
No need for promises: actions are essential
From Eezhanadu, 9th August 2005
It must be said that the head of SLMM in his interview to
Reuters has identified the basic cause of the danger faced
by the ceasefire agreement.
Norwegian facilitators and the SLMM are continuing their
peace efforts with determination and without showing their
exhaustion and frustration in midst of the situation turning
into a spaghetti mess. It is a fact, however, that they are
truly struggling to bring about the normalcy so essential to
take forward the peace efforts. Whenever the peace efforts take one step forward it is also
slipping several steps backwards. The confidence level in
the peace efforts is inching towards zero. The Norwegian
facilitators and the SLMM in the midst of their efforts to
create good will between the government and the LTTE have
hit the nail on the head by identifying the cause for it
all. This much is clear from the interview given by the head
of SLMM. He has also said that the chances for the resumption of war
in Sri Lanka are increasing. The armed groups operating in
the east are the main hurdle to create good will between the
government and the LTTE. He also added that it is very important to implement the
ceasefire agreement in full and to do that the two sides
must start talking. The fact is that there can be no disagreement that the
government is solely responsible for the current situation. Ever since the ceasefire agreement was signed the President
with her executive powers has not acted like someone who
supports the peace efforts. In fact she has waited for the
right time to implement her plans to destroy the peace
efforts. The then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasighe without the
executive powers of the President could only drag the peace
process somewhat. He did not have the honesty or the power
to implement the ceasefire agreement in full. As a result
the ceasefire agreement was not implemented in full and all
the expectations from the agreement became meaningless. If the Norwegian facilitators and the international
community had applied pressure on the government to
implement the agreements in full and ensured that they were
indeed implement, today’s messy situation would not have
risen. Having ignored the requests of one of the parties
that signed the agreement for three and a half years one has
arrived at a situation where the peace has lost its
vitality. As mentioned by the head of SLMM the armed groups operating
in the east is the cause behind the lack of confidence in
the peace efforts and it is the government that is behind
this as well. Even though the government and the security
forces deny it there is no doubt that they are aiding and
guiding these armed groups. The responsibility for controlling these groups and
disarming them lies with the government. The question is
will the government do it. The government will not take such
an action because it considers that the help of these groups
is necessary to achieve their aims. In this context there is no value in the Norwegian
facilitators and the international community in bringing up
the promises and alternate plans of the government to the
Tamil people and continue to deceive them. Why is there delay in taking appropriate actions even after
realizing the justice and the truth of the situation?
09 August 2005
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