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For the benefit of schoolchildren of Divitura Maha Vidyalaya, Karandeniya a tank to store drinking water was donated by the pupils who arrived from Mannar. P. Esther Sweety, a year 12 student from Mannar hands over the tank to the pupils of Divitura Maha Vidyalaya.

Novel strategies promoting inter-ethnic, inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony are vital in the present context in building bridges among the communities.

Recently a group of student representatives accompanied by their teachers from 10 Tamil medium schools in Mannar district arrived at 'Divitura' - Dhammathilaka Vidyalaya', a remote school in Divitura, a hamlet in Karandeniya electorate in the Galle district.

On hearing of the plight of the pupils of Divitura, Nabarawatta and Patha Welivitiya schools, affected by the recent floods, the pupils of 'Mannar Sitti Vinayakar Hindu College', "Punny Annal Maha Vidyalayam", "Murugan Maha Vidyalayam", "Tarapuram Maha Vidyalayam", "Kattayadamban Maha Vidyalayam", "Parihari Kandan Maha Vidyalayam" and "Mavirakkani Maha Vidyalayam" and their teachers had gone from house to house in Mannar collecting funds for this humanitarian project organised to help their counterparts in the South of Sri Lanka.

National Peace Council of Sri Lanka organised this programme under its project, Integration of Sinhala and Tamil pupils.

On the arrival of pupils and teachers from Mannar, a rousing welcome was accorded to them by the pupils, parents, teachers and the villagers of Divitura a hamlet in Karandeniya.

Karandeniya was once known throughout the country as one of the strongholds of the JVP but the decent behaviour of these simple village folk gathered there to welcome the visitors from Mannar, proved that they were peace loving villagers devoid of racial hatred and communalism.

For the first time in their lives, the schoolchildren and their teachers found an opportunity to forget their ethnic identities and moved freely as citizens of one country. The elders shook with emotion when they saw how cordially they greeted each other as brothers and sisters, even though they belong to two ethnic groups.

Both groups of children enjoyed a 'tea party' comprised of home-made traditional Sinhala sweetmeats. After tea, the pupils were allowed to write their own opinions, 'My impressions on Peace', on a white carpet provided by the organisers'. Despite the language barrier they could exchange their opinions with the assistance of interpreters.

A public meeting comprised villagers, Buddhist monks, teachers and the politicians was held at Dhammathilaka Vidyalaya, Divitura. MP for Galle district, Jayantha Jayaweera (UNP) said that the visit of schoolchildren and their teachers from Mannar could be considered an event of historical and national significance in the Galle district. These young children from both sides of the ethnic divide taught a good lesson to the elders of this country he said.

"Not the children but the elders should be held responsible for creating the ethnic conflict in this country," he said.

"Except for a handful of power hungry communal minded politicians, all citizens of Sri Lanka yearned for lasting peace Jayaweera explained. "Programmes of this nature promoting national integration through the participation of schoolchildren of North, East and South should be continued to facilitate the resolution of the ethnic conflict, he said.

National Coordinator of the "National Peace Council of Sri Lanka", K. Nathan said, in whatever disasters, irrespective of whether they were man-made or natural, human beings had to suffer. War was one of the disasters against humanity, made by man himself.

"Agonies of war and floods were strongly felt equally both by the school going children in North-East and South, he said.

"The children in the South could feel the suffering of the war-affected children living in the North-East and in the same manner their counterparts in the North had realised the suffering of the flood affected school children in the South, he said.

Southern Provincial Councillor, Ananda Padmasiri Kariyawasam (PA) said that along with the school items worth Rs. 60,000 the schoolchildren from Mannar and their teachers had brought a 'Peace Message' which could be considered more important and more valuable.

"Sri Lanka was considered one country, comprising one nation but unfortunately this country was divided now he said. "Over the years the ethnic conflict dragged on without a solution and ended in a bitter war he explained.

"Even President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga intended to solve this ethnic conflict through political negotiations, he said. "It was a great pleasure to meet schoolchildren and teachers from Mannar and to join hands with them in promoting ethnic harmony", he said.

Southern Provincial Councillor, Bandula Lal Bandarigoda (UNP) said for nearly two decades the communities living in the North, the East and the South were marginalised due to the bitter war. "A surgical operation had to be done to remove the causes of the conflict but this operation could not be done by the Prime Minister or the President. First, the people living in Sri Lanka had to change their attitudes and deep-rooted false notions, he said. "The citizens of this country should try think as Sri Lankans, he said.

Child Care Officer, N. Shanmugam said that the schoolchildren wanted him to accompany them on their trip to the South. Handing over some school items to flood victims was not the only mission, he said.

"School representatives and their teachers were very eager to observe how the pupils study and their activities in the South, he said.

"The schoolchildren volunteered to collect school items in Mannar and some people instead of money gave them dry fish which these children sold and the money thus obtained was used to buy the items, he said. "School programmes of this nature could bridge the student communities once segregated".

Students of Mannar handing over numerous school items to the flood-affected pupils of Divitura.

T. Gunasekeram a pupil studying in Year 12, Murungan Maha Vidyalaya, Mannar revealed how they collected funds to buy school items for the school children affected by the floods. Sports clubs, childrens welfare societies and numerous other social organisations in Mannar had extended their assistance to this humanitarian mission.

P. Esther Sweety, a girl studying at Sitti Vinayakar College said, during the past, before the ceasefire, on several occasions her studies were disrupted. She said that she never dreamed of another war but is praying for lasting peace.

Devaraj, a student of Punny Annal Maha Vidyalayam said that they came to Galle district to build lasting mutual understanding between the student communities. In Mannar, he said, a group of schoolchildren had already launched a programme to promote mutual understanding among children who belonged to different ethnic groups.

P. H. Hasitha Ruwantha, a pupil studying in Year 11 of Divithuru Maha Vidyalaya said war had brought death and devastation to many countries in the world. War brought nothing but death and destruction even to our country and war should be wiped out of the globe, he said. The soldiers who had joined the North-East war used to return home in coffins or in wheel-chairs, he said.

"In Sri Lanka, as a result of war, fear, suspicion and hatred were instilled in the minds of the people belonged to Sinhala, Muslim and Tamil communities", he explained. "Massive amounts of money were wasted on war which could have been utilised for the development programmes of the country, he said.

Chief Incumbent, of Uttara Prabbatharama Temple, Divitura, Ven. Divitura Dammapala Thera making the religious Anusasana said both Tamil and Sinhala languages should have to be studied by the pupils to facilitate communication.

Communication ability was a pre-requisite in promoting ethnic harmony, he said. A camp fire and a cultural programme with the participation of school children of Mannar and Devitura which was well attended by the villagers took place on the first night.

This Government deserves to be commended for its persistent effort to move with the peace process in spite of the many violations of the MOU by the LTTE. They have been a stubborn terrorist organisation and keeping them on track in the peace process is quite an achievement. It is the hope of everyone that they would change their style and killing tendencies and resort to a humane and elegant process of making reasonable demands and set an example to all the other terrorist organisations in other parts of the world.

The LTTE was the youth wing of the TULF during the early Seventies and they were referred to as the 'boys' by the TULF seniors. 'The boys' were becoming quite unmanageable for the TULF leaders and in due course 'boys' became the LTTE and they destroyed some of the TULF leaders and others who disagreed with them.

There have been two or three political parties in Tamilnadu whose members privately state that there are over sixty million Tamil people but they do not have a country of their own.

The Central Government of India has kept these political parties under close observation and has taken remedial measures whenever such action is called for. The LTTE received much support and assistance from these political parties and with that support the LTTE was able to brow beat the elected representatives of the political parties in Jaffna and also increase the capacity for terrorism and keep the people in fear.

The disgraceful conduct of thugs activated by certain political party groups in 1983 did much harm to the Tamil people living in Colombo and reports of these happenings reached the Tamil diaspora living in the developed countries and they began giving support to the LTTE. Regular financial contributions came in to fatten the LTTE coffers and with more and more financial strength pouring in the LTTE increased their offensive in many fronts. They also acquired necessary equipment and weapons which made it quite simple for them to carry on the war for two decades.

When India became independent the far-sighted leaders like Pandit Nehru prepared a constitution for India which reserved powers to the Central Government to dissolve the government of any of the states without any prior notice or warning. If this provision was not built in to the Indian constitution, India may have disintegrated by now considering the tendency of certain states to declare their own independence. When the government of a particular state shows tendencies to move away from the control of the centre that particular government gets dissolved and President's Rule would take over the administration of that state.

When we focus attention on the devolution of power it is most important to remember this wisdom of the Indian leaders when they drafted the Indian constitution. Examining the constitutions of other faraway lands may be interesting. But the nearby Indian example is most relevant and valid.

It has been reported that S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had suggested a federal form of government for Sri Lanka in 1925. After finishing his education in Oxford he came back around that time and using his theoretical knowledge on the subject he may have made this suggestion. Thereafter he travelled the length and breadth of this country and became familiar with the realities prevailing in Sri Lanka and never referred to the federal system of government. It is quite obvious that he moved away from the theoretical position he held around 1925.

Reference has been made to the federal constitution of America, Australia and Canada. In these countries there were different governments for the different regions and some of them were even fighting with each other. The federal form of government brought together the different regions to make one country in each case. In this connection it will be relevant to refer to the comments of Professor Harold J. Laski, the guru of all those persons who passed through the London School of Economics and Political Science during the first three decades of the last century.

Professor Laski in discussing revolution of power and federalism states in his celebrated work "Grammer of Politics" (vide page 309) as follows, "the analogy with a Federal State is an unjustified one. America, Australia and Canada are all rather continents than countries. Germany presents quite special problems of origin and composition. Switzerland is too small a theatre of events to present comparable issues."

The area of the Eastern region of this country falling within the limits of the Eastern Province has been much neglected.

During the glorious days of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods of our history the highway connecting the king's seat of administration and Ruhuna where the successor to the throne was stationed at was along the Eastern region and that region received much attention and care during that period. During the time of Parakramabahu the Great (1153-1186) who was in command of a powerful navy and an army who were strong enough to defeat the armies of other countries in battle and who had most efficient construction departments that built 163 major tanks, 2,376 minor tanks, 165 anicuts and 3,910 channels, in addition to the large number of viharas and dagobas that this great monarch built and restored, the Eastern area benefitted a great deal.

But with the shift of the capital away from Polonnaruwa to the different places in the South West later on, the Eastern region became neglected and received less attention. During the time of Portuguese and Dutch periods, the area of the present Eastern Province was under the Kandyan Kingdom.

When the Muslims were being harassed and driven away by the Portuguese from the area under their control, Senerath, the King of Kandy gave them a safe haven in the Eastern region. This is how the Muslims came to the Eastern region. 16th century Portuguese historian De Queyros and the 17th century Dutch missionary Philipus Baldaeus clearly state in their writings that the area falling within the Eastern Province was part of the Kandyan Kingdom. Robert Knox was captured by the soldiers of the King of Kandy at Kottiyar Bay in Trincomalee in 1660 and became a prisoner of the Kandyan kingdom.

After the rebellions of 1818 and 1848 in the former Kandyan kingdom the British administration made a special effort to punish the Sinhalese in these areas.

The country was divided into five provinces - Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western and Central purely to divide the people of the former Kandyan kingdom. C. M. Lushington, the Assistant Government Agent of Trincomalee in his administration report for the year 1898 states that the people of Kaddukulam Pattu are being Tamilised. The Sinhala villages have a Tamil school master teaching only in Tamil in the village school.

According to the Census Report of 1921, S. O. Kanagaratnam, Mudliyar of the Batticaloa Kachcheri a leading Tamil gentleman states as follows, "The whole of the Batticaloa district was under the Kings of Kandy. Sinhala villages were dying out." During the British period the Sinhala people were pushed inward to the interior and the lands were given to non-Sinhala people.

In many of the villages the Sinhala people gave up their traditional names and adopted Tamil names. (The reader is advised to read the most interesting book titled "The Theory of a Traditional Tamil Homeland in the Eastern Province is a Hoax" by K. H. J. Wijeyadasa, (one time Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka and presently the Advisor to the Prime Minister).

For the peace process to succeed the LTTE people need to be reminded that there never was a traditional Tamil homeland in the East. In any case the Tamil population of the Eastern Province is less than 40 per cent.

If the North and the East are officially linked it would commence another period of serious trouble for all three communities.

The LTTE to lead the Tamil people must become a political party and contest the different seats at the next general elections.

To restore peace in our Land
We need a united stand
So Lankans all to the fore, lend a hand
As you lead on, in your quest
We follow your behest
Be a guide, lead us on, through the land

So lead on! Move on!
With new vision inborn
Lead on, to horizons new
With commitment and zeal
Your mission fulfil
Lead on and fresh spirit instil

There's peace to restore
And goodwill to bestow
Quality of life to improve
Hapless folk out there,
Reaching out with a prayer
That we befriend, house, clothe and sorrows share.

Lend a hand to the youth
Let their lives bear fruit
Help them follow, help them lead and aspire high
The youth of today, tomorrow lead the way
Our nation's wealth, its resource and its pride.

Then on to new paths
Unexplored vistas
That's where you lead with vision replete
The environs the thrust, preservation's
a 'must'
This heritage we hold in trust.

So on 'to fresh fields and pastures new'
Striking out and blazing a trail
Fresh vigour expend,
As on a new mission bent
Resolution, dedication, prevail.
Jeannette Cabraal