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It must be remembered, however, that Sri Lankan Buddhists strongly believe that they have a duty to protect and uphold their faith in Sri Lanka. From the tinnitus of political leaders who, in the name of preserving the hegemony of Buddhism in Sri Lanka have deferred to the Sangha and much as they have manipulated them, to the attitude of the Buddhist clergy, the primacy given to Buddhism has proved inimical to the interests and aspirations of Tamils in Sri Lanka. This Sinhala-Buddhist mentality, which has informed and shaped post-independence politics in Sri Lanka, has engendered intolerance in polity and society and carries a large burden of responsibility for the current ethno-politic conflict.
The Current Peace Process: An Overview
Hardly one year ago, everybody in Sri Lanka — intellectual think-tanks, the political leadership, civil society leaders, the ordinary Sri Lankan citizen and, last but not the least, the Buddhist clergy — was looking at the prospect of peace in the island with, at best, cautious optimism. The developments in the last year have been dramatic, disturbing, hopeful and resonant with the fears and concerns of communities in the South as well as the North-East.
The history of the conflict in Sri Lanka is long running and complex. For the past twenty years the conflict has been fought in the North and the East of the country in a conventional/ guerrilla style. Meanwhile, there have been regular suicide bombings in other parts of the country. Despite two previous attempts at a ceasefire in 1989 and 1994, the war has dragged on until recently.
With a change of Government at the General Election in December 2001, a new attempt was made. By 25th December 2001, the LTTE declared a unilateral ceasefire which was followed up by the Government. The unofficial ceasefire was then followed by a Permanent Ceasefire Agreement signed on 22nd February, 2002. Within the cease-fire agreement there were a number of commitments made by both sides. This included the vacating of schools, places of worship and public buildings by the armed forces of Sri Lanka. This process is still ongoing and proceeding in line with the deadlines as laid out in the agreement.
The Government also took on a number of initiatives of their own accord. In and around Colombo and the rest of the south of the island they have removed many military checkpoints. Two key roads leading to the North (A9) and the East (A5) have now been opened after many years of being closed. Before these roads were opened, they had to be de-mined and repaired as well as a number of military roadblocks being removed.
Critical to the people living in the North and East was the restoration of food and medical aid supplies. An early commitment of the Government, this aid has increased and has been complemented by the restoring of many buildings. The Government has promised to restore full electricity service to Jaffna, the largest town in the North. Approximately 271,000 internally displaced families have returned to their homes since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement with many more about to follow.
Formal peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE began on September 16, 2002 in Thailand. Subsequent sessions have taken place on an approximately monthly basis in Asia and Europe and have helped further solidify the peace process.
The rapid forward movement of the Sri Lankan peace process up to the present time contrasts with the high level of warfare and casualties just prior to it. This may account for the considerable amount of international attention that is being shown to the Sri Lankan peace process by the international community. Foreign diplomats and visiting peace researchers have put Sri Lanka on par with the peace processes in South Africa and Northern Ireland in its ability to provide a model for peaceful conflict resolution after a protracted period of conflict.
The Current Impasse
The LTTE has recently been at pains to explain that the decision to suspend the peace talks was neither a withdrawal from the peace process nor a hastily implemented action. According to the LTTE, the exclusion of the organisation from the recent international donor meeting in Washington DC, attended by the Sri Lankan government, was only one among several reasons that had prompted the withdrawal from the peace talks. The primary motivating factor, the LTTE has stated, is the absence of significant progress in alleviating the hardships of the people caused by the war.
This view is in contrast to the general belief that the LTTE’s decision was motivated only by disappointment at being excluded from the Washington aid conference held on 14 and 15 April. Indeed, the LTTE may have been hoping that by honouring the cease-fire agreement for 14 months it deserved a place at that conference. Colombo has been a successful fundraiser of late, securing USD 800 million from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The LTTE’s exclusion from the Washington meeting has demonstrated that the path to international legitimacy, in a US-dominated world in which terrorism is anathema, is going to be a difficult task.
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Sanjana
Sanjana Hattotuwa is a Rotary World Peace Scholar presently pursuing a Masters in International Studies from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. The views expressed here are his own. He can be contacted at hatt@wow.lk.
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