The International Community and Terrorism in Sri Lanka

By REF UK

As most of us are aware there is an ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka for more than two decades, against a group of Tamil nationals who call themselves as Lanka Tamil Tigers of Elam (LTTE). This civil war has crippled the economy & the people of the developing country several times in the past and even in the present.

In the past decade we see a great deal of intermediation & involvement from the international community, asking both the parties involved (i.e. Sri Lankan government and the LTTE) to stop killings and return to negotiations. Hence, the Norwegian truce monitors and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) came in to the picture to mediate for peace talks. I do agree that it's indeed a good thing but "have they been able to fulfill the task they are assigned to do?" is what I am concerned about here. The primary scope of these organisations is mainly to mediate on behalf of both parties but not to take decisions on either party’s behalf. United Nations (UN) too got involved in this matter to stop the violence & human right violations from both parties.

When analysing the current situation and the feedback of these international mediators, it's obvious & evident that they have been biased towards the LTTE several times before and they continue to do the same even at present. Not only have they been biased towards LTTE but also have been taking decisions on behalf of both parties. Sri Lanka has a sovereign government, whose political members have been elected by its own people and who could take decisions for the betterment of its own people.

Having accepted that the LTTE is a terrorist organisation, almost all the powers of the world have banned it. The LTTE, who claims to be the representative of Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, kills not only their own Tamils but Sinhalese as well. Hence how could the LTTE be at least a representative of Tamil minority? All the more, the LTTE has been nominated as the most fearful guerilla organisation in the world that launched the most suicide attacks against troops and civilians. Can a terrorist group of this nature be a ruling party or a governing body for any nationals?

In addition the international community keeps on mounting pressure on the Sri Lankan government to cease fire and return to negotiations. Yet they hardly emphasise the same to the LTTE. Also whenever there’s clash between the two parties, they seemed to blame only the government but not the LTTE. They hardly criticise the actions of the LTTE but when it comes to the side of the government, they do not hesitate to do the same in a very harsh way and very publicly.

We live in a time where the whole world is fighting against global terrorism. The LTTE may not pose a global terrorist threat. Yet terrorism is terrorism, be it global or local. Can a terrorist organisation be a governing body of any country? If the answer to this is "YES", then Al-Qaeda should be left alone in Afghanistan to rule its people. The US, UN and British troops should return home to be with their loved ones. If not, the US and the other powers of the world should start peace talks with them in order bring about lasting peace to the world.

If the international community wants to eradicate the global terrorism with its roots from the world, they should do the same with regard to local terrorism. Yet they turn out another face when it comes to the local level of terrorism. This is what I mean as being biased towards "Terrorism". As I mentioned before, terrorism is what it is, and that’s why it’s called such, irrespective of its spread in the world.

In a sad and pathetic situation like this, I think it is better that the Sri Lankan government decide it’s own future for the inmates, without giving heed to the mounting pressures from the international community. If the international community fails to support the government in eliminating the LTTE, which is a terrorist organization, I think it’s the responsibility of the sovereign government of Sri Lanka to stand on their own feet and fight against it, to secure a brighter future for its own people, be it Sinhalese or Tamils.