All Press Releases
One blunder govt has made is treating the Jaffna peninsula and Vanni as though they were similar - Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha
Jan 30, 2012
By Namini Wijedasa
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, advisor to the president on Reconciliation, has spoken openly and more emphatically on the need for the government to do more for people in areas affected by the war. Excerpts from the interview:
QUESTION: You are one of the few members of the government still talking actively about reconciliation. How would you define the term?
ANSWER: Reconciliation is a situation in which all people of this country are not only at peace but at ease with each other. This is because they are confident that the state, as a whole, treats all its members as equal and will not attempt to give undue advantages to one section. It is essentially a matter of creating confidence. My belief is that if there is mutual confidence, both friendship and working together will result. So I see my task mainly as trying to create better communication and confidence. I’m just an advisor, so all I can do is offer advice.
Q: What is the reaction of people in the north and east to your efforts?
A: On the suggestion of some advisory bodies I set up, we formed district and divisional reconciliation committees in December. I came back just yesterday from district meetings in Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu. I had divisional meetings in Oddusuddan, Puthukudiyiruppu and Chettikulam.
I found extremely positive attitudes in those areas, in general, to what the government has done but there were a few areas of worry and contention. I think people appreciated the fact that they could raise these issues in the presence of government administrators, civil liaison officers and the police.
Government endorsement of LLRC report in presenting it to the House
Jan 28, 2012
Statement by Hon. Nimal Siripala de Silva (Leader of the House) at the Sri Lanka Parliament upon tabling the final report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC)
The achievement of national reconciliation is one of the principal aims of the government after the eradication of terrorism. The reign of terror, which our country had to endure for thirty long years, was the main impediment to economic and social development in every sector. It is a matter or deep satisfaction to the government that it has been able to rid Sri Lanka of this menace. We now have the opportunity, which eluded us for so long, to derive the fullest benefit from our country’s natural strengths and, in particular, from the unique caliber of our human resources.
To do so, the first requirement is the spirit of inclusivity. We have to put behind us the anguish of a painful conflict and to confront the challenges of the future as one nation.
It is in this context that His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed, on 15th May 2010, the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation. The Commission submitted its Report to the President on 20th November 2011. His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa wishes to thank the Chairman and Members of the Commission for the conscientious and painstaking work they have done.
It is now my pleasure to submit their Report to this august Assembly, together with a brief statement which sets out the government’s initial response to the major recommendations contained in the Report.
A Ministry for Reconciliation is needed to implement LLRC recommendations
Jan 16, 2012
BY S VENKAT NARAYAN
Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, January 10: Sri Lanka should create a Ministry for Reconciliation to implement the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in its recently-released report, a Presidential Adviser has suggested.
The suggestion was made by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Reconciliation, in a presentation on "Reconciliation, Sri Lanka and the World" made here today at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a leading private think tank.
There is need for concerted action across the board to achieve genuine reconciliation. "Those anxious for reconciliation should endeavour to support government in setting up mechanisms to work quickly and imaginatively towards the goals laid out in the LLRC report. Unfortunately, there seems no urgency at the moment about implementation, or even allocating responsibility for the different tasks," he said.
No India-China rivalry in Sri Lanka: Prof Wijesinha
Jan 13, 2012
Elizabeth Roche
New Delhi: China has conveyed to Sri Lanka that it understands the primacy of the relationship between India and the island nation, a Sri Lankan MP and adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Tuesday. The India-China rivalry in Sri Lanka was predominantly a Western construct, Rajiva Wijesinha said, adding that at times some Sri Lankan groups too played up the perceived rivalry. Wijesinha, on a trip to New Delhi ahead of a 16-19 January visit to Sri Lanka by Indian foreign minister S.M. Krishna, was also critical of his government’s slow pace of reintegrating minority Tamils into the Sri Lankan political mainstream as he stressed the need to fasttrack the reconciliation process between the Tamils and the majority Sinhalese after the end of the almost three-decade-old civil war on the island nation in May 2009.
“Efforts to present Sri Lanka as a bone of contention between India and China are largely self-serving… given the tendency of the West to function in terms of binary opposites,” Wijesinha said, with regard to China.
Perspectives on Reconciliation
Jan 05, 2012
The Reconciliation for Peace Section of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies convened a panel discussion on the topic entitled 'Reconciliation – the way forward: an assessment of ongoing initiatives, a listing of productive possibilities' on 15 December 2011 at the Institute of Policy Studies in Colombo. The speakers comprised the Presidential Advisor on Reconciliation, Professor Rajiva Wijesinha, M.A. Sumanthiran, Member of Parliament and Tamil National Alliance, Mr Eran Wickramaratne, Member of Parliament, Mr V. Muralitharan, Deputy Minister of Resettlement and chaired by Ambassador Javid Yusuf, Founder-Secretary General, Peace Secretariat for Muslims and Senior Advisor, Ministry of External Affairs.
Presidential Advisor Professor Rajiva Wijesinha commenced his presentation by stating that there is a need to overcome the bitterness and suspicion that prompted the terrorism that plagued Sri Lanka for three decades. As much has been done to boost infrastructure development in the North there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of what has been done and this can affect the dividends of such initiatives from being reaped. The putting on record of what has been done would also serve the additional purpose of clarifying what remains to be done. As a prerequisite for development there is a need to provide teachers in the North with the essentials. Another area he identified as needing focus is coherent planning with regards to what is being provided. He proposed a model whereby soldiers worked together with those who need work as one that would assist considerably with reconciliation. Through working and playing together people establish lasting relationships, which has led to efforts to encourage project work as a component of the many educational exchanges that are taking place. The same principle applies to adults.
January 18, 2011
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