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Listen to the people

It appears that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam sponsored protest campaigns in the North and East on Saturday, the day that marked the first anniversary of the Ceasefire

Agreement between the organization and the Government of Sri Lanka.

The protest campaign met with mixed success, with Batticoloa seeing an almost total shutdown, but other areas not so seriously affected. In Trincomalee and Vavuniya in particular the various communities united to celebrate the anniversary.

The TULF-led Tamil National Alliance has also stated that it is of the view that the Government had failed to implement the CFA to the benefit of the Tamil people living in the North and East. TULF leaders have said that Tamil people still remain in camps for the internally displaced and they continue to suffer privations.

From the Government side, it welcomed the anniversary with a host of events and the main event was the releasing of White Pigeons at the Independence Square in Colombo.

Many institutions and homes also lit lamps at the auspicious time of 6.50 p.m. on Saturday to mark the event in what was clearly a heartwarming response to what has been achieved so far.

In interviews given to the press and on Television Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe showed cautious optimism about the process. He said he was happy with what had been achieved so far but that the tough part of the negotiations with the LTTE over a final settlement was still to come. "Overall the report card is good," he was quoted as saying.

Some other parties in the South, notably the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna marked the anniversary with protests. The JVP had threatened to bring hundreds of thousands of people opposed to the peace process to the city of Colombo in a march that would be so big that it could actually threaten the Government.

Although a sizeable number did join the march, it was only the JVP's core support group that participated, and in no way did they threaten the general peace. Police however had to use tear gas to disperse the protestors when they tried to push down barricades. The protest ended without any serious incidents of violence. The main opposition parties made criticisms and suggestions but indicated they were not against the process in toto.

These reactions go to indicate how the people at large view the peace process. It is now quite clear that the mass of the people of this country see the advent of peace as welcome even though some have reservations about certain aspects of the negotiations. The past year has shown us that there are two groups of critics of the peace initiatives. The smaller group comprises those who are totally opposed to it and want the country to go back to war. Although they may be vociferous, they have been shown up to be very small in number and are actually on the fringes of society. The bigger group of critics welcome the initiative but disagree with parts of the process or decisions that have been taken.

Saturday's events clearly showed these divisions among the people. Even those who do not back everything the Government has done or decided upon in the past year also joined in welcoming the anniversary.

A year without conflict after nearly twenty years of war is a major achievement without doubt. This year has also passed with the Government security forces showing very clearly that they are for peace and also that they have the sophistication to move from a war mode to that of peace smoothly and efficiently.

This year has also served to begin the process of healing and one of the best things to come out of the ceasefire has been the increased people-to-people contact between the North and South that should serve us well to effect a reconciliation between the two major communities.

It has also unfortunately served to allow some to forget how we lived during the war with all it's dangers and irritants.

The Government must be pleased at the overall reaction of the people to Saturday's anniversary. But this must not lead to complacency. It must continue to work hard towards peace and keep the momentum and interest high among the people.

It will never be possible to get everyone to agree to the peace deal or indeed even the process. Saturday's reactions as well as the trend of the general debate up to that time showed that most people in the country have an opinion about this most important of matters.

The negotiators need to listen to the people who are offering constructive criticism. Until now the process has been carried out with a commendable degree of transparency. We hope this will be so in the future as well.

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