Unity is the need of the hour for everlasting peace, says Sri Lankan Church leaders

Colombo, Nov. 4, 2004 – The breakdown of peace process in the island nation of Sri Lanka, torn by insurgency and sectarian violence, is linked to lack of common initiative taken by politicians, according to Christian leaders.

"We want to see that the government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) start the peace talks without dragging it," expressed Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, director of the Catholic bishops' National Centre for Social Communications, during a recent interview with UCA News.

With media speculating that the stalled peace talks will resume in November, Father Fernando explained that the parties need to agree on an agenda for the talks.

The Catholic Church spokesperson echoed Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo, who called recently for a "united" and "honest" commitment to the peace process in Sri Lanka.

Peace talks between the previous government and the LTTE broke down in April 2003 and remain stalled under the government formed earlier this year under the alliance led by President Chandrika Kumaratunga. They began after a cease–fire agreement in February 2002 halted fighting in an ethnic conflict that killed up to 80,000 people since 1983.

A major hurdle in the negotiations has been the LTTE's demand to head interim local administrations while working toward more autonomy for predominantly Tamil areas of the country in the north and east. Many Sinhalese, who form close to 75 percent of the population and are concentrated in southern part of the island, see this as almost the same as the former LTTE demand for a separate state.

However, lack of consensus between the two major political alliances in the south, which have alternately served as the government and opposition, also has been cited by observers as an obstacle to the peace process as a whole.

Father Fernando said the first thing the predominantly Sinhalese political parties of the south should do is come together and reach an agreement on an agenda for restarting the peace talks. The LTTE, he added, also will have to modify its stance to satisfy Tamil people's clamor for peace.

Father Fernando criticized recent killings of intelligence personnel, supporters of Tamil political parties opposing the LTTE and even journalists. The LTTE is blamed for most of the killings. "If they are working for the Tamil people it should be noted that they are also killing their own Tamil people," he said.

Divisions in the LTTE itself surfaced a few months ago when its military commander in the east broke with the group's mainly northern leadership.

The LTTE and the opposition were of the same mind, however, in rejecting President Kumaratunga's initiative to form the National Advisory Council on Peace and Reconciliation.

The opposition boycotted the initial meeting of the council on Oct. 4, at which Archbishop Gomis identified conditions he saw as necessary for peace.

The quest for peace, he said, must start from "a deep and honest commitment to find a solution ... that should be inspired by a genuine love for the country and the people and not political or personal gain."

He also highlighted the need for compromise and for working with the situation at hand toward a better future rather than dwelling on the past. But unity toward the common goal of peace he called essential.

"If someone or some party thinks that it could usher peace all alone without the cooperation of the others it would simply be a myth as time has shown us. Therefore unity is a vital factor," he said.

Since then, the head of the Malwatte chapter of Buddhist monks, one of the two most influential Buddhist orders in the country, also has urged unity.

The local "Daily News" reported Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero as saying in response to criticism of the national peace council, "What is important is not to criticize from outside but to join the peace effort and put forward views." It also reported him saying monks of the chapter would boycott functions attended by politicians "if politicians are not going to listen to our requests" to forge consensus on national issues.