A lasting Peace in Sri Lanka
We all are in agreement that Sri Lanka needs peace and it is time that we all exert our efforts to examine how we can reach this objective. It is also important for us not to change our plea for peace according to the dictates of the in power or other actors who push for peace only when they are cornered. If we do so even due to practical reasons or any other motive we become a party which wittingly helps to prolong the war and create anticipated opportunities for forces of evil. Therefore, the organizations and individuals praying for lasting peace in Sri Lanka should naturally have a clear understanding of what is happening in Sri Lanka at this moment. Any ulterior motives which are hidden behind the cry for peace will only take us to "ambalamas" or temporary resting places on our way to peace. A lasting peace is important for all in Sri Lanka .A peaceful Sri Lanka will be able to play a very positive role in South Asia. Asia-Pacific and in the international arena.
The fact that Tamil Tiger terrorism had hopped another giant leap forward during
the peace talks was driven home at last.
IT IS THE TAMIL TIGER
INTRANSIGENCE THAT IS PREVENTING SRI
SRI LANKA IN ACHIEVING PEACE.
5.Again we pose an important question. Why do the Tamil Tigers
unilaterlly
walk away from discussions?
Political analysts from the West to the East tend to agree
that as long as
Velupillai Prabhakaran is in command of Tamil Tigers there cannot
be peace !
The New Your Times on 28 May 1995 said "He has shown a
blood thirstiness in
dealing with his opponents that has been compared with some of
the cruellest
figures in recent Asian history including Pol Pot of
Cambodia." His ruthless
tactics led to the liquidation of thousands of Tamil. Muslim ,
Sinhalese
civilians and scores of moderate Tamil politicians.
In the article referred to,in which the heading was
‘Asia’s Latest Master of
Terror’ the correspondent , John F Burns comparing
Prabahkarans record in
killings with that of Pol Pot said that what LTTE lacked in scope
they make up
in brutality. He says " For years, the Tigers have been
notable for their expertise
with bombs, in particular in which militant Tigers, very often
women from a
squad known as Freedom Birds, have detonated body belts packed
with
explosives at public gatherings, killing themselves,their
political and military
targets, and almost invariably large numbers of civilians
besides"
Tiger suicide bombers both male and female agents of mass
destruction, child
infantry personnel., female cardres who generally form the first
wave of attacks
are synonymous with Prabhakarans innovations to ‘liberation
struggles. Both,
Human Rights organisations and Tamil intellectuals have voiced
their opinion
on the incalculable damages caused by Tiger concept of
pre-occupation of death.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, well known Tamil intellectual laments that
unless
feminism is linked to humanism, to non-violence, to hybridity and
celebration
of life over death it will not provide society with alternatives
that we so
desperately seek.
The combined impact of dehumansing strategies used in the war
and the autocratic
control Prbhakaran exercises over his organisation is having an
alarming effect
on the Tamil society especially and the rest of the world in
general. What is
practiced in Sri Lanka today by Prabhakaran is put to wider usage
in London and
in New York tomorrow.
In the New York Times article another reprehensible aspect of
Prabhakaran’s rule
is discussed when it refers to his treatment of political
opponents. "Meanwhile Mr
Prabahakaran has established a rule of terror in the city of
Jaffna. According to
scores of accounts from defectors and others who have escaped the
Tiger tyranny,
many of his own lieutinents have been murdered; Tamils who have
criticised him , even mildly or in jest, have been picked up,
tortured and executed; others have
been held for years in dungeons, half starved, hauled out
periodically for a
battering by their guards". Ease with which he got rid of
Mahattaya or Mahendra-
-rajah, his second in command, and his one time collegues such as
Uma Mahes-
-waran, Sri Sabahratnam and others who opt to carve a path of
liberation based on
violence enables any independent reviewer to fathom correctly
Prabahkaran’s
capacity to run a state as we approach the year 2000. Very
recently Tamil Tiger
supremo improved on his record of silencing Parliamentarians by
collecting
the scalp of Mr Mohamed Maharoof, the MP for Trincomalee on 20
July 97 when
Tiger killer squads went on a murdering spree. The first
Parliamentarian victim of
the LTTE was Mr Alfred Duriayapph, MP for Jaffna who was killed
on 27July75.
Since then the Tiger guns have silenced 17 Parliamentarians who
were elected by
the people of Sri Lanka. Ironically of the 17 killed 11 have been
Tamils. No
Parliament in any other part of the world has sacrificed so many
Parliamentarians
In so short a time to a group of terrorists who still masquerade
as a liberation
front. The Tigers, in reality had been pursuing a policy of
targeting
parliamentarians who were seen as a threat to their politics of
totalitarian
separatism. Prabahakaran does not tolerate any political rivals
in his area of
control and all Tamil political parties except Tigers operate
only from majority
Sinhalese areas. Even though Democracy and dissent are considered
as norms of
political culture to Prabhakaran democracy itself is an anathema.
The leading
Indian daily, the Indian Express(January 13, 1997) editorially
commented that,
" Prabahkaran has no time for niceties of pluralism and
dissent, the reason why
more Tamils have been killed by the LTTE than the Sri Lankan
army. The LTTE
cannot countenance a situation where it will have to compete with
other groups for
the affection of the Tamil community. "
After the Tigers decided to call off the truce the Sri Lankan
President,
Kumaratunga said that the fundamental problem is less the
Tigers’military
strength than their intractable leader and she described
Prabhakaran as a
megalomaniac in need of psychiatric treatment.
As a group interested in a lasting peace for Sri Lanka it
requires us to analyse
the phenomenon of LTTE rationally. Do we consider them as the
representatives
of Tamil people let alone as a serious political group? The
violent attitudes and
cruel militancy of the LTTE have to be clinically examined.Can we
learn from the
experiences of the West and the East and act appropriately? The
spectre of Facism
was identified properly by the Europeans and decisive action was
initiated without
lending their ears to the cries of liberators of Germans and
Italians. Mobutu and Pol
Pot were exposed even though they had the time to massacre
thousands and exploit
communal feelings.
IF PEACE IS OUR GOAL WE SHOULD SEE RIGHTLY AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO CRY HALT TO THE TAMIL TIGERS LED BY THIS CRUDE, SCHOOL DROP OUT WHO IS SLOWLY BUT SURELY LEGITIMISING POLITICAL VIOLENCE.
6.We need to support all those forces who have to carry the brunt of ill effects of Tamil Tiger totalitarianism or terrorism. Firstly, the Sri Lankan government and her defence forces have to be supported to the hilt by forces yearning for peace.Their primary objective is to defeat LTTE militarily and liberate Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka
while seeing that the Governments’s writ is active in Sri Lankan terrirtory. The pipe dream of Prabahakaran to run a de facto state in any part of the country will be resisted by sovereign Sri Lankan government. Internationally, Sri Lankan government expects foreign governments and responsible organisations to honour this commitment without directly or indirectly assisting a facist force to assume the role of government in the territory of Sri Lanka.
Tamil organizations such as International Federation of Tamils, The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation. Australasian Federation of Tamils. Australian Human Rights Foundation and scores of others have been identified by researches as having direct or indirect links to the LTTE. They engage in vigorous propaganda always elevating acts of LTTE and denigrating Sri Lankan governments and the Sinhalese, the majority community.They lobby politicians, church organisations, media and other opinion makers to get their sympathy and assistance. They are supported by sometimes the Sinhalese expatriates who have Marxist, Maoist and leftist leanings.
Their belief is that any struggle against an existing government is justified as it will further the cause of class struggle. They believe that the ‘Sinhala’ governments have supressed the Tamil people and LTTE’s present war is part of Tamil liberation struggle !.
In addition to creating a friendly enviornment for the LTTE above organisations assist LTTE activities by financing 80% of Tamil Tiger’s war budget. Rohan Gunaratne, a Foreign Policy Fellow at the Centre for International and Security Studies, University of Maryland in his book "International & Regional Security Implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil Insurgeny " while identifying front organisations of the Tamil Tigers in countries such as Australia says that "the modern insurgent groups are developing the ability to raise funds in one theatre, operate in another and fight in a third theatre". But, in the eyes of a discerning observer killing spree in Sri Lanka becomes an activity closely connected with fund raising from comfortable suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne by Tamil Tger activists and their coloured and white sympathisers. The LTTE has established offices or cells in 38 countries and according to the Asiaweek
Magazine of 26.July 96 "the LTTE functions like a multinational corporation with resources all over the world". Donations and collections form a fair percentage of LTTE’s revenue." According to the Asiaweek the "collection is a often a form of blackmail". Hard knuckle extortion seems to be very effective in view of the helplessness of the threatened donors and at the rate of $40- to $80- per month from each donor Switzerland remitts $ 660,00- monthly and from Canada a sum of $ 730,00 while the UK sends $ 390,00 monthly to the Tigers. The estmated amount from Australia per month is $ . LTTE’s monthly income from donations from the overseas Tamils is around $ 2 million.Drug running, arms trafficking, investment in business venture such as Asian curry shops, restuarnts in Western countries bring in a substantial income to the LTTE.
Therefore, to eradicate the killing fields of Tamil Tigers it is evident that finacing of the LTTE should be arrested. Sri Lankan government and her Foreign Minister, Mr Kadigramar, a Tamil himself have taken up this issue regularly with friendly governments.Addressing 51st session of the UN General Assembly he said "..We have been dealing for many years with an armed group which seeks to dismember our country by violent means, resorting to terrorism as a means of achieving this illegitimate goal…..The territory of any State should not be permitted to be used in any manner which would encourage or sustain terrorist activity in another.Fund raising activity on a foreign soil in particular directly or indirectly through so-called charitable funds, must be prohibited. Should terrorism be permitted through international apathy, to fester, it would poison the international body politic…IT WOULD BE MYOPIC FOR A NATION TO STAND ALOOF OR DISOWN RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMBATING ACTS OF TERRORISM WHICH MAY SEEM TOO DISTANT TO EVOKE ANYTHING MORE THAN CURIOSITY.."
These are some of the critical issues which should be looked into by any person or organisation seriously interested in a genuine peaceful Sri Lanka.
7. Now that we have identified the most corrosive force preventing Sri Lanka’s journey to a lasting peace it will be prudent to understand some of the causes behind Tamil Tigers and Tamil separatists struggle to free from the ‘yoke of Sinhalese’.The cries of ‘discrimination’ ‘oppression’ ‘grievances’ continue to emanate from Tamil communalists to justify the blood letting and confrontational politics practiced by them. In reply to a query posed by a leading Tamil politician, Mr H.L.D. Mahindapala former Editor of Observer summerised the issues involved clearly when he said "How can the privileged caste-elite in Jaffna be oppressed when the PLQ index i.e health,education,life span, and other facilities –was highest in Sri Lanka? The Tamils occupied the best places in legal,medical, acedemic and administrative (mercantile, state) professions.They held some of the commanding positions in the formal and informal sectors of the economy. They had a viable agricultural sector which accumulated profits by selling its products to the south. Considering these and other factors I state that it was not the cry of the oppressed but that of a moribund caste-elite fighting to retain their privileges threatened by market forces and the liberalism which were undermining their decadent and dying social structures. SO HOW CAN THE REVOLT OF THE PRIVILEGED BE A REVOLT OF THE OPPRESSED?"
The fact that the communal cry was first raised by Tamils in 1920 and when they asked for a special seat in the Western Province and subsequently when Ponnambalam(Snr) was insisted on a 50-50 representationn took place before the Independence clearly showed that the Tamil leadership was afflicted with "majority complex" even though the Tamils were a minority with 12% of the population.The Tamil leadership never wanted to accept the position that they were a minority.Tamil communalism increased in virulence and finally resulted in the creation of Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi in 1949.Meantime, the pro Sinhala –Buddhist cultural wave which began during the colonial times developed as an anti-colonial and anti-western force and not as an anti-Tamil force.It was a struggle to regain evrything that was lost
To colonial powers. Tamil politicians have been harping on some of the issues such as the acceptance of Sinhala language as the official language of the country, standardisation of marks for university admissions, and development of Dry zone lands are being pointed out as some of the issues which lead to the present impasse. These issues have to be discussed in relation to the historical injustices perpatuated by the colonial powers and the desire of the Sinhala majority to get their reasonable share in the socio-economic structure of the country. Even after the introduction of above measures the position of the Tamil community when compared to their population ratio remained at a much higher level. However, with each phase the Tamil leadership raised their stakes demanding more and more.By the time Chelvanayagam took to the politics of "separate state" the communal climate changed radically in the country.Finally the Vaddukodai resolution of 1976 endorsed violence by the Jaffna politicians who were hoping to ride on the back of the ‘boys’. Today the boys have matured and most of the elders have been eliminated or side-stepped. The Tamil community and the Sri Lanka is placed in unenviable position of resolving the issues with a Facist communal leader is dubbed as the Asia’s latest master of terror.
8 It is necessary at this stage to look at the Tamil society as a whole it is indeed illuminating to heed to the advise given by Prof Rajan Hoole , well known Human Rights activist and a senior academic.This is what he said recently "The story of Tamil society would have been different had we the moral perception to tell our children "they-LTTE- are killers and have nothing to do with them"This has been the most decisive failure of Tamil social and religious leadership at all levels.".On the proposal of inviting the LTTE for peace negotiations Prof Hoole says "To negotiate about what? What of democracy? "
9. In seeking a lasting peace for Sri Lanka the primary duty of all who love Sri Lanka is to loudly declare that the LTTE has no role whatsoever in formulating an acceptable programme and eradicate its leadership while endeavouring to wean as much as possible the innocent followers.
In Sri Lanka the politicians of all hues and ideologies have used the racial issues to gain temporary advantages sacrificing long term aspirations of Sri Lankans. The troubled relationship of Sinhalese and Tamils during the last few years should not be considered as permanent feature in the history of these two groups as there are several instances of close co-operation and common cultural traits.
Therefore, our proposal is to create a an acceptable
enviornment to have Sri Lanka as a single country with diverse
groups protected by justiciable human rights and prohibit any
abuse of ethnicity. Any division of the country through
devolution of powers or any other means to create ethnic
territories will ultimately lead to more instability and border
wars. Sri Lanka which is smaller than Tasmania with a high
population figure of 18 million does not leave much room for
division. "it is morally indefensible to expect the
interests of all communities to be sacrificed in order to satisfy
the changing visions of one community.The vision of all
communities should be to develop institutional framework that
ensure of full citizenship for all, without devolving power to
the regions to ensure fuller participation at the centre. The
territorial approach lays unwarranted emphasis on the
sovereignity of the territory, when the emphasis should be the
soveriegnity of the people.THE GOAL SHOULD
BE TO SHARE THE PEOPLE’S SOVERIEGNITY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK
OF A COMMON TERRITORY" ( Neville .S.L-former senior Civil
Servant)