Online edition of Sunday Observer

The lifting of the proscription of the LTTE has paved the way for the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE to resume peace talks towards achieving a just and fair solution to the national question, a question which has been in existence since the 1920s. There has been a worldwide response to the de-proscription, both positive and negative, though the de-proscription has been more symbolic in nature. Those who value progress and social justice have welcomed this step and the ceasefire agreement that has been implemented by both parties since last February. The next milestone will be the commencement of face-to-face negotiations.

The major factor leading to the ceasefire is the realisation by both the government and the LTTE that they could not achieve their aims through war. The government could not defeat the LTTE militarily and the LTTE could not establish a formal separate state by resorting to armed struggle.

This led to a military stalemate. The LTTE found its survival on the line and the economy of the country was in the red.

At the same time, all peoples affected by the war became war-weary. The international balance of forces has now become extremely favourable for a negotiated settlement. Among all the Sri Lankan nationalities, there have been many who worked against dominant chauvinist and opportunist trends that had engulfed their societal terrains. When the war and war mongering tested their tolerance levels, they consistently advocated against war and war mongering.

Thanks to their efforts, many people rallied around the slogan "Do not wage war on our behalf". Many political parties including the two major ones in the south willingly or unwillingly have accepted this reality. Negotiations

The task confronting the parties to the negotiations is formidable. Transforming a process of discrimination that has been in existence for more than half a century will be, by no means, an easy task. The major obstacle is still the mutual mistrust, suspicion and misunderstanding of the parties to the conflict. The parties have to achieve a final settlement that accommodates the aspirations of Tamil people without jeopardising the aspirations of other peoples, including Sinhalese and Muslims.

And the time frame should be reasonable, as dragging along without coming to adjustments to their positions through compromises would strengthen the sabotaging attempts of the chauvinists and opportunists. If a reasonable non-threatening consensus could be achieved, the vast majority of peoples of Sri Lanka will support such a decision as they have done in the past.

Rather than insisting on the Thimpu principles per se, which are rather abstract, it would be appropriate for the LTTE to put forward concrete proposals in the context of these principles. It would be immensely productive for both parties to work out a consensual set of propositions, rather than engaging in an exercise of putting the ball in each other's court.

This set of consensual propositions must address the needs and aspirations of the Tamil people based on the principle of internal self-determination without jeopardising the aspirations of other peoples inhabiting the island. In addition, the LTTE should put forward its political program, go to the people in the northeast, and get their mandate for administering the north and east.

The present government seems to have moved away from style of the 1977 UNP government. The government needs to be congratulated on this occasion for taking an entirely different approach from the one taken towards the JVP in the 1983-84 period. In that period all investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department and the intelligent services had conclusively absolved the JVP of any wrong doing. Many civil society organisations demanded the government to lift the proscription of the JVP. Despite these facts, the then President Jayawardene and his government kept on extending the proscription until the island was drowned in blood.

Disregarding this negative experience in their past, the current leaders of the JVP have turned 180 degrees and demanded that the proscription of the LTTE should continue. A quick comparison would show that in the South the bloodbath was due to political repression of the forces demanding justice and fairness for the people of the south. In the North the bloodbath was due to similar political repression of the forces demanding justice and fairness for the people of the north and east.

The JVP should have been the leading political force that demands de-proscription and political negotiations for redressing the problems of the people in the north and east. I believe that not only the national question but even many questions relating to the people of the South and prevalent upon Sinhalese are underpinned by the human rights violations by the State, its security forces, and the behaviour of political organizations of all hues and colours due to their political and ideological perspectives.

The whole political process since Independence in February 1948 has been aimed at dis-empowering society, moving the people further away from power centres and centralising the political power in the hands of a few. Parallel to these events, a process of gradual de-democratisation of the state structure was taking place.

Even to this day, this situation continues, increasingly undermining the trust that people could place on such institutions of the State.

Sections of the security forces, in particular, some elements of the top brass, have been alleged to be responsible for war crimes including crimes against humanity. Against any individual or organisation that had a dissenting view to the views of those who held power, was subjected to ruthless violence. And this, by the State through its law enforcement agencies!

That is what really happened in the North and in the South. Constant extrajudicial killings, mass scale involuntary and enforced disappearances and torture became a daily routine of the perpetrators of war crimes. The parties subject to such ruthless violence also took the path of attempting to overthrow the state by violence and terror. Acts of terror against civilians and their property became common and daily routine. The vicious cycle never ended.

The political party in power and the parties aspiring to acquire that power have engaged in a process of using linguistic, religious, cultural and other differences in the society for their petty political advantages. As a result, Sri Lankan society has become increasingly fragmented.

Instead of nation building, which is a characteristic feature of capitalism, what we have witnessed is the generation of national factions developing and aspiring towards independent nations. Unless such petty political bickering for the sole purpose of consolidating their own petty political ends is halted, such tendencies cannot be stopped.

The democratisation of the State structure by means of de-centralisation will provide a transitionary phase for nation building.

What happens in the South will have political repercussions in the North and East. The cry of the Sinhala people for empowerment, protection of human rights, de-centralisation of power and so on will have its vibration felt in the north and east. That may generate awareness and the need to protect in the long term what they gain from the political negotiations of today.

For peace and reconciliation to become a reality the State and the society have to learn from the tragic past experiences. The peoples should decide their political destiny; not the state machinery or the militant organizations by means of employing violence as the means of political negotiation. There are no saviours of the people other than themselves!

All those who are concerned about obstacles to peace building and reconciliation, and the empowerment of people and democratisation of the society and the state, should make their political organisations accountable to the people.

Even if the negotiations lead to a breakthrough of the national question, the gains of the peace process could gradually disintegrate, whether we like it or not, unless proper mechanisms to safeguard the outcomes of the negotiations were implemented.

(Lionel Bopage, one of the founder leaders of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and its General Secretary at one time, is now domiciled in Australia.)

questions relating to the people of the South and prevalent upon Sinhalese are underpinned by the human rights violations by the State, its security forces, and the behaviour of political organizations of all hues and colours due to their political and ideological perspectives.