‘Tamils against military withdrawal’:
Dismantling camps will give rise to terrorism - Expert
by Manjula FERNANDO
If
military camps are dismantled in the North and the East, extremism and
terrorism will return, international anti-terrorism expert Prof. Rohan
Gunaratna warned yesterday.
Responding to comments by Sarath Fonseka on military camps in the
North and the East should be reduced, Prof. Gunaratna said the threat of
terrorism being revived is very real because supportive political
elements and LTTE proxies are still active in Sri Lanka, India and in a
few other countries.
“They have not abandoned the Tiger flag, Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s
image or the separatist goal,” said Prof. Gunaratna, who heads the
International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
at Nanyang Technological Institute, Singapore.He said, “Due to the weak
law and order situation, enforcement and intelligence, ideological
extremism and terrorism grew in Jaffna and spread islandwide starting
with Prabhakaran killing the Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappah in 1975.
Most Sri Lankans including Tamils do not want the military to withdraw
for two reasons.
First, security. Ninety percent of the LTTE’s victims were Tamils
until 1983. Since then Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese suffered gravely
and Sri Lanka went back a quarter century. Although the LTTE has been
dismantled in Sri Lanka, the LTTE maintains a significant presence in
Tamil Nadu. LTTE ideologues and leaders who support terrorism including
S.J. Emmanuel, V. Rudrakumaran and Nediywan are radicalising and
militarising a new generation of Tamils. Through front, cover and
sympathetic organisations, the LTTE is operating out of New York as TGTE,
London as TGTE and In Norway as TCC.Second, the military has provided
sustained support to the civilian population: building roads,
refurbishing hospitals, renovating schools, improving livelihoods
through farming fishery and agriculture assistance and donating
blood.”In the next decade, the greatest challenge facing Sri Lanka would
be communal extremism propagated by LTTE remnants and their proxies, he
said.
“The Government must continue to engage the Tamils and build a strong
friendship with all communities especially in the North and the East.
Military and intelligence must recruit more Tamils and learning Tamil
must be made mandatory. The police have set an example by recruiting and
deploying Tamils in the North and the East.”
Earlier, British High Commissioner Rankin in a video posted on the
High Commission website said, “We hope the military presence in the
North and the East can resemble the level of the military presence in
other parts of the country, rather than the very large military presence
we continue to have at present.”
A spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry said they were studying
his comments.
The former Army Commander Fonseka too had voiced similar sentiments
in an interview with a Tamil newspaper after his release. President
Mahinda Rajapaksa told the nation on the third anniversary of the defeat
of terrorism, that the military camps in the North and the East would
not be removed as long as security considerations remain, in the
backdrop of LTTE diaspora activity. |