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An opening to advance the peace effort

A statement attributed to Government Peace Secretariat chief Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala, that the Government is ready for direct talks with the LTTE on setting up an Interim Administration to meet the humanitarian and development needs of the North-East, should be considered as presenting an important opportunity to resume and forge ahead with the currently stalled peace process.

Dr. Dhanapala reportedly went on to say that after the conclusion of talks on the Interim Administration, the Government would go ahead with the task of negotiating a final solution to the ethnic conflict.

An administrative mechanism which would enable and facilitate resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in the North-East in the aftermath of the recent devastation, with the participation of Government and LTTE representatives, besides other relevant parties, has been considered a pressing need over the past few weeks.

The importance of such a mechanism has been underscored by the very considerable devastation the North-East has suffered. However, the establishment of such a structure has apparently been delayed on account of the raising of a couple of controversial issues in relation to it, by some sections of opinion.

Splitting hairs on this question, however, would prove highly counter-productive and time-consuming. The problems of the North-East populace are crying out for resolution and the task at hand is to speed-up the rebuilding of the region without further delay. It stands to reason that the LTTE should cooperate fully with the Government in carrying out this responsibility.

It should be remembered that the Government is constitutionally-bound to meet the needs of the Lankan citizenry, wherever they may happen to be geographically located. This duty the Government cannot ignore. Accordingly, the most rational course would be for the LTTE to cooperate with the Government in a suitable administrative structure to bring relief and succour to the North-East populace. The LTTE would do well to accept this offer of cooperation, if it means well by the Tamil people.

No more time could be lost conducting arid debates on questions of this kind. The Government needs to go right ahead and discuss the modalities of cooperation with the LTTE. Granting parity of status to the LTTE in this administrative mechanism couldn't be considered as inappropriate because equality is the best basis for cooperation.

The dividends from such an exercise could be immense. The cooperative climate established between the Government and the LTTE could then be used as a basis for the resumption of the peace process.

We cannot see how these problems which have been plaguing us for decades could be resolved if the parties to the conflict do not show enterprise, enthusiasm and firm resolve. The State needs to be constantly guided by the conviction that it should govern in the common interest. It cannot afford to be balked by obstacles.

A celestial tidal wave

It's a scene straight out of the Vin Diesel movie Pitch Black: The planet goes completely dark, there is no sun whatsoever and no electricity either. This is the scenario that the rumour mill had for Sri Lanka this week.

As we know, nothing of the sort happened. According to the rumour, a solar storm would blacken the skies, plunging the entire country into darkness. Quite apart from the fact that total solar eclipses do not happen on Full Moon Poya days, there are also no solar storms during this period. Even if a solar eclipse occurs, the maximum period of darkness is only around eight minutes. The only other possibility is an asteroid hitting Earth, but no such galactic collision has been predicted.

According to reports from the South, many people had hidden jewellery in milk powder tins and schoolchildren had not attended classes. These reactions take our memory back to the good old days when our dusky lasses gulped down generous portions of Wadakaha during a solar eclipse in the mistaken belief that they would turn into fair maidens. Alas, it only resulted in mass diarrhoea.

These incidents illustrate the power of the rumour. We recall that for a couple of weeks after the tsunami disaster, people ran helter skelter upon hearing rumours of another big wave.

However, there was another recent event that could have ended life on Earth had it occurred a bit closer. 'Closer' in this case means a simple matter of 10 light years. The once-in-lifetime event was the biggest magnetic flare ever.

Scientists observed an object only 20 kilometres across, on the other side of our galaxy, releasing more energy in a 10th of a second than the Sun emits in 100,000 years. The flare, detected by satellites and telescopes, was so powerful that it lit up the Earth's upper atmosphere. For over a tenth of the second, it was actually brighter than the full moon.

The blast was caused by an eruption on the surface of a neutron star called SGR 1806-20, about 50,000 light years from Earth in the constellation of Sagittarius and about three billion times farther from us than the Sun. There are millions of neutron stars in the Milky Way but only a dozen have been found to be "magnetars": neutron stars with an ultra-powerful magnetic field.

Had the flare occurred within 10 light years, the Earth would have literally fried, severely damaging the atmosphere and triggering mass extinction.

We must not underestimate the mysteries of the universe. Our fate may well be decided by some distant celestial object. In the meantime, we must leave the theorising to the scientists without listening to rumours.

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