SRI LANKAN PROBLE

The latest media reports on the increasing bloody struggle in Sri Lanka and the ceaseless infructuous efforts for a negotiated peace settlement and abruptly ended cease-fires are painful and point to the blatant violations of the basic human rights by the state as well as the rebels. Caught in the cross fire are the lakhs of innocent citizens, if they can be called so.

More than 70,000 people have already dies or are missing in the strife torn island since the Armed struggle began in 1983. The protracted conflicts have inflicted a cost of 2-3%per annum on the dwindling economy of the tiny nation. The Sinhalese chauvinists, however, seem to have stepped up their underhand operation to isolate the LTTE from the international community rather than taking measures to redress the genuine need s of the displaced people. Instead of acknowledging the struggle as the one for the Tamils’ armed strife for legitimate, if not equal ,rights, the Sri Lankan governments have treated this as a mere law and order problem, brushing the real issues below the carpet. It is no one's case to justify the violence unleashed by the LTTE. But to merely point out that no Sri Lankan national leader had the political will to find a viable political solution to the Tamils’ genuine demands for political and social parity. The Buddhist religious preachers also failed in making any contributions to the peace process. Rajiv Gandhi somehow displayed a rare statesmanship in appreciating the Tamil Cause and the dangerous fall-outs of the ethnic War in the neighbouring island. The Sri Lanka Peace Accord was a humble effort to find a middle path for securing peace in the war-torn island nation. But both the Sri Lankan authorities and the LTTE failed to honour the Terms and conditions of the Accord.

This kind of armed struggle presently engaged in by the LTTE and the government's counter insurgency measures are no answer to the legitimate human sufferings of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Only a negotiated settlement will be a lasting solution. In this, India will be a key player whether or not it is to the liking of the LTTE or the countries inimical to the geo-political interests of India in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government must demonstrate political will and capacity for conflict transformation through a political settlement which alone will have a lasting impact on the lakhs and lakhs of displaced Sri Lankans who are the real and unfortunate victims of the civil strife of two and a half decade.