From fighting terror to winning the peace

There is some very disturbing news from our immediate neighbourhood in South Asia. Our 'SAARC brother' and cordial friend, Afghanistan, is experiencing an upsurge in Taliban-inspired terror. A couple of days back, veteran politician, one-time President of Afghanistan and peace-maker Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated in the most gruesome fashion by a 'human bomb' in the heart of Kabul. The killing was an ominous reminder that terror was beginning to stalk the capital city in a very major way once again.

It is not the case that Afghanistan was ever free of terror, but the evidence is glaring that there is an explosive re-emergence of bloody insurgent activity by the Taliban and its allies. This raises the question of whether Western military intervention in Afghanistan is proving in any way beneficial. It also raises the issue of whether a strategic alliance with strong external military powers could prove beneficial for a Third World country.

Such issues relate to the domestic political domain of Afghanistan and out of a sense of deference for Afghanistan's sovereign right to determine its internal and external policies in keeping with what it considers is its national interest, we deem it proper to refrain from pursuing this line of inquiry. However, we wish to place on record our warm cordiality with fellow SAARC member and trusted neighbour, Afghanistan, and request the Lankan state to assist Afghanistan in whichever way it deems proper. Needless to say, Sri Lanka would be perpetuating such cordiality with its other neighbours too.

However, one would be erring very badly by underestimating the problems confronted by a highly faction-ridden and ethnically and culturally heterogenous polity, such as, Afghanistan. As in the case of most of her neighbours, including Sri Lanka, the principal challenge facing Afghanistan is to put together a united polity where man-made differences would not matter. Making a polity of this nature emerge is what is strictly referred to as nation-building and we hope the Hamid Karzai administration in Afghanistan would forge steadily ahead towards peaceful co-existence and unity among its variegated internal political actors in the days ahead.

The issues faced by Afghanistan ought to remind us in Sri Lanka of the need to go steadily ahead with our own challenge of putting together a united polity where ethnic and other petty differences would cease to matter. Our task is made easier by the fact that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has constantly underscored the need for national unity. He has made it abundantly clear that ethnicity would not matter in the least in Sri Lanka and this policy position would undoubtedly have a healing impact on Sri Lanka.

Moreover, one could be happy that such healing policies are being translated into healing practical measures. Yesterday, we quoted the French Ambassador for Human Rights as stating that Sri Lanka has carried out an excellent job in re-integrating one-time LTTE child cadres into society. Such glowing compliments are the proof that Sri Lanka's policy and decision-makers are seriously committed to making Sri Lanka a success story in post-conflict normalcy. It is opportune to increasingly highlight these successes to the world, at a time when sections of the international community are in a frenzied bid to castigate this country on what are called accountability issues.

Nevertheless, there is still some distance to go before Sri Lanka could proclaim that peace has been fully won. Economic development is being accelerated but the resulting dividends must be increasingly evenly shared. The lessons of the past must be always remembered but residual divisive tendencies within our country cannot be allowed to perpetuate themselves. For instance, communal forces must be outlawed and the adverse repercussions such forces could have on our country should be constantly highlighted.

Winning the peace amounts to doing all this and more. May these considerations be our guide.