President
tells NAM he will turn Tigers into a political force
President Mahinda Rajapaksa told a
gathering of world leaders yesterday that his Government,
even in the face of extreme provocation by the LTTE,
continues in its attempts to transform this dictatorial
terrorist group that engages in violence, into a political
force that would engage peacefully with the State and
with other political parties and participate in a democratic
political process.
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the Non-Aligned
Movement Summit meeting yesterday Pic by Sudath
Silva |
Addressing the Summit of the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) in the Cuban capital Havana, President
Rajapaksa made specific reference to the Sri Lankan
experience in tackling terrorism saying the people of
Sri Lanka have suffered for long years at the hands
of ‘a most ruthless terrorist outfit which resorts
to the most hateful forms of terror.’
“Suicide bombing, mine attacks,
massacres, indiscriminate armed assault, and the forcible
conscription of young children for battle, comprise
their modes of action. They indulge in the progressive
elimination of all political leaders, human rights activists,
journalists and all those who do not approve their methods
and agree with their views and objectives,” he
said.
The President said all efforts taken
by successive governments, including his, to enter into
a dialogue with this group, have so far failed.
He also made a call to NAM as well
as the United Nations to strongly renew the commitment
to fight terrorism whenever and wherever it decides
to raise its ugly head and together find innovative
means and ways to combat terrorism, as it poses a grave
threat to the political and economic well-being, sovereignty
and territorial integrity of nation States.
The President said there is a great
deal of difference between terrorism and liberation.
Liberation, unlike terrorism, is a creative and a humane
force. It is a humane vehicle of new visions for the
progressive change of power structures on the one side
and socio-economic structures on the other. Terrorism,
by contrast, is a destructive force, - a de-humanizing
force, - that cannot in any way be justified, he said.
Here are excerpts of the President’s
speech:
Our country has been a member of the
Non-Aligned Movement from its very inception, 45 years
ago. Sri Lanka’s association with the Movement,
in fact, precedes the Belgrade Conference. We take modest
pride in having played a role in the founding of the
Non-Aligned Movement as one of the 5 convenors of the
Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in 1955, - a meeting
which indeed inspired the birth of our Movement.
Let me express my deep gratitude to
His Excellency Fidel Castro and the Government of Cuba,
for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to us.
His Excellency is not only the longest serving current
head of a non aligned government. He is also the world’s
longest ruling current head of government as well. His
Excellency is also the first head of government to take
the leadership of the developing world for a second
time - the first occasion being 27 years ago at the
non-aligned summit in Havana in 1979. I take the opportunity
to wish President Fidel Castro speedy recovery.
Let me also congratulate Malaysia
for her wise stewardship of our Movement through challenging
times.
To Haiti, and St Kitts and Nevis,
I join in extending a warm welcome as they join our
family of Non-Aligned nations.
We are now a group of 118 countries.
Our movement continues to grow, despite ill-informed
statements by some that we are now irrelevant. We constitute
over half of the membership of the United Nations. Yet,
our ability to effectively influence developments at
a global level remains limited.
As Cuba, a country which has been
associated with our Movement for long years, assumes
the leadership of NAM, we are provided an opportunity
to take a hard and honest look at ourselves: And to
do so in order that we may identify the problems that
now confront our Movement.
The ideals of NAM have always been
close to our hearts. They have served to provide a strong
influence on our vision and ideology, over the years.
The dedicated leadership provided to the Movement by
its founders, including Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike
of Sri Lanka, has been a great source of inspiration
for me.
When I look back on my own life I
find that it is from their vision, their courage and
their convictions that I have drawn strength and inspiration,
first as a student and then as a young Member of Parliament,
from 1970, to step into the forefront of public service
in my country.
Our strong support for our brothers
and sisters in many countries of Africa and Asia, who
were at that time still under colonial rule, and my
support for the just cause of the Palestinian people,
were the result of my commitment to the ideals of NAM.
At the inception of our movement, our objectives included
decolonization and the ending of apartheid. We successfully
accomplished these objectives by acting through our
united strengths. Today however, the pursuit of individual
interests seems to have weakened our pursuit of common
goals.
The political rights of the Palestinian
people remain to be realized. Human rights, including
social and economic rights such as the right to development
still remain to be achieved. We have also to yet achieve
the democratization of global governance. At the same
time, the problems of poverty, disease, hunger, under-development,
environmental degradation and rapid urbanization, and
the problems of conflict, continue to afflict many of
our countries.
Excellencies, it is also evident that
State sovereignty, civil society and the rule of law
are increasingly threatened by the transnational networking
in illicit arms, terrorism, narcotics, money-laundering
and crime. Terrorism is, without doubt, the most de-humanizing
and politically de-stabilizing phenomenon of our time.
We must also address the important
fact that today the United Nations is also under pressure
to change. We agree that change is needed. But the way
the process is being followed and managed does not inspire
sufficient confidence that reform and change in the
United Nations would definitely be in the best interest
of the majority of the world’s people.
The Non-Aligned Movement should take
an initiative in trying to bring about balanced change
in the United Nations as well as in other multilateral
institutions. It is vital that our Movement should take
this role upon itself. Let the Non-Aligned Movement
ensure that reform will increase, - and not decrease,
- the relevance of the United Nations.
Excellencies, my own political journey
has been both long and full of challenges. Coming as
I do from the far South of our country, I have grown
to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of village life.
The beauty of rural life is fast disappearing since
the benefits of the process of globalization have failed
to filter down to our rural areas.
Most of the development that occurred
in our country after independence was centred on the
towns. In terms of access to basic infrastructure facilities
and public utilities, many rural areas fell behind.
This resulted in the migration of people from village
to town, and the accompanying problems of rapid urban
migration which are well known to us all.
After my election as President of
our country in November last year, we have adopted a
development strategy which is pro-poor on the one side,
and ensures more regionally balanced growth on the other.
Our new development strategy provides for social and
economic growth that is both comprehensive and participatory.
Our objective is to raise the level of overall development,
while raising the income levels and well-being of the
poor who constitute around half of the country’s
population. As we move towards this objective, we are
also empowering people through community development
projects at grassroots level.
But, as in the case of all our developing
countries, for the economic strategy of my government
to be successful it is essential that we the Non-Aligned
Nations stand together to ensure that the developing
countries gain adequate access to the policy making
processes in international financing and trade.
Let our Movement take decisions. Let
us make both decisive and practical statements on these
matters, and follow through effectively on our decisions,
lest we become irrelevant and thereby fail our people.
Over 2500 years ago, one of the greatest
philosophers and religious teachers of all times, Gautama
the Buddha, - the Enlightened One, - said:
Mattasukhapariccaga
Passe ce vipulam sukham
Caje matta sukham dharo
Sampassam vipulam sukham.
(Dhammapada: Chapter XX1:
Verse 290)
“If by giving up a lesser happiness
one may behold a greater one, let the wise man give
up the lesser and look to the greater one”.
Excellencies, the will to act collectively
for the greater good of all still remains the vital
spark of our Movement. But today it needs to be fanned
and fuelled. It is up to us, members of the Movement,
to undertake this task. And let us do so with renewed
hope and determination.
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