The Leader of the Opposition has stated that the government should enter into unconditional negotiations with the LTTE with the objective of achieving peace for our country.

On the other hand the President has stated that the government will enter into negotiations only on the basis of previously agreed conditions.

Both the present government and the previous government have had a series of discussions and negotiations with the LTTE to achieve the same objectives. The results of these negotiations are too well known to the people of this country to enumerate. These negotiations had a major weakness. They did not have the enthusiasm, backing and support of the greater majority of the people of this country as the country was divided even on a national issue such as this on narrow political lines.

Before entering into negotiations with the LTTE again, should not the government and the opposition, as the first step, and as an essential pre-requisite enter into unconditional negotiations with each other? Having arrived at a consensus the government can thereafter conduct negotiations with the LTTE.

Negotiations carried out on this basis, will be negotiations in strength and unity and have the backing of over ninety per cent of the people of this country.

What us more theLTTE will be well aware that these negotiations have the support of the vast majority of Sri Lankans. Such negotiations will cut across the narrow political and communal divide which has been the bane of our country. It will bring our people together again on a national issue.

Therefore, my recommendation is that, the government and the opposition conduct unconditional talks with each other immediately and agree on the basis of negotiations with the LTTE.

For the sake of the country and for the sake of those brave servicemen and policemen, who are sacrificing their lives and those innocents who are entrapped in the trauma of this choiceless, senseless war, it is the bounden duty of our political leaders to dump their petty political squabbles and power seeking gimmicks and negotiate with each other immediately on a national interest, a political basis to arrive at a consensus. They have to take principled stand in statesmen like manner and not a narrow, partisan stand for temporary political expediency.

Surely there is no other salvation, no other solution for this beleaguered country.

Will our leaders rise to the occasion? Will they get their priorities right?

Gratiaen Silva
Colombo.

Memories of Abdul Bakeer Markar
He had a fierce pride in his own honours

by Dr. Sarath Amunugama MP
When I was appointed as a cadet to the Ceylon Civil Service my first training assignment was in Kalutara district. As ACCS trainee I had to sit with the Kalutara Magistrate once a week and follow the proceedings from a high chair placed next to that august personage Mr. Madanayake.

Appearing before him were the leaders of the Kalutara Bar like Mr. Kingsley Wickremasinghe, Mr. Cooray, Mr. Thabrew, Mr. Cholomondely Goonewardene and Mr. Bakeer Markar. In those days there were few lawyers practising in Kalutara and we got to know each other very well.

Like many other lawyers at the Kalutara Bar, Mr. Abdul Bakeer Markar was also involved in local politics. While there were LSSP supporters like Cholomondely Goonewardene who gave leadership to the left, it was Kingsley Wickremasinghe, Cooray and Bakeer Markar who spearheaded the UNP activities in the district. I remember accompanying the Government Agent, Mr. W. Pathirana, who presided at an election in the Diyalagoda Ward in Beruwala. Bakeer Markar manned this election centre and was tireless in ensuring a UNP victory. He was fully committed to his party.

There were certain characteristics which I identified with the future Speaker. Firstly, he was always well dressed. In a Bar not well known for its sartorial elegance, Mr. Bakeer Markar was always neatly and fashionably dressed. He continued this habit to the end. Secondly, he gave his best to his clients. He made no distinction between the rich and the poor. He was always available and would fight to the last even in a simple case.

This commitment to the people was one of his greatest characteristics and made him a very popular politician in the Kalutara area. Thirdly, he was incorruptible. This must surely be a great tribute to a politician who coming from an area such as Beruwala could have found hundreds of ways of making money illegitimately. There would have been many occasions when the 'super rich' businessmen tried to buy him off. Unlike many of his contemporaries Bakeer Markar never succumbed to this temptation. He had a fierce pride in his own honour and died not an abundantly wealthyman.

Amidst the 'noveau riche' of Beruwala with their wedding cake houses Mr. Bakeer Markar, the Sri Lankan Muslim who had reached the highest position ever - lived and died in relative simplicity. This think is the greatest tribute we could pay to a patriotic politician.

Fourthly, he was never communal minded. Beruwala is a good example of a mixed electorate in which varying races, religions, castes, languages and political ideologies prevail. That he, and later his son Imitiaz, could weld together this cosmopolitan constituency into a peaceful unit is a wonderful instance of where good will and patent commitment to the welfare of every group has fostered mutual trust and understanding. At the funeral of this great man there were people from all communities and all walks of life who were unitedly tearful in their grief.

Fifthly, his own personal qualifications were of a high order. I think that one of the reasons for the increasing role of Muslims in this country is their innate capacity to fluently speak several languages. Today their ability to be trilingual with an excellent command of English, Sinhalese and Tamil has put them deservedly in the forefront of modernity.

Unfortunately the Sinhalese and Tamils have, due to the policies of callous and ignorant politicians have become backward looking 'mono-linguals' who cannot face modern challenges and keep looking back to a mythic past which gives them enough ammunition to attack each other. They should learn from the Muslim community which has acquired the tools of modern living peacefully and are not kept backward by self-seeking politicians.

In this Mr. Bakeer Markar has set a good example. He was fluent in all three languages - a skill that put him in good stead as Speaker of our House of Representatives. In this position he maintained the dignity of the House and maintained very liberal and friendly relations with the Press, the Public Service and the General Public. That the then Leader of the Opposition, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike paid a tribute to him on his relinquishing the post of Speaker, is testimony to his impartiality.

All in all Mr. Abdul Bakeer Markar was an outstanding Sri Lankan of his times. His son Imitiaz has all the attributes of his father that I have described in this article and I have no doubt that he will uphold, and indeed add to the proud heritage of the Bakeer Markars of Beruwala.