Govt should groom Tamil leaders for reconciliation - Prof. Gunaratna

by Manjula FERNANDO

An international terrorism expert who had served as an expert witness in many court cases heard against LTTE in the West, Prof. Rohan Gunaratna says [what remains of the] LTTE is the single biggest beneficiary of the outcome at the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva last month.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer Prof.Gunaratna said,” Some LTTE remnants celebrate that the US resolution is the beginning of regime change in Sri Lanka. Others believe that the US has created a certain path for them to create a separate state.”

He said after the US State Department invited GTF and Tamils for Obama, the energised LTTE fronts started to lobby the US Senate, Congress, White House and other Departments including State.

Tamils for Obama has written to US President: “We urge that the US support a similar referendum being held in Sri Lanka. As with the southern Sudanese, Sri Lankan Tamils need a sovereign homeland in which they can be safe and free."

However, he says at any given time, anyone can fight and win against only one enemy. Therefore Sri Lanka should give this a serious thought in framing its foreign policy.

Prof. Gunaratna is the Head of International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The excerpts from the interview:

Q: The LTTE international wing is highly organised and had shown their manipulative skills many times. Are they trying to conquer their separatist goal - an Eelam in Sri Lanka - via the UN establishment?

A: The LTTE remnants are the single biggest beneficiaries of the outcome at the UNHCR in Geneva. As for the LTTE ideologues and supporters especially the propagandists, anything against Sri Lanka will be a victory including a cricket match. They brought pressure on the US but this resolution was certainly not what the LTTE wished for. However, the LTTE remnants are happy that the US resolution has enabled themselves to align with the International community.

LTTE remnants celebrate that the US resolution is the beginning of regime change in Sri Lanka. Other LTTE remnants believe that the US has created a certain path for them to create a separate State.

Requesting US support for a referendum on Tamil sovereignty, the Tamils for Obama wrote: "We urge that the US support a similar referendum being held in Sri Lanka. Like Sudan, Sri Lanka has endured a decades-long civil war in which the government brutalised and murdered a powerless minority. As with the southern Sudanese, Sri Lankan Tamils need a sovereign homeland in which they can be safe and free."

Sri Lanka is a very resilient state that has endured 21 invasions. The same way its people resisted subversion by the JVP, terrorism by the LTTE, and covert and overt intervention by India, it will oppose pressure tactics, whether by the UN or the West.

Although Sri Lankans are culturally reactive and not proactive, when it comes to a crisis Sri Lankans put their mind to it and resolve it the very same way it dismantled to vicious threat groups. As such the effort to tarnish Sri Lanka's image and reputation by the LTTE remnants and the NGOs in Colombo funded by Western diplomatic missions will be a waste.

Only the innocent Sri Lankans in the North and the South trying to recover from 30 years of conflict will suffer. As such, Sri Lanka should continue to focus on its post-conflict priorities of development and reconciliation and not be distracted by geopolitics and strategic alignments.

Within the Tamil diaspora itself, the LTTE has gone out of fashion and style. Despite intense lobbying, organising transport, and other benefits, the Nediywan, Emmanuel and Rudrakumaran factions of the LTTE managed only to bring 250 people to Geneva, unlike 5,000 that demonstrated when the LTTE killing machine was intact. The move from militancy to politics has made it less attractive to the older generation. Many of the hardcore LTTE cadres and supporters have become silent and have walked way from militancy to politics.

With the Darusman report making unsubstantiated claims, the younger generation of Tamils believe that there were severe war crimes. Such disinformation needs to be countered both in English and Tamil. In parallel, the government should take a bold step and invite the LTTE remnants’ leaders to visit Sri Lanka and see for themselves the unprecedented development in the North and the East and the harmony between communities throughout the country.

Q: Subsequent to Sri Lanka's recent defeat in Geneva, there seems to be a well consorted and an evil attempt to create divisions among key members of its team who fought for country's interests at the UNHRC? What is your reading on this?

A: At the UNHRC in Geneva in March 2012, the decision by governments to vote, abstain or vote against the US resolution was decided in the capitals of their countries not in Geneva. The Sri Lankan government did not succeed in Geneva because Colombo did not invest adequate time and energy to lobby for support in the capitals of the countries that either abstained or voted against her. In contrast, the well funded LTTE fronts in the West had a proactive strategy of working with certain Western political leaders, Channel 4, and Amnesty International.

The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, Tamils for Obama, the Global Tamil Forum and its affiliates such as the British Tamil Forum, Australian Tamil Congress and the Canadian Tamil Congress started their lobbying months ahead of the UNHRC meeting in Geneva. It is not too late for the Sri Lankan government to strategically create permanent capabilities to counter the LTTE disinformation campaign now taking effect. The Ministry of External Affairs Colombo should create an Additional Secretary for Public Diplomacy and create three Divisions - NGO Advocacy Division, Diaspora Affairs Division and expand the remit of the Publicity Division to monitor global media 24-7, to counter the vicious propaganda and promote the stories of freedom from LTTE tyranny.

Both the government delegation and the Sri Lankan mission in Geneva did their best to counter the LTTE instigated propaganda that had created the impression that (1) the Sri Lankan security forces deliberately targeted its civilians (2) Sri Lankan Tamils have not received their rightful place after all what they have suffered, and (3) the Sri Lankan government and their partners were not seriously committed to reconciliation.

In Geneva. Sri Lanka could have fared better if both the government delegation led by its dynamic Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe arriving from Colombo and the impressive Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam had a common plan. The Tamil ministers, officials and other Tamils who travelled from Sri Lanka should have been given a prominent role to engage the governments, International Organizations and NGOs.

Q: How do you describe the resolution that was passed on Sri Lanka at the 19th session of UNHRC in Geneva? Some have described it as a victory for LTTE propagandists who advocate separatism in Sri Lanka? As an expert on LTTE affairs do you agree with this?

A: The discussions leading to the US resolution in Geneva came as a shock to many Sri Lankans, still reminiscing the decisive defeat of the LTTE on May 19 2009. Except the LTTE stragglers who fled as well as LTTE remnant leadership and LTTE supporters overseas, all Sri Lankans including the rehabilitated LTTE cadres are working hard to rebuild their lives and their country. Although the resolution is to implement the recommendations of LLRC, Sri Lanka's own commission, ordinary people were puzzled and got scared whether there will be economic sanctions. As Sri Lanka did not suffer from a single act of terrorism during the past three years, the country was enjoying the fruits of peace until the Geneva episode.

Will it embolden the LTTE and create the conditions for the reemergence of the terror? This includes the Tamils who suffered for nearly three decades from LTTE intimidation, extortion and terrorism and the LTTE expulsions and massacres of Muslims and Sinhalese from the North and parts of the east. An unintended consequence of the US resolution against Sri Lanka in Geneva was a boost for LTTE overseas and its domestic proxy TNA. The Sri Lankan government should create new capabilities to dismantle the LTTE fronts spearheading the lobbying in the West and scrutinize the LTTE-TNA links as elements of the TNA are still advancing the separatist agenda.

As the reach of the LTTE remnants overseas are limited, to influence Tamil public opinion, surviving LTTE leaders are now working with elements in the TNA.

Although the TNA itself is divided, some elements in the TNA have received funding from the LTTE fronts overseas and they are committed to implementing the LTTE agenda.

The Sri Lankan government should ensure that proper safeguards are in place to prevent the TNA and other LTTE proxies on Sri Lankan soil from politicizing, radicalizing and militarizing another generation of Tamil youth.

There must be laws that criminalize any attempt to politically or otherwise to move in this direction. Until the TNA rejects the ideology of separatism and embraces the spirit of unity, the government should work with Tamil leaders not tainted with the LTTE virus.

As the LTTE cut the mainstream Tamil leadership tree at its trunk, the government should groom a new generation of Tamils leaders committed to reconciliation and harmony and not parochial Tamil nationalism and separatism.

Q: The United National Party and some others blame the government for the failure at UNHRC, alleging that the Government handled the whole issue unprofessionally and the internal battles overshadowed their top most priority in Geneva. What is your take on this?

A: Rather than continue to play party politics and score points, the government and the opposition should work together to build a united Sri Lanka. The focus of all Sri Lankans irrespective of party affiliations should be to prevent another victory in Geneva. Together, they must answer several questions. Sri Lanka performed exceptionally well until India's position over Tamil Nadu pressure drowned her. Should Sri Lanka have started its campaign much earlier and not taken Indian support for granted ? Did Sri Lanka neglect India? Sri Lanka has a lot of soft power it can use well ahead of time to counter the next resolution in 2013. Is it a mockery of the UN system to watch LTTE activists waving Tiger flags and portraits of Prabhakaran outside the UN building in Geneva and its ideologues and propagandists masquerading as human rights activists parading in the corridors at the UNHRC? These elements pushing Western governments and the UN for accountability has an agenda to punish the Sri Lankan government for decapitating the LTTE leadership and fighting strength. They are the very fronts tainted with advocating suicide attacks, funding terrorism and procuring weapons for the LTTE. Is the US and UN making lasting peace in Sri Lanka less likely?

The US says that Sri Lanka has not done enough in terms of reconciliation and accountability for three years. As of March 21, 2012, Sri Lanka has resettled in recorded time 264,777 IDPs in their habitats, except 6,022 due to LTTE mines and destruction of their homes; rehabilitated and reintegrated 11,500 of 12,000 former LTTE cadres, and is in the process of building a model program to reconcile the hearts of the conflict affected.

If Sri Lanka does its part seriously to resolve outstanding issues, will the US and EU still continue to intervene? Sri Lanka leaders firmly believe that until the LTTE remnants gets what it wants, the LTTE overseas will continue to exercise financial and electoral pressure on Western politicians who in turn will put pressure on their bureaucrats. As such the government is reluctant to yield to the demands of the west and NGOs lobbied by the LTTE.

What happened in Geneva, is it an exercise in human rights or politics? Considering the human rights record of the US itself, where a million civilians died in Iraq and Afghanistan, did the countries vote for the resolution or for a resolution by the US? Due to its political, diplomatic, and military might, will countries support any resolution brought by the US? Will such actions prompt Sri Lanka to further drift away from the West towards China?

Should Sri Lanka rebuild its relations with the West including the US and EU, its traditional friends? Sri Lanka has no option as India itself has abandoned its neutrality and sided with the US.

Q: Some political leaders here have called for a boycott of US and other products, shut down SL missions in countries who supported the resolution against SL. Your comments?

A: These are odd comments made in any democracy. You hear a range of sane and insane voices. I do not think you need to read into it and take them seriously. Nonetheless, the Sri Lankan government should get its foreign policy right. At any given time, anyone can fight and win against only one enemy.

The Sri Lankan government cannot fight the LTTE, India, and the West together and win. Although the LTTE has no presence in Sri Lanka, the LTTE has reorganized itself overseas and presents a significant threat to Sri Lanka. To ensure peace and stability, the Sri Lankan government must focus on this threat coming from overseas and not be distracted by the US resolution or New Delhi's decision to vote against Sri Lanka.

US and India are driven by the misperception that Sri Lanka's political alignment is shifting towards China. While the Government of Sri Lanka should maintain its economic ties with China, Colombo should restore its diplomatic relations with the West especially the US and UK, and India.

When the LTTE was defeated, the world was on Sri Lanka's side. The government has a lot more work to reach out, engage and win over the radicalized segments of its own population at home and overseas.

To reconcile the hearts and build harmony, an information service in Tamil language to share the excellent work of the military in providing humanitarian assistance and rebuilding the infrastructure in the North and the East; weekly meetings by government civilian and military representatives with community elite and leaders to address any issues; and daily exchanges between youth and children between the North and the South is paramount.

In parallel the law enforcement and intelligence agencies should strengthen its coverage of LTTE's post Geneva resurgence. Although the LTTE organization in Sri Lanka was dismantled, the LTTE ideology and its support bases in Canada, Europe and Australia that funded terrorism in Sri Lanka are intact. The US, UK, France, Canada and Tamil Nadu in India has emerged as key support bases.

It is ironic but true that from Trichi to Velankanni and Trichi there are posters of Tamil Nadu politicians standing next to Prabhakaran, the mastermind of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. The Sri Lanka government should work with their counterparts to bring the unrepentant LTTE leaders and operatives who are still active overseas to justice. Some of them have not given up on the idea of instigating violence including terrorism. Restoring relations with the West and India is paramount for the future security of Sri Lanka and beyond.