Isolating communities, bedrock for new terrorism - Mangala

Engagement and dialogue are essential to ensure dissenting views are heard and agrieved parties resolve their issues without having to resort to violence, said Minister of External Affairs Mangala Samaraweera in an one- hour media briefing held two days prior to the dissolution of Parliament.

The Minister elaborated that new forms of terrorism would emerge if aggrieved communities are isolated.

His emphasised the need to unify segmented Sri Lankan diaspora, correcting the misused foreign policy, the annual ‘Country Report on Terrorism and Patterns of Global Terrorism’ issued by the US State Department on Sri Lanka and ending extremism in the country.

When the Government is trying to unite the segregated Sri Lankan diaspora, the extremists get agitated, the Minister said adding “Through out the history in Sri Lanka Sinhala and Tamil extremism nurtured each others ideologies promoting hatred.”

He further said: “Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran of the Transnational Government of Tamil Ealam on one hand is accusing me saying that I am hoodwinking the Tamil Diaspora in the name of a united Sri Lanka while on the other Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe of the Jathika Hela Urumaya is promoting extremism to scuttle these efforts.”

“Both these parties are like the two sides of the same coin,” he reiterated.

He added that it is the government’s intention to remove the base of support of violent radical groups, by diminishing their popularity and legitimacy among the populations who might otherwise sustain them with material and moral support.

Based on his response to the Leader of the Opposition, delivered at the Parliament Minister Samawaweera elaborated that new forms of terrorism that may emerge if the Government isolates and radicalizes aggrieved communities in the country and this would be difficult to predict and may be hard to control.

“ We cannot afford to risk the security and stability of our country again on poorly planned or non-inclusive strategies and on failures in diplomacy,” he maintained.

Specifying the Government’s efforts in reconciliation and reintegration Minister Samaraweera pointed out that engagement and dialogue are essential to ensure that those who hold dissenting views are heard without having to resort to violence.

End to extremism

On January 8 this year, with President Miathripala Sirisena winning the elections the moderate Sri Lankans showed they need to see an end to extremism with a large number of voter turnout including the North, the East and other strongholds of the former President, he said.

“A truly Sri Lankan President came in to power irrespective of ethnicities, race or religion,” he added. In such a situation it is important to create an environment for all segments of the society including Sri Lankan diaspora which is not only Tamil people but Sinhala, Burgher as well,” he said.

Allegations were raised against the Government by the Opposition Leader Nimal Siripala de Silva accusing the weakened security situation in the country based on information from the annual ‘Country Report on Terrorism and Patterns of Global Terrorism’ issued by the US State Department on Sri Lanka. Minister Samaraweera delivered a response at the Parliament last Wednesday (June 24) said that as per the time frame the State Department is considering in the making this report it is evident that this is afailure of the previous Government.

In his response at the Parliament he said that the 2014 report noted that the report that preceded it, covering the calendar year 2013 mentioned that the LTTE’s network of support continued to operate - ‘shockingly, under the very regime that claimed to have eradicated this threat once and for all.’ Stressing the Government point of view the Minister said the Government considers these Annual Reports extremely useful for all Governments and all organisations and agencies that are committed to combating terrorism.

The counter-terrorism campaign of the former Government has been a failure, he pointed out.

The country unitedly was happy to see an end to terrorism. “Alleging that the country’s security situation is weakening and the rise of the LTTE could be the only slogan that this faction of the SLFP could come up with when the Government is heading for an election. This shows their weakness,” the Minister reiterated.

The victory achieved by the war heroes was used by the former President and his clan to strengthen power concentrated on their family, he alleged adding that the focus was on establishing dictatorship based on war victory.

The previous government distorted the Foreign policy which eventually nurtured the terrorist propaganda and ideologies making friendly countries our foe. Friendly countries were labelled as terrorist supporters and were cornered , he stressed.

“The USA was one of the first countries to list the LTTE as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997 and also listed its front organisations such as the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (USA branch of TRO).

Cooperation continues between security agencies of the USA and Sri Lanka on pending cases against LTTE operatives in the USA. The US designation was pivotal to the suppression of the LTTE, which led to their military defeat in 2009.

The listing in the US and in other parts of the world prevented much needed funding from reaching the LTTE, which was essential for the carrying out terrorist activities in Sri Lanka,” he mentioned in his reply. Further he added that the ban on the LTTE by the European Union was suspended in October 2014.

“It all happened as the Rajapaksa’s crippled the foreign service by appointing their nearest and dearest to top diplomatic positions.

Those were more interested in doing their personal businesses, trading tea and arms dealing, using diplomatic resources rather than serving the country,” he pointed out.

Key strategies

“Our approach is different,” he stated adding that soft power and diplomacy will be the key strategies. In his response he pointed out that the ban was re-imposed within the last few months after President Maithripala Sirisena came in to power.

The European Council decision 2015/521 of March 26 this year, 2015, updated and amended the list of persons once again, placing the LTTE back on the list.

Those who lead the former Government made a living out of the war. “I with great responsibility can say that one of the highest positioned officials in the Defence sector of the former Government started the war with a deal made with MiG aircraft purchasing for the Sri Lanka Air Force.

“Investigations are going on and truth will be revealed,” said the Minister revealing discreet facts of the deal.

“I challenge him to send me a letter of demand and I preferred if he would act beyond that and file a case against me in courts so that I can come and reveal all the facts of the deal,” the Minister said.

“This is a clear traitorous act and when proven guilty such people’s civic rights should be stripped,” he said.