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Sri Lanka's Rebuilding By Way Of Donor Aid Needs No Compromising Of Sovereignity Or Conceding To Impure LTTE Demands!
The approach towards resolving Sri Lanka's woes seem to have taken a turn for the worse considering the negative impact towards objectives based on recent statements of the 'Donor Nations' of United States 'blessing' who do not have the outright courage to label the criminality of the LTTE as well the appeasement of the LTTE by Norway and the EU, which continue to place a clear ultimatum before the Administration of Sri Lanka in trying to influence the final decision and jump starting the stalled Peace Process.
Either accept the terrorist LTTE’s terms and the favourable nods of the donors or face the consequences which obviously would be a rescinding of the aid, tantamount to political blackmail and a theme which has been objected to conscientiously by the coalition partner of the UPFA the JVP which has curiously failed to be an eye opener for the rest of the Administration which prefers the more cloak and dagger approach toward resolving Sri Lanka's immediate woes relative to the terrorist outfit the LTTE and appears to believe that palavering to them and dancing to their tunes might be a better alternative to confrontation! not necessarily militarily although the option should remain considering the latest hoopla and hype by LTTE of their preparedness to resume attrocities as indicated in their foolhardy rhetoric!.
It also has to be emphasized unequivocally that the LTTE have neither a legitimate right to their demands nor existence in their present terrorist image nor any cause for world recognition other than being labelled, internationally condemned terrorist unrelenting for past sins and unwilling to give up their terrorist means and refusing to merge into mainstream Sri Lankan society yet expect concessions from a Nation and the International Community which they have continued to defy as well as attempting to destroy Sovereign Sri Lanka albeit with no success! All this with hardly a positive response towards the realities involved from the present Administration which continues to sway as the veritable palm tree in the wind of prevarication yet not without reason as the powerful international lobby from some of the superpowers particularly the US is naturally imposing!
While It has been brought to world attention that there is a blatant double standard by certain donors with particular reference to Japan and even Norway who have pledged their support towards the rebuilding of the Sri Lankan Nation, after the long drawn devastations it has been subjected to by the LTTE's internal armed insurrections come circumspect thoughts tend to surface!
The undeniable attitude of the Donors and the clarity of their dialogue confirms suspicions allaying the more discerning minds of the Sri Lankan people as well as many within the global community of the many loose ends in the peace negotiations relative to the the goings on in Sri Lanka that these Donors have measured terrorism with two different yardsticks, one for international terrorism and another of a completely different perspective for Sri Lanka whereas the UN is very clear on how responsible Nations should stem terrorism the world over on a universal basis with no bipartisan diversity, double standard or exception.
To add insult to injury, it has been reported that the US, the EU and Japan, three co-chairs of the Tokyo Donor Conference have expressed their deep concern about the JVP’s criticism of Norway, 'the facilitator who somehow was never able to persuade the LTTE to give up their motley means and objectives to divide the Nation, the realities of which continue to this very day despite the covert rhetoric which comes out of the LTTE Camp that their intentions are for the well being of Sri Lanka which can be attributed to being a blatant lie or extremely hollow rhetoric which is a recognized hallmark of their modus operandi!
Given the fact that the Peace Process was put on the back burner with
the withdrawal of the LTTE from the discussions on the basis of their
ill concieved ISGA proposal being rejected by the Legislators of the Nation
in collaboration with its majority populace as well as much international
support and also considering the merits of the Peace in Sri Lanka which
has remained uninterrupted for close to 3 years now, the LTTE surely have
to be concerned about their direction which suggests none other one of
insecurity despite their rhetoric of military capability sufficient to
overrun the Sri lankan Defenses and professed fire power which carries
a ring of exaggeration to which the best alternative in their own interests
would seem a merger into mainframe Sri Lankan Society rather than utter
meaningless threats against the Nation or show a bravado towards their
capabilities which are a remarkable deception and a complete alienation
from the truth as the ground on which they presently stand on continues
to weaken and crumble as a divided and spent force where the writings
indelibly on the wall.
Since the signing of the Peace Agreement and the Ceasefire the questionable
track record of the LTTE complete with statistics of an abhorrent nature
points towards killing of anti- LTTE Tamils, attacks on Muslim civilians,
suicide bombings in Colombo and the continuous recruitment of child soldiers
in violation of all norms are indicative of the manner in which the LTTE
should realistically measure up to the donors' expectations with regards
to their entitlements. It is apathetic that the EU, Norway and Japan had
been following a policy of appeasing and tolerating the LTTE in Sri Lanka
and as well as in their territories. In the circumstances, it is inconceivable
how the main 'Donor Nations' with the expection of the JVP, the coalition
partner of the UPFA Administration are bold enought to intimidate the
Sri Lankan people to silently agree to the terrorist LTTE’s blueprint
presented in the form of their Interim Self Governing Authority the ISGA.
Considering Norway's role viz a viz the LTTE as an added item of detriment for the lack of a better alternative, Sri Lanka continues to persist in showing faith in the likes of Norway and Eric Solheim perhaps even Chris Patton of the European Union who might decide to turn up again having exited his last stint in Sri Lanka in dubious repute? and any other shallow representation of the so called international intermediary efforts towards Sri Lankan Peace which seems more like a shot in the dark rather than being objective towards targetting the succesful eventuality with a positive resolve.
Eric Solheim's latest visit to Sri lanka to 'retrieve and restore' the
Peace Process has ended with no progress in the right direction and he
has merely repeated what he always says in his dialogue of monotony which
is more conciliatary towards the existence of the LTTE rather than condemning
them to which the LTTE curiously have hardly batted an eyelid. The entire
Solheim invitation has been a waste of the taxpayer's money at best.A
strange sequel that Norway's representative despite Norway's pledges towards
impartiality as an intermediary and having once brazenly encouraged the
terrorism of the LTTE subtlely but visibly are now backhanded by the evil
force they once championed and surely poetic justice towards the realities
involved!
Somewhat surprisingly, the donor community though perfectly entitled to
insist that the LTTE must abide by commitments towards maintaining the
cease fire and desist from fortifying their resources including under-age
recruitment, arms build up, and continuing their quest for secession,
seems to switch their stance as often as it pleases them. For the record,
The Tokyo Conference Declaration not affiliated to the Donors has provided
the space for such an insistence and is quoted here. " We consider
it appalling that the Donor countries have chosen to criticise the democratic
stand taken by the JVP while covertly extending a blind eye to the LTTE’s
continuing intransigence and terrorism. We like to draw the attention
of the Donor nations to the comments made by International and Indian
security experts about the very serious threat posed by the LTTE to the
stability of the South Asian region. Right thinking Tamils who are against
Tamil terrorism too have publicly said that the LTTE is not the sole representative
of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. The Donors should not expect the true representatives
of the Sri Lankan people to submit pusillanimously to terrorist LTTE’s
demands without examining the long-term repercussions to the Sri Lankan
nation and the South Asian region. Sri Lanka needs a meaningful peace
with justice to all its citizens and not peace at any cost. These Donor
Nations need to realise that they cannot attract respect and honour whilst
they continue to hold a poor country like Sri Lanka to appease illicit,
racist and fascist demands of a world condemned group of terrorists, the
LTTE." end quote.
Despite the dependency of Sri Lanka on Donor Aid there can be no compromising
of the cardinal and unalienable tenets of her Sovereignity in bending
to the present demands of the Donors who have absolutely no right to barter
with the Sri Lankan Authorities towards conditionally honoring their pledges
while a miserable and apathetic group of internationally condemned terrorists
continue to exist and dictate terms based on the singlemost reality that
they are tolerated and permitted to continue their devious means!
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