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Ceasefire talks?

The Geneva talks are sold as ceasefire talks in several of the concerned national dailies. Though blows can be avoided over whether these negotiations can be named 'ceasefire talks' or 'peace talks', the exact terminology has some analysts legitimately worried.

If they are called peace talks instead of ceasefire talks, will anybody in a position of power blow his top off? If a ceasefire prevails, that's a precursor for peace negotiations. The quarrel over naming the talks should therefore, really end there but analysts and busybodies will probably not be satisfied with such a liquid explanation.

Even as the talks approach the ceasefire may be slightly on the mend. Pundits have been speaking as if the ceasefire talks are of the atom splitting variety. If the analysis is read cover to cover, it will look as if these talks will decide the fate of the nation along with the fate of the rest of the world.

Truth and reality is miles away. Holes in the ceasefire need to be sewn up, and this is a technical matter, which might be in the immediate interests of all concerned parties. Atom splitting there may not be - - speaking in a political sense that is -- but mending the ceasefire is a cleanup act needed by both sides to the conflict. Abductions, grenade throwing, assassinations including the TRO abduction affair and also incidents such as the assassination of MP Pararajasingham were events that made the ceasefire look as if it was haemorrhaging to the point of dying out.

In this context to revert to the status quo ante, and to the relative quiet that prevailed before slew of serious violations occurred, is something more than a technical matter. Cynics of the hard-boiled variety would say that it's tremendously insensitive of us to call ceasefire-mending a technical matter in the first place. Killings and abductions are not in the technical realm. But viewed against the backdrop of the larger picture, mending the ceasefire is a matter that can still be approached with a clinical mindset. Perhaps success will be close at hand if the negotiators approach this issue dispassionately.

But on the other hand if its a technical issue and if its treated purely as one, the entire import of the peace process is lost at least in the broader perspective. Ceasefires may be temporary and may be secured by provisions in flimsy documents. But, it's a fact that two parties are meeting at the table that makes any kind of negotiation special. To say these talks are mere ceasefire negotiations may in this context be as bad as putting the whole process of rapprochement in the clinic. A clinical assessment of the ceasefire talks is necessary, but that shouldn't prevent the forthcoming Geneva round from being called 'peace talks.' Peace is the overarching objective, and even though the move towards peace may not be on overdrive, we are still (technically..) on course towards a lasting peace.

Race for Town Hall

Not very enlivening to have a election reduced to a one horse race, but the UNP having got its candidates dumped in the municipal drain, has now provided a one horse race for Colombo's mayoralty.

Its not over until the fat lady sings to use the operatic term, but the race for Mayor of Colombo could be as good as over now. That's not the way that the doughty fighter Vasudeva Nanayakkara perhaps may have preferred it.

But, as a cartoon in the opposite page has it, there is a race still on his hands. It pits him against a younger brand of angry young men that wave a different kind of red flag. Nanayakkara may not have to contend with the JVP as such, but he will have to rise to their bait nevertheless.

It's a party that usually sets high standards for collaborators and contenders alike. In some tangible way, Vasudeva Nanayakkara will have to prove to voters that the leftism that's left in him is better than variety that the hoarse younger men of the JVP call their own brand.

Bishops and booze

If the JHU and the Bishop of Colombo can be reconciled in a good cause - the regulation of the liquor culture -- then who says there is no hope for the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government to bury their differences? Except or the passing reference, not much has been made of the fact that the Christian church hierarchy agreed with the Ven Omalpe Sobitha's private members motion to bring liquor bars under a regulatory system, a new legal regime that goes far beyond that offered by the current Excise Ordinance. Liquor tycoons went embarrassingly red in their faces at the slightest mention of the news, but when the church closed ranks with the monks, it became a political phenomenon which had the effect of almost shocking the liquor lobby into submission.

We should say, well almost. Taking the liquor industry and winning is not as easy as gulping down a pint of bitter, but it's the fringe benefit of this fight that's at the moment more refreshing than anything that can be offered from inside a brewery.

From church burning to this level of cooperation between different religious persuasions is quite a distance - and as they said in some odious campaign for cigarettes once upon a time, we have come a long way folks. But trust our political analysts to pass up something so uplifting as if it is a regular occurrence. Well, it is not, particularly in this conflict culture in Sri Lanka that is regularly being portrayed by the international media as a diluted case of Taliban against the people.

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