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DateLine Sunday, 27 January 2008

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Positive beginning to sustainable peace

The All Party Representative Committee (APRC) proposals have now been unveiled. Its chairman, Minister Tissa Vitharana presented the APRC proposals to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday. Prof. Vitharana said that the APRC would continue its sittings to fine tune the proposals and discuss other appropriate matters.

The Colombo-based foreign diplomats too have endorsed the APRC proposals as a positive beginning to seek sustainable peace. It is important that the international community recognise that the APRC proposals are not aimed at meeting the demands of the LTTE terrorists, but to meet the aspirations of the people of the North and East.

As President Rajapaksa pointed out, the APRC proposals are not for the terrorists who have turned against a legitimate Government. The proposals have been presented only for the people of North and the East, who have been the unfortunate victims of Velupillai Prabhakaran's barbarism.

While responding to the genuine problems of all communities in those areas through a dialogue to find a reasonable solution acceptable to all, terrorism should be defeated at any cost - in the language the LTTE understands better. There should be no looking back in the Security Forces' valiant battle against terrorism.

Though we cherish peace as human beings and offer a negotiated settlement for the genuine problems of the Tamils, Muslims and the Sinhalese in the North and East, terrorism should be eradicated through a military exercise. With the past experience on peace efforts, it is now abundantly clear that the Tiger terrorists would not settle for anything less than a separate state when they are strong militarily.

India too is willing to join hands with all countries to join the global battle against terrorism. The regional giant has also commended the APRC proposals and the Lankan Government's efforts to find a political solution through dialogue.

Whatever said or done we cannot ignore the Indian factor when finding a solution to our problems in the North. Being our closest neighbour and regional superpower, India could play a major role. On the other hand, Sri Lanka could trust India more than the West because South Asia's 'big brother' understands our problems better. Though some Western countries come here with vested interests, India would look at our problem sincerely. Expressing concern over the increasing LTTE activities in Tamil Nadu,the Indian Congress has asked the State Government to ban political parties and organisations which were openly supporting the proscribed Lankan terrorist outfit. It was reported that over 100 LTTE terrorists had infiltrated into Tamil Nadu State during the past two years and cases had been filed against 40 of them under the Indian National Security Act.

It was the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who masterminded the 1987 Indo-Lanka pact with the then Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The current Provincial Council system was established as a result of the Indo-Lanka pact. Unfortunately, many important factors of the accord could not be fully implemented.

It included the surrender of arms by the LTTE and offering more powers to the newly established provincial administration system.

Unlike the controversial Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed on two different days and locations by the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and terrorist leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the signatories to the Indo-Lanka Accord were the two Heads of state. Though the CFA was signed even without informing the Cabinet or Parliament, the Indo-Lanka Accord is a legal document endorsed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in Parliament.

The APRC has proposed full implementation of the relevant provisions of the present Constitution. It has also sought to identify a course of action to achieve maximum and effective devolution of power to the provinces to meet the aspirations of the minorities, especially those living in the North and East.

An important step towards the devolution of power could be the full implementation of the 13th Amendment. Overcoming shortcomings especially through adequate funding of the Provincial Councils was another important aspect. Holding elections in the East is also a priority since democracy should be restored in the liberated areas. The full implementation of Chapter Four of the Constitution on language which includes recruitment according to ethnic proportions too is a vital factor. Many previous peace efforts and solutions in the past failed. Former Presidents J. R. Jayewardene, R. Premadasa and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga presented various solutions. However, all those were 'pre-cooked' without the consent of the majority. Having carefully evaluated all these factors, President Rajapaksa let the political parties to sit and discuss at length the steps to be taken through the APRC. He has by no means tried to impose only the views of the political party he belongs to. President Rajapaksa gave a chance to all political parties in Parliament to sit together and present their own recommendations. Hence, it was a new approach and a pragmatic way following a series of failed attempts.

As Prof. Vitharana has emphasised, the APRC is a continuing process in exploring additional proposals.

The APRC proposals have received the consensus of all stakeholders and they were awaiting a positive response from other parties as well. Now, it's the turn of all peace lovers to put this into practice. It is the duty of all who value democracy and humanity to support the process to achieve sustainable peace and ethnic harmony in the country.

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