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| Sunday, 14 March 2004 |
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Editor, Sunday Observer. E-mail: [email protected] Snail mail : Sunday Observer, 35, D.R.Wijewardana Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Telephone : 94 11 2429239 / 2331181 Fax : 94 11 2429230 Avoiding a new civil war When the LTTE systematically wiped out its militant rival, the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), in the 1980s, the state forces did nothing to prevent it, despite the humanitarian problem of the slaughter of more than 300 people, mainly TELO fighting cadres, or the military-strategic possibility of preventing the unification and strengthening of the secessionist guerrilla movement under a single command. Now there is more reason than ever for the Sri Lankan State not to militarily intervene on either side of the current feud between the LTTE's eastern regional command, led by Colonel Karuna, and its overall leadership under Tiger Leader V. Prabhakaran. Such an intervention can only serve to revive the war. At the same time, depending on whose side the State would militarily intervene, it could multiply the number of war fronts. This does not mean that the rest of the country can ignore what is going in the North and East. Rather there have to be political stances and nuanced interventions that would ensure, firstly, that the cease-fire remains intact, secondly, that the rights of the civilian population in the North-East region are not further violated, thirdly, that the social stability that has begun to emerge is preserved if not allowed to further develop, and fourthly, that the ethnic communal harmony among Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese in this region remains at least at the stable level to which it has now been brought. Every effort has to be made to prevent any fighting breaking out in the North-East, whether it is between the State and the LTTE or any part of it, or between two or more factions of the LTTE. An internal war in the North-East between factions of the LTTE will certainly affect civilian life there. But, more importantly, the fighting could spill over into confrontations with the State security forces as well as exacerbating inter-ethnic tensions in that region, especially between Tamils and Muslims and also between Batticaloa Tamils and Jaffna Tamils. Thus, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission cannot, under any circumstances, wash its hands of the responsibility to ensure that no military activity of any sort occurs in any part of the North-East region. The provisions of the Cease-fire simply cannot be used to facilitate the launch of a civil war inside the North-East region. That is the SLMM's responsibility, especially in its monitoring of military activities in the LTTE-controlled areas and between such areas. The Sri Lankan security forces, including the police, will have to be alert as well for possible attempts to infiltrate Government held territory by either faction of the LTTE for attacks on their rivals. The LTTE faces the tremendous challenge to desist from further authoritarian styles of command and governance in its territory and to allow for greater regional plurality and autonomy while, at the same time, ensuring that the overall unity of the Tamil people's movement for self-determination is not weakened either by centralist tendencies or warlordism. Media and Elections The failure of the Elections Commissioner to deliver on the promise of a formal monitoring of the mass media's behaviour in relation to the parliamentary election process is disappointing. This, however, cannot provide an excuse either for the State media to be abused by its political party controllers nor for it to be abused and manipulated by political parties not in control of it. Thus the Freedom Alliance cannot, under any circumstance deviate from its current commitment to ensuring a balanced coverage by the State media it now controls via the Presidency. It is incumbent on the United National Front and other political parties to ensure that the balance is maintained by participating in State media coverages, such as television debates and press interviews, as well as including the State media in all their activities. Attempts to boycott the State media by anyone will amount to a sad manipulation of the public mind not to be expected from those professing any form of democracy - liberal or social democratic. |
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