| The days have come in Indian Ocean's war-torn | | | | a strategic move with hostile mentality for a good |
| island to realize the war is un-winnable after the | | | | time to blow-up things for a fresh offensive than any |
| decades long never ending war.The world is not any | | | | sincere motive towards the governments.Still in the |
| more ready to watch both parties waging a war for | | | | country there are some elements not willing for a |
| just passing the time until a solution comes.The | | | | peaceful settlement and calling them as a self-made |
| political leaders has started to realise that they can't | | | | Marxist generation and shouting like pundits that what |
| stay in power by encouraging some military high | | | | they are saying all on undermining the negotiation are |
| officials by uplifting their stars and colours and the | | | | correct while rest of the world is keen on solving the |
| ranks at the expense of some of the poor soldiers | | | | nation's problem.I met recently a young couple from |
| from the underprivileged families in the fields.One | | | | West Bengal in Koddaikkanal of the Nilgries Mountains |
| factor is apparent that a country like Sri Lanka can't | | | | in India on a private visit last year. They were too |
| wage a war continuously on economic grounds.And | | | | keen on finding what is going on in Sri Lanka and |
| the other factor, communal thinkers can't live in a | | | | whether there is any possibility for peace in the near |
| fool's paradise and recalling archaic stories which | | | | future. What I could have answered to them other |
| community came first to the Island, while the | | | | than just keeping silent.Another major issue why so |
| inter-marriages between the both communities from | | | | far both communities could not come to a |
| the pre-historic time have made a null and void in the | | | | settlement, is mostly on the fear what Tamils ask, |
| ethnic-origin arguments and confusions.They should | | | | are if once provided, will lead to separation.The |
| realise we are living in an era where the | | | | solutions should be based on the realities of the |
| transportation and telecommunication have changed | | | | contemporary social, ethnical and economical |
| the world into one village and globalisation is a | | | | problems and not by the anticipation of something |
| reality.The UN is active though it met some failures in | | | | whether that will happen or not.Though some |
| some incidents in some countries but it has reduced | | | | pre-cautionary measures could be taken by the |
| the fatality of those countries' disasters and still the | | | | mutual acceptance of the both parties but that |
| UN is a accepted global platform for discussing and | | | | should not undermine the main objective.If we are |
| solving much of the world problems in political, social, | | | | going to waste more and more time for the right |
| economic, judicial and other arenas and giving sense | | | | time for negotiation, implementation and more wide |
| to a new world order.The economy has gone bad to | | | | study for the pre-cautionary set-ups, then the |
| worse after the independence and the nation is | | | | country will be in the lines of Israel-Palestinian |
| facing a severe foreign deficit problem, which could | | | | conflict.A Palestinian told me sometime back that if |
| not be overcome by the declining GDP. If things are | | | | Yasser Arafat had accepted what Israel has |
| not corrected at least at this stage, the country will | | | | proposed twenty years ago, we would have gained |
| have to go for interest-based heavy loans and then | | | | much more than what now they are willing to offer |
| it will have to earn very hard for the interest too.A | | | | us.I feel that if Israel had applied more diplomacy |
| country which is losing its competitive edge in its cash | | | | towards accepting the peace accord by the |
| crops-tea and rubber, will go into more difficulties and | | | | Palestinians, now they would have developed their |
| the expectations of Sri Lanka as an IT hub of South | | | | country into a self-reliant and an economic-power |
| Asian has already become a myth after the slow | | | | house status in the Middle East than merely begging |
| down in the US economy and the September 11 | | | | Americans for everything.The government and the |
| disaster and their direct impact on the investment - | | | | LTTE will have to navigate jointly this Island into a |
| cut in the IT projects.These situations have made | | | | new direction for a lasting solution rather than |
| the country to think other avenues for income | | | | checkmating each other.If the renewed war and the |
| generation and mainly an urgent cut in the defense | | | | hostility could not be stopped early as possible, then |
| spending. Sri Lanka is the highest military personnel | | | | what will happen to peace negotiation? Well, anything |
| employed vs. the population and a much-needed | | | | is possible in this Planet Earth. Who anticipated the |
| human resource is being wasted in the war zone | | | | magnitude of present development in the ethnic |
| from both sides.Argentina realised an end to its civil | | | | crisis? Norway is now functioning mostly as a |
| war in high time and though it succeeded to an | | | | facilitator-mediator status and coming with the |
| ultimate solution, it was too late to re-structure the | | | | support of the international community.If there is a |
| country's economy and they came out with various | | | | prolonged checkmating between the government and |
| chaotic economic re-structuring models and faced the | | | | the LTTE, the facilitator might take the ethnic issue |
| worst economic chaos ultimately.In Sri Lanka we are | | | | to the UN with the help of some of the permanent |
| also in the same situation more or less and if we | | | | member countries of the Security Council. |
| couldn't take any corrective action at least at this | | | | The UN might try to get involved in many grounds in |
| juncture, we will be in a position worse than | | | | the Sri Lankan politics and on other national interests |
| Argentina.The perception and interest beyond merely | | | | too by directly or indirectly.All these suggestions |
| overcoming the economic chaos out of peace | | | | might be some laughing points to some of the |
| negotiations, but by the realization in mind that the | | | | foreign policy experts but when India entered into |
| minority Tamils also really having some problems and | | | | the Sri Lankan Air-Zone, all Sri Lankans silently |
| it cannot be achieved just by isolating the LTTE but | | | | observed. |
| by negotiating with them and a settlement through | | | | When Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) landed in |
| them towards the Tamil minority is still far away.The | | | | the Sri Lankan soil, they all surprisingly observed. |
| leaders are lacking to take interest to win the hearts | | | | When the LTTE and the then Government were |
| of the Tamils and the perception to ban the LTTE | | | | united together, sending the IPKF out of the island, |
| around the world will bring an end to the problem, | | | | we more surprisingly observed.Sometimes foreign |
| resulted in other way around so far by more | | | | policy is determined by the circumstances of that |
| increasing sympathy towards LTTE and more funding | | | | time and not by any standard rules and regulations. |
| through their front-organizations made the LTTE | | | | But if the Sri Lankans couldn't realise anything from |
| more capable of buying sophisticated arms in the | | | | their past observations at least at this juncture, then |
| world market and made them more a conventional | | | | they all are going to observe pathetically, the |
| army.Though the earlier governments succeeded in | | | | sovereignty of the Island - Paradise is falling into the |
| banning the LTTE, to which extent that might have | | | | hands of some of the International Financial |
| prompted the LTTE to consider negotiation with the | | | | Institutions, International Judicial System and the |
| governments is highly questionable.They have opted | | | | International Forces in the near future. |