TNA leaders must demonstrate their sincerity

The conduct of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), even at the height of the Security Forces' battle against terrorism and after the dawn of peace is highly questionable.

When the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit inflicted untold misery on the people in the North and the East and even threatened the day-to-day life of all Sri Lankans, the TNA leaders showed unswerving loyalty to Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, thereby endorsing the acts of the terror outfit which cared two hoots for civilians.

The TNA leaders at the time were remote-controlled by Prabhakaran from his jungle hideouts in the Wanni through the so-called LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvam. None of the TNA leaders dared to open their mouths and speak on behalf of the Tamils in the North and the East who were at the receiving end due to LTTE terror.

The only Tamil political leaders in the North who had the courage to criticise the LTTE terror were Minister Douglas Devananda and TULF leader V. Anandasangaree. Several moderate Tamil political leaders such as T. Amirthalingam and Kumar Ponnambalam were assassinated.

The TNA leaders cared tuppence when the LTTE dragged Tamil youth from their homes and conscripted them in the terror outfit. Not only the youth but also school-going children in the North and the East were forcibly taken away from their families for the LTTE's child brigade, violating all internationally accepted norms and Charters of the United Nations.

If the TNA leaders cherished democracy and the people's power, they should have at least uttered a word of comfort for over half a million people who had been forcibly held as a human shield. However, none of the TNA politicians had the spunk to take up the matter with the international community or even neighbouring India, against LTTE atrocities.

When the LTTE held sway, it claimed to be the sole representatives of the Tamils though Prabhakaran and his goons had done precious little for their own community. Democratic Tamil leaders were either killed or silenced at gunpoint in the North and the East.

Nevertheless, when the LTTE was militarily crushed and over half a million civilians were rescued from the jaws of death, the TNA suddenly emerged from nowhere to shed crocodile tears over the plight of the Tamils, saying that the TNA is the sole representatives of the Tamils.

The TNA delegation that met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week comprised members who had accepted the LTTE terrorist outfit as the sole representative of the Tamils. They are now under pressure by the LTTE rump and a section of the Tamil Diaspora, such as the Global Tamil Forum and other pro-LTTE groups supporting the LTTE's cause in Australia, UK, Canada and other Western countries that have become hyperactive from the day the Office of the UN Human Rights Council appointed a Committee of Inquiry to look into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The members of this wily group explored every possible opportunity to make submissions against the Government. The LTTE rump exploited the TNA to exert tremendous pressure on the international community, especially India, and project a dismal picture of Sri Lanka.

The TNA group that toured India returned empty handed due to India's tough stance against terrorism. India has denied entry to UNHRC investigators to conduct a probe against Sri Lanka - a bold decision of the new BJP Government which had greatly perturbed the LTTE rump.

Five TNA delegates had openly declared their allegiance to the LTTE and their separatist principles when they were members of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO). They had advocated an international probe against Sri Lanka since the end of the humanitarian operation. They are acutely aware that India's refusal to entertain the UNHRC investigators to gather evidence against Sri Lanka is a major setback for the TNA's communal politics.

The TNA and the Tamil Diaspora's fears had heightened since the government has shown clear transparency in the local mechanism to investigate allegations on the battle against terrorism, with the appointment of an eminent international panel to advise the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons.

The authenticity of the investigations carried out by this Commission will add significant weight as they will come face to face with the affected parties. The Missing Persons Commission has already launched investigations on over 19,000 complaints.

The Tamil Diaspora has gone into panic mode in the UK, Australia and Canada. They have set up offices in these countries to support the UN panel conducting investigations on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka using Skype and other social media in those countries.

Some local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) worked in a sinister manner on the instructions of their funding godfathers in their INGOs. Some local NGO officials who are hankering after foreign funds have been working round the clock to find Tamils in the North who could be 'used' to give evidence against Sri Lanka.

Some people in the North have been offered cash incentives to the tune of Rs. 100,000 each, if their families give evidence to the UNHRC panel against the Security Forces through Skype and Facebook video conference technology. These prospective Tamil civilians who could be 'bought' to give evidence have been asked to come out with concocted stories by the INGOs which fund them. News reports said that these closed-door operations are being conducted with the 'blessings' of a couple of foreign missions in Colombo.

If Sri Lanka could produce a credible report on alleged human rights violations during its battle against terrorism and the circumstances which forced the Government to protect civilians from LTTE terror with direct evidence from those affected, it could win the confidence of those countries which had abstained from voting at the last UNHRC sessions, or even those who had voted against Sri Lanka.

TNA politicians were never permitted to engage in mainstream politics when the country was plagued by LTTE terrorism. They feared for their lives and were Prabhakaran's obedient servants. The Security Forces not only liberated people in the North and the East in the world's largest human rescue mission but also created a conducive environment for TNA politicians to return to active politics. Hence, the TNA should repudiate the Tiger policies and act as the people's true representatives.

Else, the Government will have to closely monitor the conduct of senior TNA leaders who seem to have still not abandoned their separatist agenda. Such politicians should not be permitted to continue as parliamentarians, Provincial Council or Local Government members and taken to task under the laws of the land.

Moreover, the TNA should not be permitted to indulge in racist politics and mislead people in the North and the East. Most TNA politicians - in national and regional politics have still not given up their LTTE ideology and are still daydreaming of the separate state as projected by Prabhakaran.

Legislators have taken oath to uphold the Constitution and accept an undivided Sri Lanka but TNA parliamentarians, Provincial Council members and Local Government representatives more often than not fail to abide by it. They should be cautioned and even expelled from their seats for violating the oath of allegiance. TNA politicians should not be permitted to go scot free in the guise of democracy.

Now that the TNA leaders have said that they were ready to resume talks with the Government on devolution of power within a united Sri Lanka, they must demonstrate their sincerity and willingness. They should discard their Tiger cloaks and make a sincere effort to strengthen reconciliation rather than spreading separatism before they come to the negotiating table.