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The War of Words Has Begun But Who Is Winning?

By R. Ranasinghe.

Dear Editor,

The positive outcomes of the talks

It has barely been a week since the talks ended at the Chateau de Bossey and already the triumphalism of the final day, when the two sides managed to agree on a joint statement, has begun to sour. The fundamental reason for this is the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE went into the talks seeking very different objectives. No one was surprised to hear the reason the LTTE came along was to get President Rajapakse to hand over Karuna to them. While on the other side, the Sri Lankans went with the intention of extending the life of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). Right from the start everyone knew it was Sri Lanka that had more to lose from the collapse of the CFA than the LTTE. As a result we saw the LTTE do what they have always done, that is, make a string of demands they know the Government is likely to give them but can be presented to the world's media as an example of Sri Lankan intransigence. The tactics of brinkmanship and bluster is easy when there is no real desire to compromise. The other objective was to use Geneva as another opportunity to show the world they were the leadership of a nation in waiting. For them the CFA was a step towards their goal of partition.

In the event their bungled attempt to break an undisclosed agreement with the Sri Lankan delegation not to put out a statement ahead of the talks went awry when it was leaked they had given an outline of their opening stance to certain pro-LTTE journalists. This gave the Sri Lankan team the opportunity to make a long lucid statement detailing the number of times the LTTE has violated the ceasefire agreement (apparently some 5,464 times), then they went on to express their concern for the numerous cases of human rights violations still occurring inside the LTTE's fascist enclave and even got round to publicly criticising them for kidnapping children to turn them into psychotic killers. I know some believe this declaration was of no importance but I think they are wrong because no previous delegation had prior to this used an international form to reveal the true anti-democratic and inhuman activities of Prabakaran and his merry band of psychopaths. No one should under estimate the importance of international opinion; our failure to inform the world's media about the true situation in Sri Lanka gave the Tigers a huge tactical advantage over successive Government negotiating teams. A mistake the country has paid for over and over again in the blood of thousands of human lives.

The Government statement had another more subtle impact on the talks once they got underway; it put the LTTE for the first time on the back foot once they were asked by the international media to answer the criticisms levelled at them by the Sri Lankan Government. Pointed questions by the international media on their practice of kidnapping children to train as murderers left them tongue-tied. Balasingham and Thamilselvam found themselves having to defend their murderous policies like the endless assassinations of their political opponents in front of the cameras of the world's press. It was an uncomfortable experience for them, one they were not used to, and despite their off hand and arrogant dismissal of these issues as being "irrelevant to the question of extending the CFA" no one there could say the LTTE came out of it smelling of roses. In fact quite the opposite, the world probably for the first time saw them for what they actually are - a nasty bunch of brutal killers. Outside the conference Tamils and Muslims demonstrated against them for the first time in front of the world's press. Again, this was first because the world's press got to hear about the violations of human rights being committed every day by the LTTE from the relatives of those who are suffering under their merciless rule. I have said it before, but I think it needs to be said again, we have to understand how important it is for Sri Lanka's democrats to use these international venues as a means of publicising the dastardly actions of Prabakaran and his henchmen. The way the world perceives the troubles in Sri Lanka is as important if not more important than the number of pieces of paper the Government manage shuffle between themselves and the terrorist delegation. We have seen getting them to sign pieces of paper at some exclusive hotels is easy - after a big curry feed who wouldn't? The LTTE's must be intellectually tested in front of the world's media. It is when this happens continuously and rigorously that they will start to lose the propaganda war. Once the spotlight is turned on their brutal anti-democratic activities the more they will become politically isolated abroad. In turn, it will become harder and harder for them to run their international criminal operations once they become an international pariah. This is the reason why Geneva was a small propaganda victory for the Government.

Diminishing the role of the Norwegians

The appointment of the Swedish Brigadier Ulf Henricsson in place of the Norwegian Hagrup Haukland is a late but significant development. The removal of Haukland is a sign the Co-Chairs, Britain, the EU and especially America, are losing patience with the devious machinations of the Norwegians. No doubt it is a little too soon to say what the Brigadier's attitude to his role will be when he takes up his appointment. At the moment we can only cross our fingers and hope he is a little more conscientious in his efforts to appear and act as an impartial arbiter than his Norwegian predecessor had been. This of course does not remove or even significantly diminish the detrimental effect the whole experience of the Scandinavian mission has had on Sri Lanka's conflict. Their partisan pro-LTTE behaviour is an outrageous insult to Sri Lanka and its people. The Norwegians do not have a mandate to undermine the political authority of the Government of Sri Lanka, yet they have had no qualms in behaving as though they were Sri Lanka's colonial masters. Even now they are engaged in promoting the cause of the LTTE. The SLMM seem to think it is their business to demand Sri Lanka start a war with Karuna in order to it appease the predilections of Prabakaran and his jackals. It is clear they have not understood exactly what was agreed at Geneva. No matter three callow youths were caught smuggling explosives into a Hatton tea estate despite a promise by the LTTE to desist from provoking or engaging in attacks on the Sri Lankan Armed forces and police. Attempting to carry out such an action behind Government lines is a serious breach of the newly agreed CFA and that should be the issue the Norwegians should be concentrating their minds on. In the long run the only real solution to this problem is to find a different country to do the monitoring. May be someone should try to persuade the Japanese it would be a good idea if they replaced the dastardly Norwegians and their Scandinavian cronies.

Who has the government undertaken to disarm?

For the next few weeks the LTTE and the Norwegians are going to be clamouring for the Government to take on Karuna and his TMVP guerrillas. Insisting it was the their understanding the President had agreed to disarm all paramilitary groups operating across the country. At the same time the Government has strangely fallen silent, it has not cared to explain what it meant by saying, "(it would) ensure no armed group or person other than the government security forces would be permitted to carry arms or conduct armed operations." The LTTE has naturally taken the offensive and made claims that political opponents of theirs were seen carrying hand guns and the that the Government has not honoured its commitment to disarm Karuna. However, if one takes a closer look at the phrase there appears to be no undertaking to disarm Karuna or anyone else on behalf of the LTTE. The phrase could correctly be interpreted to suggest the government does not only intend to disarm Karuna but the LTTE as well. In which case there is no reason for the Government to take any action until negotiations for the decommissioning of the LTTE's weapons is well underway before they turn their attention to the question of disarming Karuna and his forces. After all, it is not Karuna who is engaging in unprovoked attacks SLAF outposts and police stations. In fact rather smartly, he took the step of declaring a unilateral ceasefire with the LTTE and says he will not fight the Tigers unless they attack him. I expect we are likely to see a lot more filibustering from the LTTE's TNA stooges in the next few weeks. An endless stream of accusations about Government dishonesty and deception will be hurled at President Rajapakse right up till the next round of talks begin in April. I do not anticipate the LTTE is likely to act any differently from the way it has behaved in the past. It is after all a predictable show of an aging group of self-centred petulant children complaining all the time that they do not get the toys they want.

The edge the Sri Lankans now have on Prabakaran and his mass murderers

The cleverest move the President made so far is to start a national dialogue to find a political solution the country's problems. The Geneva Talks were held in an inclusive atmosphere where most of what went on happened in front of the cameras. Time and again the President has repeated his intention to each of the major ethnic groups that they will be able to have their own representatives at the next round of talks in April. Everyone outside the LTTE's terrorised enclave will have the opportunity to put their "two pence worth in", as Chandrika Bandaranyake put so eloquently just recently. I have said earlier the word "federal" is no magic wand that is going to provide a perfect solution to the problems inherent in our national institutions. Some highly devolved unitary systems, like the British example, give far more independence to the "national parliaments" of Scotland and Wales than India's constitution gives to its federal parliaments. So, where do we go from here? Talk of course - it may be cheap but it has an important cathartic value if everyone has a chance to vent their spleen! But seriously, we have to go further than just talk about change. At the core a nation has to have not simply one army, navy and air force it must also have a single foreign policy and a common currency. Other aspects of government administration can be devolved to regional parliaments. This is what we must bare in mind.

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