ARE WE DOING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS? I THINK NOT
Posted on August 28th, 2009
By Ian
For many of us we have won the war. But for me we have won a crucial battle of the war and the end of the war is yet to come. The ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ for separation that started in the 1920ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s created division amongst its people and destabilized a country that had highest per capita GDP in Asia. This war is still not over and unless defeated is likely to be there until one day the Ealam is created in Sri Lanka. Defeating the separatist war will take diplomatic, constitutional, communication and other ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”warfareƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ efforts used consistently, effectively and intelligently.
Winning LTTE war will not guarantee that there will not be separatism
With regard to the war with LTTE, since 1980ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s to 2002 we were only fighting isolated battles. At that time we failed to strategize and have a sustained and all out effort. That changed in 2006. In the last 3 years, thanks to outstanding and unprecedented leadership and execution Sri Lanka won the war against the LTTE. If this didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t happen we wouldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t be in the position of confidence that Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s territorial integrity would be somewhat safe. But is it now safe? Is the Real war to divide Sri Lanka over?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is my belief we are now repeating a strategizing error in the remaining part of this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. The war is still fought with the same ferocity to divide Sri Lanka. The difference is now most parts of the war is and will be fought in other parts of the world. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Defense establishments are busy putting final nails on LTTE pursuing the new leaders of the outfit. Is this the only direction we should be looking at? Would putting an end to LTTE ensure that there wonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t be an international sustained efforts by the behind the scene separatists to somehow someday achieve their dream land?
I will not be surprised if some separatists consider that defeat of LTTE is a victory in the path of reaching Ealam. This I say because I believe that separatism started long before Prabakaran. Prabakaran hijacked that to build an empire centered on him as the Sun God. The last stages of the war managed to create empathy of the western governments towards separatists while removing Prabakaran from the equation. For many who are behind the scene separatists this is an ideal opportunity.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We must realize with certain things we do and certain thing we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t do we are playing in to the hands of the separatists that are still active. We need to stop for a moment and try to comprehend the new directions of the separatism. What is happening in international political, communication, and other fronts? What are they attempting to do?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Then we need to re-strategize our focus on to fighting the next stage of the separatist war.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ International support
Many new countries created in the recent history such as Israel, Kosovo, East Timor was done with the support and the backing of the US led western world. Tamil separatists have now succeeded in winning the sympathy of the west. There is no doubt that for GOSLƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s the anti-west stance was crucial to win the latest battle (War against LTTE). But we need to realize that to negate a separation threat in the future GOSL has to be on the good side of the west. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Whilst the anti-west stance played it part there is no point continuing to ridicule the US led west. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Comparing IDP issue to Hurricane Katrina delays may elicit applause in political meetings but would not do much to diffuse the agendas of the west. More we try to portray as an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”arrogant enemyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the west, it is better for the separatists who want to be darlings of them. Explaining and updating the west through diplomatic channels and diplomatic language and politely refusing the pressure should be the name of the game. Building bridges to clear the misinformation that has reached the western policy tables such as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”discriminations by SinhaleseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ etc. needs to done with a high powered teams, and sustained and well strategized diplomatic efforts. We may even have to emulate the separatists in hiring lobbyist, spokespersons, and supporters from the international elite and also perhaps cultivate congressmen and the likes to be on our side.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Curtail the funding to separatists
Banning LTTE in US, Canada and some parts of Europe also helped in the war against LTTE. Recently an unsuccessful attempt was made to get the ban lifted in the US. This should be clear evidence that the separatists have not given up. If we simplify the issue to say that it is only some people want to continue to collect the money we may be missing the issue. It could be that the funds are required to keep on financing the political lobbyists, senators, congressmen, MPs, TV and news channels such as BBC, Channel 4 etc. to built the international sympathy and support for the next stage of the separatist agenda. If the ban is lifted not only they can raise money legally but also do the canvassing legally. The recent clip on Channel 4 is also an indication that the separatist war is still on. The way we handled that particular issue is a good example of fire fighting. Exact same way we fought the LTTE war from 1980ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s to 2002. We have to see the bigger picture. What have we done to curtail the funding of the separatists?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Everything that curtailed the funding that was done in the past was done by the western governments and not by GOSL. Foreign ministry and Defense Ministry can easily open dialogues with the western governments and law enforcement agencies to publish telephone numbers in the media to inform of unauthorized collections and collectors. This will be a service we do some of the Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates who do not want to give money to separatists. They do it due to fear. If the ban on LTTE and TRO is lifted they will continue to do this legally. GOSL and her diplomatic arm should be mobilized to do this work guided by the defense ministry. Establishing intelligence arms in all our embassies with clear targets and work plans with the responsibility of cultivating relationships with the local anti-terrorist agencies could be a starting point. This needs to be done especially in the countries that collections are the highest such as USA, Canada, Australia and Norway etc.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Constitutional support
If President Rajapakse and Defense Secretary Rajapakse are going to hold their positions for ever we can be sure that separatism will not happen in Sri Lanka. But a suicide bomb, natural death, plane crash or an election can change this in one week or in one or two decades. Where is the protection against separatism after that?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prabakaran and his stooges thought he was immortal and paid the price for that. The Rajapakses should realize that they are not immortal and bring forward strong amendments to the constitution that would make separatism, promoting separatism, entering in to agreements like infamous CFA, excessive devolution that could lead to separatism, ethnic based politics (this is underway) and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ethnic based devolutions illegal and requiring a 2/3 majority in a referendum. Apart from this there could be many other constitutional safeguards pundits can think about to ensure that maximum possible protection against separatism is provided in the constitution.
To a lesser extent, as many writers had opined equal opportunities acts or bill of rights would also be much useful to silence the west and mis-informers of the west on ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”discriminationƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ allegations. In my view we are only using the popularity of the ending of war to get political gains by way of Provincial council elections etc. and not using the popular support for things that is crucial for future territorial integrity. At least why canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t we do both?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Communicating the IDP issue
The current situation with the IDP camps are used and abused by the separatist Diaspora to garner further international support and solidify the new found ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”empathyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the west towards their agendas. GOSL has totally failed in the communication issue. Separatists wants IDPƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ‘settled’ soon so that sleeping LTTE cadres among IDPs can be activated to emulate Iraq style resistance in the north and recommence atrocities in the south. If this happens naturally the innocent Tamils in the north will be again be subjected to hardships due to security operations. This is exactly what the separatists want. By eliminating and reducing this threat by the screening the GOSL is trying to make the life of the IDPs in the future a peaceful one. The civilians will be the main beneficiaries if there is no fighting or terrorism in that area. GOSL needs to communicate the benefits to IDPs by doing what they are doing with the camps. If not properly and adequately communicated this alone can be a major issue that separatists Diaspora would be capitalizing on for some years to come. It will also continue to be a thorny issue with GOSL relationship with the west.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Web Communication
In the past there was Tamilnet that was responsible for spreading misinformation to the world on the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tamil issueƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and LTTE. In the recent past Defencenet.lk managed to counter the misinformation by the Tamilnet. Some patriots launched www.tamilnet.tv to show the hierocracy of tamilnet in a hilarious but in a very effective manner. Now the communication has gone to the next step. Today there are several more focused and well coordinated sites in various languages. Listed below are few of these.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
www.infotamil.chƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (this is available in Dutch, Italian, English, French & Tamil),
http://www.tamilnewsnetwork.com,
If separatism is not the agenda of the people behind the scenes what is the objective of the above sites? Anti separatist propaganda by the state and patriots, in Sri Lanka and aboard are still in anti LTTE mode. The war against LTTE is over, but separatism is not. All patriots and GOSL should now examine and comprehend and strategize their future activities for the continuing threat and not the bygone threat.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Other communications
Separatists have created a fake history of Sri Lanka including the mythical ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Tamil KingdomƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and Sinhalese discrimination etc. and have managed to brainwash many recent generation Tamils and also the world community. According to Goebbels theory in another 30-40 years this fake history will be the one that will be taken as the truth. I have read in many sites the true Sri Lankan history and also how separatists transferred the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”EalamƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ dream to Sri Lanka when their master plans of a Tamil country failed during Indian independence in 1948 and later in 1960ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s. There are isolated literature about the Chelvanayagam, LTTEƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s creation and abuse of July 1983, discrimination by Tamils against other communities, ethnic cleansing of the north etc.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But if one talks to a Sri Lankan in their 20ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s they donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t know what really happened as what they have seen is a war from their birth. This is true for many Sri Lankans. DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t we need to get this literature in many parts of the net to book form and publish them in many languages? If a foreigner talks to a misguided Tamil youth in the west they can passionately repeat what the mis-information campaigns have fed them.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ How many young Sri Lankans if asked of the history of war and separatism can explain the truth? DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t we need a simple book on the true history of the issue in all possible languages that can be made available to every young Sri Lankan in all parts of the world so they could keep the fire burning against separatism? This is one example of a gap in communication but not the only one.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Anti-separatist Diaspora coordination
Much work was done by the Sri Lankan Diaspora to counter the propaganda activities of LTTE agents in the western capitals. Sri Lankan Diaspora would continue to spent their time and energy to support GOSL in their efforts free of charge. The defense ministry should establish a Diaspora coordination unit so that interested parties could send information, their ideas and also tips on activities of separatist agents in their own localities to the minister of defense. This may result in more coordinated efforts of the anti-separatist Sri Lankan Diaspora rather than the uncoordinated efforts they had carried out this far.
General
Many in the past said Prabakaran was the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”saviorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the Tamil people. After May 2009 some including columnist Mr. DBS Jeyeraj said Prabakaran is a traitor to Tamils as he destroyed or wasted the best chances Tamils had by not capitalizing on strengths (probably refereeing to not accepting federal and other strong devolution proposals during LTTEƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s hay days). The same could happen to HE Mahinda Rajapakse. If they do not use this extraordinary opportunity and make very strong irrevocable changes including constitutional, defense, diplomatic fronts, international relations and communications etc. that ensures that separatism does not ever happen in Sri Lanka, in few years some may look down on Maharajano as the person who didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t capitalize on the best opportunity to put a permanent end to separatism.
The purpose is not at all to demean the victory in May 2009. It is to point out ways of making the victory durable and if possible permanent. Hence my attempt is to convince all patriots that only the war against LTTE came to an end in May 2009 and the WAR against separatism is NOT over. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As the famous Sinhalese song says ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Duka sepa deka peralai, riya saka lesa lokeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t do the right things when we are up on the issue we might live to regret later when things are not so good.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t act wisely now we may end up unknowingly aiding and abetting the creation of the Ealam in a future date due to our actions and omissions. Hence it is time to curtail celebrations and shift from sole anti LTTE focus and attempt to comprehend and strategize for the hidden and future threat against territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. There could be many other things we need to do. Some actions suggested above are few samples to get to my point through of need of re-strategizing. The re-strategizing has to be done at GOSL level, Defense establishmentsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ level, and also in the local and overseas patriotsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ level.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If this is done many would come up with many other ideas on how to put an end to this menace permanently. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t do this it will take another 30-40 years to realize that we have lost ground. I know that Sri Lankans will rise again and save the country. But many passionate patriots who are in the front line today will not be living then. Therefore letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s make sure that we put the final nails against separatism in every sphere so that the job for our children and grand children in the future to safeguard the motherland is easier.
August 29th, 2009 at 6:57 am
This article is a reflection of reality. Unfortunately, we may not know what will happen in the future though it is nearly impossible to contemplate it. But I thought of making the following comments on certain remarks found in this article. It is an irony to experience the current predicament by the Sinhala people with the longest history of modern humans who lived on the same land from the time of living in the wild. Now they have lost every right to their land and have become outsiders who are forced to share their land with the worst of their enemies. It may be interesting for any one to learn about this lopsided event. Only a very few would understand the necessity to go through such turmoil to come up with more vigour to overcome all challenges that come our way.
The ‘war’ for separation that started in the 1920’s created division:
I appreciate the writer for going back to 1920 instead of the foolish political view that all began in 1983. Unfortunately long before 1920, Tamil invasions and occupations with evil-inspired Sinhala slaughter occurred and disregarding that part of history is a heinous crime that anyone could do to Sinhala people. As an independent researcher of events, I find that the brutal Tamil expansion at the expense of Sinhala population occurred many thousands of years ago at a time ancestors of these so-called Tamils were identified as forest dwellers. Their savagery on disciplined, caring, sharing and self-controlled Sinhala community had a devastating impact on Sinhala identity. Sinhala retrieval had contributed to the expansion of these brutal forces now threatening them to go to the sea in the south. So, I believe it is time to use the same brutal means to reverse this effect and regain what is theirs by all available means.
Sinhala people need the support and the backing of the US led western world:
This is a fallacy. Anyone who sought friendship with westerners have succumbed to western machinations and lost everything they had including their lives. Sinhala people survived because they fought until their own ruling elite betrayed them. Since then, things became much worse and we are now bearing the cost of this treachery. Nothing remains virtually the same in this world. It may be the time for the west to pay for its crimes. Instead of preaching their values, we must learn to respond them in the same manner. RW who worked with westerners almost created eelam. So, why anybody should try to be friendly with them? Instead of trying to seek help from Satan to chase away a petty ghost, we should destroy the Satan itself. Tamils are just duplicating what westerners were doing all these years to make many of you believe in them as saviours, quite contrary to their true record.
GOSL has to be on the good side of the west:
This so-called GOSL is a prodigal child of the west that follows westerners to the hilt. They are not in good books because west is asking them to commit suicide by doing what they are asked to do (I mean share power with Tamil migrants ignoring Sinhala people). This GOSL has done the worst possible damage to Sinhala people and made it the toughest to regain Sinhala rights. I believe that all these suckers in the GOSL should be sent to the west to rot in the hell. What they are doing is for their own survival and got nothing to do with Sinhala people.
Sri Lanka government & Constitutional framework:
We must come out of the closet. The so-called Sri Lanka government and its constitution are rogue products of the west that help perpetuate our problems. We must let them die and come up with our own way to solve our problems. You know very well that constitution is a worthless document that may be good for westerners who may have a very short cycle in governance compared to Sinhala history. This is an absurd way to run our affairs. Regaining our rights need rejection of all these alien influences that created our problems.
Funding Terror and Fighting Tamil disinformation:
Instead of trying to stop funding terror that demand a lot of effort with very little success, we must focus on our own strategies to counter them. It is important to learn about Tamils to defeat them. But we never have to become Tamils to defeat them. Instead we must try to be Sinhala though there are many pretenders among us following English to the bitter end. We can never become to the level of Tamils to stop their misinformation. As believers of Hinduism, they represent the opposite of Sinhala values. Do we really have to become an animal to hunt an animal? We must tell the truth to defeat them. Our problem is the lies spread by GOSL and its suckers who try to legitimise crimes of occupation and colonisation (EG; Lanka belongs to every one etc.).
True history of Lanka:
Everything you know is false and is designed to legitimise lies and to mislead the ordinary folks. Only a very few know the true history. But they do not want to share it with unworthy scum. We know very well that vast majority of humans are worthless idiots who just repeat what they are told and do what they are trained for. Does this mean they are human or a kind of sub-human? Obviously knowing true history comes up with all the solutions that are available to solve this problem. But how many of you could come up with anything other than what you were told by someone else. Do you know who first told what you hear from others? This answer could be an interesting one. What most of the people believe is the concocted alien religious version adopted as our own. Is not this a shame?
Anti-separatist Diaspora coordination:
The Diaspora can do very little to help Sinhala people. What they have done this far is to jack up the stooges operating the west-built GOSL to keep the head above the water. Some in the Diaspora may be in fact contributing to separatism without knowing it. Those mixing western values while talking of solutions are one such example. There are some who even go to the extent of comparing values championed by colonists recklessly turning Lanka into the category of another colony. If not for the knowledge transferred for a crumb by migrants over many generations, west could have been a very week entity by now. If anyone wants to stop separatists (I mean to defeat invaders), the first thing they should choose is to become Sinhala. While handing over the future of self and descendents to the worst enemy driven by misbelief, what the Diaspora does is make matters worse for Sinhala people. Only when you embrace 100% Sinhalaness, you will find the knowledge needed to come out of this mess. First rule to achieve this is “never use English to spread English values, but to compare and dismiss”. If you are worried about the miserable lot going through hard times, you should know that they have come to this stage by abandoning Sinhala values and embracing primitive values spread by aliens. By the way, Sinhala people do not necessarily engage with losers who are paying the price for betrayal. I am very confident that true Sinhala people will survive the challenges of life. Tamils, Hindus and many others are about to find the rewards that they deserve for their own deeds.
August 29th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
This is an excellent, well written article and should be sent to all our politicians in Sri Lanka irrespective of the party they belong to. That way they can be held responsible for valid predictions made in this article. Your views are based on true facts. Well done as I really enjoyed this article and in the process of sending it to Sri Lankan patriotic relatives and friends of mine. Thanks again for these true facts.