WHO IS BEHIND THE ANURADHAPURA ATTACK?
The appearance of the next article on Myanmar and Sri Lanka has to be postponed as prominence has to be given to the consequences of the attack by the terrorists on Anuradhapura air force camp. It is still not clear what has actually led to the attack but there has been an apparent security lapse when people came in their thousands to watch an army parade in Anuradhapura. The terrorists have for the first time used successfully what are popularly called light air crafts to bomb the air force camp. We do not know what the damage is but the fact that fifty or more terrorists were able to come to Anuradhapura without being detected is not good news either to the government or the armed forces. Even worse the terrorists have used air crafts for the first time to bomb Anuradhapura the most sacred city of Sri Lanka a fact that cannot be considered light by any patriotic person.
In the recent past it was claimed by the Navy that a few light air crafts of the LTTE were destroyed in the sea and many people thought that there would not be any more air crafts belonging to the terrorists. The million dollar or million pound question is who supplies these air crafts to the LTTE. Are they in a position to buy air crafts at their will? Earlier it was thought that the LTTE had one or two air crafts and they were somewhere in Killinochchi ready to take off from an air strip in the Vanni jungles. However later when they described the paths taken by one or two so called light air crafts it was clear that they had not taken off from Vanni but had come from sea. It could be that the air crafts took off from a ship and there seems to be a steady supply of air crafts to the LTTE. If the LTTE had air crafts for themselves they would have used them long ago and it appears that somebody else is not only supplying air crafts but have a say in their use as well.
It has to be pointed out that the LTTE did not make use of the air crafts against the armed forces when they were fighting for their survival in the eastern province. If the LTTE was in control of the air crafts it is very likely that they would have used them in the eastern province. They did not or more likely that they were not allowed to use the air crafts by their mentors who look after the interests of the terrorists in the international arena. However, somebody has decided that now is the time to bomb the air force camp at Anuradhapura as that somebody whoever it is does not want the LTTE to be defeated, and may be thinking that the LTTE cannot be allowed to be defeated.
There may be some political parties who are not very much concerned with the LTTE bombing but we have to find out what the UNP thinks of it. When the army was operating in the eastern province some prominent members of the UNP wanted to know why the LTTE bases in the northern province were not attacked. Then in the eastern province after the area was "liberated" when there was even a not so significant attack by the LTTE there were not very patriotic responses from the UNP. One hopes that the UNP comes out with a statement giving all the moral support to the government without trying to gain political advantage of the situation.
It is time that all the political parties perhaps except the TNA which is the proxy party of the LTTE join hands to defeat the LTTE once and for all, unconditionally. Most of the political parties in Sri Lanka, which admire Britain, could follow the example of the war time situation in that country when the opposition gave its fullest support to the government to defeat fascism. The biggest problem faced by Sri Lanka is terrorism but unfortunately the so called international community is not prepared to support the Sri Lankan government to defeat the LTTE. Not only that they do not extend their support to the government, very often they make the task of the government difficult by imposing conditions.
We do not want to go into details of the behaviour of the "international community" but suffice is to say the government will not get encouragement from the so called international community to defeat the LTTE which is in essence their agent to weaken if not destroy Sinhalathva in the country. It is not to be ruled out that the LTTE get their arms and even planes from "donor" countries which donate funds in various forms to the terrorists. One should not be misled by the arrest of some LTTE cadres in UK and other countries. It is very likely that these arrests if they are genuine have been made because of the connections that the LTTE has with some Arabic terrorist groups, which are a threat to UK and some other western countries.
Even if some of the political parties do not support the government to defeat the LTTE, the government should now go all out to direct their operations to liberate the masses from the LTTE. The government should not vacillate and be firm in its actions. There is nothing that the so called international community can do to Sri Lanka if the government stands firm. Sri Lanka is a sovereign country that has to face the most cruel, organised and fascistic terrorists in the world, but they can be defeated if the government stands firm. There should be no conditions such as a political solution to the so called ethnic problem attached to military operations. The APRC is working on a solution and though some political parties do not think that there is an ethnic problem to be solved they all agree on some kind of devolution for the development of the country. The LTTE has to be defeated whether there is an ethnic problem or not. The so called political solution should be worked out in parallel to the military operations and they should be mutually exclusive. The non LTTE Tamil parties have to answer the question whether they want the country or the LTTE. The foreigners who interfere in our affairs would naturally chose the LTTE as the country is immaterial for them and also since the LTTE is their agent and their most loved terrorists. For them the LTTE is nothing but a "chooty koti patiya".
If the "international community" tries to impose conditions such as economic sanctions no loans, all that the government has to do is to take the example of Myanmar. Even if one may not agree with the killings of Bhikkus by the military government in Myanmar it has to be appreciated that the government does not allow itself to be kicked around like a football by the so called international community. If the Sri Lankan government makes up its mind and does not allow the western countries to interfere in the internal matters there is nothing that they could do. The sovereignty of the country is more important than anything else and the government should not lose time to prepare for the final "battle" ahead.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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