CFA AND LTTE'S STRATEGY
The so-called cease-fire agreement (hereinafter referred to as SCCFA) is no more. I am not sure whether the President Mahinda Rajapakse has seen a genuine copy of this horrendous agreement that has betrayed the Sri Lankan state, and seen Prabhakaran's signature on it. Though Chandrika Kumaratunga was the President at that time she did not sign the agreement and it was said that she was in the dark until the signing of the agreement. Even the cabinet ministers were unaware of the signing as only Ranil Wickremesinghe and a few of his close friends knew anything about it. Wickremesinghe demonstrated some kind of protest when he refused to shake hands with the Norwegian who would have most probably promised that Prabhakaran would be in Kilinochchi for the signing of the death certificate of the unitary state of Sri Lanka.
Let us recapitulate what the SCCFA was all about. We are not tired of pointing out that the SCCFA equated the Sri Lankan government with the terrorist LTTE. It also treated the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the terrorist outfit on the same level, contrary to the practice in the other countries. No American President or a British Prime Minister would think of signing CFAs with terrorist organisations before decommissioning. The only decommissioning mentioned in the SCCFA signed by Ranil Wickremesinghe in the tradition of Don Juan Dharmapala, is that of the so-called paramilitary forces. We do not know what Wickremesinghe understood by paramilitary forces but as far as the general public is concerned neither the LTTE nor the Karuna faction constitute a paramilitary force. What is relevant is not what Wickremesinghe and Prabhakaran were made to understand by the term paramilitary forces but what is generally understood by that term. By introducing terms such as paramilitary forces Norwegians and/or the others who were responsible for the SCCFA have shown that they are not even good drafters.
Whatever meaning the Norwegians have given to the word paramilitary it ceased to be operational as soon as Ranil lost at the last general elections. When Mahinda Rajapakse became first the prime minster and then the president paramilitary forces meant troops such as STF, and it is unthinkable that a person in good senses would agree to decommission the STF and such other forces. Wickremesinghe may have signed the unlawful agreement thinking that paramilitary forces includes the Karuna faction, but not the LTTE. But no other leader would sign a document that could be interpreted as one that demands the decommissioning of the STF and other such forces. Wickremesinghe, on the other hand, could have promised to decommission the STF under duress but that does not force any other prime minister or president to stick to an agreement that wants the decommissioning of the paramilitary forces of the country. Thus, the SCCFA became non-operational at least at the moment Mahinda Rajapakse became president.
Many people have said many things about Oslo and Geneva. What is clear is that the LTTE was not prepared to negotiate any further whether on the monitors or on the prefects. The excuse given by Thamilselvan referring to the non-availability of cabinet ministers should not be taken seriously. After all he knew before he went to Oslo that there would not be any cabinet ministers on the Sri Lankan delegation. Thamilselvan did not want to take part in negotiations and he had to come up with at least a lame excuse for refusing to meet the government delegation.
Let us discuss briefly what has taken place in recent history. It is well known that the LTTE cannot establish an Eelam by defeating the Sri Lankan armed forces. If at all they have to establish an Eelam by negotiating with the government. The strategy is to establish first a confederation and then Eelam. The LTTE, working in connivance with the west, and by other means has been able to commit the government to so- called peace, which remains static and useless. Knowing that the LTTE cannot win the "war" and establish an Eelam, the west invented the story that neither the government nor the LTTE can win the "war". The local peace carol cart took up the slogan and went on repeating it hundreds and hundreds of times that neither the government nor the LTTE can win the war. The so-called enlightened "intellectuals" cinema directors etc., went on publishing so-called research papers and producing films that attempted to demoralise the armed forces. The NGOs (this is a misnomer as most of these organisations are funded by western governments and political parties. Our thesis is that these organisations have been established by the west in order to brainwash the masses according to their doctrines, and to form a so called civil society-in effect an army of non uniformed personnel shooting with pen and camera, instead of guns-that could take an alternative position vis-`E0-vis the government so that the west could control both the opinion of the government as well as that of the masses) worked overtime to tell the masses that it is immoral for the Buddhists to engage in war etc. What the west and their henchmen wanted us to do was to commit ourselves to their kind of peace and to discuss with the LTTE the ways and means of establishing a confederation. The SCCFA was also a means of restricting the Sri Lankan armed forces to the barracks while the LTTE could go on killing sprees.
In the meantime, in terms of the SCCFA, the LTTE was given freedom to transport bombs to Colombo and other places, and also the facilities to take airplanes and other equipment that the LTTE wanted to Kilinochchi. The Sri Lankan government under Chandrika and Ranil provided helicopters for the terrorists to move from place to place while they were engaged in eliminating the high command of the armed forces one by one. The millennium complex betrayal that destroyed the army intelligence is now history. However, in this country traitors are not punished, and one wonders what action USA or UK would have taken if something similar happened in those countries.
The majority of the people fed up with the betrayals of Chandrika and Ranil, defeated both of them at the last presidential elections. It is well known that Chandrika did not support the candidature of Mahinda Rajapakse, but the latter became the president due to the untiring effort of the national forces that campaigned against all odds. The future of Chandrika is now sealed in England, and it is very unlikely that Ranil would win an election with the pro LTTE stand taken by the UNP.
Thus, the national forces that triumphed at the presidential elections have been slowly but steadily consolidating their position. The LTTE and their mentors in the west know that as long as the national forces stick together, the president would not offer a confederation on a platter to the former whether in Kilinochchi, Oslo or Geneva, and nothing could be gained by so-called peace talks held in various countries of the world. It was this knowledge that made the LTTE keep away from the so-called negotiations at Oslo and Geneva, and not the non-inclusion of cabinet ministers in the government delegation nor the failure by the government to supply helicopters to transport terrorists from the east to Kilinochchi.
The west and LTTE have a number of strategies to overcome this "stalemate". Knowing that the LTTE cannot win Eelam through "war" they want basically to demoralise the army, propagate the view among the masses and the soldiers that the "war" cannot be won by either the government or the LTTE, to win the confederation and then Eelam through negotiations.
The SCCFA and others are only geared to this end. If it does not work due to the national forces coming together the west would first try to hammer a wedge between the national forces, so that the president could be cornered and forced to give the confederation through negotiations. Already a person who was instrumental in driving the JVP to the guillotine in the 1987-90 period is taking an active part in this regard. The local government elections have shown that the JVP alone cannot be a force, and that their strength is their association with the SLFP. However, these western finance theoreticians who are hell bent on destroying the national forces, while working within such forces, would want to give the impression that the JVP should take to the streets against the government, thereby destroying not only the JVP but the government as well.
Of course, the government has to take action to provide security to the citizens of the country and in this regard the safety of the commanders in the armed forces is of paramount importance. The LTTE strategy is to create mayhem in the country, knowing that the "peace talks" would not bring their desired results, to discredit the government in the eyes of the "international community" and to force the government to offer a confederation on a platter, most probably after rupturing the understanding between the SLFP, JVP and JHU. The SLFP while maintaining the understanding between the JVP and JHU should take all steps as the government to strengthen the security of the state. We are losing our generals and ordinary soldiers but only taking limited retaliatory action. Israel was not condemned by anybody the way they reacted when a young soldier was taken into custody by the Palestinians. In fact the USA said that Israel has a right to protect its citizens. Does not the Sri Lankan government have a right to protect its citizens not only in the northern and the eastern provinces but in the other provinces as well? As it is, the most protected citizens of Sri Lanka are the terrorist leaders who enjoy the best of both worlds.
The government should not be intimidated by the so-called international community. In any event these westerners are with Thamil racism and would not stop halfway and insist on the pound of flesh. There is no way of satisfying these Shylocks unless the government works out an independent strategy to defeat those sinister elements, even if it means that the people have to sacrifice and forego some niceties in life.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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