Call for Week of Reconciliation
Dr Laksiri Fernando
A LLRC sitting in Jaffna. Pic. courtesy: Google
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I propose that President Mahinda Rajapaksa calls for a ‘Week of
Reconciliation’ under his patronage to mobilize the whole country to
sustain peace, harmony and goodwill among all citizens and communities.
This Week could coincide with the planned submission of the report by
the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on November 15,
2011.
Sri Lanka is ripe for reconciliation whatever the adverse propaganda
by some disgruntled elements outside the country. The holding of
elections for the Local Government councils in March and July
particularly in the North and the East after over two decades of war and
destruction has demonstrated not only the President’s commitment to
reconciliation but also the great potential that the political parties
and the people have shown in strengthening democracy and utilizing the
existing formal democratic structures in achieving their demands or
aspirations. Democracy and peace are two cornerstones of reconciliation.
Reconciliation is about coming together, understanding each other,
admitting and forgiving for the past mistakes or atrocities and working
towards a united, democratic, peaceful and a prosperous Sri Lanka
irrespective of ethnic, religious, language, regional, political, social
or other distinctions.
Conflict areas
There are obviously ‘wounds of conflict’ coming from the past from
all sides. Undoubtedly the major victims of the past conflicts are the
Tamils, the Muslims and the Sinhalese living in the conflict areas. The
internally displaced people (IDP) should be mentioned particularly.
Among the over 20 million people in the country, there is no one without
a story to tell about a lost mother, father, sister, brother, daughter,
son or at least a friend. Grieving however is not the only way to go
about reconciliation or a conflict free future. Reconciliation should be
more positive and more constructive.
The proposed Week of Reconciliation should not be a propaganda event
just to conduct some activities and then to forget about them altogether
thereafter. It should be a springboard for an ‘action plan’ or a ‘road
map’ for actual reconciliation with a realistic time frame. The Week
could be utilized to make the whole nation and perhaps the international
community aware of the findings or the recommendations of the LLRC but
should not be limited to that task. For this purpose, a summary of the
LLRC recommendations in lucid form could be available in all three
languages by the time of the proposed Week.
Political leaders
The most important aspect of the Week should be to allow all the
participating organizations and sectors to have their own activities
without trying to straitjacket them on a given agenda. The Week should
be conducted without politics as much as possible while inviting all
religious and political leaders to participate.
The political parties should not display their symbols or colours
during the Week. White dress, white flags and white flowers could be the
symbols of the Week of Reconciliation. The Week should be above
politics. Nevertheless, the political actors are important in national
reconciliation.
With that objective in mind, discussions could be conducted with all
political parties and leaders within and outside Parliament to agree
upon the Week of Reconciliation to be launched on a plural basis without
any other pre-conditions or barriers. Let thousand white flowers bloom
for national reconciliation.
Working hours
There are different sectors and actors who could positively and
constructively contribute to national reconciliation in the country.
They are: religious leaders and organizations, political leaders and
party organizations, business enterprises and business leaders, trade
unions and union leaders, civil society organizations, women’s
organizations, media organizations, any other organization or sector
willing to participate.
Women’s organizations might be invited to play a special role during
the Week of Reconciliation. There are several focal points where
activities of the Week could be conducted. First and foremost are the
temples, kovils, mosques and churches. Equally important are the schools
and universities. All workplaces both in the public and the private
sector could at least set aside a working hour and perhaps half of the
lunch hour without much disruption to the work routines or productivity.
There is no reconciliation if the development is hampered.
The Week does not necessarily mean week-long activities in all
sectors. A Week is necessary to give flexibility to conduct appropriate
activities on suitable days in a given sector, place or locality. But
the launching day and the closing day may be important to give the
national message of reconciliation a momentum.
Foreign missions
I also propose that Parliament should set aside at least three days
of the Week to discuss, but ‘not debate,’ the issues of reconciliation
in a sober and a congenial manner. All parliamentarians may wear only
white dress.
Equally important is to have sessions of all Provincial Councils and
recently elected Local Governments to discuss what they could
practically do to sustain peace and reconciliation in the country.
It is of paramount importance that all the armed forces - the Army,
the Navy and the Air Force - and the Police (including STF) participate
in the Reconciliation Week most appropriately in the civilian dress.
Both the government and private media could play a major role during
the Week and in the reconciliation process. This could include newspaper
supplements and special programmes on TV and radio. Also important is to
mobilize the public and private websites to promote reconciliation. All
three languages - Sinhalese, Tamil and English - should be utilized to
promote the activities and reconciliation.
It is important to solicit the support and active participation of
all the UN organizations present in the country and all the foreign
missions, East and West, particularly the US, India and China.
The Week of Reconciliation could also be utilized to announce the
holding of the elections to the Northern Provincial Council in 2012 and
the institution of the proposed Senate. These two measures will go a
long way in national reconciliation in the country.
The Week of Reconciliation could truly be exemplary with simple
ceremonies and activities without much expense. If a voluntary
contribution of Rs 10 could be collected from each participant, it could
go a long way in assisting the internally displaced persons as a gesture
of goodwill and reconciliation.
(The writer is a former Senior Professor of Political Science and
Public Policy at Colombo University and currently a visiting scholar at
Sydney University) |