Sri Lanka commands confidence

Sri Lanka is forging ahead on the economic front despite having to neutralize Tiger terror and do battle against a number of natural disasters. Essentially, this is President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s message to the world, conveyed at the Sri Lanka Development Forum 2007.

Judging by the quantum of financial assistance pledged to Sri Lanka at the Development Forum, the President’s message seems to have been well received.

The pledged assistance for infrastructure development, for instance, is proof of the world community’s continuing confidence in Sri Lanka and its political leadership. Such aid pledges are also reflective of the deep concern continuing LTTE terror is triggering among the international community.

The Tiger disinformation mill may be noisily operative, but the world is not convinced of the reliability of such concoctions. It recognizes the truth and nothing but the truth and the pronouncement made by the President only helps to clarify the factual position even further.

The President’s observation that developing the North-East too was a key to ridding the country of terrorism, should be regarded as profoundly important. Reduced to its basics, the conflict in Sri Lanka is all about the lack of development in a number of its geographical areas.

It is the absence of sustained development which triggers discontentment, disgruntlement and conflict. Accordingly, the containment of terror coupled with the development of our economically backward regions could wipe out the roots of conflict and ethnic friction.

Seen from this point of view, development could be one of the biggest enemies of the LTTE. For, if the essential needs of the North-East populace are continually met, there would be no discontentment in the provinces and consequently the Tigers would not be in a position to capitalize on conditions which could be seen as favourable to it.

Therefore, we call on the State to spare no pains to take development to the provinces. For this purpose, it would be compelled to blunt Tiger terror in the North-East, for, development would not be possible with the LTTE trying to stand in the way.

To achieve this end, the State could be said to be adopting a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, it is defusing the immediate threats to peace and national security posed by the LTTE.

On the other hand, it is pursuing a political solution to the conflict. This was conveyed to the international community and there are indications that the merits of this position are being recognized.

The State is also, rightly, bringing the human rights dimension into its assessments of the North-East situation. The provision of civil and political rights, coupled with socio-economic and cultural rights all over the land would help greatly in alienating the North-East people from the Tigers. Herein lies the key to peace.

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At 10 a.m. that day, just when Vasumathy would have been there, Tiger suicide bombers drove a truck packed with explosives into the nine-storeyed building. Of the front of the building nothing was left except charred rubble. The blast shook all of Colombo, destroyed several other buildings across from the bank and killed seventy people in the bank and on the street outside. One thousand people were injured.

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