West cannot heal Lankan wounds

The release of the tapes showing the purported execution of deceased LTTE supremo Vellupillai Prabhakaran's minor son has created a furore in international circles. The calls for a United Nations investigation into alleged war crimes and human rights abuses by the Sri Lankan army are getting stronger.

Curiously, the release of the video comes two days after a draft policy on reconciliation was made public by the Sri Lankan government. The proposed guidelines covers issues from political participation, administrative accountability, recovery and equitable development, truth, justice, understanding and implementation. Through these programmes, the government hopes to heal the wounds sustained by the country's Tamil population during the war against the LTTE, ensure there is sustainable peace and prosperity and illustrate their commitment towards national reconciliation.

Sri Lanka's problems can be cured by internal efforts alone. A similar draft resolution, tabled by the US to the UN Human Rights Council will, in all probability, end in failure as it will not gain support from Pakistan, China and almost all south-east Asian and African countries.

Neither party — the government or the LTTE — were above board in the war, but perhaps it is right for Rajapakse's government to be accountable to its own people instead of the whole world in fighting an outfit which was branded as a terrorist organisation.