|
|
|
|
| Sunday, 10 July 2005 |
 |
|
 |
Features |
 |
|
News Business Features
Editorial
|
|
|
|
At a recent workshop-seminar held at Royal Gardens Hotel, Matara for Southern Province Media Persons, Members of United Media Association, representing the districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota, on Peace and Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) all but two participants spoke in support of it.
This workshop-seminar was organised by the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka as one of its programmes for educating Media Persons countrywide on issues relating to good governance, conflict transformation, human rights, confidence building, tolerance of diversity and reconciliation.
Making the keynote address, Director-Media and Research National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, Dr. Jehan Perera said that when P-TOMS was proposed the LTTE changed its once rigid stance.
The LTTE agreeing to negotiate with the government once again after a considerable period of deadlock, could be considered as a healthy transformation of LTTE and this golden opportunity created by tsunami should not be missed, as on numerous occasions in the past, he said.
No Constitutional changes were necessary for the implementation of P-TOMS. Allocation of funds for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction of houses and infrastructure of the tsunami affected areas of the North and the East would be done by the government according to the proposed mechanism. LTTE could not take unanimous decisions as it comprised of only 5 LTTE members of 10, and in order to reach a final decision on any issue at least 7 members would have to agree, he said.
ISGA had not given a key position for Muslim representation, but by consenting to the composition of a 3-member Muslim representation in the proposed P-TOMS, it was evident that the LTTE had further relaxed its stance towards the Muslim community and shown recognition, he said.
Referring to certain statements made to misguide the masses, he said some were of the mistaken belief, that having negotiations with terrorist movements by democratically appointed representatives of the people should not be done, and they fear such negotiations might give legal recognition to terrorist movements.
But the JVP which was once involved in terrorist activities gunning down everyone opposed to them and behaved in the same manner as LTTE, through successful negotiations had joined the political mainstream he said. Terrorist movements should not be allowed to exist in isolation.
Neighbouring India and the rest of the International Community had already given their approval and support to the government for the implementation of P-TOMS.
Jayalal Jayawardena, Lake House Correspondent, Ankokkawala, Galle said, due to the mistakes of the politicians since gaining independence, the Tamil and Sinhala communities were alienated. Extremist communal minded sections of the country over the years misguided the masses and instigated them against the Tamil community.
Demonstrations organised by these extremist elements always ended up in violence and no peace loving Sri Lankan ever advocates demonstrations and fastings unto death even if they were staged by Buddhist monks against a mechanism envisaged to provide relief to a certain section of the affected people in Sri Lankan society, he said.
Whenever an attempt was made to seek a negotiated solution for the ethnic conflict anti-peace demonstrators used the same old slogans, instigating the Sinhala majority of the country. If this trend continued, Sri Lanka would never prosper, but would remain as a backward nation, he said. Certain ultra-nationalist movements tried to come to the limelight by opposing everything, just for the sake of opposing.
It was a well-known fact that every reconstruction programme including construction of both temporary and permanent houses in tsunami affected areas had been done by International and local NGOs. These extremist sections were in the habit of slinging mud at all the NGOs involved in relief work, he said.
M. P. Chandrapala, Lake House Correspondent, Tangalla said, the bold endeavour taken by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on taking a firm decision even if the People's Alliance lost the support of its major partners the JVP, could be considered as a rare quality of a good statesman.
Peace loving Sri Lankans were of the opinion that unlike the previous political leaders of Sri Lanka, she was not hesitant to take a decision at this crucial moment amidst numerous challenges of the extremist and racist sections of the country.
For more than 20 long years, the people living on the coastal belt of the North and the East of the country were affected in numerous ways by the war, and once again severely affected by the recent tsunami catastrophe. It was very unfortunate that a section of the followers of Buddhism, a religion based on love and compassion for all living things were engaged in protest demonstrations and death fasts opposing the attempts of the government in providing relief to tsunami affected people.
It was the duty of the government and the people living in unaffected areas to seek avenues to assist the tsunami affected communities in the North and the East of the country, forgetting all the differences he said.
Sirisena Hewagama Lake House Correspondent Beliatta said, throughout human history people reached sustainable solutions for their conflicts only through negotiations. If the conflicting parties did not venture to negotiate, the violation of the ceasefire agreement would be increased, he said.
They could be seen living in the same welfare centres and once again trust and confidence grew among the affected communities along with the tsunami catastrophe, he said. Whoever visited the North and the East had to agree that a negotiated system was of paramount importance among the stakeholders of the LTTE, Muslim community and the Government, if relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction had to be implemented successfully.
Those who were unaware of the ground situation and all those who had not visited the North and the East were engaged in instigating the general public against P-TOMS he said. Those who had witnessed the nature of the miserable lives led by the tsunami affected communities on the coastal belt of the North and the East would never engaged in anti-relief death fasts and demonstrations, he said.
(P-TOMS) was just a mechanism in providing humanitarian assistance for a section of tsunami affected communities and not a mechanism in dividing the country, as a handful of communalists were trying to mis-inform the general public through their age-old slogans, anti-peace poster campaigns and demonstrations, he said.
W. P. Dharmasena, Matara Group Correspondent, Lake House said, that it was very clear that unlike LTTE's ISGA proposals, the proposed P-TOMS had no impact whatsoever on the territorial integrity of the country. Ven. Bhikkus should refrain from instigating the people against a democratically elected government. Organising riots and violent demonstrations could not be approved as a strategy to oppose the government by religious dignitaries, he said.
Even though P-TOMS was meant only to provide humanitarian assistance to the tsunami affected North-East community for a period of one year, it could be considered as a confidence-building attempt and could create a congenial atmosphere to recommence the long stalled peace negotiations, he said.
All peace loving people should try to find ways of building bridges among the communities living in the ethnic divide, and it was the time to find solutions which all could agree rather than finding ways to disagree, he said. Besides, it was very important to refrain from instigating the masses against other communities using time-worn communal and racist slogans that might develop into racial riots and sliding the country towards another bloody war, he further said.
A. A. Premasiri, Lake House Correspondent, Muthiyammagama, Tissamaharama said even the people living in the North and the East were the citizens of Sri Lanka whether they happened to be in LTTE controlled areas or not, and it was the duty of the government to come to their rescue when they were affected by a natural catastrophe.
The communal minded opportunists in the South had tried to create a fear phobia in the minds of the people, just to gain a political mileage on this issue, he said. In addition to provide relief for the tsunami affected communities and expedite rehabilitation and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure to bring normalcy to the affected areas, a consensual agreement with the LTTE, Muslim community and the Government was very essential, he said.
Besides, negotiations between those stakeholders could create a healthy situation for the conflicting parties to rebuild confidence and trust which were crucial to recommence the peace discussions, he said. Continuation of the deadlock of discussions between the LTTE and the government could increase the chances of another war, he further said.
Richmond Wijesekera, Group Correspondent Lake House, Bentota said, that the decision taken by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to establish a Tsunami Relief Committee could be considered as yet another step she had taken in creating trust and confidence among communities.
Due to numerous constraints, relief measures could not be taken in the North and the East in the same manner as was done in the South, but it was the duty of the government to treat all the affected citizens equally, and in order to implement rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in a more systematic manner the government envisaged Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure with the consent of LTTE, he said. Humanitarian assistance should be provided by the government without any discrimination for all those affected by the tsunami tragedy, he said.
The tsunami catastrophe could be considered as a blessing in disguise because it had provided an opportunity to commence the stalled peace discussions and facilitate in reaching a sustainable solution for the ethnic conflict, he further said.
Harischandra Withanachchi, Divaina Correspondent, Udugama said, all those who lived on the coastal belts of the South, the North, the East and the West were equally affected by the tsunami, irrespective of any of the discriminations of race, religion or region, and in providing assistance for those who were affected should be done on an equal basis.
According to Buddhism, no differences were found in mankind, and these differences were found only in animals and plants he said. Forgetting all the differences even at this juncture, all peace loving people of Sri Lanka should unite as one nation and provide humanitarian assistance for the tsunami affected communities of the country, he said.
S. P. Nathan, National Co-ordinator, National Peace Council for Sri Lanka said P-TOMS was vital in dealing with the issues that cropped up in the North and the East of the country. It could create a congenial atmosphere to go ahead on the implementation of the reconstruction and rehabilitation programmes of the government.
International community and the peace-loving people of the government had already approved P-TOMS as an effective tool for providing humanitarian assistance for the affected, he said. The Ceasefire Agreement signed between the LTTE and the previous government was intact, with certain lapses, for the last several years.
The people of the whole country benefited by the Ceasefire Agreement and in the same manner the proposed P-TOMS could further improve it, thus paving the way for peace negotiations, he further said.
Unless this proposed mechanism was signed, the government would not receive the foreign aid promised by the International Community and there was a strong possibility that LTTE could obtain the International assistance directly on humanitarian grounds, he said.
Cyril Gamage, Principal, Nindana Maha Vidyalaya, Batapola said, the tsunami catastrophe caused massive devastation along the coastal belt of the South and the North and the East of the country and the worst affected were the people who lived on the North and the East. Since the fateful day of December 26, 2004, the International Community provided humanitarian assistance to the affected communities, but less attention was paid on the North and the East due to the prevailing situation.
In order to regulate the provision of relief and identify the infrastructure requiring priority in rehabilitation and reconstruction the government and the LTTE had reached a common agreement, he said. P-TOMS comprises representatives of the affected communities, the Tamils, the Muslims, LTTE and the Government and it was just a temporary system designed in a democratic manner in providing humanitarian assistance for the people living in tsunami-affected regions of the North and the East, he said.
It was very unfortunate that communal minded war-mongers having an insatiable thrust for blood, had once again tried to create communal unrest in the country. At this sensitive moment people should realise the ulterior motives of these sections and should act with restraint, he said.
J. A. Mallika, a member of Human Rights Protection Organisation, Galle said, P-TOMS could be considered as a very appropriate system of resolving the burning problems of the tsunami-affected people in the North and East.
The worst affected were the North-East communities but less relief was being provided to them.
Through the proposed P-TOMS this could be remedied.
The International Community extended their assistance for the benefit of
all the tsunami-affected communities of the country and not only for the
Sinhala-Buddhists, as the JVP and JHU mistakenly believed, she further said.
|
| News
| Business |
Features |
Editorial | Security | Produced by Lake House |
