It's truce time in Sri Lanka. Even though the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been observing a unilateral ceasefire since Christmas Eve, which the government had reciprocated, the formal ceasefire signed between Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Vellupillai Prabhakaran came into effect on 24 February. This truce deal has been brokered by the Norwegians, and is expected to be monitored by representatives of Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Full marks to the warring parties for being able to keep the Only Super Power away from the suddenly quiet battlefield.
The ethnic inferno between the Sinhala majority (14 million) and the Tamil minority (3.2 million) has been raging uninterrupted since 1983. The fire of hatred has left more than 64,500 dead, displaced 1.6 million and left disturbed the entire population. The flames once leaped across the straits and claimed the life of Rajiv Gandhi, then in the prime of his political career.
But will the ceasefire lead to lasting peace? It is too early to tell and the fact is that the last truce in 1995 lasted all of one hundred days, and the fighting got even more ferocious when it disintegrated. However, the chances of accommodation do look brighter this time, as both Wickremesinghe and Prabhakaran represent war-weary sides who now appear to be willing to give peace another chance. The biggest worry at this time is President Chandrika Kumaratunga's reluctance to support the peacefire process. After having helped do the ground work, she now feels left out.
Dante says that the gates of Hell have the legend: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!" Presumably, the gates of Heaven have a statement that is its exact opposite.