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| Kathmandu, Thursday April 18, 2002 Baishakh 05, 2059. |
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Preparing for peace
As Norway’s efforts to broker a deal
between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebels show initial signs of settlement, the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has opened its political office in the government
controlled Jaffna area. This marks the return of the Tamil guerrillas in the area six
years after they were ousted by the Sri Lankan government forces, hopefully to contribute
to the ongoing peace process. In fact Tamil rebels had moved a step forward last week when
they made peace with the Muslims assuring them safety and peace.
Nearly two decades of fighting between the
Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan troops and the minority Tamils which led rebellion for a
separate Tamil Eelam had left the central Muslim minorities orphaned. They had left Jaffna
and migrated to other parts of the country as well as abroad, but without a secured
future. The Norwegian initiatives and two sides signing the ceasefire last week has
brightened the prospect for their return in their homeland. Tamil assurance of safety and
peace thus helped erase fears and suspicions among the Muslims against former perpetrators
of crime and atrocities on them. The ethnic war in Sri Lanka has claimed more than 60,000
human lives. Now the country can neither afford further destruction, nor can the LTTE
fight against the government citing that it has been fighting for its rights. Because the
activities that the LTTE carried out in the name of minority’s rights amounted to
sheer terrorism.
Although Sri Lankan peace initiative began
much before the post September 11 global campaign against terrorism, the actual ceasefire
and commitment of the warring groups has come at the most appropriate time for
substitution of terrorism - even for a valid and patriotic cause from the perspective of
those championing it - by a political process. It has come at a time when even the
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemned terrorism last week as a guarantee of
international, mainly US support to his justified struggle for a homeland and lasting
peace. The Tamil ceasefire and possible agreement will, hopefully, be a proof that
bloodshed and terrorism bring no permanent solution to a dispute. And that will be big
lesson for South Asia in particular. |
