Priority to rebuild lives after war

Prof G. L. Peiris

“I am privileged on this occasion, when the European Union celebrates its National Day, to pay tribute on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka to the quality of the relationship which our country enjoys with this region.

The antiquity, intensity and depth of this relationship is without parallel in Sri Lanka’s relations with regions of the world outside South Asia.

“I am deeply conscious of the strength of the ties which bind us together. Sri Lanka is appreciative of the support and friendship which the countries of the European Union have always extended to us.

Scourge of terrorism

“At this crucial time in the history of our country, when we turn a new page, overcoming the most formidable among the challenges that have confronted us - the scourge of terrorism - and as we prepare to respond to other daunting challenges of the future, relating to the economy of our country and the well-being of our people, total understanding between us is an absolute necessity.

“It is in this spirit of openness and goodwill, and fundamentally because of the overriding importance which we attach to our relations with the European Union, that I ask your indulgence to share with you some candid thoughts on what we believe to be the way forward at this critical time.

“The point of departure is a glimpse into our national condition.

The Government of Sri Lanka, in the immortal words of Jawaharlal Nehru, uttered in a different context, has kept its tryst with destiny. Indeed, it has done more. It has kept faith with the people of our land. It is today abundantly clear that the aspirations of our people receive the fullest expression in the attitudes and responses of the Government in every aspect of national policy. What we see today is the inspiring spectacle of a re-awakening of the soul and identity of a proud nation.

This is the ultimate criterion of political and moral legitimacy, entirely in accord with the concept of the social contract, powerfully articulated in England by John Locke and, across the water, in France by Rousseau.

“It is a matter of deep satisfaction to us that our people, with their head held high and with a new resonance in their voice as they sing the national anthem, this spirit of resurgence symbolised by our country’s flag fluttering in the breeze in every humble home in the island, are redefining their relationship with their motherland.

Watershed

While recognising this as a watershed in our Nation’s history, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made it clear that this is no occasion for exultation. On the contrary, the need of the hour is the strident message of inclusivity, drawing in all the communities that inhabit this land and investing them all with responsibility for its future.

“In setting ourselves this objective, we are eager to work with our friends and to give ear to mature counsel, offered on the basis of mutual respect and equality. In a crashing workaday world which threatens to be torn asunder by a sharp conflict of values, the key to stability obviously lies in a sense of poise and balance. No ideology, political or cultural, we believe, is the sole repository of truth. No nation or group of nations, however powerful or prosperous, can legitimately lay claim to a monopoly of wisdom. There is more than one path to the summit of a mountain.

“Throughout the span of my country’s relations with the Continent of Europe, we have been able to engage in a rich and meaningful dialogue. It is the fervent wish of the Government of Sri Lanka to continue this engagement in a beneficial and productive manner.

“In the continuing human rights discourse, for example, it needs to be remembered that the total development of the human personality, with all the rights and entitlements attaching to it, has been at the very root of the great civilizations of South Asia. This is amply borne out by impeccable evidence from Mohendajaro and Harappa, and by rock inscriptions from our own civilizations of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.

“However, it is one of Europe’s most renowned historians, Arnold Toynbee, who pointed out in his seminal work, The Study of History, that the search for a realistic balance between freedom and security has been one of the central challenges confronting successive European civilizations, from Attic Greece through Roman times and the Middle Ages up to the present day.

“In these complex areas of human experience, there is no room for absolute answers confidently given or for black and white distinctions made with disarming self-assurance. To our minds, the very foundation of pragmatism consists of an approach underpinned by empathy for competing points of view, an inherent capacity - in keeping with the exhortation of the French philosopher, Voltaire - to recognize value in an outlook different from one’s own and, above all, acknowledgment of the need for sensitivity to the nuances of a particular context or situation. It is this spirit of resilience that is encapsulated in the sagacity of ancient Rome, quot homines, tot sententiae.

“It is my own profound conviction, that the quality of international relations depends not only on the conceptual underpinnings of a nation’s foreign policy but, no less importantly, on the attributes and antecedents of the individuals who represent, for the time being, the persona of nations. We remind ourselves of this as we welcome Your Excellency, Bernard Savage, to our shores.

“Permit me, a personal observation. There are two circumstances which strike me as significant in this regard. One is that you come from a land as proud as our own - Scotland. The other is your exposure to a diversity of cultures in West Asia.

“For centuries Scotland lived in the shadow of its dominant neighbour and was, in combination, challenged and enriched by its frequently turbulent relationship with England. Even today, there are issues not fully resolved with regard to Scottish representation in the Parliament at Westminster.

In the course of my own academic work in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, I had the privilege of personal contact with some of the finest legal minds from the Scottish jurisdiction - among others, Alan Rodger, a fellow doctoral student at New College, Oxford, who rose to become Lord Advocate of Scotland. There can be no more compelling testimony that might is not always right, than the robust intrepidity of thought and outlook consistently displayed by the Highlanders.

Moral fibre

“Gautama the Buddha, in the final sermon he delivered, The Maha Parinibbana Sutra, cautioned the strong in persuasive terms against bigotry and self-righteousness, and extolled the intrinsic virtues of restraint, compassion and humanity as the ultimate yardstick for assessment of the moral fibre of any community. More than 2,500 years later, this historic sermon contains an acuity of insight which serves as a beacon light for the guidance of a troubled world.

“The other characteristic is your highly relevant experience of a divergent, and yet fascinating culture during your extended tour of duty in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I, for one, reject unreservedly the central thesis contained in Samuel Huntington’s provocative work, The Clash of Civilisations, between Christianity and Islam. The attainment of tranquility among nations is furthered, in our view, not by emphasis on antagonism and polarization, but by the assiduous search for common ground so as to enlarge the ambit of harmony and convergence. This seems to the Government of Sri Lanka to be the basis of all sound human relationships at the level of family, country and the community of nations.

“Jeremy Rifkin, expressing a sentiment from across the Atlantic, made the comment: “We Americans used to say that the American dream is worth dying for. But the European dream is worth living for”.

There is, indeed, much in that dream, in its origins as well as its current application, that is truly inspiring.

“There was certainly no period in human history which bears comparison with the Renaissance in Italy, for the creativity of the human spirit in all its manifestations and the full flowering of the human personality. This was the golden age of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael, Cellini and Corravaggio. During the Reformation Luther in Germany, Calvin in France and Wesley in England epitomized the emancipation of the human spirit from what Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the American nation, characterised as the most harmful among all forms of oppression, tyranny over the mind of man. The history of Europe, for the most part, presents a panorama of initiatives, bold and assertive, for the nurturing and protection of the flickering flame of freedom through the tempests of successive epochs.

“It is, nevertheless, a true reflection that the European Union, which you represent with distinction in our country, is, at the very core of its being, a celebration of diversity. The 27 independent States which constitute the European Union offer a kaleidoscope of contrasting features in respect of every aspect of their political and social experience. Some of the countries are constitutional monarchies, while the majority are Republics. Some have unitary constitutions, while others have incorporated federal features, in greater or lesser degree. Some have adopted a Parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature as its overarching feature, while others have opted for the unicameral legislative model. As far as electoral systems are concerned, some are content with the received wisdom of the first past the post system, while others have chosen varying forms of proportional representation. The emerging picture is one of basic divergence with regard to political systems, societal attitudes and cultural mores.

“These differences, all too apparent in institutional structures, are complemented in our own times by the most striking divergences of approach among individual States of the European Union to volatile issues which have called for collective action.

These differences become starkly evident, for example, when the European Union was required to react to the invasion of Iraq by the United States and the United Kingdom. Germany and France vehemently resisted military action not authorised by the United Nations, although Spain, Italy, Portugal and Denmark, joined by Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, favoured the unilateral use of force. Even with regard to basic structures of the European Union, Germany, supported by Belgium, Finland and Luxembourg, strongly pushed for the conferment of ampler authority on the European Commission and the Council of Ministers, while the United Kingdom expressed strong reservations about the erosion of sovereignty on the part of individual States.

Primordial instinct

“The differences, arguably rooted in primordial instinct and clearly accounted for by nationalism as a motivating force decisively influencing the major currents of history, are very much in evidence in contemporary Europe.

The reality is inescapable, in these circumstances,that a modus vivendi has to be found in principled compromise and accommodation. It would, therefore, seem a strange irony if the bureaucracy in Brussels, as the recipients of delegated administrative power, were to insist on straitjacket responses to complex policy issues in the developing world.

In particular, it is of vital importance that statutory and contractual instruments relating to international trade, including agreements governing the generalised system of preferences, should be implemented in an atmosphere far removed from political considerations.

“There is a great deal we need to do together in the months and years ahead.

The care, both material and spiritual, of all those who are trying to rebuild their lives and their livelihoods after release from the thraldom of terror, unique in its scale over the last two decades, must have priority. The pivotal task of our Government now is to translate this hard won freedom from duress and coercion, in its most naked form, into the realisation of opportunity for all our people for economic progress and social advancement. Highways, irrigation systems, the power and energy sector, improved agricultural and marketing techniques, health and education are very much on our radar screen.

“It is the devout wish of President Rajapaksa and his Government to work closely with the European Union in pursuit of these aims at a time when we are all engulfed by the repercussions of a global economic crisis. There is synergy and complementarity between the regions we represent. An exceptionally perceptive Frenchman, Pascal Lamy, in lively discussions with me at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, underlined the essential linkage between production lines of industrial goods in Europe and the vibrancy of markets in South and South East Asia. The note of hope and courage, captured by President Barack Obama’s clarion call, “Yes, we can” finds a reciprocal chord in the can-do entrepreneurial attitude of jugaad which shines through the pages of India’s Century, an insightful recent work by my distinguished counterpart in the Government of India, Shri Kamal Nath.

“Let us then resolve on this occasion, with all the commitment at our command, to draw generously upon the wellsprings of the great civilisations bequeathed to us, to address together the common challenges we face, in the worthy cause of service to a large swath of humanity. In that spirit of solidarity and brotherhood, I convey the warm felicitations and good wishes of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Government and our friendship and goodwill for the Governments and peoples of the European Union.

“I now ask you to join me in a toast to the health, happiness and well-being of President Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.”

(Text of speech delivered at the National Day Celebration of the European Union at Hotel Taj Samudra.)