PTOMS AND THE GOVERNMENT
It is almost certain that the JVP would quit the government and the "Sandhanaya" tomorrow morning resulting in a minority government, unless something extra ordinary happens in between writing these words and midnight today. It is very unlikely that the President would drop the PTOMS or the Joint Mechanism as it was known just a few days ago. However, this does not mean that PTOMS would be established within a short period as it appears that there are differences between the government and the LTTE. It is reported that while the government wants the PTOMS to come under the control of the Parliament the LTTE is against the suggestion. The LTTE wants a body independent of the Parliament.
It would be interesting to see how the President, western powers and other interested parties would bridge the gap between the government and the LTTE. It should be clear by now that it is the western countries that rule this country and not the so called government of Sri Lanka. The westerners have influence over the LTTE as well, and the President will bow down to them unless the Sinhala nationalist forces would be in a position to apply pressure on Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga.
It is unfortunate that the Mahanayake Theros make contradictory statements over the PTOMS. It is useless for them to tell the public that according to the President no harm would be done by establishing the PTOMS. What the people want to know from the Mahanayake Theros is what the Theros think about the PTOMS and not the opinion of the others.
However, it could be said that the Mahanayake Theros are not in a position to state what the Theros think about the PTOMS as no document pertaining to these bodies has been issued by the government. People such as Mr. Kumar Rupasinghe who ask the others whether they have read the document may have access to information on PTOMS but the others have to depend on what worthies like him to say from time to time. Not everybody in the country, certainly not the nationalists could or would consult Solheim and other westerners who are preoccupied with dividing the country.
It is now said that the final document would be signed by a secretary to a ministry and that the PTOMS are mere administrative bodies. It is true that the PTOMS would be administrative bodies and not legislative bodies initially. However, the PTOMS have a history going back to the legislative council that was established in 1833. Those who think that PTOMS are established merely to facilitate distribution of tsunami aid and so called reconstruction work in tsunami affected areas are politically naive to say the least, whether they are Political Scientists or not.
The Legislative Assembly with more representations from the Tamils, the state council that saw the demand for fifty-fifty representations, the attempt to make the Parliament a body where the Sinhalas were not in a majority, the claim for a Federal State in English while agitating for separation in Tamil, the Rata Sabhas with power to distribute land under the so called Bandaranaike Chelvanayakam pact, the establishment of provincial councils, merger of the northern and the eastern provinces for the purpose of establishing a single provincial council for the two provinces, the various bodies such as the apex body proposed during the UNP governments between 1977 and 1994, the Lium Fox agreement, so called MoU signed by the leader of the UNP and the leader of the terrorist gang known as the LTTE, the ISGA, are the predecessors of the PTOMS. Tsunami as far as the western forces is concerned a God given opportunity to influence the countries in the South and South East Asia in general, and Sri Lanka in particular with the help of the Tamil terrorists.
The tsunami "aid" that has been pledged would come to the country only if the Sri Lankan government would agree to the conditions imposed by the west in order to help Tamil racism that the latter created, baptised and nurtured. It has to be mentioned that even if the so called aid is given less than twenty percent of the money would ultimately go to the people concerned. The rest of the money goes back to the "donor" countries and to the foreign bank accounts of the "commissioners" who get their commission in dollars and pounds. Why should the "government" agree to the demands of the westerners for a few dollars? Can any minster of finance value the country and fix a price for the sovereignty of the nation? The ministers and the others may have a price for themselves but not the country and the nation.
The President earlier said that her life was at stake over the establishments of the PTOMS. Now the government tries to give the impression to the public that PTOMS are mere administrative bodies and only a secretary would sign the relevant documents. However, what the LTTE wants is recognition by the government that they are equivalent to the government in the northern and the eastern provinces. The LTTE and the west that could not force the government to establish the ISGA are now trying to establish PTOMS, the intention being not changed.
The MoU signed by the leader of the UNP and the terrorist leader attempted to equate the LTTE with the government, and the terrorist outfit with the Sri Lankan armed forces. Now the PTOMS would make the LTTE a part of the governmental administrative machinery. What we have to consider here is whether the LTTE has changed its views on establishing a separate state, and whether they have given up the terrorist activities. If they have not dropped either there cannot be any dealings with them. The talk about bringing them to the so called democratic way is nonsense as long as they adhere to their objective of establishing a separate state. It has to be reminded that the JVP became a democratic political force after they were defeated by the armed forces, and not after conceding Hambantota or any other district to them. There are people who claim that the LTTE cannot be defeated and therefore unlike in the case of the JVP it is necessary to think of other means when dealing with the former. The very fact that the LTTE is prepared to consider PTOMS instead of ISGA shows that the LTTE is weak, and as many an armed forces personnel would admit, could be defeated.
The strategy of the LTTE and the west is to get recognition for the former as a "legitimate" government. Their aim is to establish a separate state in the northern and the eastern provinces. The west having created, baptised and nurtured Tamil racism is determined to deprive Sinhala Buddhist culture its due place in the country. True to the objective of the western Christian modernity that began in the fifteenth century, they want to make all of us Christians in culture if not by religion. In Sri Lanka they are making use of Tamil racism which is Christian and not Hindu in culture to achieve their objective.
The west and the LTTE now want to give some "status" to the LTTE in governmental administration. The governmental administration is the responsibility of the government and not of a political party. In practice, the political parties linked to the government get their henchmen and henchwomen as secretaries of ministries, and other officers, but even then they are not appointed as representative of political parties. The officers of the governmental ministries do not sign agreements with political parties making representatives of the latter as part of the establishment even for a short period.
What the LTTE wants is to become a part of the government administratively in certain areas in the northern and the eastern provinces. These areas extend much beyond where they are present. Apparently the LTTE is present only in less than forty grama sevaka divisions out of more than three hundred such divisions in the two provinces, and there is no need for so called LTTE assistance in distributing tsunami aid in these areas. There is a governmental administrative apparatus that can handle this work without establishing PTOMS.
Whether a secretary to a ministry signs or a minister signs the relevant documents is immaterial. Whoever signs he or she signs on behalf of the government, and the establishment of PTOMS with representatives from the government and the LTTE would give recognition to the latter administratively. The LTTE would have preferred to gain recognition legislatively, but their weak position militarily does not allow them to gain that recognition. Their strategy and that of the west is to gain recognition administratively and then gradually make it legislatively as well.
If anybody thinks that the PTOMS or JM would cease to function after one year then they do not know the west and the LTTE. The so called educated Sinhalas, I am afraid even after five hundred years after coming into contact with the west have failed to understand them. It is specially the case with English educated "elite" and "intelligentsia" among the Sinhalas. The Portuguese the Dutch and the British have cheated the Sinhalas with "agreements" over a period of five hundred years, and at least now we should recognise who they are and what their objectives are. Those who depend on the western theories in the Social Sciences would not be able to do so for the obvious reason that the western theories have been created in the western Christian culture in order to serve the western powers.
Is there anybody who in his/her wildest dreams would think that tsunami "relief" work would be over in one year? Even after nearly six months work has not begun properly. Also knowing the way the LTTE has "honoured" the MoU we could predict how they would manipulate the PTOMS, with of course the connivance of the west, and spread their activities to the other areas of the northern and the eastern provinces. The Portuguese cheated the Sinhala king in Jayawardenepura and got the Colombo fort erected. The Norwegians with the help of the other westerners have cheated the present day rulers in Jayawardenepura and are on their way to erect forts against Sinhalas in the northern and the eastern provinces. However, the Sinhala masses cannot be cheated the way the leaders they have been given by the British, who are eager to be cheated, and resist democratically any attempts by the west to give recognition in any form to the Tamil tiger, the terrorist pet of the Christian west.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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