THE DEMANDS OF THE LTTE AND THE WEST
It is now abundantly clear that the so-called MOU signed by Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe and the fascist murderer Prabhakaran is a document that has to be honored by the government of Sri Lanka only. The LTTE has violated the MOU on number of occasions but the so called monitors have not taken any steps to stop any future violations. The LTTE goes on happily violating the MOU while the government can only make complaints to a monitor or the monitoring mission that does not have the powers of a class monitor at schools. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is only wasting the money (who pays them?) allocated to them and they are worse than the proverbial horage amma. (The mother of the thief). Apart from the violations of the MOU the LTTE has gained number of concessions during the past three months including entertaining cabinet ministers in Vanni. The A9 is still closed for all practical purposes though the government has done its best to see that the road was opened as scheduled. The LTTE goes on extorting money not only from wealthy people but from poor parents as well. The parents have to pay a large sum of money to see that their sons and daughters are not forcibly recruited by the LTTE. The children continue to be abducted and the UNO has been proved to be ineffective and have been confined to their regular statements on abductions. It is not the statements that the poor parents want but some concrete action to prevent the LTTE abducting children and extorting money.
Anton Balasingham visited the country without going through the normal immigration and emigration formalities. He or his pilot could change directions of flights without informing the proper authorities. Arms are being smuggled using fishermen as human shields. The ADB and the Chinese have entered in to some kind of agreement with the LTTE to develop the north and the eastern provinces. The eelamnation on 15th May 2002 reported: "The Cabinet ministers give promises to provide funds but they remain unfulfilled for people living in these regions particularly the displaced people. 'Funds for reconstruction and rehabilitation are totally inadequate to rebuild the war shattered region,' said Mr. Iyathurai, the Kilinochchi government agent. He said he forwarded details of the displaced persons to the Rehabilitation Ministry, but funds are not forthcoming to provide relief.
Mr. Ayathurai said further that the minister agreed to provide permanent shelters for 1000 refugee families to settle them in villages like Bharathipuram and ThondamAn Nagar of Vanni. But again funds to re- locate these families have not been received. Several countries have expressed their willingness to finance projects including the repair of A9 highway leading to Yaazhppaanam from Kandy. The Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Chinese delegation, which visited Kilinochchi, also promised to finance, but these donors have yet to provide the funds to undertake reconstruction work in the region."
According to some "observers" the LTTE getting funds may not be irregular as NGOs also get direct aid from foreign bodies. However, it is said that the money that go into the NGOs pass "through" the governmental authorities. Most of the local NGOs are bodies maintained by western Christian countries (the states and the political parties) in order to manoeuvre and control the "public opinion" and also to acquire information on the behaviour patterns of the Sinhala people in the country. In the case of the LTTE, it is a terrorist organisation that the ADB and China, according to the eelamnation web site, have made "deals" with, and there is no guarantee that the LTTE would not resort to any terrorist acts in the future. In fact it is a foregone conclusion that the LTTE would be exploding bombs the moment the government fails to comply with their never ending list of demands. The SLMM, would have no hesitation to blame the government in such an eventuality and it would be interesting to watch the reaction of the so-called international community to explosion of bombs.
It is said that the latest demand by the LTTE is on incorporation of Norway also in the so-called peace talks. Norway got themselves invited by the PA government to be the facilitator at "peace talks". As the peace advocated by Norway was not the same as the peace of the PA government, after some time, Norway had to be side lined and Solheim had to be asked to keep away. As a result Mr. Hakeem got into operation and the PA government was toppled. At the general elections held in December 2001 the UNF formed a government though the majority of the Sinhala people, especially the Sinhala Buddhists, voted for the PA and the JVP. Though the UNF government has no mandate from the Sinhala Buddhists they have gone ahead with the so-called peace process, inviting Norway again to be the so-called facilitator. Norway in no time became the mediator and is now in the process of becoming the third party at the so-called peace talks.
The LTTE has been imposing conditions for so-called peace talks. It has so far demanded that the proscription of the LTTE should be lifted and that it should be recognised as an equal party. Neither the LTTE nor any other Tamil racist party has given up the so-called Thimpu conditions. Now the LTTE wants Norway to take part in the "peace talks". Can the government go on agreeing to all these demands or conditions imposed by the LTTE? The government should not try to appease the "international community" consisting of few prime ministers and presidents in some of the western countries, by bowing down to everything that the LTTE demands.
The LTTE knows that the Scandinavian countries are with it and that is why it is adding demand after demand to the government. As I have argued in these columns, the LTTE and the western powers and the NGOs supported by them know very well that the LTTE cannot win the "war". In other words all of them, except perhaps the LTTE, know that the LTTE cannot establish an eelam by fighting. Most probably the west has informed the LTTE of their "findings". As the LTTE cannot achieve their objective, namely an eelam, by "war", friends of Tamil racism have come to their aid to agitate for "peace talks". The NGOs, the seminar circuit, the Social Scientists, the Anthropologists and finally the foreign diplomats themselves want "peace". The war for peace has started and each is talking of its own special "peace". All these "peaces" start with the Thimpu conditions, Tamil aspirations, sometimes injustices to the Tamils though "Thimpu conditions" are not based on "injustices". They finally end up with a peace that is tied with an eelam, a confederation, or a federal state. Anybody who wants a peace in a unitary state is branded as a war monger, Sinhala Chauvinist etc.
If Norway is allowed to take part in so-called peace talks then the Norwegian delegation would argue most probably for a confederation. At "peace" talks though weapons are not used pressure is applied on the government to give in to the Tamil racist demands. When Norway also joins as a party the government of Sri Lanka will be up against two delegations. Even if Norway remains in the background as a moderator it will apply pressure on the government in the "peace negotiations". Clearly the LTTE is more powerful at the so-called peace talks than at war as there are strong friends to back up their case verbally. If it comes to worse all that the LTTE has to do is to go back to the "war mode" from the "peace mode" in war. The "war mode" and the "peace mode" are interchangeable though the LTTE and especially its friends would prefer the "peace mode" as it helps the LTTE to win a confederation without losing anything. It has to be emphasised that even in the "peace mode" the LTTE and the government are engaged in "war".
In this connection it has to be noted that it is not only the government that is under pressure. Even the opposition has to face the music, especially from the bigger western nations. It was reported in the Sinhala weekend newspapers that Mr. Anura Bandaranaike had been criticised by Mr. Wills, the USA ambassador for the recent stand taken by the SLFP. It is not known what Mr. Bandaranaike had to tell the ambassador, but the SLFP as a party has to evolve its own policy with respect to the Tamil racist problem and should be in a position to tell the sponsors of Tamil racism that they are against any form of so-called devolution, and as solutions to the immediate problems they are against deproscription, homeland concept and "Thimpu conditions".
Mr. Wills in a recent statement has referred to those who are against peace in the country. He wants those who support war to be shouted down. Mr. Wills has to be told that no body, except probably the arms dealers, is for war per se, but the peace mudalalis (vendors) have been interpreting peace to mean an eelam, a confederation or a federation, any other peace being branded as war. What the LTTE and their supporters want is an eelam or a confederation given through the "peace" mode. If the majority of the Sinhalas are against an eelam or a confederation what are they supposed to do? (If Mr. Wills or anybody else think that the majority of the Sinhalas are for an eelam or a confederation then they are living in a dream world. Even at the last general elections the majority of the Sinhalas voted for PA and the JVP that canvased against the Ali-Koti givisuma. (UNP- TNA, LTTE understanding)). Does the ambassador want them to keep quiet? When he says that those who are supporting 'war' should be shouted down I suppose that is what he means. The Sinhala people will never allow an eelam or a confederation either through the "peace" mode or the "war" mode, in spite of the leaders in the UNF and the PA, who do not have the courage to stand up to the aggressive policies of the supporters of Tamil racism. The Sinhalas are not against peace, but they want a peace in a unitary state. They are not prepared to allow Tamil racists to deprive Sinhalathva its rightful place in the country.
The Tamil racist demand for self determination is based on two hypotheses that cannot be substantiated with any archaeological, historical, demographic, or social facts. There has never been a Tamil nation and the north and the east cannot be considered as the homeland of the Tamils. If self determination is based on those two premises and if the premises are shown to be incorrect then the self determination, whether in the form of an eelam, a confederation or even a so-called interim administration becomes invalid. If Mr. Wills is interested we could organise a workshop where the Tamil historians and others could debate to a finish with the representatives of the Sinhalas on these two matters so that we could arrive at a conclusion, may be within three months or so. If Mr. Wills or anybody else is interested we could debate on the so-called injustices to the Tamils as well, though the claim for self determination is not based on that assumption.
The west may be divided on their attitude towards the LTTE. While the Scandinavian countries support the LTTE, the USA appears to be against it as it could be a threat to the most powerful nation in the world. Britain, having baptised Tamil racism in Sri Lanka, takes a position in between the Scandinavian countries and the USA. Though there are differences in their positions regarding the LTTE, the west in general support Tamil racism and self determination for the northern and eastern provinces. However, the westerners are not consistent in their arguments and they very often mix injustice argument with the nation - homeland argument. The Tamil racists take advantage of this confusion and the LTTE in particular jump from one argument to the other making never ending demands in the process.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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