Resolving national issues independently

External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris' comprehensive rebuttal of JVP MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake's statement in Parliament on some issues reportedly pertaining to developments after the anti-Lanka UNHRC vote in March should help in putting the record straight on positions adopted by Sri Lanka on some current contentious questions. Prof. Peiris' statement makes it amply clear that there is no question of this country internationalizing any of the issues facing it. It would be facing them squarely and resolving them independently.

In other words, they will be handled, both, by ourselves and in tune with the state's approach of finding home-grown solutions to our issues.

This country is not at the beck and call of any hegemonic power. This country is being seen as a 'small' one by some but it has a gargantuan will to be independent and to handle its affairs entirely by itself. Its independence and sovereignty are non-negotiable and this should be grasped by all sections of our polity. If this were not so, Sri Lanka would have crumbled under the tremendous pressure exerted on it by the more powerful sections of the international community at the height of the humanitarian operation of May 2009. But Sri Lanka chose to do things 'her way' and she is being widely respected for this brave stance. Clearly, a country's determination to handle its affairs independently is integral to its sovereignty and this country would not be compromising this capability, come what may.

All this does not mean that this country would be daggers-drawn with the world community. By no means would it be in a needless confrontational mode with the international community. Relations with the world outside need to be on a cordial footing and this would be Sri Lanka's policy line as a respectable member of the international community. Therefore, when the External Affairs Minister went to Washington in mid-May, it was not a gesture of subservience but a measure necessitated by the norms and principles underlying the conduct of cordial relations among states of the world. As the External Affairs Minister indicated, what transpired in Washington was more in the nature of a meeting of minds.

The External Affairs Minister's statement should also put the record straight on the course of action being taken by Sri Lanka to handle some of the more outstanding issues growing out of the conflict. There is clearly no veering from the fundamental position that Sri Lanka's solution to the conflict would be a home-grown one. The LLRC, it must be remembered, is an entirely Sri Lankan initiative which was carried out totally by Sri Lankan 'brains.' It puts the controversial 'Darusman Report' to shame on account of its highly analytical, detailed, comprehensive and thorough-going nature. Therefore, the LLRC report is part of a most suitable foundation on which Sri Lanka's peace edifice could be built.

Rather than being dictated to by the US, Sri Lanka went into elaborate and comprehensive detail on how this country intended to implement the recommendations of the LLRC report. It did this entirely of its own accord and was not under any sort of compulsion to do so. The LLRC report would help in fashioning the home-grown solution and elements from the report would prove most invaluable in resolving many of the contentious issues facing us.

Accordingly, a conflict-resolution process is very much on and the recommendations of the LLRC would be systematically implemented by the state, while the Parliamentary Select Committee mechanism too gets activated. As we see it, concrete and consistent progress on resolving our questions is a number one requirement. This need cannot be overlooked and concrete progress should be registered in the days ahead. Sri Lanka is under no compulsion to show results and would treat with scant disregard any such pressures, but it would be in her interests to achieve further progress in the normalization effort.

In a way, this is a defining moment for Sri Lanka. She is presented with an invaluable opportunity to demonstrate her sovereignty by evolving and implementing a home-grown solution to her conflict. Hopefully, this historic undertaking would be persisted with and completed to the satisfaction of her communities.