The CFA enforcement aspect

The all too familiar pattern is unlikely to elude the attention of the more restive and cynical among the Lankan public: the LTTE resorts to fiendish terror and the SLMM ritualistically condemns it. But no corrective action follows and the Tigers return to their savage sport after some time.

The SLMM, admittedly, has on its hands a most demanding task. In terms of the CFA, the SLMM cannot take punitive action against the LTTE for any its ceasefire violations. It could only bring the violation to the notice of the Tigers, record it and work towards resolving any crisis situations which may have arisen. Enforcing the terms of the ceasefire, through the use of coercive means, is not the responsibility of the SLMM.

Therefore, one could not be harshly critical of the SLMM but the effectiveness of its presence could very well be questioned. What is the purpose of the monitoring exercise if the Tigers could continue to violate the CFA with its habitually dangerous nonchalance? An impatient public could very pose this question.

Apparently, such issues could no longer be side-tracked or ignored. An effective ceasefire is the need of the hour but such an order of things cannot be made a reality unless and until the CFA is rendered enforceable. It should be clear that merely monitoring the CFA is not going to help in strengthening the peace process. Hopefully, these questions would be taken-up for discussion at the mid-April Government-LTTE talks. The CFA should be given far more teeth and rendered resoundingly effective against ceasefire violators.

It is all too obvious that those sections of the world community who are concerned about our conflict ought to be proactively involved in working out effective ceasefire enforcement mechanisms.

The Lankan Government - it should be noted - has to act with an utmost sense of responsibility. It needs to be patient even in the face of grave provocation on account of the need to ensure the continuation of the peace process.

However, the international community is not under such constraints and it needs to impress on the Tigers the importance of cooperating in keeping the peace. Right now, the LTTE seems to be treating the CFA with utmost disdain and this state of things needs to be curbed. The world community is obliged to turn the heat on the Tigers and make them cooperate in upholding the CFA.

Now that the preliminaries in the CFA talks are over, an earnest effort needs to be made in Geneva to take on the enforcement aspect of the ceasefire. The Government delegation should lose no time in putting all the relevant issues on the CFA on the table. The need is also great to arrive at enforceable agreements on these issues without further delay.

Talks facilitator, Norway, too needs to take cognizance of the marked recalcitrance with which the LTTE is currently acting.

Bringing the Tigers to heel is their responsibility too and we hope they would prove effective in carrying out this responsibility.

However, both sides to the conflict should never lose sight of the final aim of maintaining the ceasefire - which is, negotiating an honourable peace.

Inasmuch as the State should maintain the momentum in peace keeping by addressing issues at the heart of the conflict, the LTTE must cooperate in this process by proving its earnestness and acting with a deep sense of responsibility.