THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-March 6, 2017- Topic 2
Elusive reconciliation
A United Nations report released last week on the progress of reconciliation
efforts by the
Sri Lankan government should be a wake-up call for President Maithripala
Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Raising serious concerns
about the delay in addressing allegations of war crimes and in meeting other
promises Colombo made when it co-sponsored a resolution at the UN Human Rights
Council in 2015, the report warns the government that the lack of
accountability threatens the momentum towards lasting peace.
It also alleges
that cases of excessive use of force, torture and arbitrary arrests still
continue in Sri Lanka, almost eight years after the country’s brutal civil war
ended. Mr. Sirisena came to power on a promise that he would restore the rule
of law, end the country's international isolation and take steps towards reconciliation
with the Tamil ethnic minority. The political momentum was also in favour of
the government as it had the support of the dominant sections of the two
largest parties in the country. In 2015, when Sri Lanka agreed to a host of
measures at the UNHRC, including a judicial process to look into the war
crimes, hopes were high.
Undeniably, the government
has made some slow progress in addressing the issue of reconciliation. Compared
to the previous regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sirisena administration has
reached out to Tamils and initiated constitutional and legal reforms. It has
also passed enabling legislation to establish an Office of Missing Persons to
help find some of the 65,000 people reported missing during the war. But on key
issues such as establishing a hybrid judicial mechanism with domestic and
foreign judges and returning the military-occupied lands to Tamil civilians in
the north and east, there has been no tangible progress. The latest UN report
comes at a time when over a hundred displaced Tamil families are protesting at
administrative offices in the north and east asking for their lands to be
returned. For its part, the government may be wary of taking quick decisions
for fear of giving some leeway to Sinhala nationalist factions at a time when
Mr. Rajapaksa is trying to revive his political fortunes. But this delay is
alienating the government’s allies, eroding the faith of the public, especially
war victims, and giving more time to the opposition to regroup itself. And
issues such as continuing use of excessive force and arbitrary arrests suggest
that the government is either not serious in changing the way the police system
works or is incapable of doing so. The Sirisena-Wikremesinghe government should
seize the moment and start addressing the core issues, keeping reconciliation
and the future of Sri Lanka in mind.
Vocabulary
Reconciliation: the restoration of
friendly relations.
Example: His reconciliation
with your uncle
Synonyms: reuniting, reunion, bringing
together again, conciliation
Excessive: more than is
necessary, normal, or desirable.
Example: He was drinking
excessive amounts of brandy
Synonyms: immoderate, intemperate, imprudent, overindulgent
Arbitrary: based on random
choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
Example: His mealtimes were
entirely arbitrary
Synonyms: capricious, whimsical, random, chance
Ethnic: relating to a
population subgroup within a larger or dominant national or cultural group with
a common national or cultural tradition.
Example: Leaders of ethnic
communities
Synonyms: racial, race-related, ethnological, cultural
Tangible: perceptible by
touch.
Example: The atmosphere of
neglect and abandonment was almost tangible
Alienating: cause someone to
feel isolated or estranged.
Example: An urban
environment that would alienate its inhabitants
Synonyms: estrange, divide, distance, put at a distance, isolate, cut off