CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS





 .
 .

 .
 .
.
 

In his article in Daily Mirror, Jehan Perera does not use the word “terrorists”, to describe LTTE, in writing about the ethnic problem of Sri Lanka.

By Charles Perera

I have heard that Mr.Jehan Perera, is a pro-LTTE terrorist, NGO, probably paid by them. His aim, is said to be to give respectability to this group of blood thirsty maniacs of terrorists calling themselves the LTTE, so that they will be recognised by the International Community as freedom fighters, and not the pariahs of the civilised world, as all terrorists are whether in Sri Lanka or Timbuctoo. It may or may not be so. But I read his article, Bipartisan leadership is needed in this time of Peril, appearing on the Daily Mirror of the 8 August,2006, very carefully to see whether what I had heard about him, has any truth.

The first paragraph is a bit disappointing, in that he questions why this war over water, as according to what he had been taught, life is more precious than water. He probably did not understand that, water is life and closing the sluice gates of the lake depriving 15000 farmers water for their daily use and irrigate their fields, was a “ murderous act” for which the perpetrators should be given the capital punishment.

He may not have read, that for the abduction of a Israel Soldier, which may also be a small incident, like the closing of the sluice gate by the terrorists, made the populated Southern Beirut a heap of rubble, and wiped out the inhabitants of Lebanese villages, made thousands homeless, and caused an exodus of foreign residents.

Jehan Perera asks, what caused this war over water ? And it is better he finds the answer in this extract from the Island Editorial of the 8th instant. “…..There is a world of difference between action and reaction. The on-going battle at Mavilaru is the outcome of the LTTE blockade, which warranted reaction from the government duty bound to defend the citizenry. It is not only the monitors who have failed to see that difference. Even the UNP has sought to tar the LTTE and the government with the same brush.”

It appeared strange, that in this article Jehan Perera, has not, even once used the word “terrorist”, it may not be a clue to his sympathy with the terrorist group, but nevertheless it is a significant omission. He seems to blame the government for putting the burden of finding a solution to the ethnic problem to an All Party Conference and a Committee of Experts, instead of taking the responsibility to addressing itself, to the question. That does not appear to be an argument that holds water, as setting up an All Party Conference and a Committee of Experts by itself shows, that the government has taken action in the correct direction to find a permanent solution to the problem.

But Mr.Jehan Perera’s reason for disapproval of this modus operandi is, that as G.L.Pieris in his great wisdom had said, the 25 odd parties sitting as equals round a table with some of them having very small number of voters, while others have millions, have different points of view, but are equal in voice power. But, Jehan Perera seems to disagree that besides the numbers and the size of vote banks, the APC and the CE are a democratic means, a sort of direct consultation of the people, to find a solution to the ethnic problem.

Jehan Perera’s problem, being in concord with G.L.Pieris is, that there is a political vacuum, as the present governments lacks a political leadership, hence it puts the responsibility of finding solutions for the ethnic problem to the APC and the CE. He perhaps bemoans, Ranil, who took decisions secretively without even consulting the Parliament, let alone the then President, and signed a CFA full of loopholes.

Jehan Perera points out as the root cause of the problem, the nature of the government’s leadership and its coalition. He says, though not in the same words, that Rajapakse is not a man to take decisions, formerly he hid behind the “sari pota” of , Chandrika Kumaratunga, who was able to take controversial decisions, even in the face of opposition by nationalists in the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities, thus, Rajapakse was able to avoid“….taking on controversial positions.”

In the concluding paragraphs, he says that there are two choices open to the President Rajapakse, that is either to woo the UNP Parliamentarians, to join the government to shore up the strength of the government, or enter into a memorandum of understanding with Ranil Wickramasinghe, as the JVP is a backward party, and joining up with them would be a vain and a costly experience to the President in the long run.

Of course before coming to this conclusion, earlier on in the article , Jehan Perera accused the LTTE, that the present imbroglio was brought on themselves through their own fault, “……….The LTTE blocked the Tamil people of the north and east from voting at the Presidential election of 2005. They prevented Ranil Wickremesinghe, the candidate who pledged to honour the Ceasefire Agreement and the peace process from winning. They enabled Mahinda Rajapaksa, the candidate whose nationalist coalition denounced the Ceasefire Agreement and the peace process to win. Now we are reaping the bitter harvest, sooner than we thought………”

Reading his article one begins to feel that what one had heard about Jehan Perera is, perhaps not incorrect.



BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER

Copyright © 1997-2004 www.lankaweb.Com Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reproduction In Whole Or In Part Without Express Permission is Prohibited.