SUNDAY OBSERVER Sunday Observer - MagazineProvincial Council Elections  2004 - Results
Sunday, 11 July 2004  
The widest coverage in Sri Lanka.
Editorial
News

Business

Features

Security

Politics

World

Letters

Sports

Obituaries

Archives

Mihintalava - The Birthplace of Sri Lankan Buddhist Civilization

Silumina  on-line Edition

Government - Gazette

Daily News

Budusarana On-line Edition




Please forward your comments to the Editor, Sunday Observer.
E-mail: [email protected]
Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181
Fax : 94 11 2429230

A ceasefire cannot stand alone

Absence of war is not peace is a truism that has been once again confirmed by the tragic events of last week. While top-level LTTE cadres were the fatal victims in the East, it was the police that fell victim to the explosion of a human bomb. This was a rude shock to the na‹ve public, which believed or was led to believe that the absence of war meant peace.

Though these incidents may be classified as minor in a total history of the fratricidal war that we were engulfed in for the past two decades, they nevertheless open our eyes to several salient features of the contemporary scene.

First and foremost it exposes the fragile nature of the relative peace we enjoy following the Ceasefire Agreement. With hardly any noticeable change in the ground situation in the theatre of war and in the plight of its victims, notably the displaced and the dispossessed, it is extremely difficult to maintain the status quo that is being used by various interested parties to further their own sectarian and opportunist objectives.

A ceasefire agreement cannot stand alone. It should be part of a process towards a more meaningful and definitive peace. It could only create conditions for both sides to a conflict to initiate measures designed to build up mutual confidence and trust. Thus the implementation of a series of confidence building measures by both sides is imperative if the process towards definitive peace is to be strengthened and accelerated. Last week's tragic events show the cost of the failure on both sides to build up mutual trust and confidence.

As is evidenced from the start of the ceasefire the East was the testing ground of its weaknesses and strengths. The heterogeneous composition of the population in the East, coupled with historical deprivations faced by all communities in the region made the East more volatile.

The key to peace in the East, at the beginning of the ceasefire lay with finding solutions to the apprehensions of the Muslims concerning their security and economic and political rights. Though several steps towards resolving these thorny issues were taken including an agreement between the LTTE Chief and the SLMC Chief, the non-implementation of the latter has brought the situation to square one.

The split in the LTTE and the birth of a separate guerilla wing under Karuna Amman further complicated matters. At present the Karuna affair remains the most explosive factor overshadowing even the Muslim factor.

It is evident that vested interests with sectarian motives are acting on their own to further complicate matters. These elements pose a real threat to the continuation of the ceasefire. Unless the two parties to the ceasefire show more restraint and refrain from taking undue advantage over the happenings of the last few weeks the ceasefire is surely at risk. Already belligerent voices are heard from both sides.

In the present context it is imperative that both sides seriously take simultaneous measures to expedite the talks or talks about the talks. The best way to face the challenges brought up by the return of the suicide bomber and the lone gunman is to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

It is also necessary to prevent a resurgence of a war psychosis or a war scare among the public. It would be a great help to the cause of peace if some loud mouths could be kept shut in the meantime.

A people's poet

Tomorrow the world celebrates the birth centenary of Nobel Laureate Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

Neruda, considered the "Greatest poet of the 20th Century in any language" by yet another Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marques, is fondly remembered the world over not only for his fine poetry but also for his humanism and political ideals.

He began writing poetry at the age of 13 and was privileged to have another Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral as his mentor. From 1920 onwards his poems appeared in print under the pen name of Pablo Neruda, after the Czechoslovakian poet Jan Neruda. (The name given to him by his parents was Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto but later he got his pen name legalized as his real name)

From 1927 to 1935 he served as an Honorary Consul in several countries including Sri Lanka. A committed socialist he joined the Republican Movement during the Spanish Civil War and later in 1943 joined the Communist Party of Chile. In 1945 he was elected to the Senate.

He actively opposed the dictatorship of President Gonzales Videla and had to go into exile after going underground for about two years. His most famous political poem Canto General de Chile, an epic about Latin America, its peoples and their struggle was written while in exile. Having returned to Chile in 1952 he lived the life of a people's poet. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. In his speech at the Nobel Banquet he said, "with blood and darkness is poetry written, poetry should be written". He died in 1973.

His example still illuminates the world and inspires the young.

www.ceylincoproperties.com

www.imarketspace.com

www.singersl.com

www.Pathmaconstruction.com

www.continentalresidencies.com

www.crescat.com

www.peaceinsrilanka.org

www.helpheroes.lk


News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security 
 Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries


Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager


Hosted by Lanka Com Services