One could publish the results of the survey with statements of the limitation of the study. Often results are published and interpreted in the media without the statement of the limitation so that the lay person could be cautious in accepting the results as truth now and forever!

I think you went out on a thin limb when you made conclusion of optimism. A complex, long standing violent conflict such as the one in SL needs more than a survey to understand the wish of the people. A referendum, conducted by the UN for separation would result in at least 90 percent of the Sinhala voting NO, and 90 percent of the Tamils voting YES. Of course SL would never let it happen giving the excuse of Sovereignty!!! If they are sure two thirds of the Tamils will reject separation, they would welcome a referendum.

On the otherhand, in SL, Tamils and Sinhalese have different language, culture, history, traditional homelands and religions.

Unitary state argumant for Northern Ireland is therefore irrelevant to any solution in SL although, the guerella war aspect is the same between the IRA and the LTTE and no solution would be workable without the LTTE, as it was with IRA for Northern Ireland..

Countries all over the world have resolved problems such as the one prevailing in SL by Federalism, confederalism or separate states.

The problems Tamils face in SL is the political craftiness, deception, reversals and the like practiced by the Sinhalese and their governments against the legitimate rights of Tamils.

When that aspect is addressed half the problem would be solved.

Therefore Tamils in the North East should have a solution that provides decisions for Tamil security, rights, freedom, finances and development in their own hands.

First, you have failed to correctly identify the two conflicting parties. You consider this conflict to be between the “Sinhala in the South” and the “Tamils in the North”

If we consider the latter first, the “Tamils in the North” are only a sub-sector of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, You disregard and discount the struggle and the legitimate grievances of the Eastern Tamils, and the Central Tamils. Even within the Northern Tamils there are caste and religious conflicts at play.

Then by branding the other party as the “Sinhala South”, you fail to appreciate the extremely wide gamut of ethnic identities in Sri Lanka. What about the significant Muslim Population or, as the previous reader pointed out, the 50+% population of Tamils in Colombo? The Christian Tamils and Sinhalas?

An accurate representation would be to consider this a conflict between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka.

The continuous assassination of 100s of Tamil politicians by the LTTE clearly indicates that they (the LTTE) are not the sole representative of the Tamil people.

The government was elected by democratic means in a country with universal franchise. The elections in 2005 were considered fair and representative. (but a system in which minority representation should be improved)

Therefore, considering that you failed to identify the research parameters at the onset, the usefulness of your results is highly compromised.

The problem with a peace process in Sri Lanka is, unlike in Ireland, the government does not have a mature, representative political body to negotiate with. Most Tamil politicians were assassinated by the LTTE leaving behind a core of military personnel whose knowledge or desire for peace is miniscule.

Sir, you are trying to push this square peg understanding of the Sri Lankan conflict into the round hole context of the Northern Ireland conflict.

(Furthermore: a summary of this article highlighting key results and conclusions would have been much more accessible that the current form)

Chaminda

I have not gone through the complete document and I am not much concernede of the results as thefundamental basis of your community selection is WRONG. Please note the following

1. There is no problem between Sri lankan government and People of northarn province. The issue is between Sri Lanka and the Tamil speratist group

2. You have taken the presumption that people in the southern parts of the country are ALL Sinhalese. Which is completly wrong. I would presume majority of your interviewees would have come from colombo. And over 55 percent of the people in Colombo are Etnic tamils. You would have to identify what the tamils in the south have to say.

3. The academic circles prbably are the worst method of selecting samples. How are you giving the assurance that acedemics took part from the north ware impartial and has selected the correct samples

4. The people in the LTTE held areas are terrorised by the LTTE. Would you expect any of those people to state there opinions candidly.