WITHER THE SLMM
A spokesperson for the so-called Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, according to "The Island" on Saturday the 19th July, has said that their mission expected the LTTE to vacate the Van Ela terrorist camp. There may be many Sinhala patriots who are happy after this statement by the spokesperson ( Is there a way of shortening this word the way they have done with the chairperson which has now been "reduced" to chair?) Agnes Bragadottir. On top her (to be consistent with chairs and spokes(?) why not drop the pronouns such as he and she and their declinations that reveal the gender of a person) statement comes the pronouncement by Major General (retired) Tyrgve Teleffson, the chief of the mission. The chief has made it very clear to Thamilselvan, the so called political chief, as if Prabhakaran is not the political and military chief of the LTTE, that any ruling of the mission was final and non-negotiable and the matter of Manirasakulam camp was a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The so-called Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission is the latest mission to come to this country since the missions started to arrive five hundred years ago. (The arrival of Arhat Mihindu more than two thousand three hundred years ago is also wrongly translated as a mission by some historians but the missions as such commenced only five hundred years ago.) This mission that has attracted the wrath of the Sinhala Buddhists (one should not go by the so-called surveys, conducted by the NGOs with funds from the Scandinavian countries, that express the "public" opinion in favour of the mission) is nothing but a continuation of the other missions that we have had during the last five hundred years.
According to the latest vision of the mission, the Wan Ela camp put up by the terrorists is a violation of the capitulation agreement that is called the ceasefire agreement. Is this the first time that the terrorists have violated the "ceasefire" agreement that Westborg got Ranil Wickremesinghe to sign in Vanni without Prabhakaran? Why is that the mission is all of a sudden getting visions of violations by the terrorists. Has the truth dawn on the missionaries? What would happen if Thamilselvan says no to the "demand" of the mission?
The missions from the very beginning have known that the Sinhala Buddhists could be deceived easily. The adage that "Sinhalaya Modaya" is due to this gullibility of the Sinhalas. The Scandinavian Mission headed by the retired major general, must be aware of this weakness of the Sinhalas, the missionaries associated with the British would have advised the Scandinavians on this aspect, and we should not take these threats by the missionaries to the terrorists serious. Mission and terror go together hand in hand and it should be remembered that in Sri Lanka and the other Asian countries the Anglo Saxons used both mission and terror when it came to colonisation.
Thamilselvan after the so-called ruling or warning or whatever of the mission has simply asked "for time to send his own team to survey the location and submit a report". We are witnessing only another act of the peace drama enacted by the USA -UK- Norway group. There is nothing that the mission could do under the so-called memorandum of understanding of Westborg if Prabhakaran decides not to vacate the Wan Ela camp. The mission has no powers though the retired major general has said that any ruling of the mission was final and non-negotiable. It is strange for the major general to claim that certain matters are non-negotiable. One thought that they are here to negotiate or is it only the Sri Lankan "government" that has to negotiate even on matters pertaining to the sovereignty of the country? In any event it is clear that the mission is gradually acquiring power.
Up to now the "government" obeyed the Scandinavian mission headed by the retired major general, and the mission and the terrorists acted in harmony, which in turn meant that the "government" complied with the requirements of the LTTE. This situation could not have changed overnight. Even after the so-called boycott of the Tokyo talks by the LTTE, the western powers did not "warn" the terrorists. Instead they declared that the LTTE should be persuaded to participate at the "peace" talks, and that the loan promised in Tokyo would be given only on condition that "peace" is achieved. This meant that in order to obtain the loan not only that the LTTE has to be brought back to the negotiating table, but that the LTTE should be given what it wants, namely an "interim" administration in the northern and the eastern provinces solely for the LTTE outside the constitution. The retired major general, Westborg and others have never said that the sovereignty of the country is non-negotiable. In fact they want the "government" to sell the country for a few billion dollars. The loan is conditional and the price that Sri Lanka has to pay for it is very high indeed.
The "interim" administration would not be interim as such, but a permanent Eelam given to the LTTE. What does Prabhakaran mean by an "interim" administration outside the constitution. Anything outside the constitution would be the "constitution" of Prabhakaran and what is given "outside" the constitution could not be won back constitutionally as there is no provision within the constitution for such action. Hence anything given outside the constitution would not be "interim" but permanent, unless a future government wins back through war everything that is being capitulated to the terrorists by the "government".
We do not know how Prabhakaran would respond to the "threat" of the mission of the Scandinavians on the Wan Ela camp. Perhaps it is known to the state department of the USA and the other western departments and institutions that dictate terms to the Sri Lankan "government". However, what is clear is that whatever happens the mission will go ahead with its plans to recognise the sea tigers as a "navy". If the camp is vacated, it would be presented as an example for the "impartiality" of the mission and that the terrorists are a good set of boys (and girls) who listen to reason. If it is not vacated it would be forgotten in no time, after some useless conditions are imposed and the mission would be "busy" with other matters connected with the recognition of the sea tigers. The whole exercise is for the purpose of deceiving the Sinhala people into believing that the mission of the Norwegians and the other Scandinavians is impartial and to establish the credentials of the mission as the "highest courts" of the country. Some Sinhalas would go to the extent of stating that the Norwegians have finally understood the truth and that now they are on the side of the Sinhalas!
While the Sinhala people are being deceived the "Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission" will go ahead with their plans, meaning the plans of the Americans and the British, to recognise the sea tigers as a Navy. The zones would be demarcated and it would be an offence for the Sri Lankan Navy to check the sea tigers when they are in "their waters". The mission has no judiciary role within the memorandum of understanding that Ranil Wickremesinghe signed in Vanni but it is gradually trying to attain the status of the highest court in Sri Lanka.
When the "MoU" was signed we said in these columns that the purpose of the "memorandum" was to equate the Sri Lankan government with the fascist terrorists and to give recognition to the Tamil terrorists as "armed forces". The "MoU" within seventeen months has achieved the first objective. There was no problem for the mission with the first objective as the "government" was more than willing to capitulate to the demands of the terrorists and the mission. The "government" knows very well that its survival depends on the four billion US dollar loan from the western donor countries and hence is prepared to meet the demands of the LTTE and the western "donor" countries. If not for some heroic action taken by the Sri Lankan Navy, in spite of the "government", the sea tigers would have being recognised by now.
However, what is more alarming is the status given to the mission headed by the retired major general. The MoU of Westborg (and others) mentions a Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission that has no powers legal or administrative at all. Norway was supposed to be merely a facilitator with respect to the "peace talks" between the "government" and the terrorists. Norway, the mission and Westborg in the process within the last seventeen months or so have acquired powers that cannot be found in the "MoU". Westborg has come back as a special envoy to handle the "peace process" and Norway has been elevated from a mere facilitator to a colonial power. Westborg is a de facto Viceroy and the "Sri Lankan Monitoring" mission is evolving to be an institution with judicial powers.
It could be that the whole Wan Ela camp episode has been written into the script with the purpose of elevating the mission to a "jurisdictive" institution. Whether it was done purposely or not the end result would be the same. With the "authority" that the mission get after the Wan Ela episode it would be recognised as a body that could demarcate the boundaries of the zones of the Navy and the sea tigers. The recognition of the sea tigers would be only the next step by the mission and then by Westborg and the rest.
All this is happening "outside the constitution" so to speak of. Everything is now happening outside the constitution. The J. R. Jayawardane constitution or the constitution of the second republic is being thrown into the Diyawanna Oya unceremoniously by our new visible colonial master Norway. The Norwegians are now trying to give different interpretations to "peace talks". According to them the fascist tigers do not have to give up arms before engaging in "peace talks". What is applicable in the case of IRA in the UK is not valid in the case of the LTTE in a small country that has no "effective" government. In a country where foreigners take part on a regular basis in high level meetings connected with intelligence what is happening is not something unexpected. In the name of peace the Defense secretary could invite Karuna for the next meeting of these important bodies connected with the security of the country. The mission and Westborg are on their way to play the roles mentioned above in a country where most of the important matters are "solved" "outside the constitution".
Professor Nalin de Silva
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