True Reconciliation & Stable Peace is a long process & has to start from the smallest unit, namely the Village! Imagine 14,400Self reliant VILLAGES!

Anandasangari’s task for govt. & a win-win situation for all Sri Lankans
January 1, 2012, 6:17 pm

By Arjuna Hulugalle



Veerasingham Anandasangaree, the Tamil elder Statesman and Manjeet Singh UNESCO Award laureate wrote recently that the "President’s immediate task is to win over Tamils". The converse question should also be posed, namely that the Tamil leadership’s first priority should be to win over the Sinhala people and all the other communities. The average citizen from the two communities will have no problem with that. It is the leaders and some elements of the media who may have a spot of trouble. The LLRC before which Mr Anandasangaraee gave evidence was meant to come up with a process to create the atmosphere to promote a Win Win situation for all Sri Lankans and now it has come up with the report.



The Mahathma Gandhi Centre in its submission before the Commission prefaced its presentation with the statement "We sincerely believe that this Commission has a critical role to play in shaping the future of this country. Sri Lanka may not ever have the benefit of another Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and this may be the last opportunity to start afresh and we cannot afford to let it go".



The first rumblings



The first rumblings of criticism against the LLRC report are surfacing from diverse sectors. The detractors are motivated by points of view which diametrically differ and could be representative of the fringes. This is to be expected in a vibrant democracy. It is unlikely that the LLRC could have "squared that circle". Judging by the composition of the Commission its report had to concentrate on the main stream and a sound vision for the future to establish a stable society.



Solid start



The LLRC report is a solid start. Thousands of persons have come before it and made submissions. No commission has ever done such a comprehensive and such an in-depth study getting opinions of people from all over the country. The Commissioners were men of very high integrity and with the intelligence and capacity to grasp the most complex issues. They are not a group of men, who make proclamations on Sri Lanka with scanty knowledge of the country and "wet behind their ears". Nor do they belong to the nit pickers of the world who have nothing to lose or those seeking publicity with hollow rhetoric.



The LLRC report can be a basis on which the future of the country could be shaped. Sri Lanka must seize the opportunity and make the best use of it. If there are lapses, these can be dealt with by the local polity.



Pressure from western bodies like the International Crisis Group and ethnic based entities like the TNA have to be expected. Nothing infuriates the average Sri Lankan more than to get a condescending sermon from a foreign source. This type of pressure is in reality counterproductive and this has to be explained with tact to foreigners.



The TNA and its national role



With regard to the TNA, it will continue to carry the stigma of its alliance with the LTTE unless it will unequivocally break with the past. The words of St Paul are worth heeding: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me…". The TNA has to give up the syndrome of continuing to be "childish" and graduate to becoming a vibrant and productive part of the Sri Lankan nation. Civil obedience should be furthest from their mind. Otherwise, in the worst case scenario the TNA will become a Piped Piper, who like the one from Hamelin in Germany will lead the Tamils to follow them to a cave of no return. God forbid that happening!



The Tamils of the North, of the East and in Colombo together with the Upcountry Tamils, the Muslims, the Burghers and Sinhala people have to put their shoulders to the wheel to build a prosperous nation. There is so much of work to do to meet the coming challenges ahead. This can only be achieved if there is unity among all the people. All efforts should concentrate strengthening the possibility that we could have a Head of State or Prime Minister who happens to be a Tamil, a Muslim, a Malay or a Burgher. For this we have to go beyond ethnicity. Most Sri Lankans could accept a Lakshman Kadirgamar as their Prime Minister. He had grown out of ethnicity and profiled himself as an outstanding statesman, one South Asia was proud of.



India has shown the way with Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Abdul Kalam. There is no reason that with time Sri Lanka cannot do the same.



Outstanding students



It is heartening to note that at the recently concluded Advanced Level Examinations, a student from the Udupiddy American Mission College was placed first in the island in Mathematics. The second place also went to a student from the same school, Krishnakumar Thaniroojan the third place to K.Pratheep of Nelliyaddy Maha Vidyalaya. In addition Ananda Nadarajah Sanjayan came second in Science at the Advanced level examinations. These developments reflect a renaissance in the North. This is a positive beginning.



Pipe dreams and dead sea fruits



The Tamils like all the other communities have a very important part to play in the Sri Lanka of tomorrow. Pipe dreams will only be "like Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye, but turn to ashes on the lips". The reverberating success of the young students from the North show that they have turned away from pipe dreams.



People’s Councils



The LLRC report highlights the submissions made by the Mahathma Gandhi Centre (MGC) and interfaith groups one of which NEIFR (North East Interfaith Forum for Reconciliation) has been promoted by the MGC and gives the submissions due recognition. What both these bodies stand for is a format to achieve social cohesion. For this the country needs stable families and stable villages. The MGC in its submission has advocated:



"The People’s Councils in every village seems to offer a practical alternative to meet people’s varying aspirations for self reliance and to practice principles of good governance through accountability and effective use of resources".



Focus on People’s welfare



The focus has to be solidly on the welfare of the people, for which the structured People’s Council, will set the stage. Alternatively we will continue with senseless political bickering. The price for that will ultimately have to be borne by the people.



True reconciliation and a stable Peace is a long process and has to start from the smallest unit, namely the village. Imagine 14,400 self reliant and prosperous villages in the country; 924 of which will be in the Northern Province. This is a process that can be started immediately. It will bring about a rational movement in the political process which will facilitate changes without too much disruption.



The LLRC has created a spirit to make this happen.

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