SATTAHIP AND AFTER
Peace is another word for Eelam in a Sri Lankan context. The meaning of the words change with time and the same word in the sense that a word with the same spelling may have different meanings under different circumstances in different contexts. The word peace has now acquired a different meaning with respect to Tamil racism in Sri Lanka. It is in that context that some of us are against peace. Those who are for peace are the supporters of Eelam.
The so-called first round of talks between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE has come to an end. The talks started long before that, and there was some understanding between the UNP and the LTTE, most probably through the not so good offices of the Norwegian embassy in Sri Lanka, even at the time of the last presidential elections held towards the end of 2000. The Ali Koti givisuma came into existence at the parliamentary elections held in 2001, as admitted by Thamilselvam, and the culvert talks in Thailand are nothing but the continuation of talks that led to the Ali Koti givisuma.
In Thailand Solheim has referred to Anton Balasingham as "his excellency" and the LTTE is on par with the other four letter abbreviation GOSL. The ban on the LTTE was lifted so that the GOSL and the LTTE could be treated equally. It is immaterial whether the LTTE is banned in the USA and the Anglo Saxon Christian countries as what matters is its status in Sri Lanka. There was no national flag as the LTTE had demanded its flag also at the Eelam (culvert) talks in Sattahip. The compromise was to have no flags on the discussion table.
After the talks it was reported that the LTTE has dropped the Eelam. The western media including the CNN has reported so. It is very unlikely that this was the work of an innocent reporter who did not understand the politics of Tamil racism in Sri Lanka. The west tries to create the impression that the tigers have changed their spots in Vanni. There is a script for this teledrama that is being telecast in number of parts, each part ending with the words "mathu sambandhai" (to be continued). The director is none other than the deputy foreign minister of Norway but the producer is a very high ranking officer in the USA state department. Prabhakaran of Velvetithurai Nataka Mandapam is the main actor who has limited freedom in the new production. Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga of the Dram Soc of St. Bridget's, though she is the best actress, is not the main actress. Ranil, GL, Moragoda, Hakeem etc. of various Dram Socs are supporting actors of various grades. All the actors and the actresses have only to read the lines in the script written by another official in the USA state department, though occasionally Prabhakaran reads his own lines.
It is not known whether the CNN report was also in the script but the Hindu published in Chennai had something else to say. In its editorial on 20th September the Hindu said: "The announcement by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam that it was ready to accept 'autonomy and self-governance' in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka and that it would consider separation only as a 'last resort' needs to be assessed with caution...........The announcements and the elaborations on the same by the LTTE's chief negotiator Anton Balasingham, leave too many questions unanswered." The Hindu has further stated, " In a context where the LTTE has not ruled out separation -whether as a last resort or otherwise -categorically the talk about a 'homeland' would appear to contain the seeds of a yet to be abandoned plan to divide the island." The paper had also referred to the statement by Balasingham on international recognition for the so called areas under LTTE control.
It has to be emphasised that there are no areas controlled by the LTTE. All the areas in Sri Lanka are under government control and there is no civil war situation in the country either now or then. The employees in the Universities, including VCs who designed bunkers for the LTTE, the hospitals, schools, Kaccheries etc. are paid by the GOSL. The people in all parts of the country are fed by the government in the sense that food items are sent to all parts of the country. The electricity is supplied by the government. It is true that the LTTE extorts money which even Saradiel did under the British raj. Did the British governor at any time officially recognise that Mawanella area was under the control of Saradiel. If the present British High Commissioner and the USA ambassador are not familiar with Saradiel did the King of England at any time concede that Robin Hood and his gang were in control over the Sherwood Forest and the adjoining areas in Nottinghamshire. At least Saradiel and Robin Hood helped the poor unlike Prabhakaran and his gang who make use of the money to build bunkers with facilities which the other cadres do not have.
Coming back to what Balasingham said in Sattahip any person who respects sovereignty of the country would not support the so-called peace talks. Balasingham has said: " We do not operate within a concept of a separate state and our objective is not establish Eelam. An interim administration will not be an end in itself, but a part of an organic process. Do not forget that we already have a massive administrative structure in the areas under our control for which we are seeking international recognition. After all our cadres should be given a chance to run the administration." The key words here are "part of an organic process", " we already have a massive administrative structure", "seeking international recognition", "cadres should be given a chance". In these columns as well as in other writings I have been saying, since the time of the last presidential elections that we are heading for a confederation. When Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe said in his presidential election campaign that he is for asymmetric devolution it was clear that he was talking of a confederation. Mr. Wickramasinghe, Dr. G. L. Peiris, Messrs Moragoda and the other "negotiators" in the cabinet have been given a contract by the western powers to establish a confederation in the country. Mr. Wickramasinghe has been working on this for more than two years. The "asymmetric solution" is translated into Sinhala as "asamamithika visanduma" which was renamed as "asamajjathi visanduma". A confederation is an "asamajjathi visanduma" for number of reasons. It is "asamajjathi" first and foremost because we are unable to identify the "father" of the so-called solution who hides behind a table in the state department of the USA. This is the so-called compromise between the Eelam demanded by the Tamil racists and the unitary state (eksesath rajyaya) established by the king Dutugemunu.
We are certainly witnessing an "organic process" leading to an Eelam through a joint task force, development of the north and the east with western and Japanese money (Japanese have no military power nor "cultural strength" to take independent decisions. In contradiction to Marxism, economic power is useless without political power and cultural strength in these matters), a joint interim administration, international recognition for the interim administration (with or without the nineteenth amendment becoming part of the constitution), confederation, UDI of Eelam, recognition by the scandinavian countries first and then by the Anglo Saxon Christian countries. Prabhakaran said even at the "press conference" held in Vanni in April this year that he would not drop Eelam. He has recently said that he would not accept any office in the so-called interim administration and Balasingham now says that their cadres have to be given a chance administer the northern and the eastern provinces. Prabhakaran would accept office only in an Eelam recognised by Norway and the other Christian countries. Until then the "cadres" would look after.
We have to remember that this is the plan of neither the GOSL nor the LTTE. Both parties are only dancing to the tune of the state department of USA, occasionally Prabhakaran dancing to his own tune. However there are Solheim and others to correct the step and we know where we are all heading. Balasingham speaking to "The Island" has said that what the LTTE wants is regional autonomy. He is careful not to define what is meant by "regional autonomy" but it has to be much more than what Dr. G. L. Peiris offered the LTTE in the package when he was in the PA. Dr. Peiris who joined the SLFP with Ms. Kumaratunga to take constitutional steps to satisfy the aspirations of Tamil racism could not offer a solution that is satisfactory not only to the LTTE but to the Norwegians who are only the agents of the state department. When the west realised that the PA was unable to deliver the goods Mr. Hakeem was used to topple the government and Dr. Peiris joined the UNP with messrs S. B. Dissanayake and others who had fallen out with Ms. Kumaratunga.
The west knows how to pay lip service to the Muslims and they have persuaded Balasingham to recognise the northern and the eastern provinces as Muslim homelands as well. If the Muslims remember that September 11 began another crusade by the Christian countries against the Muslim culture they would realise how Mr. Hakeem is being used by the western Christian countries to satisfy the aspirations of Tamil racism, that is based in the western Christian culture. The west has no love for the Muslims and they are using the Muslim factor only to isolate the Sinhalas who constitute 30% of the population in the eastern province and who own more than 50% of the land in that province and deprive Sinhalathva its rightful place in the country. Very soon it will be the turn of the Muslims followed by, yes, the Tamil Hindus. Those who are blind to the cultural component of western colonialism would never understand what is happening in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Baticaloa and Sattahip.
The regional autonomy envisaged by Balasingham and the west, though not spelt out at present, is nothing but a confederation. A confederation is de facto two states with a de jure government that has the power to appoint the ambassadors etc. Consider the "organic process" of Balasingham. Prabhakaran is not even a Saradiel as he is not liked by the ordinary masses, demonstrated by the exodus of the Tamils from the Jaffna peninsula. Only those who follow the Tamil racist "intellectuals" and the "elites" who wanted to dominate the affairs of the country since the eighteenth century support Prabhakaran. They wanted Ponnambalam Ramanathan and his brother Arunachalam to be recognised as the leaders of the "Ceylonese" and their close relative Ananda Coomaraswamy was to provide the intellectual leadership. They were to speak for the Sinhalas their political rights, culture etc., as well. However since about the second decade of the twentieth century the English educated Sinhalas began to realise, (It was mainly the non Goigama Christians among them who sensed this first) though not comprehensively, what was happening with the connivance of the British, and reacted against the aggression of Tamil racism which I have described in "An Introduction to Tamil Racism" using only the material that was available to me at that time. (This group, however, was not compatible with the movement led by Anagarika Dharmapala against cultural colonialism and it is unfortunate that the Sinhalas have not been able to integrate these two currents into one national movement). With further material my initial hypotheses has gained additional support and Tamil racism in Sri Lanka could be identified as a phenomenon that is based in Christian culture and backed first by the Dutch, then the British and now the USA led Anglo Saxon countries and the Scandinavian countries, that attempts to deprive Sinhalathva its rightful place in the country. The Tamil racists after they were challenged in the second decade of the last century, in order to justify their claims for leadership in the country and to deprive Sinhalathva its rightful place began to invent the so called injustices. The so called injustices were only a facade and nobody so far has explained how an interim administration or anything else in the north and the east would find a solution to the "injustices" to the Tamils, the majority of whom live in the other seven provinces. These "injustices" could be compared with the following in the address given by Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe to the UN. " Last week our capital Colombo came to a standstill as people from all over the country, from every religion and every ethnic group in society flocked to a peace rally"! Only we know how they flocked.
The scenario for the next few months is clear. While attempting to get a two third majority for the 19th amendment and to impeach the President if possible, (beware she is not a kitten) the GOSL and the LTTE would form a joint task force (JTF) that would be raising funds for development projects in the north and the east, giving LTTE the "control" over the entire northern and the eastern provinces, that they could not win through "war" and then legally or otherwise establish an interim administration recognised by the "international community", (the task force would be converted to the interim administration) that would lead to a confederation and finally to an Eelam. The government that has already given equal status to the LTTE would be further consolidating that position within the JTF. What we need is a strong STF to destroy the JTF.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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