Peace with Dignity

As Sri Lankans sometimes we wonder whether the Peace in Sri Lanka is an illusion but some rare moment there are rays of hope that peace can become a reality in Sri Lanka.

As peace loving people, most of us would love to see peace comes back to our beautiful island nation. There is a saying that “The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war” In other words no matter how noble the cause of fighting/war, at every possible chance we should strive to reach for peace.

What is peace? How can we achieve peace? Especially given the long history of violence that we experience in Sri Lanka. If for instance we believe peace as an absence of violence and war, can we ever achieve peace?

We can attribute many reasons for destroying the peace in Sri Lanka. We can analyze the history of Sri Lanka from the very beginning to the recent past and there have been many dark and unfortunate phases that many are ashamed and cannot be defended. There are many perpetrators as well as victims in this whole saga of events.

Without living in the past, we need to move forward. Not by forgetting the past but by learning from the past and with sheer determination not to let some of the gross injustice happened to our fellow Sri Lankans ever happen again.

We understand that there is a tension between the national security and human rights. Maintaining that delicate balance knowing that all citizens of Sri Lanka have a right to expect equal treatment is the responsibility of the Sri Lankan government. As an elected government, the Sri Lankan government has to stay above an organization like LTTE. It is not a valid argument to say that LTTE is violating the human rights hence the Sri Lankan government selectively can trample the rights of some members of the Tamil community. Sri Lankan government should at all times, while making every effort to eradicate terrorism has to respect the Geneva Convention on Human Rights.

As peace loving Sri Lankans we all should urge, all parties concerned to put an end to this senseless violence and resume negotiations now to reach a peaceful resolution in conformity with international law and respect of human dignity.
Peace Lover