THE DEATH OF CFA
The so called ceasefire agreement between the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the terrorist leader Prabhakaran died a natural death last week when the secretary to the ministry of defence announced that it was not a reality or words to that effect. This was something known to most political parties and people in the country except perhaps the UNP and the JVP. It may be that the JVP and the JHU that went before the judiciary wanted a formal announcement from the courts abolishing the CFA. They did not get what they wanted but the courts decided that the CFA cannot be abolished as it was not a legal document as such.
In fact some of us believed at the time of the signing of the infamous CFA that it had no legal value. Any ceasefire announcement or any such measure could be made only by the President of the country and Ranil Wickremesinghe then as now was not holding such position. He was the Prime Minister of the country but he was not in a position legally to sign a ceasefire agreement with a terrorist even under the patronage of his masters in the west. The President Chandrika Kumaratunga knew nothing about the agreement, most probably drafted by the Norwegians with the backing of the major western countries. Not only the President but even some senior ministers in the cabinet did not know anything of it if we go by their statements in the Parliament on that day.
The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who went up north in the company of the Norwegian ambassador had to come back to Colombo after signing the document only by himself as the terrorist leader failed to come down to meet the Prime Minster. We could see in the television shows especially produced to mark the event a disgruntled Prime Minister refusing to shake hands with the Norwegian envoy who was present on the occasion. Of course, there was no clause in the CFA that said that the LTTE could or could not buy arms, but it is well known, though those who speak for the Catholic Church and other such institutions may have different things to say, that the LTTE armed to the teeth hiding behind the CFA. The Norwegians whom only a very few identified with the terrorists some fifteen years ago, are now known to be with the LTTE, to most of the Sri Lankans. This exposure of the Norwegians is, I suppose, the one of the two major positive outcomes of the CFA. The other was the fact that was discovered by a group of undergraduates of Peradeniya, who went to Jaffna making use of the CFA, that the Tamils did not celebrate the so called Sinhala Tamil new year the way the Sinhalas did.
The JVP without asking for the pound of flesh could join the government even at this later stage without making themselves a laughing stock, as the CFA can be considered a null and void document for all purposes. It appears that the President is under the impression that the JVP is only making proposals that they think could not be implemented, without joining the government and help to implement them. The JVP may be thinking that making proposals and showing that the government is incapable of implementing them, the party could attract the people. However, it does not work that way, and the people and the governments act differently to the expectations of the JVP. During the time of the President Premadasa JVP wanted the IPKF to leave the country, perhaps thinking that the government would never agree to it, but very soon the JVP realised its mistake losing one of its slogans to the government. It is happening today as well, and the JVP is in danger of running out of slogans. The Party should join the government to strengthen the unitary group and to defeat especially the Sinhala federalists who cannot win sufficient number of votes to get themselves elected to the Parliament.
The CFA only gave a breathing period to the LTTE that made use of the opportunity not only to buy arms but to send terrorists to strategic places. Many would have come to Colombo on this or that pretext, and we are still surrounded by many of them. The UNP, Ranil Wickremesinghe, CFA, and the western countries of which Norway is only the pawn, and of course the apologists of the CFA are all responsible for the state of affairs, and for the killings by the LTTE. Any organisation or an individual, which justifies the existence of the LTTE, should also take the responsibility. The justification finally rests on the so called injustices to the Tamils, which these apologists cannot substantiate, and they imply that unless the so called injustices are rectified the LTTE should not be defeated by means of military action.
The CFA divided the country into two areas, one the so called controlled areas by the government, and the other the LTTE controlled areas. The westerners would have drafted it the way they wanted to see that finally the LTTE got those so called controlled areas for them legally. As there was no military action by the armed forces this meant the expansion of the so called LTTE areas as the terrorists had no inhibition to give up arms. In effect the CFA recognised two armies in the country, something which the western countries would never have agreed in their territories. The CFA meant two countries with two armies, and those who are responsible would have been prosecuted for treason in any other country. In Sri Lanka we do not act that way perhaps misinterpreting King (Dutu)Gemunu's gesture towards the fallen enemy and invader Elara, which is unsurpassed anywhere else in the world.
The present government having come into power has been engaged in what is called limited retaliation operations by means of which the terrorists have been chased away from the eastern province. As the secretary to the defence has said there are no so called LTTE controlled areas in the east, and the CFA has become a dead letter. It is hoped that the armed forces will be as successful in the northern province before long. The secretary of state should be congratulated on his bold statement, with which the Tamil Net, which itself is a mere shadow of what it was during Tharaki days, is having problems. They do not know how to respond to the statement and find their tiger claws removed.
The tiger claws are being removed one by one, and in spite of the support the LTTE get from the west and India the terrorists find it increasingly difficult to survive. However, we should not close our eyes to the fact that under the pretext of human rights violations the west could intervene in the affairs of the country. As usual Ranil Wickremesinghe, the good Anglican he is in more than one way, is doing the dirty work for the westerners by forming human rights organisations. He has to be watched carefully as his action always reflect the mind of the protestant west.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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