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The twinning of peace and democracy

As the country makes steady, progressive moves towards the establishment of peace, it is worthwhile remembering that the goal we should strive for is not the mere absence of fighting, but the ushering of a just peace. The meting out of justice to all is the cornerstone of a stable permanent peace and no peace process is bound to prove durable without this foundation.

We are compelled to think on these things on noting the contents of an appeal for peace and democratization addressed to the main parties to the ceasefire agreement in Sri Lanka, by a group of internationally known peace and human rights activists, politicians, academics and prominent Lankan expatriates. It includes Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Lord Eric Avebury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group of the British House of Lords.

Whatever its detractors may contend, the MoU between the Government and the LTTE is the best thing to happen to Sri Lanka after a long time. We are no more the 'Killing Fields' of South Asia and the wish on the lips of the well-meaning is bound to be that it will remain this way.

However, the parties to the conflict should be alerted against adhering to the principle of bringing peace at any cost. Besides ensuring, o f course, the territorial integrity and geographical wholeness of Sri Lanka, the main parties to the agreement are obliged, among other things, to uphold and protect the democratic rights of the people.

This includes the right to oppose and dissent against anything seen as unfair as long as this right is exercised by legitimate means. This is the burden of the appeal issued by the human rights and peace activists based abroad.

A few days back, we highlighted a statement made on similar lines by the Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka. Here too, the main contention was that the fundamental rights of the people should be preserved, while forging ahead with the peace process. It is the obligation of the principal parties to the ceasefire agreement that the right to dissent against and criticize anything seen as objectionable in the MoU in particular, is protected.

The preservation and perpetuation of these rights would ensure the maintenance of the democratic process, because the people's rights would be promoted, come what may.

This is a vital aspect of the continued democratization of the State. For instance, it would be gravely anomalous to forge ahead with the agreement but create conditions which further political repression.

So, what should be aimed at is a total package, which would lay the basis for a stable peace, while ensuring the promotion and realisation of democratic rights. The fact that the JVP and the Sihala Urumaya could agitate against the MoU is proof that democratic space for dissent has opened in Southern Sri Lanka. The same must be the case in the North-East.

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