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Peace and development - Daily News Editorial
"Of course, Sri Lanka is in the process of putting things right
on the domestic front and is making the LLRC report the basis of national
reconciliation moves but attempts by some of the preponderant powers of the
world to brow beat her on perceived rights questions could hamper this country's
efforts to establish normalcy at the desired pace", states the Daily News in a
timely editorial on Monday (Feb 21).
The editorial in a critical overview of the cynical attempts on
some self interested parties at underpinning the reconciliation roadmap at work
stresses the there is no trade-off between peace and development.
Full text of the Daily News Editorial on Monday(21st Feb, 2012).
There is no trade-off between peace and development and
President Mahinda Rajapaksa did well to underscore the mutually-reinforcing
nature of the two factors. Addressing the cosmopolitan audience aboard the
Fujimaru ship recently which weighed anchor at the Colombo harbour under the
Ship for World Youth programme, the President stressed that there is no peace
without development and no development without peace.
This truth is now almost universally acknowledged and accounts
for the bulk of the UN's operations worldwide, but is swiftly forgotten by those
major powers which tend to think in Realpolitik terms, especially in connection
with their self interest. These considerations need to be dwelt on because not
all the powers of any considerable weight seem to be guided by them in their
handling of international relations. For instance, it does not seem to dawn on
some of them that developing countries should now be given the opportunity to
grow and prosper. Sri Lanka, for instance, has just come out of a prolonged
spell of conflict and instability and is badly in need of more space and
opportunity to grow and prosper but not all sections of the international
community seem to place any primacy on these needs.
The persistence with which some sections of the West in
particular are intent on deriding Sri Lanka in some forums of the world,
indicates a malicious intent on their part to deny this country even the
slightest 'breathing space' to concentrate on the task of development. We have
in mind the upcoming UNHRC sessions where some well known nebulous allegations
are expected to be hurled once again at this country.
Of course, Sri Lanka is in the process of putting things right
on the domestic front and is making the LLRC report the basis of national
reconciliation moves but attempts by some of the preponderant powers of the
world to brow beat her on perceived rights questions could hamper this country's
efforts to establish normalcy at the desired pace.
Essentially, what Sri Lanka's critics are aiming at by keeping
so-called human rights and connected issues alive, is the spurring and
sustenance of divisive political issues within this country. For instance, by
making the issues at the centre of the controversial Darusman report the
continued focus of domestic politics, Sri Lanka's critics could keep some of our
communities at loggerheads with the state. Thus, Sri Lanka would be denied the
opportunity of ushering development and sustaining it, provided swift, vigorous
moves are made in the direction of implementing the important recommendations of
the LLRC report.
But Sri Lanka needs a breather from divisive politics. It is no
secret that the forces of communalism are far from spent in this country.
Efforts to keep divisive politics alive in this country could have the effect of
energizing ethnicity and such a consequence bodes ill for this country. But this
is the bald truth and this is why the ongoing machinations of some of the bigger
powers with regard to Sri Lanka must be closely watched, exposed and defused.
Besides, no more time should be lost on the question of
restoring complete normalcy in this country. We have a handy tool in the form of
the LLRC report. This needs to be implemented post-haste to enable domestic
peace and calm to flourish. It will help in frustrating the inimical moves
against this country by Sri Lanka's critics both locally and internationally.
But the issue of equal and great significance is the
interdependence of peace and development. This applies in equal measure to both
domestic and international politics. If the international community does not
consider it important to help constructively in the rejuvenation of developing
countries, it would be only paving the way for an increasingly unstable world
where nobody would be safe. This principal truth needs to be borne in mind by
all as we go along. Hopefully, the world would prove wiser.
Courtesy: Daily News