The
Lankaweb Weekly Editorial
FRONT
PAGE
NEWS
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CLASSIFIED
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DHAMMAWEB
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SANDUN UYANA
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ANTENNA
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EVENTS DIARY
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LONDON DIARY
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FEATURES
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LETTERS.
Have the Winds Of Change finally descended upon our Fair Isle of Serendipity or are these Calming Winds Ere Another Storm? as there appear to be too many looses ends, too many dubiously smiling faces and too much tranquility too soon in what was expected to be a gradual transformation into a Lasting Peace albeit the impressive presentations and signatures and in the shadows there still simmers a cauldron of dissent emanating negative vapours which generate the collective thoughts of the Nation's Populace, The Buddhist Clergy and other discerning individuals whose vision appears to focus beyond what many see as a temporary sojourn and it is upto the Administration now to prove them wrong and convince the people that there will be no compromises this time around of Sovereign Territorial Integrity, Public Security and the Identity of the Sinhala Nation although the feat sounds rather imposing based on the latest inquisitons into many aspects of the Governments Presentation to the LTTE much as the Nation would like to accept its credibility.
It is very visible that the UNF are treading a very thin line in full view of the World's incessant scrutiny and bated breath in the likeness of watching a tightrope walker across Niagara Falls with great expectancy of success and there cannot be irresponsibility towards the Nation in favour of the LTTE through any form of compromise which would deliver too much into their hands and control and already there are many doubts being created in the minds of many that this is indeed the case.
The United States has reiterated that their policy of declaring the LTTE as proscribed terrorists has not and will not change and emphasized distinctly the need to exercise caution with them ! a message which has to be interpreted as sound advice and in the face of all the dialogue between the Prime Minister's Office and the LTTE representation which includes statements such as "We Will De-Proscribe The LTTE In Due Course", the advice seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
There is a welcome ring to the commencement of the de-commissioning of weapons which categorically should be the first step towards a genuine Peace Process but there is a questionable, rather hollow and dubious sound to it as the demand to de-commission has not been made to the LTTE and instead has gone out only to the armed Tamil Groups in opposition to the LTTE which leaves many unanswered questions about the logic of the mandate and another area of the Peace Process which needs re- scrutiny on the broadbased rationale that de-commissioning of weapons applies primarily to the LTTE and not the minority splintergroups whose weapons have never been used against the Government.
The final area which needs extreme caution as indicated by the Opposition Groups who have very clearly voiced their opinions in a very apt manner with perfect timing, is the area of granting free access to individuals from the LTTE some of them in the guise of civilians, to previously restricted areas especially in the Central and Southern Regions of the Nation as there needs no speculation about the dangerous outcome of such accesses as the Bona Fides Of The LTTE towards their real intentions have not been established. There is even much conjecture that they will never be until the LTTE cease to exist.
On another parrallel there is yet another trend of thought that it is indeed a curiosity as to why the LTTE are now entering into negotiations for peace with the UNF Administration when the identical offer for a lasting peace was presented to them by the previous regime with greater concessions if one had read between the lines, and hence the need to exercise what must be deemed Great Caution in all transactions with an entity of ill repute appears all important as otherwise there may be no winners in the contest for 'Who Provides The Best Solution To Sri Lankas Woes?' as there may have to be a transformation of that caption to : ' Who Compounded Sri Lanka's Woes? '
Can the many decades of suffering, apprehension and poverty which was aggravated solely due to LTTE attrocities be finally compensated for by granting them too many concessions or is there a likelihood that tables may be turned on an unsuspecting Administration which has dropped its guard both Militarily and Administratively, one which did not heed the cautions and trusted in their almost blind instincts of conciliation never pausing for a moment to dwell on many realities they just might have overlooked in their anxiety to please the undeserving?
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