One of the questions which never fails to come up when SHAN is on the road is that why the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) negotiators are taking such a long time.

On each occasion, SHAN has done its best to explain what the problems are, also its best not to place the blame wholly on either side. One of the reasons, as said earlier, is our unfamiliarity to the one-text procedure.

Another of course is that, in the minds of negotiators, consciously or unconsciously, negotiation still means one party has to give in while the other emerges as the winner. As one of the characters in a newspaper comic says to another about give and take: It means you give and I take.

The result is as another cartoon reproduced here from one of the dailies.


It may therefore be a bit strange to younger people born in the age of win-win solutions. But if we look back to the days when-and how-most of the present leaders from both camps were brought up, there is nothing bizarre about their attitude.

Historical figures who used to be our role models were no different from many of them. Here are two quotes randomly picked from the internet:

• To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace
• A fleet of British ships of war are the best negotiators in Europe

You may or may not believe it. But the first one was attributed to George Washington and the second to Horatio Nelson.

Our leaders of course should be forgiven for being out of touch with the changing times, but it doesn’t mean they should be allowed to repeat them.  Because at stake are not just themselves and their hard-won reputations, but peace and future of the in own people.