Historic opportunity for peace and reconciliation

The end of the war opens up a historic perhaps the last opportunity for Sri Lanka to break out of the stalemates of the past and journey on the road to peace and reconciliation. While the final phase of the war was extremely brutal, its aftermath can and must be different.

The National Peace Council is hopeful that President Mahinda Rajapaksa's speech in Parliament promising to uphold the rights of all citizens irrespective of ethnicity and religion, to mark the victory of the Sri Lankan armed forces over the LTTE will be translated into an action plan for the future.

The main challenge to the Government in the aftermath of the war will be to rebuild confidence in the Tamil people, both within Sri Lanka and outside.