A timely plea

The request made by Fisheries Minister Felix Perera to the Catholic Bishops to help in the current initiatives to bring the Sacred Madhu Statue into a Government controlled area it is hoped would elicit a positive response, considering the growing concern by the Catholic community as to the fate of the miraculous statue.

The Minister who represents a predominantly Roman Catholic constituency and himself a staunch Catholic has moved the Church to restore the statue of Our Lady of Madhu to a location where devotees from all over the country could congregate which is not the case at present where the statue had been placed in a church in an area under the domination of the LTTE.

The Church we hope would heed this request so that devotees from the South who form the majority of the pilgrims to Madhu would not be deprived of the opportunity of at least a glimpse of the miraculous statue away from its hallowed jungle shrine.

We are not sure if the custodians of the statue at present would have a say in this regard. If the LTTE prohibits the statue being moved from its temporary location that would only expose its beastly conduct to the outside world.

The Government would have an the ideal opportunity to show the international community how the LTTE would even deny religious worship to ordinary civilians and is capable of even holding a venerated statue as a bargaining chip.

The Government we feel should lobby the Vatican to move in the matter for it has a duty by the Catholic community to ensure that the statue is restored in its rightful place. Of course a cautious approach will be needed given the sensitive nature of the problem.

The Catholic Bishops on their part should wield all influence at their command to resolve the matter in a way that would not endanger the statue.

There will be those among the catholic community who will want the statue to be placed at the original shrine given the history and legend associated with the location.

The only way to achieve this is to get the LTTE vacate the sacred precincts and regard the sanctuary as a No-Fire Zone.

The Army Amnesty

The Government has once again granted an amnesty to Army deserters to return to their billets with the customary pledge of not taking action against them. According to Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara the amnesty will be in force from May 2 to 6 and there would no extension beyond this date.

The problem of Army deserters has been a recurring phenomenon during the country's long drawn out war and in the present context fraught with danger given that many of the violent robberies and hold ups in the country have been attributed to deserters who usually decamp with their weapons.

Military statistics show there are about 15,000 soldiers who deserted the Army and during the last amnesty period in November 2007, 4,000 had returned to their battalions.

With the Army on a recruitment drive it would be useful if the current amnesty period is extended so as to accommodate a large number of returners.

Certainly the number of Army deserters was alarmingly high earlier and it would be prudent for the military authorities to ascertain the reasons for soldiers to decamp.

There may be several reasons for this. No doubt the lengthy exposure to battle and the prolonged rigours, hardships and the exacting demands of a soldier may have forced these men to desert.

However, it has now been revealed that there has been a remarkable drop in desertions during the Army's highly successful military drive. On the other hand, there have been more desertions during the periods when the Army suffered setbacks. This trend is also seen in recruitment - more youths are lining up to join the Army and other Forces now than at any other time.

However, it would prudent to ascertain if our fighting men are properly phased out on the battlefront and given proper respite during lengthy operations.

The long drawn out nature of the battles may also be taking a heavy toll on some of these soldiers who may be not equipped like there fellow colleagues who are made of sterner stuff to endure the hard grind and exacting demands of a soldier.

It is therefore important that standards are raised for recruitment and the overall capacity of such recruits to hold out are assessed and taken into consideration.

There is also a need for close scrutiny and proper evaluation of soldiers on the battle field and proper counselling made available to overcome the tensions and rigours of battle. True, desertions were there even when ours was a ceremonial Army. But steps are needed to remove the stigma of desertions. Welcoming them back is one way of achieving that goal.