CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Defeat or prepared be a victim of terrorism

S. Akurugoda

India appears to be interested in bringing 'peace' to Sri Lanka once again. The recent entertainment of the opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, a proven failure who cannot even keep his own United National Party 'united', and the subsequent statements said to have been made by the Indian PM and Mrs Sonia Gandhi insisting a solution based on, a non-existent, Indo-Lanka pact and the so-called Tokyo declaration can be seen as latest development in this direction.

Although the reference to extremists in their statements have not been named, judging by the pro-LTTE anti-patriotic approach of the UNP under its present leadership, it is hard to believe that the parties formed on racial basis and are looking after the interests of their communities such as TNA, SLMC, CWC and other institutions looking after the terrorist outfit are coming under their categorisation. Whoever believes that any lasting solution is possible by undermining the interest of the patriotic forces, who are fighting against terrorism and to safeguard the rights of all communities and the 65% of the Sinhalayas who gave a mandate to implement Mahinda Chintanaya, will be a huge political miscalculation.

As per media reports, the Indian Foreign Secretary Shyan Saran has conveyed to the Government of Sri Lanka, on behalf of the Government of India, that India is ready to provide its expertise in constitutional matters, an offer that has been made in the past too, and that devolution roughly approximating India's arrangements would perhaps be the most feasible or desirable solution.

Soon after the above development, the cry for devolution as per the Indian model, more autonomy, National Government etc started being heard from all directions once again and the so-called peace lobbying groups (or better called terror-mongers) are back in their business by fabricating various theories, asking the government and the people of Sri Lanka to "Devolve or die".

Many who advocate devolving power as per the Indian expertise have forgotten the fact that India has already volunteered to provide its constitutional expertise in 1987 and the Velupillai Prabhakaran had categorically rejected anything less than a separate state of Ealam. Although the government of Sri Lanka fulfilled its commitments under the Indo- Lanka Agreement signed in 1987, by establishing provincial councils and unlawfully keeping the Northern and Eastern Provinces merger, India as the other signatory to the agreement has had failed to fulfil its commitment. The LTTE's surrender of weapons under the Indo-Lanka Agreement was "in reality a gigantic farce'' and hence finding solution under such a discarded agreement is a waste of time. Several thousand lives and properties worth millions were lost when implementing the Indian expertise constitutional changes and both the provincial councils and IPKF have failed to solve the so-called legitimate aspiration of the sole representative of the Tamil people. The provincial councils, the brain child of the Indian constitutional expertise, remain as a white elephant to the Sri Lankan people.
When India was attacked by terrorists recently, India vowed to defeat terrorism. India is not ready to devolve maximum power or to use its constitutional expertise to solve the Kashmir issue. If the Indian model has failed to defeat terrorism in India, can we expect the model to work in Sri Lanka?
Both Rajiv Gandhi and President Premadasa advocated 'peace' as the only alternative and extended their hands to the terrorist outfit to reach 'peace' but, at the end, both Rajiv Gandhi and President Premadasa were made to 'rest in peace' by suicide bombers of the LTTE as a gesture for their peace effort, trust and support.

Chandrika Kumarathunga , even after escaped from death, presented a devolution package quite adamantly, internationalized the issue by 'inviting' the LTTE's alley Norway to facilitate the terror campaign, attempted to give whatever she thought will satisfy the terrorist group, until she retired.

The life of Gamini Dissanayake, who was instrumental when devolving power via Indo-Lanka agreement, was also taken by a suicide bomber. The LTTE managed to eliminate all the prospective leaders of the UNP and the party is left to be led by a person of their choice.

The LTTE also managed to eliminate almost all prominent opponents of the ethnic Tamils, commencing from Alfred Duraiappah up to Laxman Kadirgamar. The terrorist outfit attempted to kill Minister Davananda and the latest victim is his press secretary. The LTTE killing spree is continuing daily with the necessary shield coverage from 'terror mongers' operating from the South. The LTTE has a master killing plan and they will stick onto it either by hook or crook.

Even after more than two and half year of struggling with terrorism, it appears Sri Lanka has failed to understand the true colour of the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit and its leader. The majority of our politicians live in political wilderness, not knowing what to do or where to go next. After admitting that there is an ethnic problem, instead of a terrorist problem, to be solved and making declarations in Oslo and in Tokyo without a proper mandate from the people, some of our politicians are going on pity political pilgrimage seeking help from those who are either not interested at all or who are interested because of their sinister motives.

As Dr. Peter Chalk (an analyst from the US specializing in international terrorism and emerging threats) who delivered a talk on the Terrorism in Sri Lanka at the Rotunda Hall of the Monash University in Melbourne few years ago revealed that the peace in Sri Lanka is only a dream as long as Prabhakaran lives.

Our leaders, who are not doing the right thing at the right time, are not only risking their own lives, they are putting the lives of thousands of security forces and those of thousands of innocent civilians at risk as well.

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