"Everybody's worried
about stopping terrorism.
Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it".
~Noam Chomsky
LTTE recent actions –
like an elephant in heat - clear signs of disintegration
SHENALI WADUGE
Political pundits and the foreign co-chairs must be equally baffled
by the recent behavioral patterns of the LTTE.
As the country commemorated the 2004 tsunami it silently commemorated
a man who for over 20 years ensured that the Sri Lankan Government &
the country remain in an atmosphere of fear & deadlock where development
was concerned. Deny as they may the recent actions of the LTTE prove
one thing clearly – the orders cannot be from the man we know as
Prabakaran.
Within the past few weeks 40 armed personnel have perished & many
are injured. Yet the LTTE insists that the attacks on army personnel
are not their doing but the people of Jaffna rising against the Sri
Lanka Armed Forces. But why should they all of a sudden? Then how does
that explain the scores of Tamil people who recently went in protest
of the LTTE (both in the North as well as abroad) and also the brave
Tamil civilians who chased away LTTE rebels attempting to put landmines
against the Army? Perhaps the LTTE is hoping for the Government to impose
sanctions against the Tamil people as the Americans have done against
their foes. How should we read between the lines on the recent killing
of Sinhalese in majority Tamil areas – is it a signal that they
want the Sinhalese to leave Tamil populated areas – then does this
mean that they expect the Tamils to abandon living amongst the Sinhalese
& come up North. Where were the human rights activists & their
statements when these civilians were assassinated?
What is clear is that no one can comprehend the present actions of
the LTTE – but we can presume one thing - all their actions adds
up to a clear trend that the LTTE is loosing its appeal amongst the
Tamil populace & its ultimate end is slowly but surely drawing to
a close.
Vibrations of War – Yet Silence
The entire country is watching the recent surge in violence with plenty
of apprehensions & of course trying to reason why the co-chairs,
the international community & even the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
prefers to limit their reaction to the attacks on the Armed Forces to
a paper document condemning the incidents. Have the Tamil refugees in
Western climes become a liability that an Eelam may be the best solution
to ask them to return to a new nation? Does it not seem strange that
no sooner representatives from the co-chairs visited LTTE for talks
two days later TNA Parliamentarian Joesph Pararajasingham is shot dead
on Christmas Eve? The list of parliamentarians killed by the LTTE now
adds to 28 including Mr. Lakshman Kadiragamar in August 2005. The list
did not include the scores of ordinary civilians who also died caught
in between. Since February 2002 to November 2005 the Sri Lanka Monitoring
Mission has recorded 3423 violations committed by the LTTE as against
153 by the Government of Sri Lanka. The 3423 violations were committed
over a period of time and not after President Rajapakse took over as
President. If the ceasefire agreement had been effective from day one
a single incident of violation should not have occurred. However much
we blame the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission for their ineffectiveness
in handling the escalating violence, it is noteworthy to be somewhat
sympathetic to their rule of authority. There is no clause in the Guidelines
given to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission about what they can do if
a situation as the present scenario takes place. The only mandate they
have is quoted below: Obviously those who drew up the Guidelines were
ignorant of the exact capabilities of the LTTE or perhaps had complete
faith that the tiger had finally been tamed!
1.6 Principle Operations
f. Authority and Decisiveness
The parties are committed to do their utmost to avoid any dispute.
If, however, a dispute should occur, it should be settled immediately
and at the lowest possible level. Consequently, the members of the committees
must have the authority to make reasonable and valid decisions.
g. Rapid reaction
When incidents occur SLMM has to react swiftly. Crucial success factors
are manning of SLMM HQ and District Offices 24Hrs a day, vigilance,
preparedness, reliable internal and external communications and mobility.
The Sooner SLMM monitors intervene and appear on the scene (trouble
spot), the better the chances are for settling disputes peacefully.
In such a scenario we must question the 2002 ceasefire agreement itself.
It came at a time when America stood shocked after the September 2001
attacks by terrorists. The “War on Terrorism” required Bush
to do more than mouth action – the people of America were watching.
Thus the ceasefire agreement was a gift horse for the UNP leadership
as well as the LTTE itself who were under threat by the deep penetration
commando units who were closing in upon them and had even killed a very
eminent LTTE leader – Col. Shankar. In this environment of international
happenings Sri Lanka came under the cloak of international monitors
& a ceasefire agreement that was not flawless.
Yet, the 2002 cease-fire did usher in a period of peace so far as the
army was confined to barracks and army check-points being removed. Though
the country was not engaged in a “war” it had to deal with
singular & isolated incidents that cannot be disassociated –
as a life is a life – cease fire or not and the dead cannot be
brought back to life. Having gone through a civil war the country especially
the ordinary people do not want a return to war. We are not a nation
for war but there is a limit to people’s patience and any ceasefire
agreement as the definition connotes should be abided by both parties
and not one party alone. A tiger never changes his spots they say –
but this refers to an animal. We are dealing with humans and for all
reasoning purposes, people who started their movement with some grievance.
However, their grievance if any does not give them the right to annihilate
innocent lives. They have no power to decide who should live or die.
A conciliatory approach to the problem is the most intelligent approach
as it limits resources required for a military solution. The LTTE on
its part has strategically used this method to engage in consolidating
and recouping their terrorist outfit – militarily and physically
by means of recruiting & training new tiger cadres. Past history
of peace talks have usually led to bigger onslaughts later.
The country has been living in political disorder since 1983. The peace
talks, negotiations have been ample. A mistake Governments of the yesteryear
has made is allowing the involvement of the LTTE so called “theoretician”
Anton Balasingham to represent the LTTE. He should be only representing
the British Government & speaking on behalf of the British soldiers
stationed in Iraq! How can a man forgoing the citizenship of the country
he has been born in, holding a British passport, living & working
abroad claim to have any interest in a Tamil cause in another country
& a man who is too afraid to enter Sri Lanka yet not afraid to travel
in planes flown by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces whom he is fighting against?
Does it make any sense at all? It calls to mind how vehemently Kumar
Ponnambalam spoke in favor of the LTTE but was too afraid to set foot
even in the LTTE controlled areas.
Failure of the international community
Coming to the international community - we are all living in a global
village where decisions today have severe repercussions on the present
& the future generations. A single country cannot function independently.
All nations of the world require working together in all aspects covering
political, social & economical developments. This is where the strength
of international cooperation gathers momentum.
For all its faults or shortcomings the country did enter into a ceasefire
agreement in 2002. It was an agreement that the people looked forward
to as a means to bring about the end to bloodshed. The country looked
upon the international community to then divert concentration to assisting
in the country’s development economically & socially. With
no war it was good enough reason for investments to take place.
What the people do not understand is why the international community
chooses to apply double standards to their policies. This is where ethics
comes into question. How can any international Government or rich personality
sleep at night when he is aware that they are selling arms, ammunition
& providing psychological backing to terrorist outfits to fight
legitimate Governments which has resulted in innocent lives lost, children
without parents, people maimed for life….etc!!! This unfortunately
is the sad plight of all countries that today have to deal with civil
strife as a result of country’s & certain interested parties
securing modes to sell their products & create avenues to make sales
& profits. Their development is coming at the sacrifice of so many
innocent lives and the tears of many an innocent person.
History has shown us clearly the dire repercussions of such an exercise.
The Americans created Osama bin Laden to fight the Russians & today
he is ensuring that Americans have plenty of sleepless nights. Rajiv
Gandhi gave logistics support to the LTTE and ultimately an LTTE suicide
bomber put an end to his life. Likewise, the vicious circle is continuing
yet the super powers are keeping mum.
All hopes in the United Nations were jolted when the UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan issued a condolence message on the death of LTTE Eastern
Province political wing leader Kaushalyan in February 2005. If this
is a “humanitarian” gesture & practice then Mr. Kofi Annan
should issue messages of condolences to every person who dies on earth!
We are all well aware that the LTTE is a banned entity in both the
US & UK. Yet, the LTTE “strategists” are domiciled their
and have approvals to even open offices as well as collect funds. But,
why should the UK Government object to Anton Balasingham opening an
office in the UK – he is after all a UK citizen & anything
that does not flout UK laws is fine even if it means his “work”
is killing people in another country! The recent EU travel ban may perhaps
be the reason why the LTTE insists on holding talks in Oslo to persuade
Norway to lift the travel ban. However, bans on any terrorist group
should be confined to a single list. It is pointless and impractical
for a terrorist group to be banned in one country and accepted in another!
It is as a result of these discrepancies that terrorists are free to
roam the world & carry on their sinister affairs. Therefore it is
urged that the international community draw up ONE single list of terrorists
that they ALL feel should be connoted as TERRORISTS and thereafter impose
regulations on them. Yet despite international decisions taken regarding
terrorists & terrorism the countries of the world especially the
super powers have failed to diagnose & give the correct treatment
for international terrorism. From turning a blind eye to indirectly
aiding & abetting terrorist actions (supportive states), the international
community has created more monsters than it can care to handle &
suppressive states (like Sri Lanka) are at the receiving end –
with permanent solutions beyond its reach.
Coming back to the situation in Sri Lanka, It is unfortunate that supportive
states choose to limit their actions to a formal letter condemning acts
of violence in another country so long as it does not take place in
theirs. Does their silence mean that they are backing the terrorists
to force the Government to declare war? Do they want to destabilize
& cripple a legitimate Government? Even if the opposition takes
over – a war is a war and the opposition would have to take over
the reigns. What does the international community then want? Obviously
their silence must mean something? The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission
is unable to handle the situation for the simple reason that there is
no clause under which they can take action. The situation has even forced
them to put an abrupt stop to patrolling the areas under their supervision.
The situation is so much more intense than a student being caned as
punishment for disobedience. Those responsible for drafting the ceasefire
did not have the vision to outline what alternatives the Government
& the SLMM as well as the co-chairs would do if either party signatory
to the agreement broke it!
Be that as it may, it is pointless crying over spilt milk and we need
to address the present situation before things get out of hand. There
is no question to what the LTTE is aiming at – it wants to provoke
the people of the South & even the Armed Forces (now functioning
under a new command) to react against the Tamil people. This would engineer
the LTTE media campaign to immediately promote the infamous “we
are being victimized” stance amongst the international community
& then we return to square one. However, the people of the South
have learnt their lesson - a terrible lesson engineered by the father
of the modern opposition (JRJ). The sounds of ambulances, the rumors
of fear of a return to war all reveal that the ordinary person does
not want a war but it also does not want innocent army personnel to
suffer either. They are also human beings & protecting the nation.
The people are to be commended for their restraint and the electronic
media as well as other social groups whatever their thoughts regarding
the government should also be commended for the manner in which they
are professionally & ethically functioning in seeing that people
following their views are not provoked.
Thus, the ordinary citizens of Sri Lanka are continuing to do their
part – going about their lives (though not without apprehensions)
& ensuring that patience is practiced at all levels despite the
violations by the LTTE. Now it is the turn of the international community
– the very people who directly or indirectly have a stake in Sri
Lanka based on the interest they have shown to usher in peace for the
country.
Now that they are aware of the sudden attacks by the LTTE on the Armed
Forces – what are they planning to do? If the International community
does not want the Government of Sri Lanka to declare war the answer
should be simple & sweet “We all (international community)
have decided to directly & indirectly cease to provide arms, ammunition,
logistics support & emotional backing for the LTTE cause until they
give up their armed struggle, disband themselves & come forward
to iron out their problems with the Government of Sri Lanka”.
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