WESTERN HYPOCRISY, PA AND INDIA
Apparently the PA has decided to send a delegation to India to discuss the problems arising out of the present situation in the country. One need not have to be a political scientist who does or does not know politics, sometime ago a politician in Sabaragamuwa who had not even passed his Advanced Level Political Science, had told a well known Political Scientist who was also a politician from the same area that the latter did not understand any politics, but baffles with geopolitical military strategies to realise the importance of India with respect to the present crisis in Sri Lanka and to come to the conclusion that in time to come India is bound to take more and more interest in the affairs of the country. India has a view of the situation, that is different from those of the west as well as the Sri Lankan government. Unlike the government of Sri Lanka that more or less follows the policy of the west, India's thinking is governed by the interests of that country. Fifteen years ago the President Jayawardhane who was toeing the western line was forced to sign the infamous Indo Lanka agreement when India thought enough was enough. Dixit became the "viceroy" for sometime and the country was in flames in no time. Finally President Premadasa had to send the IPKF that came to "keep peace" unceremoniously in order to tame down the JVP. However, the feelings are different now and neither the JVP nor the PA sans the LSSP and the CP, the three wheelers according to Mr. Anura Bandaranaike, would object to some kind of Indian involvement. In fact there is a section of the PA that is in favour of openly inviting India to take action to prevent any further deterioration of the situation.
It is clear that the minister Milinda Moragoda and the Norwegian ambassador Westborg did not succeed in their attempt to get India participated at the Oslo circus. As we mentioned last week this policy of India upset the plans of the Norwegians and Armitage and Clare Short could not sit for a discussion with the LTTE terrorists led by Balasingham with or without a Ph. D. In any event having known quite a number of those who hold Ph. D. degrees I would not bother about Balasingham's paper qualifications. Though the LTTE is supposed to be banned in the Anglo Saxon Christian countries their representatives continue to meet delegations of the former. Their High Commissioners and Ambassadors travel to Vanni jungles to meet terrorists such as Thamilselvan probably claiming that the meetings take place outside their respective countries. This behaviour of Australians, Canadians not to mention the British and the Americans is to be contrasted with the French ambassador in Sri Lanka who has refused to meet the terrorists. I am not trying to say that we would have been better off if the French succeeded in their maneuvering to capture Sri Lanka and as a result we were ruled by them rather than by the British, but it has to be mentioned that the ban of the LTTE by the Anglo Saxon countries has become a joke. Who is trying to fool whom with this so called ban?
Armitage not only did not sit with Balasingham for talks but probably "inspired" by the Indian attitude requested the LTTE to decommission themselves. This brought an angry response from Balasingham who said that they would give up arms only after they realise the so called aspirations of the LTTE, meaning of course an Eelam. This was later confirmed by Prabhakaran in his birthday speech, where he said that if the so called regional autonomy is not given then the LTTE would fight for a separate state. There may be Political Scientists and lawyers who try to give various "readings" to Prabhakaran's speech but none of these "guys and gals" would read Prabhakaran's mind. The word "reading" with respect to literature in any field, that gives some intellectual currency for the Social Scientists in this era of an imaginary post modernism (there is an "intellectual" debate in the west sometimes to be echoed and reechoed in Sri Lanka by our pundits, over whether it is post modernism or postmodernism, but as it is only an imaginary state or condition in the minds of Lyotard et al., this should not worry us.), is nothing but understanding something relative to the reader or in the words "thama thama nena pamaning dena gatha yuthu" of the authour of "Lowada Sangarawa" merely a case of understanding according to their knowledge (capabilities). As knowledge is imparted to Sri Lankan pundits mainly by the British and the Americans, the so-called "readings" by these worthies in Sri Lanka are very often nothing but repetitions of the "readings" by the latter. Our pundits "read" through the American and the British spectacles and claim how spectacular the "things" are.
Prabhakaran may change from internal self determination to regional autonomy but he never defines what he means by these terms. It is not the so-called "readings" of Prabhakaran's speeches by ministers, political scientists etc., that matters but what the fascist terrorist means by his statements. As far as Prabhakaran is concerned he wants Eelam. Even at the Vanni press conference held in February he reiterated his position that he should be destroyed if Eelam is not achieved. He knows and the western powers are aware that the LTTE cannot establish an Eelam through "war". Through "peace" he wants to achieve with the blessings and support of the westerners what he could not realise through "war". He also knows that Eelam cannot be established in one shot even through "peace" and he as set his eyes on a confederation as a stepping stone to Eelam. All the terms such as regional autonomy, internal self determination he uses in his statements and speeches imply a confederation. Ranil Wickremesinhe's asymmetrical devolution of power also means a confederation and however much GL Peiris pretends to show that there are differences between the government and the LTTE on the so called political solution basically they agree on a confederation. Prabhakaram may use a different term in his next statement and GL Peiris would then claim that he (Prabhakaran) has improved from the previous statement but both Prabhakaran and Peiris know that the former has not shifted a nanometer from his previous position. What Prabhakaran says is that he would accept a confederation as it would pave the way for an Eelam and if a confederation is not given as a result of "peace talks" he would restart the "war" to establish an Eelam. It is either Eelam through "peace" or Eelam through "war".
However, Prabhakaran knows very well that he cannot establish an Eelam through "war" even if the army is corrupt to the core and he is desperate to win a confederation through "peace". He uses different terms for a confederation and at the same time tries to blackmail the Sinhala people with his threat of going back to "war". The peace mongers, Sudu Nelums, Thavalamas etc. have tried hard to prepare the minds of the Sinhala people against a "war" and Prabhakaran thinks that by threatening to "go back to war" he could mobilise the peace mongers and the Thavalams to campaign for the so-called political solution that he wants, namely a confederation.
Let Prabhakaran go back to "war" if he wants but we are not giving him a confederation with or without the north and the east as a single unit, should be the cry of the Sinhala people. In the name of "peace" the Sinhala people should not give Prabhakaran a confederation on a platter. The fact that Prabhakaran is not prepared to give up arms until a confederation is established, clearly demonstrates his strategy. Once a confederation is established Prabhakaran would become the governor and the chief minister of the north and the east and his cronies would be absorbed with their arms into the "army" of the north and the east. Prabhakaran would then say that the LTTE had given (up) arms to "the army". The real war between the east and the north and the rest of the country would begin only after the giving (up) of arms by the LTTE to "the army". Prabhakaran would never surrender his arms to the Sri Lankan army or to any other authority. The west knows all these and the request by Armitage to the LTTE to give up arms is only for cosmetic purposes. The Americans are not serious of what they say at these meetings with respect to the LTTE. When it comes to the IRA, Britain insists on decommissioning as a pre requisite for negotiations. The Americans under the guise of UN forces sent a team to inspect the armories of Sadam Hussein. The west, meaning the Anglo Saxon countries and their running dogs the Scandinavian countries would send forces to fight al Quaeda, but in Sri Lanka they have a different type of policy with respect to terrorism of type II that we have mentioned in these columns. The west behaves as if terrorism of type II is no terrorism. As far as the west is concerned there is terrorism against the western Christian civilisation or more specifically terrorism against Anglo Saxon Christian culture. If Armitage is serious of what he states then USA should take concrete steps to decommission the LTTE.
When Balasingham responded to Armitage in harsh words as reported by Reuters the government media units following Wasantharaja, the Tamil racist (one does not have to be a Tamil to be a Tamil racist) and his "BBC tradition" took steps to clear Balasingham and the LTTE by blaming the Reuters. GL Peiris not to be out done "read" Balasingham's speech through the spectacles supplied by the Norwegians. We remember how all these people were crying from roof tops to inform the public that India would attend the Oslo circus. The Sinhala people are not sleeping and they cannot be deceived by the petty minds of the minions. The Sinhalas know that if Prabhakaran wanted to chase the EPDP from the Delft Island then they are not safe in the eastern and the northern provinces under an LTTE regime. The Sinhalas are aware of the proverb "labbata thibba athamai puhulatath thiyanne".
The PA is finally beginning to respond to the views of the majority of the Sinhala people who voted for Chandrika Kumaratunga at the Presidential elections and at the general elections held last year. We have emphasised in these columns that Chandrika Kumaratunga became the President in 2000 mainly with the Sinhala votes. At the general elections held in 2001 the majority of the Sinhala people voted for the PA and the JVP. These election results amply demonstrate that if the PA and the JVP as an alliance would address the Sinhala people they could form a government without the support of any of the "minority" parties. The Sinhala people today constitute about 80% the population (the Tamil racists did not allow a proper census to be taken in the north and the east as that would have given the correct population ratios) and the PA and the JVP should be able to win more than 75% of the Sinhala vote if they adopt a proper platform. This would amount to more than 60% of the entire vote and even a two third majority is not out of the way if a proper alliance is made. All that the PA and the JVP have to do is to expel the three wheelers, the LSSP and the CP who have no vote base in the country (The MP Bhikku Samita was elected not because of his LSSP connections but because of his connections with the Dutugemunu temple, yes Dutugemunu, in Baddegama and Ven. Baddegama Saranankara Thero. It has to be pointed out that the nephew of Dr. N. M. Perera was not elected by the people of Thun Korale.) and include parties such as Sihala Urumaya and Bhumiputhra Party in the alliance. If the President de merge north and east, appoint a separate governor for the eastern province and go for an election with the above alliance, to obtain a two third majority in the Parliament is not a difficult task. The NGOs and the westerners would accuse Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sinhala Chauvinism but why bother about their opinion. All that we have to do is to show that Tamils in Sri Lanka enjoy more rights than the blacks in America or the non Anglo Saxons in Britain and that even India has not made Tamil an official language. The Sinhala Buddhists who protected the Muslims from the Portuguese and the Catholics from the Dutch reformists would do no harm to any community. In Sri Lanka the so called minorities enjoy more rights than any other minority anywhere else in the world. The present problem is not due to Sinhala Chauvinism but has arisen as a result of denying Sinhalathva its rightful place in the country by the Tamil racists with the support of the Dutch, British and now the Americans and their running dogs the Norwegians. The PA delegation that goes to India should remind the Indian government the beginnings of the problem that goes back to the Dutch period with the importation of the Vellalas and the others from Coramandel coast for their tobacco cultivation.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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