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| Sunday, 26 September 2004 |
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President at centre of world stage S. Varani The attention of the world last week focused on the 59th sessions of the UN General Assembly. Leaders of the world gathered in New York to address their views on world development. Great thinkers
While recalling the great philosophers of the classical age such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kautilya, Confucius and others, the President said sufficient efforts had not been made to study the concepts of those visionary thinkers. Conflicts... "The conflict resolution experts of our times did not seem to have come up with anything more effective or attractive than the great thinkers of former times". The President said that the conflict resolution had taken centre stage, perhaps since World War II, in an era where new nations had begun to deal with establishing national identities and operating within them, the context of the potential conflicts that were inherent to such situations where smaller nations were carved out of larger entities, as well as nations attempting to emerge from the traumas - economic, social, cultural and emotional, of colonial domination an exploitation. Referring to the experiences and challenges Sri Lanka is faced with, the President said that it was studied and attempts were made to understand the root-causes of the conflict and the particular form it had taken in Sri Lanka, in a scientific and objective manner. President Kumaratunga added that it was accepted to build a new, pluralist, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural State based on the cultural, religious and social identity of the majority and minority communities. And resolution The President said that the resolution of the conflict centred mainly on two areas. First was to recognise the need to build a pluralist, democratic State, where human rights, freedom and equal opportunity for all would be guaranteed and practised. She believed that the solution lay in seeking alternatives to the concept of a monolithic, unitary State-to blend power with principle, to reconcile authority with freedom. The President added that she was looking at an extensive form of devolution of power, with a high level of democratic participation in decision-making, law-making and governance by the regional authorities or the devolved units. President Kumaratunga added that she was seeking a compromise that would satisfy the aspirations of all the communities of people living in Sri Lanka, a compromise that would be democratic and pluralistic. The lack of democracy and the denial and violation of fundamental rights of the people living under the sway of the LTTE, added substantially to fears that a separate State would not lead to a resolution of the problem. But this was not to deny the urgency of the need to resolve the contradictions that had arisen between the State and the nationalist consciousness of the Tamil community. She stressed the need to find means and procedures to accord expression of this consciousness and to give constitutional, legal and political authority. No return to war She stressed that she would do all that was required of a democratic and responsible government to ensure no return to armed conflict. She reiterated that she believed that peace was more than the simple absence of war. and it entailed active engagement to identify and rectify the root causes of the conflict. Truth commission The President also stated that she appointed a Truth Commission to hear grievances from the victims of the anti-Tamil attacks of 1983 and to recommend compensation for them. She said she was told that this was the rare instance where a Truth Commission was being operative before a lasting solution was reached to a conflict. She also said that as Head of State, she had also tendered a national apology for the violence carried out against Tamils in Black July 1983 by the goons of the government of the day. Yearning for peace President Kumaratunga took her peace efforts to the world forum on Tuesday, the International Day of Peace. Her speech was enlightening. She aimed her address on conservatives who hope to solve conflicts through means of war. This is nothing new as far as the President is concerned. At a meeting held in BMICH in Colombo soon after the September 9/11 WTC attack, the President said the root causes must be found to end terrorism. She also had emphasised this at her Madhav Rao Scindia Memorial Lecture and also at various international fora. Addressing the world leaders who gathered at the UN General Assembly sessions,the President said that Sri Lankans were celebrating the Day of Peace through a wide variety of civil society events. Prayers and meditations, the resonating chimes of bells and the gentle glow of candle-light were powerful symbols of Sri Lankans deep collective yearning for peace. On Iraq The President said she was saddened at the violence, instability, loss of life and human suffering in Iraq. Security measures alone, as pointed out by the Secretary General's special representative to Iraq, will not suffice to end violence and create stability and peace. Political consensus building, reconciliation, rehabilitation and the promotion of the Rule of Law were essential for democracy to take root. Beslan attack condemned President Kumaratunga did not leave out the Beslan attack in her speech. She said that leaders, mothers and fathers could never forget the sheer brutality of the terrorist attack which led to the loss of so many lives of children and adults. Terrorism in all its manifestations must be condemned and fought relentlessly and globally. While no cause justifies terror unleashed upon the innocent, such outrages must make the leaders to redouble their efforts to address their root causes and seek political and socio-economic explanations and solutions to them. On UN's role She believed in the UN and its potential to be the principal forum where the voice of the poor, the defenceless and the weak was also heard as much as the voice of the rich and powerful. While applauding Koffi Annan's appeal for upholding of the Rule of Law without discrimination throughout the world, she congratulated him on the courageous leadership he gave to the world body. Neglected Asia President Kumaratunga also voiced concerns of the developing world. She shared the concern over the lack of progress on the question of equitable regional representation and the increase in the membership of the Security Council, in both the permanent and non-permanent categories. She observed that Asia, the most populous continent, was under-represented in the present Council. While the President supporting the candidatures of Brazil, Germany. India and Japan for permanent status in an expanded Security Council, she wished to see a consensus emerging on the permanent representation of Africa. Speaking on the social progress, she commended the United Nations for its continued commitment and perseverance in promoting and protecting childrens' rights. She said the economic strategy is market driven but geared to achieve human development and prosperity at the grassroots level. Abuse of religious symbols The other important thing the President stressed at the world forum was the defaming or abusing religious symbols for commercial purposes. She said whether the symbol belonged to the Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish or any other faith, such abuse should be condemned and prohibited. She proposed that the United Nations should call upon those responsible to pay due respect to religious symbols and practices. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's Press Briefing at the UN Correspondent's Association Club was an apparent dig at US military intervention in Iraq. Suman Guha Mozumder, reporting from the United Nations, said President Kumaratunga did not believe that war was a solution to quell terrorism anywhere in the world and as such Sri Lanka would not send peace keepers to Baghdad. Reiterating her stand on terrorism, the President said the expression of the conflict might take the most horrendous terroristic form, but, she believed there were justified reasons for that. Using violence against terrorists is not going to resolve anything, the President said. She said that US President George Bush, in his speech before the General Assembly, seemed to argue that the main strategy of meeting terrorism in the world is through force, a view with which she disagreed. President also said the international community could deal with Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein more effectively and more durably using the approach of addressing legitimate grievances. President Kumaratunga also met world leaders, including Pakistan President General Pervez Musharaaf, Gabon Foreign Minister Jean Ping, who was elected President of the 59th USGA, US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta. She also held talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy applauded the President for Sri Lanka's successes in implementing children's programmes. President Kumaratunga's speech got world acclaim when the French Foreign Minister Michael Barnier addressing the United Nations on Thursday said the fight against terrorism must address the roots of the problem by restoring hope and dignity to those deprived of it and improving cooperation among different cultures and religions. As echoing President Kumaratunga's views, the French Foreign Minister said the United Nations should be the centre of counter-terrorism measures that the international community was putting in place. President Kumaratunga's speeches in the United States and the press conference and the meetings with world leaders showed a new path to conflict resolution. |
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President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, before taking the floor
at the United Nations, addressed the members of the Asia Society on
Conflict Resolution and Peace Building-Lessons from Sri Lanka. Conflict
resolution had been an important part of human life since ancient times.
History was full of examples of resolution of those conflicts through
dialogue, she said.
