Nadira Gunatilleke Courtesy The Daily News

Today, the TNA is radicalizing and militarizing the Tamil youth: terrorism will emerge unless Sri Lanka takes firm action against fanatics like Sritharan glorifying terrorist-criminals. Taking action will deter the emergence of fanatics like Sritharan in the future! Even after a huge loss of human lives, Sritharan continued to inflame racial passions. Like Sritharan, a few other racist leaders in the TNA suffer from an inferiority complex. Incapable of transcending their racial passions, it is they who want to emulate Prabhakaran, Prof. Rohan Gunaratne told the Daily News during a recent interview.

Professor Rohan Gunaratna is Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore and he is the author of Inside Al-Qaeda (Columbia University, New York, 2002). Prof. Gunaratna is the lead author of Pakistan: Ground Zero Terrorism (Reaktion, London, 2011).

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Sri Lanka will take part in March 2014 UNHRC session and with the HR gains that we have made and new initiatives on the diplomatic front, how can Sri Lanka ensure a better acquittal at the sessions even if it will be dominated by the Western agenda?

A: Geneva is no longer an exercise in human rights but in geopolitics and superpower politics. After the colossal loss of human lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, the West has lost their moral right to pinpoint the finger at others. British Prime Minister David Cameron did not raise human rights issues during his recent visit to China and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his recent visit to Indonesia. If they intended to do so, they would have not been welcomed either by China or by Indonesia. The people in those countries would have immediately labeled them hypocrites after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was not human rights but domestic political compulsions that forced the Canadian, British, Mauritian and Indian leaders to take a certain stand at CHOGM. Except the Indian leader, all the others met with the LTTE front, cover and sympathetic groups. The Tamil vote in the UK and Canada has been mobilized by the LTTE to exercise constituency pressure on Cameron and Harper! In Mauritius and in Tamil Nadu, the LTTE pressurized the co-ethnics. Today, Sri Lanka is an easy target of the West and Sri Lanka should fight back but intelligently by exposing the duality of Western policy. Did the West raise human rights concerns about the violations in Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer and Bahrain, where the US maintains a military presence? With the shift in global power from the West to the East, the Western nations use human rights as a weapon but selectively. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka should plan meticulously for the March 2014 UNHRC session. The Sri Lankan response should focus on the progress it has made since May 2009.

Q: There is a call for the setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Sri Lanka, on the lines of the one set up by the late South African leader Nelson Mandela. Is this a practical suggestion or is the work done by the LLRC enough?

A: The LLRC is comparable to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The conditions in every country are unique and one should not impose the South African TRC on Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government and its partners should continue to implement the remaining recommendations of the LLRC. The spirit of both these commissions is similar. It is restorative justice – it is to restore life rather punitive justice – punish the perpetrators of violence. Of 12,000 terrorists, the government has rehabilitated and reintegrated 11,600 terrorists. Although they conducted border village massacres, placed bombs in public places, assassinated leaders and attacked the Security Forces, they were not imprisoned. After successful rehabilitation, they live peacefully, having returned to their families, joined university, or found government or private sector employment. The Government should continue to highlight the remarkable progress it has made to resettle in recorded time 283,000 IDPs, remove 500,000 mines, and economically develop the North and East. Although in the South, there are poorer areas as affected as the Vanni, the North grew at 22 per cent and the rest of the country at 7 per cent, but, no Sinhalese or Muslim protested.

Q: One suggestion of the LLRC was to conduct a census on the war dead, not just in the last phase but throughout the war period from 1982 onwards. How do you think this will help Sri Lanka’s cause in the international arena?

A: A census on the war dead since Velupillai Prabhakaran murdered the Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiapah in 1975 should be conducted. This will help Sri Lanka to set the record straight and also ask the question what did the British government do when the LTTE attacked the Sri Maha Bodhiya in Anuradhapura and massacred the monks, nuns, pilgrims and bystanders in 1985? Did David Cameron’s predecessor close down the LTTE International Secretariat in London? One of the worst human rights violators, the former LTTE Jaffna leader Sathasivam Krishnakumar alias Kittu was head of the secretariat in London. From the UK, he engaged in extortion to providing the crucial support for the Rajiv Gandhi assassination masterminded by Prabhakaran. Although Kittu was served the quit notice, the LTTE remained in the UK and its new leaders initiated the procurement of 50 tones of TNT and 10 tones of RDX killing Sri Lankan leaders, security personnel, civilians and blowing up infrastructure, property and vehicles. The UK neglected the presence of a huge terrorist support infrastructure that led to the radicalization of Tamil migrants and eventually infiltration of the British political system. Today, the same and new LTTE leaders and activists have organized themselves into the Global Tamil Forum.

Q: Sri Lanka has been accused of dilly dallying on investigations into certain conflict-related killings. Do you think Sri Lanka needs to do more to investigate these and if necessary counter any false or evidence-less claims?

A: Sri Lanka should investigate the killings in the North and South and identify its advocates, supporters and perpetrators. How practical is it to bring the 11,600 rehabilitated terrorist criminals to justice? A third left for overseas including 3,000 now living in Australia! From the earlier migrations, over 6,000 Sri Lankan terrorists are now Canadian citizens. Nearly 800 recently migrated terrorists live in Canada. Will the British prosecute or extradite Adele Balasingham, advisor to the LTTE women’s wing ? Will the US extradite or prosecute LTTE Central Committee member Vishvanathan Rudrakumaran, TGTE leader? Will Norway extradite or prosecute Perinpanayagam Sivaparan alias Nediyawan, bodyguard of Prabhakaran and leader of the LTTE International Secretariat? Will Germany extradite or prosecute S. J. Emmanuel who justified suicide bombing, and leader of the Global Tamil Forum? Will France extradite or prosecute Vinayagam, the mastermind of the international airport attack and now leader of LTTE Headquarters’ group? Investigate, yes, bring them to justice, unlikely!

Q: The LTTE remnant leaders and lobby have shown signs of becoming stronger and their hand was clearly shown in relation to the British PM’s recent visit to the North and his call for an international probe while some others say our foreign missions need to do more. What do you think should be done to rectify this situation?

A: After the defeat of the LTTE in May of 2009, the Sri Lankan government made a monumental mistake. Like KP was brought home, government should file cases to bring the LTTE remnant leaders from overseas to Sri Lanka. It is not too late to execute international warrants against those who are still active! There is intelligence that most of those who are active internationally today are engaged in terrorist support and operational activity. As the government neglected this responsibility, the LTTE activists that funded terror and violence in Sri Lanka have persisted. Although terrorists are the world’s worst human rights violators, many terrorist activists reinvented themselves as human rights activists. As much as the LTTE was ruthless, it was deceptive. Today, the LTTE leaders wear three piece suits and parade in the corridors of power from the UN in New York to 10 Downing Street. It’s ironic but true, but, they hold meetings in the US Department of State, lobby British Parliamentarians, campaign as human rights activists in Geneva. Using votes and funds, they lure and trap politicians who really do not care for either Sri Lanka or human rights! As Wikileaks reported, David Miliband, who wanted the offensive against the LTTE halted, was driven by constituency pressure not by his concern for the Tamils! Sri Lanka’s criminal justice and prisons system should respond legally against LTTE remnants seeking to recuperate, mount a targeted strategic communications campaign in Tamil to reach out to the diasporas, and diplomatically reengage Western governments and leaders.

Q: From Sri Lanka’s side, Australia has taken a positive point of view in relation to LTTE activity and wartime incidents. At the same time, there is a notion articulated by the Opposition that Sri Lanka should warm up to the West generally, may be by taking certain HR related steps that could win their favour, given that most of these countries had banned the LTTE early on. What is your comment?

A: The former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, a principled leader, realized Sri Lanka had defeated a brutal terrorist insurgency. Without getting carried away by constituency compulsions and joining the Western bandwagon, Senator Carr engaged Sri Lanka. Harper and Camaron can learn from the diplomacy of Carr and his successor Julie Bishop, the incumbent Australian Foreign Minister. Both Bishop and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott built trust and has more leverage in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Parliamentary Opposition is right in its call for government to restore its relations with the West. Rather than engage in confrontational politics, the Government and parliamentary opposition should develop a bipartisan approach on national security and foreign policy matters.

Q: The Indian factor is very important for Sri Lanka. But pro-LTTE elements seem to have taken the upper hand in Tamil Nadu, which has affected policy making at the Centre. Any views on how this situation can be rectified?

A: The relationship between New Delhi and Colombo is “excellent” according to the Indian government. Sri Lanka’s security is tied to the political developments in Tamil Nadu. Today, the deterioration of the law and order situation and the terrorist-criminal-political nexus in Tamil Nadu is affecting Sri Lanka. The LTTE led gangs in Tamil Nadu attacked Sri Lankan pilgrims, Sri Lankan Buddhist temple, and threatened the Sri Lankan mission in Chennai. The same gangs paraded huge cut outs of Prabhakaran, organized political and fund raising events, and established safe houses to manufacture IEDs. The LTTE has rebuilt a base in Tamil Nadu and are pressurizing Manmohan Singh. To politically survive, the Prime Minister of India is dancing to the tune of Tamil Nadu politicians. Sri Lanka should understand this reality and help New Delhi and not criticize Singh for his non participation in CHOGM.

The Sri Lankan President should give the highest priority to normalizing ties with Tamil Nadu leaders. Although the Tamil Nadu leaders supporting the LTTE are among the most corrupt, Sri Lanka should restore relations with and engage the state of Tamil Nadu. One must never forget that Tamil Nadu was not only the main source of virulent Tamil nationalism, but, the training base for the LTTE. Colombo should build its biggest diplomatic mission in Chennai and engage the Tamil Nadu government and civil society leaders by inviting them to visit Sri Lanka. Further, Colombo should build a capacity in Tamil language to counter the distorted picture Tamil Nadu politicians are giving its citizens about Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan Navy should call for joint patrolling with the Indian Navy-Coast Guard to deter Indian trawlers engaged in bottom-line trawling totally destroying Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystem and habitat. As much as Sri Lanka should get its act together of intercepting any foreign vessel that crosses into its waters, New Delhi should address this issue.

If the Indian government and Tamil Nadu state governments are genuinely interested in uplifting the quality of Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen, it must stop illegal fishing carried out by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters! If India is sincere in maintaining good relations with its neighbours, it must put a stop to its fishermen in the south crossing into Sri Lankan waters and even worse, using bottom line trawling! How can India aspire to be a regional power, let alone a superpower if it cannot control a few thousand of its fishermen engaging in illicit poaching?

Q: The NPC has again called for the withdrawal of the Army from the North and the appointment of a civilian governor soon after an MP glorified Prabhakaran in Parliament. Do you think there is a revival of LTTE-inspired sentiments in Sri Lanka as well and in any case can the military presence in the North be reduced?

A: The Sri Lankan government should initiate an investigation against anyone calling for the withdrawal of the Army from the North and they will find the hidden hand of the LTTE. With the military in the North, there will be no Tamil Eelam. While the Police should engage in day-to-day law and order functions, the military should remain in strength in the North to ensure security. As long as the LTTE remains active in Tamil Nadu, operates in the West, and its proxy the TNA is in power in the North, Sri Lanka should ensure a robust security presence in the North and East. Otherwise, like terrorism reemerged in Iraq and Afghanistan after the US declared victory, terrorism will reemerge in Sri Lanka. After the defeat of the LTTE, the strategy of the LTTE remnants and TNA is identical.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act is insufficient to deal with the current wave of ideological extremism, the precursor to terrorism. Without further loss of time, the Government should pass a Harmony Act or a Sedition Act to deter as well as charge and prosecute anyone seeking to revive separatism.

Today, the TNA is radicalizing and militarizing the Tamil youth: terrorism will emerge unless Sri Lanka takes firm action against fanatics like Sritharan glorifying terrorist-criminals. Taking action will deter the emergence of fanatics like Sritharan in future! Even after a huge loss of human lives, Sritharan continued to inflame racial passions. Like Sritharan, a few other racist leaders in the TNA suffer from an inferiority complex. Incapable of transcending their racial passions, it is they who want to emulate Prabhakaran!

Q: More than 32 countries have banned the LTTE but the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora and LTTE remnants are active in many countries four years after the war ended. They seem to be very influential and fund raising appears to go ahead under the very noses of those Governments. Should SL play a more pro-active role diplomatically and intelligence-wise in countering any threat from these elements?

A: The Sri Lankan government has won the war in the battlefield but lost the media war overseas. The Ministry of External Affairs should create a post of an Additional Secretary for Public Diplomacy and build three divisions; strategic communications, diaspora affairs and NGO engagement. It will be a mistake to staff these posts exclusively with foreign service officers. Media, security and human rights specialists should be posted to Sri Lankan missions overseas and receive support from a 24/7 Watch Centre in Colombo linked to defence, media and other ministries.

The Watch Centre should monitor mainstream and social media and correct the disinformation and misinformation creating mis-perceptions. In Canada, UK and Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan missions did not rebut the false propaganda and portray the ground reality. The government also neglected NGOs: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and International Crisis Group gave a one sided view of Sri Lanka. The new capability should expose the LTTE activists who have overnight turned human rights activists; file cases against irresponsible media; track LTTE funding and its proxies, including the TNA and investigate how the TNA is brainwashing the youth with LTTE sentiments.

Q: Channel 4 has produced yet another ‘documentary’ which apparently portrays the execution of a LTTE female journalist by the Security Forces. In a significant victory, Sri Lanka could also screen a counter film at the European Parliament. What are the ways and means through which Sri Lanka could counter these threats?

A: Sri Lanka, recovering from 30 years of brutal terrorism, should focus on twin pillars: economic development and security. Sri Lanka should not over react to threats made by its detractors. With not a single act of terrorism since May 2009, Sri Lanka is today one of the safest countries in the world. In contrast, after Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan, India is the most affected by terrorism. The number one destination for global tourism, Sri Lanka should continue to improve its service sector from investment to finance. Colombo is also the cleanest city in South Asia: Sri Lanka is earning a reputation as the Garden City of Asia. Instead of taking peace for granted, Sri Lanka should change its electoral system, not permit ethnic or religious segregation, and create the Sri Lankan identity. To counter racist politicians ethnicizing its communities, Sri Lanka should ethnically and religiously mix its schools, create a national pledge, and seed Harmony clubs in every school to enhance interaction across ethnic and religious lines.

Q: How should the government deal with the TNA?

A: The LTTE cut the mainstream Tamil political leadership tree not from the branches but from the trunk. To fill the vacuum, the LTTE created the TNA, a racist party to breakup Sri Lanka. After the LTTE was defeated, the government should have proscribed the TNA, a party akin to the Nazi Party. The Sri Lankan government made a mistake by not proscribing the TNA, charging and prosecuting its leaders, members and supporters with ideological and operational links to the LTTE. They too should have been sent to the rehabilitation centres: some of them were more radicalized and militarized than hardcore LTTE leaders and members.

Although the TNA consist largely of separatists who legitimized the brutal violence and ideology of the LTTE, it has a few mainstream leaders such as Dharmalingam Sitharthan. Today, the TNA is fed by the LTTE front, cover and sympathetic organizations overseas and they are spreading the LTTE ideology in the north and east. Those with links to terrorism should never be permitted to campaign or stand for office. If future unity must be preserved, Sri Lanka should not tolerate ethnic and religious based parties but promote multi-ethnic and multi-religious parties.

Ethnicizing and religizing communities to win votes should be outlawed. If government does not take this bold step now, ideological extremism will once again poison the ground to a threshold leading to another wave of terrorism. Laws against incitement and hatred should be developed by the Attorney General’s Department and law enforcement authorities must take firm action against racism and separatist ideologies spread by individuals and groups by arresting them and confiscating their properties. The Tamil media, the main platform for disseminating racist ideas, should be closely monitored, and influenced to embrace Sri Lankan nationhood. The ruling party and UNP should recruit respectable Tamils to the national parties and government should phase out racist parties like the TNA and the SLMC by outlawing them permanently.

Q: What is the future of politics in the North and East?

A: In Sri Lanka, there is social harmony between communities until politicians interfere! Most Sri Lankans are not racists. It is the politicians that turn them to think along communal and sectarian lines! Sri Lanka is recovering and recuperating from 30 years of conflict. With the end of conflict and greater North-South interaction, I am confident that the North will produce visionary Tamil leaders that will think and act for all Sri Lankans. Coming out of racism is like coming out of a drug! I am less confident in the older generation of Tamil leaders who must share the tragedy they brought upon their community and Sri Lanka!

To rebuild inter – ethnic relations, the Sri Lankan government should invest time and energy in mainstream Tamil attitudes and opinions. The government should continue to create education and job opportunities in the North and East and build bridges with the South and West. To secure Sri Lanka’s future, the Government should recruit more Tamils and Muslims to its Security Forces, so that Tamils will feel that they have earned the trust of the other communities once more. To get rid of the suspicion and prejudice, the Government should create harmony platforms in every province, district, town and village to link all communities together through culture, education, employment, recreation etc. The government should reach out and work with Secretary General of the TULF V. Anandasangaree and other mainstream Tamil leaders who understand that like the LTTE, the TNA will never bring any joy to the Tamils, only grief.

With the return to normalcy, we are witnessing the rise of commerce in the North and tourism in the East. With infrastructure development, we are witnessing the making of a vibrant economy in the North and East. In parallel with economic development, government should link the North and South creating understanding and trust.

When the people to people contact, school to school contact, youth club to youth club contact is fostered, the Tamils will understand that the same problems they are facing in the North, the Sinhalese are also facing in the South and that there is no state or institutionalized discrimination. The visionary politicians from the South should invest resources and spend time in the North grooming a young generation of Tamils and leaders who believe in moderation, toleration and coexistence.