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| Sunday, 1 August 2004 |
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Time for int'l community to take note Eight cadres of the Karuna faction were shot dead last Sunday (25) at a safe house in Kottawa; it is said that before the killing they were heavily drugged. Reports say the LTTE was ready to present the killer at a news conference who will claim sole responsibility for the slaying, and wash its hands off. In the meantime, the LTTE leader is reported to have offered a reward of Rs. 22.5 million for Karuna's head. We have heard this sort of stories in our legends in history or from a few countries under the control of brutal dictators, but not from democratic countries. On Wednesday (21) V. Ravindran, Chairman, Alyadivembu Pradeshiya Sabha was murdered by the LTTE. Ravindran was a member of the EPDP and the reasons for his assassination is his different political view and being a member of a political party the LTTE does not see eye to eye with. A few days ago, the LTTE attempted to assassinate EPDP leader Douglas Devananda. Although he narrowly escaped death, four Sri Lankan police officers died as a result of the suicide bomb attack at the Kollupitiya Police Station. Devananda is not just an opponent of the LTTE. He is a Cabinet Minister of the Government. The LTTE is bound to honour the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) which rules out such acts. All these incidents are very serious violations of the CFA, which the LTTE has committed over 3,000 times after signing the MoU with the Sri Lankan Government in February 2002. But there is less opposition or pressure from the international community, peace brokers or so called civil society on the LTTE against these violations. Inaction and absence of resistance from the international community regarding these killings of Tamil people is surprising. We could see how the international community responds to the killings or kidnappings of US, Japanese or any other Western country citizen in Iraq or Afghanistan. We have seen how concerned the international community was over the human rights of Tamil people during the conflict between Government forces and the LTTE and how they pressured the government. Now there is deadlock in the peace process. The LTTE is demanding the control of the North and East through the Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA) as a pre-condition to resumption of peace talks. In this environment, it is debatable how the LTTE is qualifying to get such responsibility and what the fate of non-LTTE Tamil people under the legal administration of the LTTE would be. Soon after these recent incidents, some diplomatic delegations including Norway Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgessan and World Bank representatives visited Vanni LTTE leaders and held official discussions. We did not even see a word of direct protest from them to the LTTE regarding these incidents. Some countries have officially condemned these incidents. But there is no attempt to persuade the LTTE to stop its terrorist activities. If those countries or international organisations really desire to stop these killings, they would have to cancel scheduled meetings or programs as a protest. It would definitely be a practical step to persuade the terrorist organisation-banned in several countries - towards the peace process as well as show their true commitment to democracy and peace. At the same time, our local peace brokering NGOs and so called civil society have not taken these incidents seriously. It seems that neither the lives of eight cadres of the Karuna faction, Ravindran nor police officers killed at the blast are human rights violations in their view. Converting an innocent woman into a human bomb does not seem to be against women's rights in their view. It seems that they do not consider these killings as a threat or set-back to the peace process. The pro-LTTE policies of these NGOs are very clearly displayed in events like this. This policy of our peace NGOs came under fire from the JVP in its poster campaign last week. Under fire The present situation of the peace process is under fire from the main opposition UNF. Last week Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said that commencing peace talks depends solely on the Government's stand and not on the Opposition view. It is quite right. But Wickremesinghe has forgotten that the talks stalled in April 2003 during his regime. The reason for the stalled dialogue is the LTTE's firm stand on the ISGA proposals and the resistance of the then opposition parties and the South to it. Now the government has changed and the cause for the deadlock is still the ISGA. According to Prof. G. L. Peiris, there is no consensus in the Government on the matter. He is correct and the government is not ready to start a dialogue on the ISGA proposal alone though the UNP is ready. The Government is ready to start a dialogue on the ISGA proposals as a basis but at the same time discuss a final solution for the national question of the country. The parties in the government have different views on the ISGA proposals. The SLFP and JVP opposed the proposals sensing the danger and harm it creates to national security. Muslim parties in the government also have different views. They are demanding a separate interim body in the East if the LTTE proposals are accepted. The present situation in the East will strengthen this demand. The Karuna faction is going to be registered as a political party as they are not ready to accept Prabhakaran's leadership. The point the UNP raises is that the deadlock in the peace process is dangerous and they are of the view that talks should start at any cost. The present complex status of the peace process is an inevitable result of the way the previous UNF government handled it. They gave all that the LTTE demanded in the name of peace. They allowed the LTTE to unload several ship loads of arms. They offered high-tech communication equipment to the LTTE, permitted the LTTE to mobilise its cadres and arms at strategically important points, allowed to build new camps, police stations etc. It is very clear that if the UNF were in power, the LTTE's ISGA would have already been established. If the UNF were in power, they would definitely allow the LTTE to destroy Karuna and all his loyalists. There is no doubt that the UNF, which betrayed the country's intelligence units to the LTTE will do it without any hesitation. If that happened or the present government did the same, the Eastern Province would have been a bloodbath by now. The people of this country have given a mandate to the UPFA government not to continue all that the UNF did during the past under the name of peace. Although the government has been unable to re-start peace talks, now there are many positive things in the process. Arms smuggling has not been reported since President Kumaratunga took the Defence Ministry from the UNF government. The LTTE is divided into two factions and are killing each other. The high morale of the LTTE cadres and the image of its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran have collapsed. The real strength of the LTTE would no longer be a secret to local and interested foreign intelligence services. The Vanni LTTE faction has lost significant amounts of military hardware and cadres. They are loosing the control over Eastern territory. The Government is strengthening security cooperation with India and other regional countries as well as USA and Russia. Now the government is in a better position to bargain with the LTTE. Therefore, progress of the peace process should not be undermined. Value of peace Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and all people of this country do not need a war again. All the people have understood the value of peace and definitely the Tamil people in the North and East would be enjoying it more. Although the LTTE is warning to resume war, it would not be easy for them too under the present situation. The government has a responsibility to bargain in the interest of the country and its people especially for other democratic. Tamil parties and groups and not compromise the sovereignty of the country, human rights of the people and the fate of the anti-LTTE groups. As insisted by other Tamil parties and groups the LTTE is not the sole representative of the Tamil people and this view is stronger today. As all of us see, during the peace talks of the former UNF regime, there was no compromising over the LTTE's demands and the government had to accept all. The difference today is that the government is strongly bargaining. This if favourable to all communities urging a respectable peace in the country. It is a good sign to touch on the core issues of the problem. It is a good sign to consider rights of Muslims, rights of other Tamil parties and groups at the negotiation table. The idea behind the interim administration cannot be taken separately from the final solution. Last week India has also expressed the same view. It is very clear that the government cannot come to the LTTE's stand and start talks on the ISGA alone. Therefore, the LTTE has to change its stand on the ISGA and agree to start talks on the final solution simultaneously. To change the LTTE's stand the international community can do a lot. - Vigilante |
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