Peace and War

The UNP wants peace talks with the Tigers. The door to peace is always open, cabinet minister and deputy minister of defence Anuruddha Ratwatte was quoted saying in the state controlled press. Prabakaran on the so called 'heroes day' of the terrorist organisation, declared that he was willing to talk peace. But the North- East conflict rages on.

Last week we were told that the main military offensive 'Jayasikurui' the objective of which is to open up a road from Vavuniya to Jaffna had been called off but almost immediately informed that another offensive : 'Operation Edi Bala' had been launched.

Meanwhile, government propagandists are trying hard to demonstrate that the PA had done much better than the UNP in military operations. Cartographic illustrations in technicolour attempt to show that the area under LTTE control has been reduced to a great extent after the advent of the Chadrika Kumaratunga government. But reports from the North and East say that the Tigers have infiltrated the East such as the Batticaloa region very successfully and after dark it is they who call the shots. Even the Jaffna Peninsula which to a very great extent had been cleared of terrorists is once again being infiltrated and LTTE cadres are operational particularly after sundown, people from Jaffna say. After the collapse of Kilinochchi, the Jaffna peninsula is vulnerable to direct onslaughts and some speculate that the LTTE 's next offensive would not be in the Wanni but in the peninsula and the use of a helicopter gunship which reports say the LTTE now operates and two micro light air craft also said to be in their postion in such operations are being projected.

Government spokespersons through the media however attempt to paint a different picture where the government forces areprojected to be in control.

Political analysts say that the LTTE after scoring the military victory at Kilinochchi has also scored a propaganda victory in the western world with their call for peace because the government instead of responding to this offer, last week opened up another military operation.

This is however not the complete military- political scenario. The provincial councils election campaigns are about to start off. Given the present political environment it is very unlikely that any political party in the fray will attempt to forward their plans for peace at the hustings. An electorate of enlightened voters would however expect political parties to forward their agendas for peace but this is unlikely to happen. Even though the majority of the Sri Lanka electorate is enlightened and educated they are swayed by political forces not concerned with national interests. All signs in the pre election campaign point out that thuggery and violence will be major factors. For the next month or so this will be the prime concern of the two major political parties.

Thus, be it war or peace, Prabakaran and his terrorist cronies will be happy in having enemies like this.

Bookies at cricket

The Gentlemen's Game has within two decades degenerated into the game of the bookies and we Sri lankans need not be told about all that.

The latest bombshell exploded in Adelaide when two Australian mega stars confessed that they took money from an Indian bookmaker four years ago to provide 'pitch and weather information during a tour of Sri Lanka and Pakistan'

Being laymen and not cricketing pundists our opinion was that the best source of information about the pitch would be ground boys and the weather, the boys and girls of the meteorological stations. But let that pass. These two Australians had earlier accused former Pakistan captain, Salim Malik of offering them bribes to fix matches. The plot thicken further with the news that both the Australian Board and the International Cricket Board knew all about Waugh and Warne and that they had been fined but the matter was kept confidential.

Those who believed and still believe that cricket was and still is a gentleman's game will be wondering whom they could trust in these circumstances. Even the gentleman at the center whose 'word is law' too be bribed by bookmakers.

The degeneration commenced with the commercialisation of cricket two decades ago. And undoubtedly it will sink to the depths of international soccer.

To save the game, the first step that should be taken is to clean up the controlling boards of cricket administration at the national level. Rules should be framed that those even remotely connected with bookies be banned from holding office in these establishments. Justice should not only be done but appear to be done. After that these boards be required to enforce strict vigilance and discipline on cricketers. Those found guilty be exposed- and not covered up as what happened with the two Australians - and banned from the game. It is undeniable that cricket has become a business. Since nothing can be done about it, let it at least be run as an honest business. Cricket authorities should be thinking of new stringent laws to save the game