"The People". Here the concept of People’s Councils in all the 14,000 Grama Sevakas could be a major contribution to make this happen..!!!

Reconciliation is a phased process and people have to be central in it says Gandhi Centre
September 18, 2010, 6:04 pm



by a Special Correspondent


Reconciliation to be successful has to be a phased process and a rationally thought out evolution.

It does not take place because of an agreement between a few leaders or because of a few signatures on a document. If one is serious about it, it has to be looked at from a much longer perspective. Central in this process has to be the citizens of one’s country, "The People". Here the concept of People’s Councils in all the 14,000 Grama Sevakas could be a major contribution to make this happen said the representatives of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre in their submissions to the Presidential Commission on "Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation", and subsequently at an interview with this writer.



Mr Navin Gooneratne, Patron of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre (MGC), Dr Mohamed A Saleem, the President of the Mahatma Gandhi Centre, Mr Arjuna Hulugalle, and Major General Kamal Fernando, Board Members, represented the Centre. Dr Lionel Weerakoon, coordinator of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Development (SARD), was also associated with the presentation. The group made their submissions on Monday the 13th September 2010.



The Centre’s submission focused primarily on reconciliation. Its thrust was to elaborate on a common platform so that the virtues of reconciliation can take root and prosper across our country. It was meant not only to remedy past mistakes but also to address emerging issues.



The submission avoided a post mortem of what went wrong in the past, but concentrated on a format it has conceptualized based on empirical knowledge. One lesson it reiterated and it was that "under no circumstance can this country allow a repeat of what it has gone through in the last thirty years."







Realities of Reconciliation



The position of the MGC is that reconstruction alone of damaged infrastructure or building new ones piecemeal cannot be equated with reconciliation.



Rather, it might even increase victim frustration as many of them already have come to feel neglected from post conflict normalization efforts of the government. Therefore, helping everyone’s capacity to rebuild at the same time seems critical for reconciliation, and to lay a solid foundation for sustainable peace and communal harmony. Once the virtue of co-existence is rooted at the grassroots level through the participation of the people, it will be easier to transform the perceived unjust, social relationships.



Reconciliation will be effective only if fairness rules and justice systems are set out so that people can trust each other for sharing of economic, political and social endowments in the country.



It is only in such an environment that hatred be transformed to forgiveness which is the basis for true reconciliation.



Basic Platform for Reconciliation Process: Self Reliant Villages



A weakened democracy with people sidelined from policy decisions and development will be defective, warned the Gandhi Centre. This democratic deficit can nurture in hibernation, revolutionary visions based on hatred which are likely to rupture the country in the near future.



This is more so because of the regional disparities with wide scale poverty, unemployment, development inequality and under-provision of public goods especially in the war affected areas. All these can make them fertile grounds for youth recruitment to engage in militancy.



A commitment to governance based on self reliant villages administered by People’s Councils can rectify several of these shortcomings swiftly with financial inputs, which the country can afford, instead of waiting for donor inputs which will be slow in the future.







Reconstruction of the war ravaged areas is urgent



The immediate need is the reconstruction of the war affected areas.



Every post conflict returnee to the village of origin has to be resettled. Each person has to be engaged in constructive activities to rehabilitate lives. Only the affected people are able in reality to retrace their homes, their neighbours and the village boundaries. Therefore, an organized structure involving the people is the most realistic, effective and transparent way to achieve this.



The MGC representatives describing a recent visit to resettling villages near Mankulam (Mullaitivu District) revealed that a substantial number of households are female (widow) headed, and poverty is pervasive.



Although the village receives food rations from an international agency it was learnt that it will be discontinued shortly.



The Resettlement Villages are full of widowed mothers as parents had given them in marriage very young as protection against forced recruitment. Despair and the lack of confidence in the future seemed an acute trauma the communities have to free themselves from.



It is vital that the present pitiable plight of these (resettling) people should not become a plaything for political or personal ends. A large number of persons labeled ‘resettled’ are still living under tents, and in a month’s time they will be experiencing the seasonal rains. Illness will manifest and depression of the highest order will prevail.







Reconciliation and perceptions of discrimination



Reconciliation is looked at differently by the different communities admitted the representatives of the MGC.



On the subject of the perceptions of discrimination, the importance of communication between the communities was emphasized and the learning of the two national languages was an essential factor to achieve this.



In addition the teaching of English has to get priority.



English has always been of great significance to the minorities. It was one of the reasons which enabled the Tamils to get Government jobs in Colonial times. In recent times it has given a substantial momentum to the development of the Muslim community in the various professions.



Had the English language been given equal status as the two national languages from the nineteen fifties, the history of this country may have been significantly different.



The Tamils, and to a lesser degree the Muslims, would not have felt alienated, and the English speaking Sri Lankans, particularly the Burghers would have remained in the country. They would have remained, worked very hard and made the country prosperous as has occurred in Singapore and India.



Another aspect in the process of reconciliation will be to create opportunities for skills training.



Technical Institutes should be established in every Pradeshiya Sabha and Agricultural Centres in every village. These institutions should be similar to the Gandhigram Universities and schools. Those institutions are where the campuses are embedded in the villages. They do not have the pompous structures that we have in our tertiary institutions. Such institutions can be set up with minimum funds. Supervision to maintain standards is, however, vital.



A new breed of politicians will emerge



The Commissioners questioned the representatives on the role of the politician in the model the Gandhi Centre is promoting. The experience of the Gandhi Centre is that ideally village dynamics should be apolitical. This, the MGC representatives admitted will be difficult in the context of the highly politicized society we are living in.



However, everyone agrees that the present scenario cannot continue.



This is a historic moment, the Gandhi Centre maintained, where with a good leadership a new political culture can emerge, leading to a fresh breed of politicians.



This new group of politicians will pay greater attention to the macro issues of the regions through in-depth studies and profile themselves on implementing larger regional initiatives.



This will spare the public from having to line up for hours, as they do now, to meet politicians to attend to trivial matters. The facilitators at the People’s Councils could attend to such matters.







The workings and benefits as a result of constituting People’s Councils







The Commissioners questioned the representatives of the Gandhi Centre of their experience pertaining to the working of the People’s Councils.



The Centre has started a People’s Council in the Dambadeniya Electorate. It is with the voluntary participation of the people. Some of the salient features of People Council highlighted by the MGC representatives were the following:



1. Regular consultation between the representatives and interest groups on all issues of the village has led to social cohesion







2. Village Resource inventories and land use plan







3. Coordinated people pressure for efficiency on various government officers







4. Better bargaining power with Banks and other financial institutions. Getting Banks to set up depots in the village for micro-finance.







5. Village Share Holder Company and joint Investment with Commercial Sector







6. Job targeted skill development including computer literacy and learning of English.







7. Enterprise diversification.







8. Better security and surveillance







9. Settling of disputes by the elders as conciliators



10.Nurturing Spirituality in the village, leading to harmony and better relations with the other ethnic groups.







The long road to Reconciliation







The Representatives of the Mahatma Gandhi admitted that their proposal is only a part of the long road to Reconciliation, but it is a significant one for an evolutionary process to bring about Peace and Stability to the country.



An encouraging message was received by the Centre from a commentator in India after reading the submission. It read:



"My congratulations on presenting a truly humane, just and realistic paper on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation. This type of thinking can only be reflected by the Gandhi Centre which in true spirit is the sane voice of people . I fully agree with the views expressed and strongly feel that to ensure that such a situation does not arise in future, people centred model Gandhi centre has evolved must be followed.







I pray that sane voices like yours be taken note of by those whom God has placed to govern".



(A copy of the submission can be handed over to anyone from Mahatma Gandhi Centre, 22/17 Kalyani Road Colombo 6. Tel no: 2501825)

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