Rajapaksa, Fonseka fail to address peace issue in manifestos - distinguished citizens’ group says

A group of concerned Sri Lankan citizens calling themselves the Friday Forum has told both main presidential candidates – President Mahinda Rajapaksa and General Sarath Fonseka – that their election manifestos fail to address the crucial issue of peace – after the end of the war.

“While you both contributed to winning the recent war, you should be aware of the dangers of losing the peace. We note with distress a major lacuna in both manifestos. Neither manifesto adequately addresses the basic rights of many communities living in Sri Lanka, particularly the Tamils, Muslims and Up-Country Tamils and other minorities. Their long standing grievances and aspirations are not given due attention. Nor have you articulated a credible process of restructuring our state and writing our constitution to ultimately arrive at a plural and cohesive society, where all our people feel they can with equality and justice participate in national life,” the statement issued by former, distingushed diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala on behalf of the non-partisan group said on Wednesday. 

The group comprises Rev Prof. Bellanwila Wimalaratne Thero, Archbishop Oswald Gomis, Bishop de Chickera, Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, Ms. Jezima Ismail, Professor Ms. Savithri Goonasekera, Justice C.W. Vigneswaran, K. Neelakandan, Prof. W D Lakshman, Ranjit Fernando, Ms. Sithie Tiruchelvam, J.C. Weliamuna, Dr.A.C.Visvalingam, Ms Manouri Muthetuwegama, Namel Weeramuni, Prof.Gananath Obeysekere, Prof.Arjuna Aluwihara, Dr. Anura Ekanayake, Mahen Dayananda, Dr. Deepika Udagama, Ms. Suriya Wickramasinghe, Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Suresh de Mel, Prashan de Viser, Ahilan Kadirgamar, Dr. Ms. N. Selvy Thiruchandran, R. Surendran PC and C. Jayaratne. 

“The failure to address this issue of great historical and national importance does not bode well for the future of our country. We may be condemned to the scourge of community tensions and a divided society for many more years to come unless sincere and meaningful political guarantees are made at this moment. We, therefore, urge you even at this late hour to present the contours of such political proposals. We trust you have both given extensive consideration to this most pressing issue facing the country. In our opinion, the various debates and the numerous proposals on the aspects of our constitution, our state and society are sufficiently rich for you to put forward an informed set of political proposals for public consideration. We must not lose this historic opportunity,” the group said. 

The group, including a considerable number of elder citizens who have served the country with distinction in various capacities, said it is an informal gathering of concerned citizens who have voluntarily come together to deliberate and make representations on vital issues of national concern. 

It said this was not only a plea on behalf of minority groups but from, “those of us of the majority community, for the sake of our own sense of self respect and self worth, most earnestly need and desire to live in a society based on justice and equity for all Sri Lankans.”