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| Sunday, 16 February 2003 |
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War and peace by Ananth Palakidnar The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's Veluppillai Prabhakaran enters its first year on the 22nd. The MoU has silenced the guns in the North and East for the past one year and paved the way for considerable progress in the peace process. The two decades of war in the North and East destroyed the lives and properties of several thousands resulting in the increase of widows, orphans and refugees. Land routes particularly to the Jaffna Peninsula were inaccessible with land mines literally making it a separate region full of death and destruction. The MoU has brought great relief to the civilians in the North and East and to the whole country. Soon after the MoU, great relief came to the Jaffna folk with the re-opening of the A-9 highway which is popularly known as the Kandy road in the North. The A-9 route was closed for more than a decade and it had also seen some of the important battles between the LTTE and the armed forces in the past seven years. With the re-opening of the A-9 highway which is also considered the life line of Jaffna, essential food, fuel and medical items now flow freely into the Jaffna Peninsula. It has also enabled free travel to its people. According to reports from Jaffna displaced civilians have returned to their homes and several others living abroad have also come back to live in Sri Lanka. Fishing and agriculture, two main livelihood sources in the peninsula have also improved to a great extent. A regular 24-hour power supply has also been restored after 20 years. "The Govt-LTTE 'Global Yatra' for peace with the Norwegian navigation is heading smoothly so far. However its complete success depends on further strengthening of the MoU which completes its first year on the 22," a political analyst said. We take a pictorial look at scenes before and after the signing of the MoU that paves the way for the commemoration of the first anniversary of the ceasefire next week. |
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