It means analysing both parts of the issue, without leaning or supporting either part, it also means demanding the same degree of compromise from both parties involved in an issue.
Example?
This fine article by John Cherian, published at Frontline.
Peace on offer
The Basque separatist group ETA announces a ceasefire indicating its willingness to initiate a peace process with the Spanish government.WITH the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA), the armed wing of the Basque separatists, announcing a permanent ceasefire on March 22, one of the longest and bloodiest insurgencies in Europe may be grinding to a halt. Since the beginning of 2006, there were broad indications from the Spanish government that peace in the Basque region is imminent.
For most of the past 38 years, ETA has carried on a violent struggle against the central government in Madrid. More than 800 people have been killed in the fight. ETA's goal is to create an independent Basque state comprising parts of northern Spain and southwest France.
Basques, who number around 2.1 million, are linguistically and culturally different from the Spanish.
A group of young Basques influenced by revolutionary socialism, anti-imperialism and Basque nationalism formed ETA in 1959. It started the armed rebellion in 1968 when General Francisco Franco was in power. It was soon accepted as a liberation movement international
After Franco's demise and the onset of democracy, the Basque region was given the most autonomy among Spain's 17 regions. However, ETA insisted on complete independence. Socialist Prime Minister Jorge Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, after his surprise victory in the 2004 elections, made a peace accord with the Basques a priority. The Spanish Parliament gave him its backing to open talks with the separatists if ETA showed a "clear will" to give up violence. Zapatero insisted that ETA first announce a "permanent ceasefire".
Positive signals from ETA in late March, which included a statement of its intention to promote "a democratic process in the Basque country", helped kick-start a peace process. The statement, read out by a masked woman flanked by two masked men, said that the Basque people would be able to have a "voice and the power to decide their future". They were seen sitting in front of a table that had a white tablecloth with a black text, which read: Euskai Herria (Basque country). ETA is unlikely to give up formally on its demand for a referendum on independence. It will be difficult for any government in Madrid to accede to this demand as this could lead to the unravelling of Spain. Many other Spanish regions are clamouring for greater autonomy.
The ceasefire announcement, however, was treated with scepticism and a degree of contempt by the main Opposition, the right-wing Popular Party (P.P.). There seems to be no love lost between the conservative P.P. and ETA. The conservatives, while in government, had tried to pin the blame for the 2004 Madrid train bombings on ETA. The terrorist bombings took place at a time when the country was preparing for general elections. When it became clear that it was an Al Qaeda-affiliated group that was responsible for the atrocity, the Spanish people voted the Conservatives out, who until then seemed poised for victory. Apparently, the people were angry with the then Prime Minster Jose Maria Aznar's blatant attempts at distorting evidence to blame ETA, as they were with their government's involvement in the United States' war in Iraq.
Many counter-terrorism experts believe that the revulsion felt by ordinary Spaniards in the wake of the train bombings made ETA give up the path of armed violence. The other long-running struggle for independence waged in Europe, by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), had also ended with the Irish guerillas negotiating a peace agreement. The "Good Friday" agreement of April 1998 that brought peace to Northern Ireland had an impact on the Basque consciousness. A few months after that, ETA signed a short-lived ceasefire agreement with the Aznar government.
Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, has told the British authorities that he along with other leaders of his party advised the Basques on the tactics to be adopted while negotiating with Spain. Adams said that Sinn Fein had been trying to help ETA restart peace talks after the collapse of the 1998 truce.
During the long years of General Franco's authoritarian rule, even speaking Basque in public places was considered a crime. One of ETA's spectacular acts against Franco's regime was the 1973 car-bombing of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, Franco's Prime Minister and heir-apparent.
In the 1970s, ETA killed 100 people on an average every year. Prominent members of the security services and judges and politicians were targeted. In the last couple of years, ETA-sponsored violence has come down dramatically. Before the announcement of the latest ceasefire, a few bombs exploded in Spanish towns but they did not cause much damage to people or property. Spanish and French authorities have coordinated their anti-insurgency tactics and eliminated or arrested many of ETA's top leaders and activists.
The Spanish government's secret paramilitary group, Anti-Terrorist Liberation Groups (GAL), conducted a "dirty war" against ETA. Many innocent people were killed in the operations by GAL. In the early 1990s, the top leadership of ETA was caught in France.
The new leader of the Conservative Party, Mariano Rajoy, is also continuing with the hard-line posture of his predecessor on Basque separatism. He was quick to express scepticism about ETA's intentions after the announcement of a "permanent ceasefire". He now opposes all "negotiations with terrorists", forgetting the 1998 ceasefire agreement the Conservative government had signed with ETA. That agreement broke down in late 1999 as the government refused to talk about a meaningful decentralisation of power. ETA then restarted its bombing campaign.
In December 2001, the European Union declared ETA a "terrorist organisation". In March 2003, the Spanish Supreme Court banned Herri Batasuna, the political counterpart of ETA. The party used to attract 10-20 per cent of the Basque vote. It is expected to play a key role in the politics of the region once the ban is lifted. The Basque regional Premier, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, who belongs to the Basque Nationalist Party, had proposed to the Central government last year that the Basque government should become a "freely associated" part of Spain. The proposal was rejected by the Spanish Parliament.
The Spanish Prime Minister said that for the peace process to be more effective, the support of the main Opposition party was essential. The Basques are no doubt hoping for at least some meaningful concessions this time around. Otherwise there is danger of a return of violence and terrorism.
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