AFTER THOPPIGALA
The armed forces have cleared the Thoppigala area after a long time and all those who were involved have to be congratulated on their success. We have to specially think of those brave soldiers who gave their lives and also those who have been incapacitated as a result of the operations. An Indian officer in the IPKF had commented that they did not want to clear that area as it was not of strategic importance. This could be a classic case of sour grapes, but if he has said the truth then the IPKF has to be held responsible for all that the LTTE did based on Thoppigala. It is known that the terrorists had training camps, "hospitals", armouries etc. in the Thoppigala area and the IPKF helped the LTTE to engage in terrorist activities by not clearing those areas.
The clearing of the Thoppigala area has shown that the LTTE is not an invincible outfit. It is not the first time that it has been demonstrated. The terrorists could have been defeated long ago at Vadamarachchi if not for the intervention of India. The myth that Prabhakaran is a super military strategist and the LTTE is invincible was propagated by the westerners, especially their media and so called experts on military affairs, and their servants in the NGOs as well as the academia for the benefit of the terrorists. It is they who maintained the terrorists at the sane time crying from roof tops that terrorism has to be defeated. Of course what they meant was that terrorism in the west or terrorism against the western countries has to be defeated.
The west is primarily interested only in protecting western Judaic Christian culture and the associated Greek Judaic Christian chinthanaya and demolishing other cultures. We do not have to be misled by their proclamations on multiculturalism, which is only a façade to deceive the others. The plight of those belonging to the cultures other than Judaic Christian culture in the western countries is a case in point. There may be a few mosques and temples in those countries but the dominant culture, not merely the significant culture is the Judaic Christian culture. The Muslim women are not allowed to wear the "veil" under the Judaic Christian law, though they talk big on human rights.
It is not only in the western countries that the Judaic Christian culture dominates. Even in the other countries under cultural colonialism the education, law, knowledge are based on the Judaic Christian culture and at present we have no alternative but to follow them. The west wants to eradicate even the little bit of culture of the others and their human rights, anti terrorism are all based on these premises. One becomes a terrorist if one is engaged in acts against the Judaic Christian culture and not so otherwise.
The LTTE is both a terrorist organisation and a non terrorist organisation as far as the west is concerned. When the LTTE works directly or indirectly against those states in collaboration with the other terrorist organisations in the eyes of the west it is a terrorist organisation. It is said that the LTTE has some connections with Al Qaeda organisation and because of that LTTE is proscribed in those countries. The recent arrests in England are due to these connections and not because the LTTE is engaged in terrorist activities in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka the LTTE is mainly against Sinhala Buddhist culture and the Christian west supports the LTTE in anti Sinhala Buddhist activities. The front organisations of the LTTE that carry on most of the anti Sinhala Buddhist activities are allowed to function. On the fourteenth of July one such organisation was allowed to hold a rally in the Trafalgar Square by the Mayor of London. It is difficult to believe that the British police is not aware of the front organisations of the LTTE that operate in London.
Incidentally none of the western countries that issue statements on Sri Lanka and "war" at the drop of a hat had anything to say on Thoppigala. It is not only the Christian west that did not issue a statement on this important matter. To my knowledge at the time of writing this column none of the Christian churches has issued a statement. Perhaps they do not want to "take a side" and are very impartial. May be they are objective too!
However, the million dollar question is what would be the strategy of the government after Thoppigala. They have two options. One is to continue with the offence and move to Vanni. The other is of course to have so called peace talks with the LTTE. The west will be against the first option and even impose economic sanctions if the government goes against their wish. The government has to take a decision as there will be agents of the west who would instigate the people if they have to face hardships during the operations. It is a combined opposition of the UNP, the NGOs, the west and India that government would have to face. However, if the government is genuine and prepared to set an example by way of sacrifices, it is not going to be a difficult task.
There should not be any more talks with the LTTE. What have we achieved so far by talking to the terrorists? The answer is absolutely nothing. The terrorists want Elam and nothing else. Only Ranil Wickremesinghe whose loyalties are to the west can give them what they want. No other self respecting political party or government would give in to the so called enlightened self interest of the British and other western countries. If we have achieved anything it is through military operations. If not for interference by India Sri Lanka could have finished the problem during Vadamarachchi days. It is the external forces that have kept the LTTE going and they are responsible for the agony the Sinhalas, Tamils, Muslims and others have undergone during the last three decades or so. If the government listens or give in to the pressure applied by the west, then it would only prolong the agony.
In the meantime the government should continue with the All Party Conference and the All Party Representative Committee to frame anew constitution for the country. The problem that the country faces is not the so called problem of the North East but the problem of not giving the due status to Sinhalathva. The so called North East problem arose as a result of Tamil Vellala elite in Jaffna peninsula claiming equal status with Sinhalas in the country. We have analysed this problem elsewhere and it is not my intention to go into details at present. We have to have our own constitution taking into consideration the development of the districts severally and collectively as a single country. The work of the APRC should not be rushed simply because the westerners want a "solution: to be presented to the LTTE at the next round of negotiations. We should forget the negotiations with the LTTE but the other parties could continue with discussions on the drafting of a new constitution.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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