Untitled Document

Many things are being ignored for sake of peace

My Dear Bala,
I thought of writing to you after hearing of your performance at Oslo where it appears that you had your fifteen minutes of fame, despite all the protests here in our little country.

Of course, you will always claim it was a major step forward for your outfit to be recognised by the powers that be of the world. And the Greens here will claim that they were able to commit you to a negotiated settlement short of a separate state with the international community as witnesses while the blues are screaming that the nation was betrayed.

So, Bala, the outcome of what happened at Oslo depends on how you look at it but even then, it does appear that it was a very significant step in the direction of lasting peace.

But what was more interesting, Bala was the little lecture you got from Uncle Sam. They told you that the time has now come for you to come clean and pledge that you would not resort to the bullet and the bomb again, didn't he?

Of course, a day later, we heard you saying that you will only do that when you feel comfortable with the arrangements that have been made to meet your demands. And, I can almost hear those who opposed the 'Peace Show'saying "we told you so".

Bala, you must therefore agree that you have some explaining to do. It is bad enough that some of your chaps have taken the law into their own hands and set up courts and police stations and everyone conveniently turns a blind eye. There are numerous other little incidents which are being ignored for the sake of peace.

But surely, Bala, you should know that any lasting solution must settle all these issues in a correct and proper way. And telling Uncle Sam that you reserve the right to lay down arms when you feel like it is not the best way to go about it.

However, Bala, I do agree with you that we shouldn't always be doing what Uncle Sam wants us to do. You would recall that not so long ago we were pleading with Uncle Sam to declare your outfit a terrorist organisation and they were deaf to our appeals for a long, long time. It is only after that they themselves were hit that they got their pants in a twist and began calling everyone with a gun a 'terrorist'.

Nevertheless, Bala, the fact remains that the world is now much less tolerant of groups of people taking to arms to gain their ends and I am sure that was a major factor in your decision to start talking to Colombo again.

But your claim that you reserve the right to do what you want in this country is not the best of responses, especially after the Green Man had agreed to meet you on nearly equal terms for which he was criticised quite a bit and not without reason too!

So, Bala we await your next response which we hope will be more responsible-not for the sake of peace alone but for your own sake as well.

Yours truly,
Punchi Putha.
PS-And then there is all this fuss about Velu himself "Addressing the Nation" on his birthday. As I see it, if he is so keen on that, it can only mean that he still considers this country as one nation and has given up his demand for a separate state. But even then Bala, I am not sure there will be that many people wishing him 'many happy returns of the day'!

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