People should be partners of peace, says Thamilselvan

Ten Months of cease-fire and four months of Peace talks

Bringing about normalcy has so far not taken place. The average peasantry has not seen the peace dividends. Efforts have been taken, but when it comes to implementation, normalcy has not yet been restored for the people.

We have completed two rounds of negotiations. Many promises have been made and we have also reached some understanding. But the people need to see these promises put into action. They read about the negotiations and are aware of the developments but they get frustrated and lose hope when these promises are not implemented.

High Security Zones
The people who have been living in these areas classified as High Security Zones have lived there for generations. When civilians are promised normalcy as the first step towards a resolution of their problem proper and a section of the civilian population is denied that, then it becomes a peoples' problem. Both parties have to look at it not from a military angle but from a humanitarian perspective. Because this is a matter that is intertwined with the day-to-day life of the civilians. In some cases the people have been driven away from those areas for more than 20 years. In some of the High Security Zone classifications, people have been kept away for nearly a quarter century. If that basic factor itself is denied then it is a serious humanitarian problem and should not to be viewed from a military perspective by both sides. That has to be looked at in an angle that is totally different from any military bargaining positions.

Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission's different position
When we say balance of power it refers to weapons and the people who handle the weapons. Now, the ceasefire agreement on which the entire process has been built to bring about permanent peace, in its preface itself states that the motive or the objective of the entire exercise is to bring about normalcy. Now nobody is asking the military to go away from the Jaffna Peninsula. Neither is anybody asking for the decommissioning of their weapons. The military presence in the classified High Security Zone is preventing the civilians from returning to their homes. This has been clearly included in the United Nations Convention, where a citizen is entitled to go back after displacement when a peace process is being worked out.

This is a basic requirement. All that the people are asking for is that they be given the chance or the right rather to exercise the right of going back to their homes. Here there is no question of both the parties trying to make a decision and somebody in between trying to maintain the scales which is in other words termed as balance of power. Balance of power definitely denotes the military aspect of it. The people are only worried about going back to their homes. It is the cry of the general public that they be allowed to go home. So maintaining a military strength or maintaining a balance between the parties is a matter entirely not connected to the civilians. That has to be maintained by both the parties on some understanding.

Discussion on political issues
Conditions and understanding are two different things. Now the entire exercise for the past 10 to 11 months has been built on understanding. The cease-fire agreement is in other words called a Memorandum of Understanding. It was purely based on an understanding between the parties that we were able to progress this far. We consider the conditions or stipulations made by the military as demands. They are unrealistic and unreasonable demands.Asking the LTTE to give up weapons is to virtually leave the Tamil people unprotected. The protection of the entire Tamil Nation depends on the LTTE's military strength.

That cannot be compromised under any circumstances, till an acceptable solution is found to the problem. The presence of unarmed LTTE cadres itself was a matter that came out of an understanding. This itself is sufficient proof for any neutral body that there is no threat. The entire existence of the Tamil nation is dependent on the military strength of their freedom fighters. That cannot be connected with the civilians going back to their homes. Therefore we consider this as an unacceptable and unrealistic demand and it is an uncalled for element in the entire equation. Because, now there is a process of political resolution involved where the parties concerned are engaged seriously in a political consideration. The military is now coming out of turn and trying to place before the entire process some demands that are totally unrealistic and unconnected with the civilians requirement to go back to their homes. So therefore we don't see any necessity to take into consideration any of those demands or conditions, whatever you like to call them.

Decommissioning of weapons
To respond to that I will have to work on a hypothesis. We do not consider this the appropriate time. We do not consider it prudent to discuss such matters at a time when we haven't gone into the various nuances of the political ramifications involved in the settling of this issue. So it's definitely a hypothetical issue. The resolution of the political conflict is the main problem and both parties are seriously engaged in that process. So the question of either decommissioning or laying down arms does not arise at this moment.

The High Security Zones and impact on the peace process
We would consider it appropriate if this question is directed to the civilians who are now displaced and unable to go ahead and resettle in their own natural habitats to which they are entitled. It is they who can give an appropriate answer. We as a party are only engaged in a process of negotiations.

How this is going to affect or how this will have an impact on the peace process is a matter that the people should take a decision on. To make the people participants in a meaningful process of political resolution of the conflict, it becomes essential that they be made to understand that it is their concerns that both the parties are discussing about.

The people’s concern is at the moment to go back to their homes. They had been chased away from their homes for years. So they want to get back. This question should be asked from those people who are now either in refugee camps, or in friends or relatives’ houses still unable to go back to their homes when many others were fortunate enough to go. So that question has to be directed to them and the response would reveal the real situation as to what type of impact the whole exercise would have on the peace process. Because it is for the people that the entire exercise is being done.

The HSZ and the next round of talks.This is the most important issue that would be taken up.

Impact on the Sub Committee meetings to be held in mid January
We have two parties engaged in the process of negotiations and both the parties have heads. There is a hierarchy on the Government's side and on the Liberation Tigers’ side. When the decisions are made at the highest level it should trickle down to the bottom line and the Sub Committee in that aspect is one of the tools and instruments that must be made use of to bring about smooth and satisfactory implementation.

The Government and the Liberation Tigers during the four rounds of the discussions decided it would be better to have Sub Committees to bring about the implementations and if any of the agencies or any of the instruments that have been arranged to implement these decisions become irrelevant then we would consider future Sub Committee meetings as totally irrelevant to the entire peace process. As long as they fail to deliver the goods that they were intended for we would consider them irrelevant. So this definitely would be taken up at the highest level in the discussions during the next round of talks.

Military co-operation
It is true that the military has participated in implementing certain of the obligations. For instance in the Eastern Province we have had experience where co-operation was extended from the military side, and in the North also in certain sectors.The question of High Security Zone becomes more appropriate in Jaffna because the majority of the area that is classified as High Security Zone falls within the ambit of the Jaffna Peninsula. And that is the area which has been under forceful military occupation for quite a long time- nearly quarter of a century.

But now the ground reality is that the much wanted co-operation from the person who is in charge of the entire Jaffna Peninsula who is the Commander of the Jaffna area is adopting a hard line and that is an impediment in implementing the resettlement programme. Because the resettlement programme has been already agreed upon commencing from Day 1 of the implementation of the cease-fire agreement it has become a major factor. But the Jaffna Commander is adopting a very hard line.

So it is now left to the government because we consider the power of the government as power vested by the people on the rulers. And the government holds the reigns as regards the mandate given by the people to rule this country. No agency that is supposed to work under the government can exercise its options independently to run against the will of the people.

The will of the people even in the form of a mandate to the government to govern it in such and such a way must be exercised by the government unhindered by any of its agents. We believe that the military commander of Jaffna is acting against the will of the people of this country.The people of this country voted this government into power, giving the government an overwhelming mandate to prosecute peace and not war. Prosecuting peace means to give the dividends of peace to the civilians. So in that sense the hard line attitude of the Commander in Jaffna is seen as a major impediment.

Political settlement
Under the present circumstances it is too early to delve into serious political matters. The humanitarian issues which are actually consequences of the war in the context of a ceasefire agreement should make people feel that the silencing of the gun has given them some results. If that peace dividend cannot be given to them at this stage and we go on working on political resolutions regardless, we are not going to win the confidence of the people. Confidence building should be the magic word in the entire exercise from day 1 as every step is considered a confidence-building measure between the parties. When we say parties, we also mean the people. So if we fail to win the confidence of people in simple matters such as resettlement after 20 years of war, then it becomes meaningless for us to proceed further down the lane. If we are unable to deal with this humanitarian problem even after one year of ceasefire, then talking about serious political issues becomes a meaningless exercise. It is clearly understood that bringing about normalcy and building confidence are the main objectives of the peace process. We must concentrate on measures and mechanisms to bring about normalcy.

Core issues
Rather than be bogged down in definitions, it should be said that both the parties from the beginning understood and agreed upon that these should be addressed first to enable us to create an environment to conduct meaningful political discussions. That was the basic understanding. The need to restore normalcy and to make the people partners of the peace process has been prefaced in the ceasefire agreement under various clauses. We feel the people's participation is a very essential factor in any political settlement. So therefore for them to be participants they must be made to feel that all what is understood, all what is agreed upon is being implemented. So both the parties have to demonstrate to the people that this is being implemented. If people are assured, then moving into the next stage of the peace process would be much easier.

On a federal system
It is too premature to comment on it. These are serious political matters. However, we will definitely spell out our position when finality is reached on that. But this is definitely not the time to say what type of solution is expected.

Allegations of abductions continuing
This terminology has been for quite sometime like well-tutored nursery rhymes in the political fabric of Sri Lanka. Various elements have been at work in emphasising on certain factors which are concocted.

But we are confident that our membership from top to bottom are adhering to instructions laid out by the leadership. When specific instances are brought to the notice of the leadership either through the media or by word of mouth immediate action is taken to resolve the issue. So it is very difficult to answer these questions in a general sense rather than responding to specific issues. But on the whole, we have full confidence in our cadres. And there is no room whatsoever left open for any element to function in that manner of raising funds or abducting people and collecting ransom.

Complaints to the SLMM
We have been saying that we are able to hold this ceasefire without major incidents. Yes there have been minor incidents but every incident that has been lodged as a complaint or as a report to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is brought to the notice of the leadership on both sides. Some can be categorised as breaches or violations. In such cases, immediate remedial measures are taken, inquiries held and problems are rectified without recourse to any punitive measures.

When the SLMM brings to the notice of the organisation such incidents, immediate action is taken by holding inquiries, taking disciplinary action and providing relief to the victims if necessary.

Focus on the next round of talks
Most importantly attention will be focused more on humanitarian problems and the lack of implementation or interest or impediments in implementing measures agreed upon by both parties.

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