A paper by Ebrima Sall of the Nordic Africa Institute called for a reflection on the intensification of violence in Africa over the last 15 years and the various kinds of violence that coexist in the different societies: physical, structural and symbolic.

An article which has been published in the papers cries for shame regarding our inability to produce human values in our country and the increasing levels of violence we are just going through every day.

Shame also comes to our mind when we read that after a Brazilian man was shot by the British police when he was taken as a suspect suicide bomber a poll organized by YOUGOV for The Economist (July-August 2005) found that the public believed that the police were right to shoot him!

We do not only have to live with shame but fear of violence and forced to accept the crisis of the very essence of our country as one: this is the year 2006 and Sri Lanka is not a modern country, it is a country under a low intensity war, its labour force is under the international requirements of education and expertise and the society appears to be very fragmented on different basis, among them political ideologies or maybe interests. Economically we basically depend on remittances of the ones who left due to lack of opportunities!

How do we find an element to keep our country together? Can we ask more from the common citizen?

We have tried to understand the roots of the conflict, but the situation has evolved into a different kind of conflict, one which is basically separatist in nature. Violence has been used for the collective survival of some groups. How do these groups use violence in its different forms to survive and remain in power? What is the root of corruption?

This particular scenario of an armed conflict situation coexisting with extended corruption represents one of the most explosive combinations leading to an insertion of violence in our society as a mean to survive. It can be expressed in many ways: through character assassination or through the use of force.

The LTTE uses severe punishment and different forms of violence to dominate populations even beyond the borders of the country. Attacks on civilian population are used commonly by terrorist organizations because this is part of their tactics and their way to survive. They do not have a place in a democratic system. The amputation of hands of voters is an evidence of this.

Why do we persist on making use of conflict resolution theories and resources to deal with the present situation in Sri Lanka? Because they represent a strong current of humanity against violence and a chance to rebuild our societies. In our country a conflict resolution attempt must go beyond the analysis of the validity or not of a ceasefire agreement, despite its value. It is a huge task involving good governance and transparency.

We must consider the situation of our population already affected not only by several tragedies but the cost of living. Officials must not ask the common citizens to go to sleep early to contribute to save energy as already even time frames have been changed causing disruption to their lives. We must point our fingers to the use and administration of resources by the State, the use of public funds and how to eradicate their waste of energy, paper and human resources. Why do we need so many Ministries? Is it not by itself a waste of energy?

All these issues represent a devaluation of our standard of life in every sense and what we citizens must be offered.

After the London bombings some disaster management experts assured people recover in few weeks after an experience like that unless you have suffered severe trauma. In our country we have lots of people who have not yet recovered from the tsunami experience; to this number we add the people who continue to become a victim of a suicide bomber or a mine attack. There is no recovery from this situation unless we are conscious that we cannot continue to demand from the people.