Onus on the Tigers

AS Sri Lanka breathes a collective sigh of relief on hearing the good news that talks would soon get underway between the Government and the LTTE on strengthening the Ceasefire Agreement, the wish is also likely to grow among the discerning that these talks would be infused with a strong sense of realism and down-to-earth common sense.

What would be of paramount importance from the State's viewpoint is the national interest and the common weal. Going by this principle, speculation on what the nature of the talks would be is highly misplaced and not to the point.

The thrust the State would be giving the talks is the securing of the legitimate interests of all sections of our people and it is on this basis that the talks and their outcome would need to be assessed.

Accordingly, what is of relevance as far as the fundamental approach of the State to the talks goes, is not 'softness' or 'hardness' nor optimism or pessimism but realism and a sense of what is good for Sri Lanka as a whole.

The right thinking would not deny that a principal need right now is the containment and elimination of ceasefire violations. The ceasefire has been, of course, observed more in the breach by the LTTE and priority number one at present is to put an end to this bloodshed.

Substantive issues in the conflict need to be grappled with but not before these LTTE-inspired violations are ended. The State has therefore chosen right by making the issue of strengthening the ceasefire a principal agenda item.

This amounts to being realistic because continued ceasefire violations by the Tigers tend to dampen minds and spirits and eliminate the possibility of generating the right climate for substantive discussions.

Besides, the State is conscience-bound to ensure the absolute safety of its citizens wherever they may be. There is no question of the Government turning a Nelsonian Eye on Tiger brutality.

So talk they must and we hope the two sides would arrive at the ways and means of strengthening the ceasefire and saving precious lives.

As we have often stressed before, the security forces and the law enforcement agencies of the State cannot degenerate to the level of the LTTE.

These organs of the State are law enforcers and not law-breakers and thus far they have conducted themselves with utmost commendability. Such responsible behaviour should not be mistaken for weakness.

It is simply that these law-enforcers are carrying out their mandate of keeping the peace. If Lanka has not been plunged into war once again, it is on account of this exemplary restraint by our law-enforcers and we call on the LTTE to focus on this aspect of State responsibility before abandoning themselves to their 'blood sports'.

The onus is clearly on the LTTE to recognise the stark facts. For 25 long years the terror tool has brought no dividends for the Tigers or the Tamil people who they claim to represent.

On the contrary, devastation and bloodshed have been the country's lot and the Tamil people have remained sunk in the mire of misery these long years.

Accordingly, the LTTE would be courting prolonged conflict and war by rejecting the State's initiative to strengthen the ceasefire.

The Tigers are also up against a mindset problem. They need to make the transition to reconciliatory conduct from their present mode of demented aggression. The Government has provided them the opportunity to make this transition.