Mavilaru - separating the war from the water

Sunday Observations: The Political Column

The core message that emanated from the state conclaves was very clear this week: this fighting is something that the LTTE brought upon us.

The President said that a ''fundamental right' had been violated in the LTTEs action in closing the Mavilaru anicut.

The rest is now recent history.

But, in mid week the President also got telephone calls from Muslim MPs and officials in the Mutur area. These assuaged strong rumours that the developing situation in Mutur was not good at all.

The callers assured the President that all is well in Mutur, and that there was no reason for undue panic, even though there was a battle on the army's hands.

On Wednesday, the President's main policy thrust was to neutralise the spin that had been given on the operations that military had been ordered after the Mavilaru anicut closure.

He met sections of the media - - where some media person asked for written guideline to abide by a Presidential request to ''desist from giving LTTE spokesman airitme.'' This had already been reported in certain national dallies.

The President said it was a request -- that airtime may not be afforded to the other side. He was candid about it, and said why not -- no country offers air time to the other side when they were in blatant human rights of more than 50000 people who had been deprived of water due to the LTTE siege of he Mavilaru anicut.

But private media organisations were relentless, and the President said that they could be furnished with guidelines if necessary. He also gave an undertaking to meet the press in a friendly pow-wow where all private broadcast and print organisaitions could be represented. Transparency, he said was there for the asking, but he will not grant personal interviews to anybody, not even the most pretentious of the TV bosses.

From here on, the President maintained the same position at the APC sessions, at which SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem voiced some concerns about the rate of killings after the Mavilaru incident.

Said President Rajapakse that this was no war - - it was a retaliatory exercise to free the anicut from LTTe control. There wasn't much doubt that the incident had snowballed by week's end. In Mutur, 20,00 had been rendered refugees, and the government was engaged in a valiant effort to afford these displaced people some measure of humanitarian relief.

The President may have concentrated on the issue of Mavilaru -- but politics closer to home did engage his attention. There was another round of talks with the JVP on matters to do with a possible coalition. But the JVP's KD Lalkantha who had gone on a lambasting spree of the government almost contritely said that the JVP's stand was that the government should give certain undertakings on policy mattes before any agreement for a tie up with his party.

What were these policy undertakings?

One, was on the issue of separating the Northern and Eastern provinces. The President also said that trade union agitation looked after a million of well placed government workers, whereas his main policy thrust was to ameliorate the living conditions of 9 million others who were non governmental workers and had to bear the brunt of the cost of living.