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Will the President Mahinda Rajapakse, be
any different or fall into the same traps the Previous leader had
setup, and end up like one of them ?
(MahindaRajapakse has strengthened
former traps, and set up some of his own.
And he is caught in all of them )
By Charles Perera
Mahinda Rajapakse came as President at a time when the country was
in need of a strong leader, a man of the people to lead the nation battered
by terrorism, political uncertainty, and bitter rivalries for positions
of political leadership. He was the man of the people s choice, though
a troubled people hemmed between fear and doubt were unable to decide
on giving him a massive supportive vote, as the most suitable Presidential
candidate. Nevertheless, people did not wait long to accept Mr. Mahinda
Rajapakse and acclaim him as a leader on whom they could safely place
their confidence to take them through the labyrinth of the present into
a hopeful future.
The election of Mahinda Rajapakse as President was turning a page from
the a shameless period of appeasing the terrorists by Ranil Wickramasinghe
and his UNF government. The closing of the Mavil Aru water sluice depriving
the farmers of water and the deploying the army for the first time to
open fire against terrorists and force open the sluice gates , and retaliatory
military attacks against the terrorists after the attempted assassination
ofthe Army Commander, were the rays of light that gave pride to a nation
that had been brought to their knees by an incapable leadership of cowardly
Ranil Wickramasinghe.
Many, valiant men and women have given their lives, or left with indelible
marks of their heroic efforts, in rendering service to their motherland.
The members of the security forces have given their lives in numbers,
and to make their sacrifice meaningful we have to be determined, not
to negotiate peace with the terrorists that have caused so much of damage
to this nation, but to hunt the last of them, and rid terrorism from
Sri Lanka. This is neither a Sinhala supremacist view , nor a racial
sectarian view, but a view with a desire for a united peaceful existence
of a multi cultural, multi religious nation of Sri Lankans, as terrorism
is destructive of all human values.
But can we expect the President Mahinda Rajapakse elected with so much
of hope, not to deviate from the goals he set at the out set, and maintain
the course he is to take without falling into the trap of appeasement
of the International Community.
What we had observed with consternation in the past was, that the Governments
of Sri Lanka were walking blindly into traps that they had themselves
placed. JR Jayawardhana, was the first, perhaps unwittingly, to set
a trap hoping to fight terrorism, asking for Indian intervention by
signing an agreement merging the North East. Instead of solving the
problem he got entrapped in it, and R Premadasa thereafter.
Then Mr. Premadasa thought he found a way out of it by fostering the
terrorists, by even giving them arms and ammunitions, sacrificing Kobbekaduwa
into the bargain . But instead of getting released from the terrorist
grip, he got blown up.
Then it was the turn of the President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who knew
Prabhakaran, perhaps personally, having met him in India along with
her husband. She did not hesitate to extend her hand of friendship to
the terrorists by setting aside the military solution to the problem,
agreeing to a political solution inviting the terrorist for a negotiated
peace settlement. But, the terrorists instead of taking her extended
arm in friendship, sent a suicide bomb and blinded her in one eye.
The International Community, who cares little for lives of coloured
political leaders in myriad small Islands like ours, and less for their
citizens, accepted the notion of negotiated settlements with terrorists,
and ever since then they have learnt to swear by the call for, both
sides should negotiate for a peace settlement, every time the terrorists
setup a claymore bomb, a suicide bomb or cause terror in what ever way
possible, and the government takes retaliatory action against the terrorists.
The next trap is yet another set by Chandrika Kumaratunga. It was the
request made by her to Eric Solheim of Norway to be the mediator between
the government and the terrorists for peace negotiations. For how long
we are going to be in that trap is any body’s guess. Now even with
the firm knowledge that the Norwegians are working hand in hand with
the LTTE terrorist, we are unable to get rid of them as the International
Community has accepted Norwegians as the official mediator. SLMM led
by the Norwegians has become non existent, but yet a meaningless dung
heap, that does not allow us to see the light beyond the tunnel. Even
if the members of it may have sexual relations with the terrorists and
prove their connivance with the them, the government cannot get rid
of them as the government does not want to displease the International
Community.
The next trap was the trap set by the treacherous Ranil Wickramasinghe.
He signed a CFA with Prabhakaran in collaboration with the Norwegians,
behind the back of his own government, the President, and without consulting
the Parliament. That is how we are even to day caught in that trap set
by Ranil. That invalid document serves no purpose. Many soldiers, a
most valued Minister of Foreign Affairs, Several high ranking Officials
of the Security forces were assassinated because of this document which
gave the terrorists a free hand, and kept the security forces bound
to respect it.
And it is a most in valuable document in the eyes of the International
Community, from which the Sri Lanka government dare not withdraw for
fear of courting their displeasure..
Rajapakse had the occasion to strive out of these traps that keep us
prisoners, when he went to address the UN Assembly. But instead of trying
to find means to release ourselves from these notorious traps of our
own making, he got us deeply entrenched in them. He gave them added
significance making those traps we are in, more strong and inescapable,
by meeting the Norwegian Prime Minister and signing agreements for closer
ties with Norway. He legalised the CFA by swearing his commitment to
it. He reiterated his dependence on peace negotiations, and cried loud
and clear that he will negotiate with Prabhakaran. Prabhakaran s answer
to his call was the gift of a suicide bomb, to kill his brother Gotabhaya.
Mahind Rajapakse out did others by setting his own traps, intricately
encapsulating himself within them. He thereby gave further opportunity
for the International Community to hold us down with more firmer hands.
One such trap is the MoU signed with the UNP. That is a MoU, that serves
no purpose, other than again pleasing the International Community who
had shown irritation towards Rajapakses honey mooning with the Marxist
Party- as the International Community and the their Agent media called
the JVP, and to facilitate the non-starter peace negotiations with the
terrorists, to show proof of a Southern political consensus.
What are the benefits that we will have with the UNP being along side
the government. The UNP is the most un-progressive, anti peoples movement
in Sri Lanka ever since the Independence. What can UNP now contribute
being along side the Government. There is absolutely nothing positive
in the SLFP-UNP alliance, accept to show the Iinternational Community,
that we are united in the south. That will help the International Community
to tighten their noose more closely around our necks , calling us to
negotiate peace with the terrorists, in collaboration with the UNP.
It appears, that it is the UNP that calls the tunes now for SLFP to
dance.
The worst trap Mahinda Rajapakse has setup, and in which he is badly
caught, is the All Party Conference for Devolution of Power. It was
a non-starter from the very beginning. The documents it prepared have
leaked out, and instead of one report, there are four reports and it
has turned out to be a really messy trap.
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