Diplomats should think out of the box - Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

A veteran soldier cum diplomat a novice said it was high time to change the concept of old-fashioned diplomacy to suit the present day context and also for diplomats to get much closer to expatriates to ensure their contribution to the country’s development.

Time has come for diplomats to think out of the box and go out of the air-conditioned rooms to engage more with the people. The doors of our foreign missions need to be opened for Sri Lankans to discuss their matters with the ambassadors, Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner in Malaysia Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera said.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer he explained how he persuaded the Malaysian government to dismantle the LTTE stronghold in Malaysia and also his efforts to convince the influential Tamil diaspora in Malaysia to ensure its contribution to the Northern development.

Convincing the Tamil diaspora is not an easy task. The main thing is that you have to be one hundred per cent genuine in your efforts, he said adding that due to lack of a strong communication strategy in foreign missions the good work done by the government in its reconciliation process would not effectively be conveyed internationally.

Maj. Gen. Perera said the representatives of the Tamil diaspora could be better diplomats in their respective countries to give a better picture of the country’s situation.

Here are excerpts of the interview:

Q: Why do you think that Malaysia has become a safe hideout for the LTTE earlier?

A: Basically the geological location and political stability have made Malaysia a safe hideout not only for the LTTE but also for the other underground activists. It is also hub of human trafficking. Another reason is that there is a free passage between the West and Malaysia and also between Malaysia and the US. These factors are abused by the terrorists and traffickers to operate from there.

The LTTE’s last leadership operated from Malaysia with its financial hub too well-founded. Rajan, the real financial controller of the LTTE based in Malaysia was operating from there since late 1990s. He continued to operate even after the defeat of the LTTE. He who lived here as a Sri Lankan did not possess a valid passport at the time he was apprehended. This clearly shows how safe Malaysia was for terrorists and other criminals.

Q: How did you convince the Malaysian government to get its support to net the remaining LTTEers here?

A: Yes, we got strong support from the Malaysian government and also its special branches and forces to dismantle the LTTE’s strong network in Malaysia.

The main reason that helped the LTTE to consolidate in Malaysia was that the previous Sri Lankan governments failed to engage with the Malaysian authorities properly. Once we started engaging with the Malaysian government.

We made them understand about the danger of allowing the LTTers to live there. Consequently I got the maximum support from them to dismantle the LTTE’s network.

Q: It was reported that some of the remaining LTTE leaders had fled to Malaysia in the aftermath of the end battle in May 19, 2009. How true is this?

A: Yes, some had escaped but after dismantling the LTTE’s network and its leadership here, they could not operate from Malaysia any more. This made them to flee to other countries. There may be LTTEers still hiding in Malaysia but they cannot make any impact now. I am proud to say that Malaysia is now free of the LTTE.

Q: The Tamil Diaspora in Malaysia is an influential group and they were supporting the LTTE earlier. Do they still continue to support the LTTE?

A: I think more than dismantling the LTTE’s network here, winning over the Malaysian Tamil diaspora is a great achievement. There are over 100,000 Sri Lankans living in Malaysia. They belong to two categories: some were brought to Malaysia by the Britishers way back in 1800s as labourors in the estate sector, clerks in the government department and other government institutions while the other group is those who migrated after 1983. There is another group who fled to Malaysia in the later part of the conflict. those who belong to the first group are the most influential Tamils in Malaysia even more influential than their Indian born counterparts here. They are highly educated, rich and politically influential. The richest man in Malaysia is Ananda Krishnan, a Sri Lankan. There is another Sri Lankan Tamil named, Tan Sri Ganalingam who owns the world’s 17th largest private port. I can name many such influential Sri Lankans in Malaysia. Tan Sri Remond Navarathnam, a Sri Lankan, had been the secretary General of the Transport Ministry of Malaysia.

The Federation of Malaysian Sri lankan Organizations (FOMSO), which consisits of 17 Tamils of Sri Lankan origin organisations and three Sinhalese organiszations in Malayysia. controls the majority Tamil diaspora. We are now closely working with them.

Q: How did you pursuade them to support Sri Lanka’s Northern development process in the post-conflict period?

A: It was through genuine efforts. Before we engaged with them, they had heard only one side of the story, told by the LTTE as to how rape and torture were took place during the battle and later in the IDP camps. They thought the Army committed lots of atrocities during the battle. This is what the LTTE had created in the minds of Malaysian Tamils who had never stepped into Sri Lanka.

What I did was, I sent three Sri Lankans, two Tamils - Dr. Veronic Chellaiya and Mr. A.G. Chandram, a former senior official of the UN and a Sinhalese, Dr. Shermon Perera- to see the ground realities in Sri Lanka. They told me that they were skeptical about what they were awaiting to see. However after they observed the situation in IDP camps and talking to the people they were fully convinced that a wrong picture had been painted by the LTTE in the minds of the Tamils.

After their fact finding trip, they held a press conference together with the diaspora in Malaysia. It was a challenge for me. Many allegations were thrown at the Government and also at me as I was the Director Operation during the end battle. Although they accused that the three individuals who visited Sri Lanka were brain washed by me, later they agreed to visit Sri Lanka to get first hand information. The representatives of the Tamil and FOMSO had made several trips to Sri Lanka and provided assistance to develop the North.

The FOMSO under the chairmanship of Datu Kulasekaran helped in many ways in the Northern development and made available over 30 million Ringitts to provide facilities for the resettled people in the North.

They also met the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and other top officials to explore investment avenues.

Q: How should we win the Tamils over to get them into the mainsteam through genuine efforts?

A: Convincing the Tamil diaspora is not an easy task. The main thing is you have to be 100 percent genuine in this effort. We have made them aware of the ground realities in Sri Lanka as 100 percent of those who speak against Sri Lanka, have never been to the country to see how all communities live together peacefully. They are living in a myth created in their minds by the LTTE which claimed that the Sinhalese were harassing the Tamils.

Even though we are successful in convincing the Tamils living in Malaysia, still some extremist elements here are attacking the FOMSO and all those who wish to have a rapport with the government to develop the country. However, through the genuiness of our efforts we could convince the most influential Tamil diaspora in Malaysia. This is a huge loss to the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora.

Q: You are a novice to diplomacy. Despite your short stint as a diplomat do you think the old-fashioned diplomacy needs a new approach to have a productive rapport with the Sri Lankan diaspora?

A: Yes, I am a soldier trying to get into the shoes of a diplomat. I see the principals of diplomacy should change now. We should not stick to the good old days ceremonial diplomacy. Time is ripe for diplomats to think out of the box and go out of their air conditioned rooms to engage more with the people. The doors of the foreign missions need to be opened for Sri Lankans to discuss their matters with the ambassadors.

The concept of diplomacy needs to be changed with the objectives and challenges in the present day context. The Kautilyan diplomacy practised over 1,500 years ago is not applicable today. It needs to be changed with the passage of time.

There was a time that the Malaysian Tamil diaspora never wanted to come to our High Commission. It was a challenge for me and I had to organize a series of events to bring them here to develop our network and enlighten them. We invited them for all religious and traditional events.

The Tamils who disowned the High Comission and the government started coming in. I wanted to help the victims of the conflict in Sri Lanka and organized the Musical extravaganza in Malaysia to raise funds. It was a great success and the major contributors were the Tamils themselves. We had tables price marked declared for prices and one Tamil here bought a table for 100,000 ringgits. Imagin their interest to support their own people in the North.

At the muscial show Col. Ampemohotti, an injured soldier from Ranaviru Sevana and a rehabilitated ex-LTTE cadre sang the song ‘kandasurindune’ ( A song dedicated to God Kataragama) holding hands. It was very emotional and the Tamil diaspora never expected such unity. It gave a strong message that we were on two sides earlier but today we are united.

Q: What will be the biggest challenge in getting the support of the Sri Lankan diaspora?

A: The main challenge for us is handling the influential Tamil diaspora. We should understand the reality that they are influential as most of them can even exert influence on the constituencies in most of the countries. They are in a position to make an impact through their votes as they play a vital role in political landscapes in those countries.

At times the Tamil diaspora works behind the scenes when it comes to bi-lateral and multi-lateral relationships between countries. If our foreign missions can win over the Tamil Diaspora in their respective countries, most of these problems can be solved. Our missions should deal with the Tamil diaspora in an effective way.

They can be better representatives of Sri Lanka as they know the country and its politicians more than diplomats, who come there for a short period of time. In my personel view, we can use Tamil diaspora as representatives of Sri Lanka and can ensure a better outcome.

Q: Don’t you think that the government’s efforts for reconciliation and development of the North are not conveyed internationally due to lack of a proper propaganda strategy and also such activities are handled by non-professionals ?

A: Yes, this is one major lapse that we are facing today. Most of the success stories on rehabilitation, resettlement and development do not reach the target groups abroad. The government is doing lots of good things but due to propaganda strategy they are not properly heard internationally.

I think the foreign missions have to engage in a continous dialogue with the Tamil diaspora and we have to have a well designed propaganda campaign through electronic media internationally. The web is an effective tool to reach out to many and also clear the doubts. One email can do more harm than a any other mode of communication as people get more information through emails than the television.

I also recently received such a ‘harmful’ email, which gives a very negative image of the peaceful relationship between the Sinhalese and the Tamils tarnishing the image of the government and the military. I of course replied them.

These are good readings for those who are not familiar with the Sri Lankan situation. When we repeatedly say the Tamils and the Sinhalese living in Sri Lanka do not clash with each other as suggested by the pundits who have little or no experience on the Sri Lankan issue, there are many in the diaspora who desperately try to create a situation to prove their point.

If a Sinhala extremist joins this debate he will say how the Tamils killed the Sinhalese between 1983 and 2009, though it is not the Tamils who killed Sinhalese and Tamil Leaders but the LTTE. This is how facts can be twisted to suit individual and group agendas. It is very simple. There was a protracted armed conflict in Sri Lanka and the people suffered indiscriminately. Not only the Tamils but also the Sinhalese and the Muslims too were killed in large numbers. Now the conflict is over and my request to all those who are concerned, please allow us, Sri Lankans to live peacefully without trying to dig the old wounds. That will not do any good to any community.

I call upon all those who are critical of the armed conflict not to push the nation back to another conflict by inducing hatred into the minds of innocent people who are struggling to live, sometime even without their basic needs. Let’s not push them to war but help them live a decent life.

Those who spread hatred should know it is not them or their children who will suffer but it is only we have to face the consequences if there is going to be another armed conflict. Therefore, please leave us alone if you are not willing to help but only talk politics.

When 300,000 innocent civilians were kept forcibly no one exerted pressure on the LTTE to release them but gave hopes to the LTTE leader promising him that he would be rescued. It obviously led him to prevent the people from leaving that one square mile area.

Where were those human rights activists, when Prabakaran was keeping 300,000 people as hostages for his own benefit? It is the Sri Lanka Army that rescued all those innocent Tamils and not the so called human rights activists. Prevention is better than cure. Let’s prevent another conflict by propagating peace and harmony.

I say with responsibility that colonisation does not take place in North or East of Sri Lanka. However, those who were chased out by LTTE have the right to return to those areas and no one can oppose or deny their right for resettlement.

The Army or Air Force never used cluster bombs as stated in the article. The battle was basically an infantry battle.

Why are those people from MTF so shy to meet me and have discussions. My invitation remains open. We should not play the hide and seek game but meet face to face and discuss matters not to convince others but to share the ideas. Let’s make it a very professional interaction over a cup of CEYLON TEA.

Although I don’t have time to reply all emails yet, I am replying some target groups to clarify the misconceptions.

Q: How do you say that the Tamil diaspora too contributed to the war victory?

A: It was not a battle fought against terrorism for three years, but we faced a protracted war for over 30-years. During these 30-years we gradually isolated the LTTE. How? One way is through the peace process. Some will say the peace process is a failure.

Yes, in one way it was a failure but on the other it produced results and as in every peace process it brought some terrorists into mainstream of politics. At the beginning, we fought over 20 groups and, when it came to the last stage we fought only the LTTE.

During these 30-years we have painstakenly turned the insurgents into politicians.

LTTE has graduated themselves from insurgents to terrorists. We fought them during the last three years.

The committed political leadership and the professional approach of the armed forces for victory, the isolation of the LTTE from the Tamils in Sri Lanka was the third major factor that contributed to the final victory. This message should reach out to the Tamil diaspora. Majority of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka helped the government to win the battle against the LTTE.

They had realized themselves the damage done to the Tamils by the LTTE. They did not want to live under the LTTE terror and they wanted the soldiers to rescue them.If the LTTE fought without holding the civilians as a shield they knew that their end would come soon. That was why the LTTE held innocent Tamils for their survival. The LTTE terrorists who disregarded the humanity and ill-treated its own commmunity.If it happened the other way round. If the majority of the Tamils supported the LTTE, we would not have defeated terrorism so soon.