Ajit Randeniya

One of the more memorable quotes that arose during the last stages of the war was the Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohona’s (alleged) instructions to Nadesan and Puleedevan through Mr Nambiar regarding their surrender. The instructions were: “Just walk across to the troops, slowly! With a white flag and comply with instructions carefully”. The irony in these instructions, and a serious flaw in their war preparation, was that these “battle-hardened” fighters had never familiarised themselves with the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”tactical response’ in a worst case scenario. They sure needed to have a white flag tucked in somewhere!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now it appears that Dr Kumar Rupesinghe needs to be issued with the same instructions.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ According to a recent report in the Asian Tribune, Dr Rupesinghe has apparently come out of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”forced’ hibernation to hold a media conference in Colombo. Firstly, Mr Cyril Perera who reported the event has described Rupesinghe as “an anti-war expert”. If you are wondering as to how one could become an anti-war “expert”, you are not alone. Rupesinghe was previously known as an expert in “Conflict Resolution” the black-art developed and traded by the so-called Western “think tanks”.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ According to the conflict resolution formula advocated by groups such as the Peace Institute in Norway (where Rupesinghe was engaged) and the George Soros funded, Gareth Evans’ International Crisis Group, the only solution to various cases of ethnic strife and separatist movements in the Third World was ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”power sharing’. They completely ignored the complex, colonialism-based root causes of such ethnic disputes and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”solution’ they provided was based on the oldest trick in the book, “devide and rule”. They advocated treating separatists with the velvet glove, no matter how brutal or unreasonable they could be. Through this cynical ideology they facilitated the continuation of ethnic wars throughout the developing world. Kumar Rupesinghes of this world, with Third World bourgeoisie origins and contacts were the (handsomely paid) foot soldiers of this destructive mental colonisation process.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Rupesinghe’s briefing to the media ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”conference’ has been a rambling account of various stages of the war which in many ways is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”water under the bridge’ now, and is not worth discussing. The attempted explanation of his the past position on the LTTE in general and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”military solution however, is important since he seems to be attempting to revise history in the light of the results that were achieved through a formula that was obviously contrary to the one he advocated.

Rupesinghe has been at pains to point out that “he is not a LTTE supporter”. He has also said that: “I abhor their terrorist methods and the use of violence to achieve their objectives. I doubt if these methods brought freedom to their people but misery”. I did argue for a negotiated settlement and campaigned against the war but I realised that the LTTE was not seriously interested in negotiations.

The question is as to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”when’ he realised that the LTTE was not interested in negotiations; those who followed events closely would remember that he never indicated that there was the remotest possibility of finding a solution through ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”military’ means because a war with the LTTE was not ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”winnable’. Only Jehan Perera and Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu would have shown more tenacity on this position. Rupesinghe was mainly responsible for spreading this particular myth of the LTTE’s invincibility as well as backing the Western insistence on a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”negotiated settlement’. They seemed to have never considered as to with whom the government could negotiate. In one of his articles to the Daily Mirror in Colombo, Rupesinghe sunk so low as to suggest that President Rajapakse and Prabhakaran were ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”two sides of the same coin’. It also became known that he made secret presentation to that American spy Robert Blake, and to other Western spies.

Rupesighe, like Ranil Wickremasinghe, also reveals his deep dissatisfaction with the government victory when he points to the LTTE’s “big mistake” of trying to use civilians as a human shield, to pressure the international community to intervene. This is similar to Ranil and other foul-mouthed UNP leaders who suggested many times during the peak of the war that Prabhakaran “deserved” what he was getting, because he caused the 2005 election defeat to them!

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These issues are not raised out of vindictiveness or with the motive of excluding Rupesinghe or any other critic of the decisive military action on the LTTE from future participation in the national effort to move the country forward politically and economically. It is simply to point out that solutions to ethnic problems cannot be formulated in Western capitals where vested interests govern the approach. And refusal to be brain-washed by cynical mumbo-jumbo of the West is an essential prerequisite for solving the problems which are really the overhang of colonialism.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ As the Sri Lankan case demonstrates, the right solutions are borne out of pure minds, clear resolve and decisive action. Rupesinghe can learn a thing or two from President Rajapakse, Mr Gotabhaya Rajapkse and the armed servoices chiefs for his next text book.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Unfortunately, Jehan Perera and Pakiasothy Saravanamuttu would be truly beyond redemption.