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| Sunday, 25 May 2003 |
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Suicidal Lions: Waiting for a soft target? - LTTE : relieving floods, tension Observations by LAKSHMAN GUNASEKERA I've been nervously waiting for that suicide bomb strike, but it's all been quiet so far. Of course, there haven't been any 'soft' targets offered by the LTTE so far. Readers who automatically associate 'suicide bombers' with the LTTE, and the LTTE alone, would be puzzled. That's their fault. In this battle-scarred country, every Sri Lankan, and not just the North-Easterners, should be combat savvy. One's political antennas should be alert, periscopes should be peering out of the trenches all the time, not just when a bomb goes off.
And, just because the Pals in West Asia are now into the suicide bomb act on a near-daily routine, don't think of any Islamic 'terrorists' either, or, even of other mono-theistic 'fundamentalists'. The local God-squads have not gone suicidal yet although some of them may sooner or later seek martyrdom as the newest (oldest?) propagation tactic. soft target Haven't you guessed yet? Too bad; just pray that you are not around, and still blissfully ignorant, when those bands of Sinhala ultra-nationalists now committed to suicide war, get going. But they need that soft target. Will the convoy of LTTE lorries bringing flood relief be the target, I wonder. By the time this column is published, hopefully, they will have gone back North (safely or not is their problem in this war torn land after all, if 'informer' killings occur as frequently and as casually as traffic fines, penalties, then all is fair...). There are many interpretations of this latest move by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. One of the first reactions I heard was by a grizzled Sinhala suicide bomber trainee (grizzled, yes; the kids are in West Asia or at the video library) : the lorry convoy was a Tiger ruse to smuggle more arms into the South. With that kind of interpretation by our new Southern militants (the JVP was never stupid, just unlucky), I guess I'll have to wait a long time for that leonine suicide effort. The Sinhalas have, so far, been certainly better in leotards (with Trojan Women and Dhavala Bheeshana and such like) or in Lion Clubs. self-determination Leaving aside such Lion-like ruminations, there are a range of other Southern responses. There is the suspicion-and-suffering-based rejection of any helping hand extended by those seen wholly as forces that meted out terror (as they indeed did, like any other military force; in fact, on a much smaller scale than the State security forces). Then there is a reluctant, yet-suspicious, acceptance of what seems to be gesture of reconciliation. Another response, from the more Liberal and allied pro-West circles, is a cautious, politic, welcome of an action that would, hopefully, be very helpful to proceed on some 'road map' (we still lack good local travel maps in local languages; who cares? they don't earn dollars as road maps or tourist maps do). Finally, there is, regrettably, from a minute few (like myself), an enthusiastic welcome by those who acknowledge the right of self-determination by anyone and everyone and support any move for reconciliation that would ease that process of self-determination. Of course, that last category could be further divided into the those who welcome the Tiger convoy on simple grounds of democracy and humanity and those political combat veterans like myself who quickly read in the intentions, the benefits, the disadvantages (to some), the reactions etc etc. This 'reading in' and writing up also earns bread, I grant. The LTTE move to send a relief convoy South must certainly be appreciated as a very valuable conciliatory gesture. It publicly and forcefully affirms the Tigers 'good intentions' and, at least among some (hopefully a majority) of non-Tamils, will touch a chord of empathy. It is excellent PR, just as much as the visit South, together with the Prime Minister, of the Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister was helpful to show Southerners that the Norsemen (I haven't seen any women come over yet) cared for them as well for the Northerners. The Indian naval intervention too is equally helpful actually far more helpful in substantive terms. I have not yet heard any of those leonine activists, who see Indian Imperialism behind every tea bush and in every IPKF, claiming that the Indian Naval Ship was bringing in arms or an invading force etc. Not that the Hindutva forces in Delhi are not imperially inclined. They haven't quite got their act together yet, unlike the United States of America and its Older European colonial forebears. US administration Interestingly, ole Uncle Sam has not made its presence felt 'Down South' in humanitarian terms to the degree it has made its presence felt up North in terms of counter-insurgency political bluster. Perhaps the humiliating faux pax of the Washington aid meeting exercise, which has not only slowed down the peace process but also placed the LTTE in a position of bargaining strength, has taken the bluster out of the current US administration, at least as far as Sri Lanka is concerned. If they had thought to 'shock and awe' the Tigers, they've got a rude shock themselves. Unfortunately, for the US government it is only a metaphorical bloodied nose, while for us, Sri Lankans, it is yet another hurdle that we must now struggle to get over, although at least this one is due to the blundering of someone else. Equally interestingly, the Japanese too are rather quiet. Perhaps they too are licking wounds after Ambassador Akashi's own faux pax of daring to give a time ultimatum to one of the world's most successful guerrilla leaders who wields his own clock in Eelam as well as chooses the time for the death of various enemies including when Premadasa or Chandrika or Ranil should be targeted. Very un-Japanese, I thought when I heard Ambassador Akashi give that deadline. resplendent isle Like I said, the Tigers can score much with their relief convoy exercise. The conciliatory hand to the Sinhalas is the immediate most obvious gain. This alone makes the exercise fully worth their while and is of benefit of all who want to see peace (if not prajaathanthra or at least Western-style democracy) on this resplendent isle. But there are more implications. In sending the relief convoy, the LTTE also further establishes the credentials of its polity in the North-East as an autonomous political entity. After all, after the central Sri Lankan government, and the foreign governments, namely the Indians and the Norwegians, it is the LTTE and/or the North-East that has sent relief to the flood-affected areas. The only way the 'provincial' or 'devolved' balance can be maintained is for the Provincial Council administrations (at least one Province) to send relief. In that way the LTTE action would be reduced, somewhat, to that of a provincial (if remote) initiative and not that of, as it could be interpreted now, a relatively autonomous, even non-Sri Lankan, entity. quick action Even if other Provincial councils do get their act together (did they ever have an act?) and send some relief missions Southwards, the LTTE initiative establishes the North-East, despite being far more impoverished and handicapped than any other province, as a viable, functioning entity. It proves the Tigers' ability, surpassing that of other regional administrations, to mobilise resources and take quick action, even in the midst of the North-East's own, far greater, adversity. No one can devalue the Tiger initiative by pointing out that the relief resources being sent are merely a diversion of resources provided from outside to the North-East. Because, one could argue that much of central government relief resources and any that may be sent by provincial administrations, are also largely of external origin. In fact, if one takes this line of argument to a logical extreme, doesn't this confound the argument of those who claim that the North-East is "too small" to survive on its own in the event of secession? In any case, it would be most of those who make that argument who would today, reject, the LTTE convoy. Let's see how many of the rejectionists are willing to be martyred to uphold their beliefs. There are certainly others, democrats, who are ready to die, or at least risk repression, to defend their right to these beliefs. In Colombo, one is yet to hear of the response of that other political centre, the Presidency, to the Prime Minister's laudable gesture of inviting the President to head the relief effort. While she ponders her response, the President will surely keep in mind that integration, and not secession, is what is desirable at the centre of the Sri Lankan State (what's left of it, that is). |
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