt to the level of a bloody militancy and now that these terrorists are out of the way the path has been paved for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

Nevertheless, the dignity and total well being of the Tamil community must be ensured and this is a task for the government. One may recall that the 'Mahinda Chinthana' promised a home-grown, viable solution to the conflict and this must be pursued in earnest. In this task it is quite inessential to recall old, threadbare slogans and formulae as solutions. As mentioned, the task at hand is to ensure the dignity and well being of all and as long as these aims are achieved, there is absolutely no need to bring back to the negotiating table the tired, worn out ideas of the past.

However, concrete progress must be registered at these talks and we are happy that some useful proposals are seeing the light of day. One of these is to increase the number of Tamil recruits to the state police force and we understand that the government is making adequate provision for this.

Nothing could be more comforting than for a Tamil citizen to be in a position to take any law and order and connected issues to Tamil-speaking state personnel and an increase in the number of Tamil police recruits could meet this need adequately. Besides, such measures could go some distance in resolving the issue of police powers under the 13th amendment.

Therefore, it is plain to see that some concrete progress is being made in the direction of resolving some outstanding issues in the conflict. However, as the saying goes, it takes two to Tango and groups such as the TNA need to recognize this. This cooperative attitude of the state should be adequately reciprocated by the TNA and it should remember that it cannot speak for the totality of the Tamil public. As the talks proceed, they would need to be broadbased and the opinion of other Tamil groups on the questions at issue would need to be consulted too. Nevertheless, the solutions that emerge would need to be put to other Tamil groups also, for their views.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is on record that he wants peace and communal harmony and it goes without saying that this is the aim of the state in its talks with the TNA. But the TNA would need to go the extra mile and even more to cooperate with the government.

The TNA should realize that a solution cannot be a reality unless and until it responds in a cooperative spirit to the state's overtures. This is crucial for settling the problems of the Tamil community.

The need for such a cooperative spirit is underscored by the TNA's attitude towards the Darusman Report. The TNA cannot continue to have a fruitful discourse with the government, as long as it sees some validity in the contents of the Report, which do not have a basis in fact.

Rather, the TNA should approach the talks with an open and impartial mind. Besides, it would need to speak and act unitedly. Playing to any sort of sectional interest or 'gallery' could jeopardize the talks. The ball, then, is in the TNA's court.

Darusman Panel on child recruitment:

Confusing gender, age, legality and decency

The manner in which the Darusman Panel dealt with the issue of child recruitment is symptomatic of its efforts to minimize the atrocities of the LTTE, as well as the failure of the international community to do anything to limit these.

Full Story

The Morning Inspection

And some people will continue to bat for Eelam and the LTTE...

A man by the name of S. P. Thamilselvan was killed by the Sri Lankan security forces in 2007. Almost two years before that in an interview with the online version of TIME, this man warned that if ‘Colombo’ does not accept the LTTE’s version of history and reality,

Full Story

Heritage of Sri Lanka :

Marvels of irrigation technology

Two different techniques were adopted after a careful examination of the physiographical and topographical conditions for impounding water. According to one, an embankment was built using natural rock formations across a valley where water was available from seasonal streams and rivers.

Full Story

 

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