- The
week that was
Did
Jayalath meet LTTE in Madhu?
Two events of last week
seem to have set the stage for significant
developments on the political front in the near
future. The first relates to the alleged meeting
between Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane of the UNP and
Thamil Chelvam. The second centres round the
statement that the Leader of Opposition is
reported to have made at a press interview
suggesting that the government should have
unconditional talks with the LTTE.On May 29, Dr. Jayawardena visited the
Madhu Church along with a Catholic priest. He had
travelled there in an ICRC vehicle driven by a
Tamil driver named Pathmanathan. Jayawardena, who
is a life member of the ICRC had got this vehicle
to travel from Vavuniya to Madhu. He had also
obtained permission from the Ministry of Defence
for this trip. (full text)
- J.
R. J. - 92nd Birth Anniversary
He ushered Sri Lanka into the
21st Century
No one in his
right senses will deny that the Sri Lankan of
this century who made the greatest impact on the
country, vis-a-vis its future, was Junius Richard
Jayewardene. His entry into the political arena
when he was a member of the Bar signalled the
beginning of a new era in the history of Sri
Lanka, then known as Ceylon.The radical changes he has brought about
in this country may not have been to the liking
of many. But the fact is that these changes, made
for whatever reason, have had such an impact on
the country, that it will take many more
generations to come to make such lasting changes.
When he was alive, Dicky
Jayewardene, as he was known to those close to
him in his youth, was a man who walked with kings
but did not lose the common touch. With Dicky
Jayewardene all men counted, but not too much. He
was humble enough to seek advice from those more
experienced than he was, yet was great enough to
give good advice to those who sought it from him.
(full
text)
|
- Reviewing
its largely lethargic role
NAM
Summit goes introspective and calls for consensus
The question often asked, and not
yet convincingly answered, is whether
Non-Alignment, first expressed as a response to
the bipolar world, is still relevant with the end
of the Cold War. The newly independent countries
in Asia, Africa and Latin America were desirous
of creating an international environment in which
their newly won independence could be preserved.
This prompted the Afro-Asian nations to meet in
Bandung. Indonesia in 1955. Subsequently in 1961,
twenty-five developing nations held the first
Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Practically all the founding pioneers of the NAM
- Tito of Yugoslavia, Nehru of India, Soekarno of
Indonesia, Nasser of Egypt, and Nkhruma of Ghana
- are no longer alive. Yugoslavia, which hosted
the inaugural meeting and played a significant
role in the development of non-alignment, has
disintegrated into five different entities some
of them in deadly confrontation with each other. (full text)
- L
E G A L W A T C H
Is
there light at the end of the tunnel?
The Northern Ireland
Agreement - recently commended to this country by
the British High Commissioner as proof that there
is light at the end of the tunnel - is deserving
of critical study if only for the fact that it
appears to be working; and working with the
consent and will of the people.However, if it is to be of value as an
example of what can be done, it must be analysed
carefully and objectively. Self-serving
interpretations by different parties will not
bring us any nearer to solving our own problem.
At the outset it must be
emphasised that the significance of the Northern
Ireland Agreement for Sri Lanka does not lie in
any similarities of historical situation which,
as Dr Nalin De Silva pointed out in the daily
Island recently, is quite different. (full text)
|
.