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| Sunday, 7 April 2002 |
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Editorial |  |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 1 429239 / 331181 Fax : 94 1 429230 People's role in peace-making Peace runners and cyclists have set off. A couple of horsewomen, also on a peace mission, too have set off. This week, a horde of local and foreign journalists will speed their way, in more comfortable means of conveyance. They are all heading for Jaffna. Jaffna was, for decades, a city from which everyone who could afford to, left. It has been besieged twice, captured by means of hugely destructive military offensives twice and has been bombarded frequently by all sides in the conflict, including the Indian army. Today, all that has changed. An international football match was played there last week. And now all these southern peace-makers, business people, politicians, international bureaucrats and media professionals are arriving there. At the same time, larger numbers of Jaffna Hindus are expected to take the road southwards this year in May in their annual Paada Yaatraa pilgrimage on foot to Kataragama for the festival. Given the repeated experience of failure in peace-making here and the abandonment of efforts to address the causes of the conflict, it is not surprising that, still, many Sri Lankans are only cautiously optimistic about the current peace effort. It is likely that it is merely war-weariness that is fuelling all this fervour for peace and normalcy and not a confident preparedness to grapple with the complex issues of the conflict. Nevertheless, millions of Sri Lankans yet await the possible: a sustained negotiation even as reasonable behaviour on all sides enables the cease-fire to hold. Ultimately, the solution to the conflict should be one that could be sustained in the long term. The enthusiasm generated so early in the peace process is an expression of the Sri Lankan people's desire for peace. It is a national expectation that simply cannot be ignored and must be fulfilled in all its complexity. The country's national political leadership has been electorally entrusted with the task and the people expect a collaborative effort for peace. Are the politicians fulfilling these popular expectations? Politicians on all sides of the Parliamentary divide must face up to this question. Meanwhile, the LTTE leadership, at the highest level, is due to face the world's news media for the first time in ten years this week. This is an opportunity for the public outside the population of northern hamlets and towns to see the LTTE leader articulate his views on the policies of the LTTE and its agenda for peace negotiations. The global media will have an opportunity to look Mr. V. Prabhakaran in the eye and seek answers to the myriad questions that arise to mind after nearly thirty years of war and ethnic hostility. What will be expected from the LTTE leader will be a mature articulation of his movement's goals and an explanation of its actions so far. What will be expected of the mass media is that they report the LTTE press conference in a fair manner without seizing on this or that aspect to sensationalise, to merely entertain. Many are the actions, overt and public, that are now under way. Even as people watch these activities, they are aware of the undercurrents, the attitudes and plans that are covert and not-so public, that obstruct the process and undermine the prospects for peace and stability. Now that elections are over, the ordinary citizens must seek ways to continue to influence the political forces and the decision-making process as closely as possible. The politicians must be made to deliver what the people expect. This is where citizens groups, trade unions, social service groups, religious organisations, cultural institutions, must consciously and systematically take on a role that will ensure this larger scale of popular participation in our society's most crucial process. |
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