Sri Lanka's violence
Wednesday's bomb blast and gun battles between Tamil rebels and government troops right in Colombo's financial hub which killed at least 18 people and injured around 100 others is living proof that violence still prevails in Sri Lanka.
It also highlights the military's failure to support President Chandrika Kumaratunga in her bid to negotiate with the Tamil Tigers and her commitment to bring an end to the country's 14- year-old civil war.
The rebels' deadly attack, many believe, was targeted at the new high-rise World Trade Center, the symbol of the country's economic prosperity. It stunned the world because it was carried out at a location where foreign nationals usually gather to conduct business in Sri Lanka.
"This reflects that they (the Tamil rebels) do not care about international opinion," commented Sri Lankan foreign ministry spokesman Ravinatha Aryasinha, obviously referring to the fact that of the 96 injured in the attack, 32 were foreigners.
Although no foreigners were killed, the bombing has scared foreign tourists from visiting Sri Lanka, and could worsen its already meager foreign exchange earnings.
Waging an ethnic war which has killed more than 50,000 people has proven expensive for Sri Lanka -- not only in lives, but also for the economy, which has suffered a great deal as a result of declining foreign investment and slow growth.
Worse still, there is no sign that the bloody war will soon end, especially after Wednesday's bombing. The Tamil rebels, despite their denial of involvement in Wednesday's terrorist act, have thus proven to the world that they still remain a potential threat to the Colombo government even though government troops have taken control of their strongholds in the Jaffna peninsula, the country's northern region.
To counter the internal insurgency by the Tamil rebels, Sri Lanka has to beef up its defense spending, which last year amounted to US$1 billion, or more than 35 percent of the nation's annual budget. To compensate for the increase in war costs, Colombo has had to cut about $500 million from its yearly food subsidies. Hence, there has been an increase of about 75 percent in the price of bread over the past two years, creating an overwhelming burden on average Sri Lankans.
No country can keep prices down while fighting a war. Sri Lanka's years of instability has also led to some labor unrest and growing unemployment.
Given all this, we are of the opinion that Sri Lanka's military should give more support to President Kumaratunga's policy of devolving power to the Tamil minority in a predominantly Sinhalese nation -- a pledge that Kumaratunga made after assuming office in 1994, which she has not been able to implement due to a lack of support from the army.
At the same time, those who have helped supply the Tamil rebels with weapons should also be punished and, when necessary, brought before the International Court of Justice for their participation in helping a terrorist movement.
History has shown that there were times when dialog was more fruitful in resolving political differences and conflicts than the use of guns or other types of killing machines.