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| Sunday, 9 June 2002 |
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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 M. Sivasithamparam The country gives its final salute today to the senior-most Tamil politician, Murugesu Sivasithamparam, President of the Tamil United Liberation Front. True to his style as a no-frills, pragmatic politician, late Mr. Sivasithamparam, approached the end of his life in yet that same muted manner. Despite his illness and the need for constant expert medical care, he left the security of his family home in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and remained in Colombo in order to be close to the centre of activity as the political dynamics he had helped set in motion so many decades ago came to a head. In his frugal style he lived in Colombo while engaging in the tortuous dealings of the peace process, labouring painstakingly for that final goal of peace and justice for his people and his country. No one will miss him more than his people for whom he has sacrificed much in continuing to give leadership in the face of death threats, physical injury, political hardship, and the intransigence of political actors, as he tirelessly strove for reconciliation and concord. The country will remember him as a formidable if quiet political leader who has and could have played a significant role in peace-making. India The Prime Minister sets off to India this week on a goodwill mission. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected brief Indian leaders on the current stage of the Sri Lankan peace process. Pre-occupied they may be with the tensions on the Pakistani border and in Kashmir, but Indian leaders, concerned as they have always been about stability in the deep south of the Sub-continent, may be counted upon to give their attention to this almost as long-standing a problem as the Indo-Pak contest over Kashmir. Delhi will be most anxious to know the progress both the Sri Lanka Government as well as the LTTE are making in reducing levels of militarisation, and in moving towards achieving a permanent political settlement of the conflict. Having already experienced occasional cross-border action in the past - especially the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, India is keenly aware of the dangers of an insurgency in Sri Lanka that could spill over across the Palk Straits. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe will also be seeking more help from Delhi for the peace-making process and the gigantic effort that is needed for Sri Lanka, especially the North-East, to recover from decades of war. Sri Lanka has always been able to rely on the friendly proximity of our giant South Asian neighbour and cultural motherland. The sacrifice India made in terms of human life and military and economic resources in sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) here to underwrite a previous attempt at ending the war will never be forgotten by Sri Lankans. For his part, the Sri Lankan Premier will naturally seek to ascertain the latest situation in the on-going confrontation between India and Pakistan. With Sri Lanka partially in the line of fire in the event, unlikely though it may be, of a nuclear battle, Mr. Wickremesinghe will be anxious to see progress on the Sub-continent in ending the confrontation. |
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