A home grown solution turns into a home grown nightmare

I ask myself if the leaders representing the North and East and the elected Government are talking at cross purposes on a completely different set of parameters and hence cannot and will not EVER be able to agree on even a basis to negotiate. I cannot personally see any indication on either side by either party to compromise. The stand taken in the media is diametrically opposed to finding a solution. The identification of the problem is also very different.

The recent utterances by Sambanthan and more recently by Sivagnanam Shritharan MP who said Eelam is their ultimate goal is not conducive to a start in negotiations. No matter what one would say, in negotiations, one starts at extreme ends and then come to a compromise. We have had 65 years of negotiations that have proved fruitless. After all when the Sri Lanka flag was discussed, long ago, the Tamil members disassociated themselves from the final version, and REFUSED to approve it. To this day this refusal is a sore point and a thorn, where the Tamil leaders said we at no stage agreed to this flag as the national flag of Sri Lanka, and so we will not have to hoist it or respect it. That point is galling to patriots!

Politicians in SL are survivors, first and foremost. They will sell their souls to survive and say anything which will endear them to their electorate, to ensure they get back into Parliament of other similar position. In this their honesty is called into question, which when looked in the context of a peaceful resolution to the problem, the likelihood of a speedy end to the issue is not even in the realms of possibility.

No solution can be imposed from outside. No amount of pressure will move the parties together. It is simply up to the parties within Sri Lanka to get together and work out a deal acceptable to all parties. This home grown solution is long overdue, and as a government which has made so many promises and commitments about a home grown solution, does not seem in any haste to even begin this process.

It is important to realize that a democratically elected government has a duty to make every effort to find a solution despite the lack of interest amongst the TNA, unless they get their way. They must make a good faith attempt and make clear if the TNA demands in the context of their position are unreasonable if that is the case and proceed on their own.