LankaWeb Weekly Editorial

October28th 2010

The recent feature item on the Nation website, while it does seem to raise a few pressing question bears no relevance to the logic of asking “Now the question is who should apologise to whom?” as in the aftermath of the defeat of the Tamil Tiger terrorists the anomalies which have contributed to the restoration of order to the Nation.cannot accommodate finger pointing at various individuals whose initial involvements with the insurgents have turned drastically towards the contrite acceptance of their proper role as citizens of Sri Lanka and have relented for their mistakes which by itself as well as the past needs to be effectively buried in a coming together of all ethnicities.They cannot be incarcerated revengefully or in resentment based on how their loyalties have been directed at the Administration despite past allegiances to the LTTE although some seem to harp on this theme somewhat obstreperously and annoyingly.

If one were to look for injured parties and victims of the LTTE insurgency which lasted for over 25 years, there are those who belong to this category on both sides of the fence whether Sinhalese or Tamil and while the sufferings through attrocities perpetrated by the terrorists on Sri Lankans as well as the inconveniences and pain faced by civilians through direct action of the Armed Forces in legitimate defence of sovereign territory were widespread and at times unendurable, the key issue at hand now is what the Nation has arrived at and what the future holds for all Sri Lankans alike consequently where all bickerings of past conflict issue need to be laid to rest as the nation building and reconciliation looms as imperative and takes foremost priority over all else which if not adhered to would be tantamount to mere vapid vagaries for which there is no place in the present political climate of Sri Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The entire Nation in all probabilities knows that the strongest apology needed is one from misguided political leaderships of the past whiose neglect to address the issue of terrorism when it was in its infancy are the ones to blame and the Administration faced with the attrocities of the LTTE as it unfolded in all its mendacity needing commendation over the manner in which resolution and closure was acheived!

Case in point being that in effect it seems old skeletons need not be pulled out of the closets of the past relative to what “The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission” suggests to Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, popularly known as Pillayan, recently to apologise to the families of the 600 policemen killed by the LTTE on June 11, 1990. as a former member of the LTTE, giving rise to accusatrons and denials which then spills out to the wrongdoings of more than one individual who has put their past behind them and atoned for whatever their role might have been at the height of the insurgency and have now pitted al their resources and loyalties towards what they too have greatly contributed, namely the elimination of the LTTE and whether it be Pillayan, or Karuna or Devananda or any other under the gun it must always be remembered that the vanquishing of the LTTE might never have been accomplished fully without their intelligence and input where of course the finesse was carried out by the magnificient thrusts of the Armed Forces and the law enforcement agencies of the Nation.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This needs to be the focal point as opposed to all the lobbying by various disgruntled sources ( perhaps with grievances which cannot be faulted undoubtedly albeit inconsequential) towards apologies and acknowledgemnts of protracted wrongdoings as they would consitute hinderances to progress as opposed to being of any beneficial nature towards Nationbuilding in a very realistic sense. A case of mixed up indemnities perhaps!

There is no getting behind the fact that Sri Lanka today needs a forgiving and calming approach towards the relativities of the conflict past and a working towards the common good and the elimination of further wrongdoing and the evil of man’s inhumanity to man which was perfectly portrayed in this tiny island of ours manifested on more than one occassion but augmented as never before in the LTTE insurgency where one has to surmise how appropriate this must be in analogy to the classic words of Mark Antony in his eulogy at the burial of Caesar that “The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them And The Good Is Oft Interrred with their Bones!” which in a sense epitomises what Sri Lanka is embroiled in currently as the ethnic divide still displays a significant rift which needs to be closed effectively so that all Sri Lankans can forgive and forget and be united under one leadership such as the one in place at the present and one Standard bearing the Sword Carrying Lankan Lion which reflects the mood of the Nation today, one of defiant will towards her posterity and well being and not one crying over spilt milk!!

There quite obviously is a felt need in Sri Lanka today for the psychological divide between the Sinhala and the Tamil people to be bridged particularly in the North and East where each side does indeed strongly believe that the other side had committed attrocities. Both sides view each other with suspicion. These matters cannot be healed with words as the prophetic sounding feature item refered to at the inception suggests but if there can be no forgiveness, forgetting and healing despite how hard it may seem taking the human aspect of our existences into consideration there will be no real end to the problems within Sri Lanka and all the progress made thus far by her magnanimous and astute Administration which has brought about a climate of real change after decades of conflict would surely go to waste!