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| Sunday, 24 August 2003 |
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SWRD advocated interim administration for North - Mannar Bishop by E. WEERAPPERUMA The Bishop of Mannar, Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, addressing a delegation of Asian Justice and Peace Network said that an interim administration to the North and the East would be a stepping stone to federalism, which was mooted by the late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike way back in 1926. The Asian Justice and Peace Network delegates paid a courtesy call on the Bishop at the Madhu Shrine, on their way to Vanni last week. The delegates from Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan along with Sri Lanka were led by the Very Rev. Fr. Oswald Firth, the Provincial of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, in Sri Lanka and the Convener of the AJP Network. The delegates were introduced to His Lordship by Jaffna OMI Provincial, Rev. Fr. Jeeva Paul, and Rev. Fr. Rohan Silva, OMI, the head of the JPIC Unit, Colombo Province. Bishop Rayappu extended an open invitation to the JVP and the Sihala Urumaya to visit the Vanni and see for themselves what had happened to the people who had been living in peace and harmony due the ethnic war." I am certain that they will go with a change of mind if they ever visit this area". He commended the efforts of the Prime Minister to bring about a political solution to the longstanding ethnic problem and said that both the President and the Prime Minister should work together to solve the problem as the LTTE was not going for a simplistic solution. His Lordship said that it was a historical fact that the Tamils had been living in the North for centuries and, the LTTE based on this history, claimed that they were a nation. "Sinhala and Tamils are two nations. Political rights of the Tamils should also be recognised as much as those of the Sinhalese. The LTTE will not ask for anything that the Sinhalese do not enjoy. Tamils are not a minority, but a people, a nation, and this is a fact that no one can deny". The Bishop said that the Tamils 'do not ask for separation, but the right to self determination.' The demand of the LTTE was the right to govern the affairs of their own people. They were not asking anything which belonged to others." If one does not accept this, there is no room for justice. For real peace, truth must be accepted even if it is bitter". He said that they want to keep the past alive to build up the nation and not to take revenge. "It is to restore reconciliation, for peace comes with reconciliation. Neither the politicians nor the combatants but the religious can restore peace," he said. Referring to the foreign sources who assist in restoring peace and reconciliation, he said that it was necessary that we accommodate those who toil on our behalf. " We must strengthen the hands of those who support us." When the delegates met Thamilselvan, the leader of the LTTE political wing in Vanni, he had told them that the world had come to recognise them as a nation because they had fought for their own rights with commitment. "We are very much concerned about peace. Our commitment for peace is equally strong as yours. We never wanted war but it was thrust upon us by circumstances. We have been asking for our rights in a very democratic manner from the time of independence, but successive governments responded with violence and our people who are non-violent had to take up arms in defence. We yearn for peace with dignity", he said. |
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