Colombo is pretty much charged with a ‘lets-nuke-em’ mentality more than ever before, and who can blame them? The average blissfully apathetic Colombian has now had a taste whatever that was going on in that far eastern province. It’s not so much the number killed, it’s not so much the person targeted but it’s the way that it was carried out. The method, the location, the aftermath brings back memories long desired to be forgotten and forgiven. Many people at this point in time see the issue in black and white; they identify a clear enemy - a fascist terrorist outfit and call for its destruction based largely on the incident a few days ago coupled with the build up of activities to that day and after.
To me the problem must be considered in a larger sense, what led to these circumstances? Whose fault was it? Obviously one party at fault is the LTTE but certainly there are others, fault must be found in the leaders of this country past and present, and of course the people who brought them into power by either voting for, or not voting against those leaders. Ultimately we are all at fault, either by action or inaction to the sorry state of this nation.
It must be realized however, that the Sri Lankan government is not the white sheep it pretends to be, it merely is the lesser-evil, by a long way in immediate comparison but evil nevertheless. Evil because of its inability to find and propose a practical solution to the ethnic conflict, evil because of its inability of clear, unambiguous and decisive action resorting instead to selling off the conflict in the political stage for petty reward of power and political mileage.
It is very much apparent when looking at short history of this peace effort, the parties concerned have failed, despite the rhetoric, to ‘go the extra mile’ for peace. Initially when the ISGA proposals were put out during the latter part of 2003 there was a desire for both parties to start on with the stalled dialogue, but the then Prime Minister refused to hold talks without holding the control of the Ministry of Defense at which point in time Her Excellency has taken under her tender care. After some time the Prime Ministers and the governments changed, and in time, when the next chance for peace was offered the Red Comrades, then in government refused to support the effort on the basis of an ISGA proposal and hence that chance was lost. The pattern continued from that to the Join Mechanism and beyond. It would have happened to Geneva if not for the urgency with which the talks were required, midst the claymore mines.
The road to peace if ever there was one is bumpy, there will continue to be crisis.
Some small, some uncompressible and seemingly unforgivable but how we negotiate them will measure the true strength and spirit of our leadership, our people and our nation. It is a mistake to think there is an easy solution out there, and that one sudden spectacular moment or action can bring an end to all ills of this country. You won’t wake up one fine morning and find peace at your door step. You got to work for it. You got to give it every chance, every inch, all the time.
And as some of us now call to fuck for virginity. We got to ask our selves, have we given it all?
Deane J.
To me the problem must be considered in a larger sense, what led to these circumstances? Whose fault was it? Obviously one party at fault is the LTTE but certainly there are others, fault must be found in the leaders of this country past and present, and of course the people who brought them into power by either voting for, or not voting against those leaders. Ultimately we are all at fault, either by action or inaction to the sorry state of this nation.
It must be realized however, that the Sri Lankan government is not the white sheep it pretends to be, it merely is the lesser-evil, by a long way in immediate comparison but evil nevertheless. Evil because of its inability to find and propose a practical solution to the ethnic conflict, evil because of its inability of clear, unambiguous and decisive action resorting instead to selling off the conflict in the political stage for petty reward of power and political mileage.
It is very much apparent when looking at short history of this peace effort, the parties concerned have failed, despite the rhetoric, to ‘go the extra mile’ for peace. Initially when the ISGA proposals were put out during the latter part of 2003 there was a desire for both parties to start on with the stalled dialogue, but the then Prime Minister refused to hold talks without holding the control of the Ministry of Defense at which point in time Her Excellency has taken under her tender care. After some time the Prime Ministers and the governments changed, and in time, when the next chance for peace was offered the Red Comrades, then in government refused to support the effort on the basis of an ISGA proposal and hence that chance was lost. The pattern continued from that to the Join Mechanism and beyond. It would have happened to Geneva if not for the urgency with which the talks were required, midst the claymore mines.
The road to peace if ever there was one is bumpy, there will continue to be crisis.
Some small, some uncompressible and seemingly unforgivable but how we negotiate them will measure the true strength and spirit of our leadership, our people and our nation. It is a mistake to think there is an easy solution out there, and that one sudden spectacular moment or action can bring an end to all ills of this country. You won’t wake up one fine morning and find peace at your door step. You got to work for it. You got to give it every chance, every inch, all the time.And as some of us now call to fuck for virginity. We got to ask our selves, have we given it all?
Deane J.
7 comments:
all this is very well. but what do you actually propose when there are daily attacks on the military and lately daily attacks on civilians?be specific.
more restraint as before 25th on the part of military in face of ltte attacks ? good.
ppl should stand up and commend the military for the restraint and condemn the ltte if we go back to that.
and they should not make unsubstantiated allegations about the miltary as after trinco on 12th.
you cant have the cake and eat it too.
the govt must somehow find diplomatic ways to put pressure on the LTTE for resuming talks.
i think that's already happening. judging from the stuff on the news.
the govt must somehow find diplomatic ways to put pressure on the LTTE for resuming talks.
yes as i said in my blog by showing restraint and confining whatever strikes forced on it to limited ltte targets it must be made clear to everybody ltte's responsibility for the situation. international community, as it has been doing all along to its credit, will condemn the ltte for its attacks and pressure it to to come back to talks. everybody else should do that too. that is why it is important what we do not give credence to unsubstantiated exaggerated accounts of civilian causalities. to do so only helps ltte's drive for war.
then if ltte changes its mind under pressure it may come to talks or at least wait a little longer for a better opportunity to try to blame government for starting the war. it may however decide not to change its mind and continue to drive for war if it is prepared to accept full blame . it is their choice . the government and the military are doing their best.
i can agree with you mostly.
although i'm not particularly in favor of the retaliatory attacks. but i can understand the school of thought that lead to them, and i'm glad the government has called off those strikes.
the objective of the my post itself was to show that this wasn’t just an unexpected out-of-the-blue scenario. CFA without a committed Peace effort is like a man without oxygen. it's going to choke and die eventually.
The government is guilty for having dragged this process, and acting without responsible leadership or direction for the duration after the talks broke down in 2003.
that aspect of it is not being discussed.
while finding fault with the LTTE for the immediate senario, it must be pointed out that the government too is to blame for the break down of the peace process in the long run.
in the past yes. at the moment no.
here it is the ltte that is holding back nobody else.
CFA without a committed Peace effort is like a man without oxygen
quite right. however commitment to peace or at least talks should come from both sides at the moment it is not coming at all from ltte qite the contary.
btw i do think government and ltte are free to engage in all sorts of negotiating tactics. that should never be made into a cause of war.
Deane,
Saw ur message on MOJU.
http://moju.lk/2006/04/30/public%e2%80%99s-role-in-development/#comment-1048
Yes, I was one of the 2 Anjulas at SLYP. I was in Youth Empowerment. Not sure if i remember you though.
`A
ah right, i must know the other one then. i wasnt at SLYP, just that guy helped out with some other project i was involved in.
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