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by Jehan Perera

The continuing forward movement of the peace process at the present time is a vindication of courageous stands taken by religious and civic leaders over the past several years. Noteworthy among such leaders has been the Archbishop of Colombo, Nicholas Marcus Fernando, who celebrates his 25th year of ordination as a bishop this month. The Archbishop's statements to the media on important national occasions have invariably received wide publicity on account of their relevance and the constituency they represent.

As the spiritual head of the most populous, wealthy and educated Catholic diocese in the country, the Archbishop has had a special voice when it concerns the affairs of the church in relation to the state. The archdiocese of Colombo is not just Colombo but includes the entire Western Province. According to the most recent census, there were about 650,000 Catholics in the archdiocese, which is about one half of the Catholic population in the country.

Sooner than most opinion formers in the country, the Archbishop saw that peace through war was not an option, not even in a pragmatic sense, let alone in a religious and moral sense. In February 1997 when the country was burning with the fires of war and many hundreds were dying in battle every month, Archbishop Fernando issued a prophetic call that contained the kernel of what has become today's peace process. This call should be read and re-read by those who are denouncing the present ceasefire and peace process, and who are offering no viable alternative in its place.

In his Independence Day message that year he wrote, "The first immediate step is to stop the war, utilising, if though necessary, a third party referee so that the past betrayals may not be repeated. Some thing other than war has to be attempted. War was thought to be a way to peace. But it has become evident to both sides and to all lovers of Sri Lanka that it was a mistaken strategy. Let both parties therefore admit that the only way to a settlement is through negotiations and that, if needed or is possible, with perhaps a third party facilitator, which so far has not been tried."

Evident in this statement is a clarity of thought and sharpness of word that has enabled the Archbishop to remain the respected leader of the largest concentration of Catholics in the country, and who are both Sinhalese and Tamils. Five years ago, the idea of a peace process that was facilitated by a foreign country would not have had much popular acceptance. But today, public opinion polls saw that upwards of 80 percent of Sri Lankans register their support of a peace process in which Norway is playing a central role. It can be seen, therefore, that the Archbishop has played a prophetic role in preparing the popular consciousness for the present peace process.

Positive initiatives

The present peace process can be said to have commenced three years ago when the PA government under President Chandrika Kumaratunga invited the Norwegian government to facilitate a negotiated settlement with the LTTE. In the past six months the peace process has gone forward in an extremely positive manner under the UNF government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

But well before these positive governmental initiatives commenced it can be seen that Archbishop Fernando had shown the path to be followed. For many years he has very powerfully issued call after call for a negotiated political settlement, for equality and non-discrimination, and most recently, for the government and opposition to work together for the common good. Indeed, one of the Archbishop's main interests has been to promote a national government to resolve the problems facing the country. Whether the government and opposition work together through a national government or through a bipartisan approach, it is imperative that they work together with regard to the peace process.

History reveals that on several occasions in the past, most notably in 1957 and 1965, efforts to resolve the ethnic conflict failed not mainly because of mistrust or betrayal between the leaders of the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. Those initiatives to resolve the ethnic conflict failed because the Sinhalese leaderships could not contain the protests from within their own community. Both Prime Ministers S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Dudley Senanayake wished to honour the agreements they had made with the Tamil leader S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, but they could not because of the opposition from the rival Sinhalese-dominated political parties. History must not repeat itself.

Internecine war

A few months before last year's general election the Archbishop made an appeal for a national government. He wrote, "If a national government is formed it would be a start in a new direction that politics can take, non-confrontational, and more cooperative in the interests of the people. Accusations and counter-accusations and the ensuing violence in words and deeds can be minimised. The nadir of lawlessness and moral degradation that the country has fallen into can be reversed. The ethnic problem with its internecine war can be properly dealt with and speaking with one voice work towards a peaceful settlement."

The extolling of the virtues of governmental and opposition togetherness through a national government once again brings out the prophet in the Archbishop who foresaw the path that the peace process would take. It calls to mind the words of the Bible: "The Lord says, I am making a new earth and a new heaven. The events of the past will be completely forgotten. The New Jerusalem I will make will be full of joy. There will be no weeping. There, babies will no longer die of hunger, and all people will live their span of life. People will build houses and live in them. They will not be used by someone else. They will not hurt nor harm." But to make these words real, there has to be a change of heart in the leadership of the main conflicting parties, which requires grace from above.

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