Foundation for national rejuvenation

The UN Human Rights Council and the international community have just been enabled by Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who is also Special Envoy of the President on Human Rights, to acquire a comprehensive grasp of Sri Lanka's factual situation and of her plans for national rejuvenation. The facilitator of this process was the detailed statement the minister made before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

At a time when it seems that the critical eyes that are directed at Sri Lanka, particularly from abroad, would not blink until they see Sri Lanka being unjustly penalized on the seeming strength of a report which bases its charges on hearsay, this statement by Minister Samarasinghe is a stitch in time that would save more than nine. Sri Lanka needs to take the fight back to the enemy camp and this is just what the minister is doing along with the other members of his delegation, which includes our External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris.

For the powerful of this world, anything almost goes, and we front page today, some observations of our External Affairs Minister on how some of these personnel violate even UN procedure to meet the hegemonic requirements of the bullying mighty.

On reading Prof. Peiris' statement it becomes amply clear that double standards, double think and double speak are very much to the fore in many matters pertaining to the relations between the big and the small of this world. How then, could the relatively powerless of the international community expect justice in the prevailing world order?

Nevertheless, the less powerful cannot submit to unjust treatment and the struggle for justice and fair play in the affairs of the world must continue, alongside efforts to expose the duplicity of those who pose as caretakers of the international order. Our team in Geneva has gone some distance in achieving this and we urge them to keep-up the good work.

Meanwhile, the achievements of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) must continue apace and these pluses must be constantly showcased to the world. We call on the international community to permit the LLRC to continue with its functions to enable it to formulate its final report which is reportedly due in mid-November.

As has been pointed out in some knowledgeable quarters, a country dealing with post-conflict issues must be allowed to exhaust all local remedies in the course of putting things right within its borders. This is a country's sovereign right. In attempting to take Sri Lanka to task, this country's critics abroad are wantonly violating some of the most fundamental principles of International Law with impunity. Thus, are the foundations of international law and order being relentlessly undermined by the powerful and overbearing of the current world order.

However, progressive opinion in this country and abroad could take heart from Minister Samarasinghe's statement in Geneva that, 'Our immediate, medium, and long term goals are a sustainable peace with equality, equity, and the guarantee of human dignity.' A more solid foundation for national rejuvenation and progress could not have been formulated and we call on the state to build steadily on this basis, for the establishment of peace and harmony in their truest senses.

We urge the state and the people to look at Sri Lanka's current trials in a positive light. Through the overcoming of challenges come collective courage, resourcefulness and inner strength.

Those were wonderful words by Minister Samarasinghe and the Sri Lankan state. It is, indeed, the achievement of equality, equity and dignity for all in Sri Lanka that would help contain the difficulties facing us. We have won the war, but now it is up to all of us to 'win the peace.'

Permanent peace and harmony are possible only through the achievement of equity and equality. They could not be won through any inherently destructive ideologies, such as, communalism, that seek to divide Sri Lanka on the basis of narrow, parochial considerations. Truly, if we are to forge ahead, we need to create an inclusive polity where every citizen could live with dignity and acceptance. This is, essentially, the blueprint for national rejuvenation.