Who Keeps terrorism alive in Sri Lanka ?

(The devolution of power is to be negotiated with the Tamil people and not with the Terrorists)

By Charles Perera

For almost half a month in January,2007 the services of the SLMM was suspended, due to a workshop conducted by them in Colombo( perhaps in connivance with the terrorists? ). During this period the LTTE terrorists continued their habitual killing of civilians, security personnel , blasting of bombs, and abducting children. Nevertheless, the Sri Lanka army was able to keep in check the activities of the terrorists, and with lot of sacrifice of life and material out mastered the terrorists, recovered most of the land in the East of Sri Lanka which were occupied by them and cleared to a great extent the East, of the terrorist pestilence. This proved to the people of Sri Lanka, and to any neutral foreign observers, if there are any, that left to itself without being interfered by foreign peace mongers the Sri Lanka Government along with its Security forces could weaken terrorism and eventually see the end of it.

Its heartening, that the President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse after his bravado for direct talks with Prabhakarana, has at Vaharai invited the terrorists to lay down their arms and come for peace negotiations. This generous laudable call of the President has been followed by his Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Bogallagama , by his pertinent assertions in India, which has put the Asian giant to shame for its lack of an intelligent understanding of the Sri Lankan terrorist issue. India’s repeated, feeble, monotonous statements falling in line with the Western Community, questions its possible role as an independent leader of Asia.

There are yet other monsters that indirectly encourage the terrorists to continue their terror. They are the countries that make up the International Community along with the UNO , the UN Security Council, Amnesty International parroting in chorus that both sides should begin peace negotiations, as they have nothing more audibly sonorous thing to say, or more intellectual suggestion to make.

The CFA is in tatters and it does not exist as a legal document, but the government the International Community, the SLMM, keep referring to it from time and time as if it has any value, allowing the dying terrorists to accuse the government of the breach of the condition of this almost non existent CFA.

The International Community, the International Organisations and India insist that the Government of Sri Lanka enter into peace negotiations with the terrorists, who very royally keeps aloof. What exactly do these peace mongers want the government to negotiate with the terrorists ? The first question that comes to mind is how can one party negotiate when the other party refuses even to come to the negotiating table ? Whom are they trying to fool and what do they stand to gain from these nonsensical utternaces?
There is a Zen saying,” what is the sound of a one handed clap”, which seems appropriate in this case. It is a dialogue of the deaf. They should wake up to reality , and ask not the government , but the terrorists to lay down arms and come to the negotiating table. India should note this without imitating the West !!

If it is the devolution of power, that has to be negotiated, then the government cannot surely negotiate to devolve power to a band of terrorists who are armed to their teeth ! It is here that the International Community and India and other peace mongers, should use their intelligence, and ask the terrorists to lay down their arms and negotiate peace with the government.

That is the message that the SLMM should take with them to Kilinochchi, without merely asking the terrorists to join the government for negotiations, proposing a foreign country as the venue for negotiations and promising safe transport.

Further more, it is now too late to negotiate with the terrorists for the setting up of their Eelam in the North and East, as the East has been cleared of terrorism, and is already a separate Province of Sri Lanka. We cannot now give back the lands recovered from the terrorists for which many of our soldiers gave their lives.

The devolution proposals by the government are not to please the terrorist, but they are for the Tamil people. The terrorists have a different agenda,
from the ordinary Tamil people of Sri Lanka. You cannot put the terrorists and the Tamil people in the same basket. The devolution of power is to be negotiated with the Tamil people and not with the Terrorists.

Lastly the pro terrorist Tamil diaspora in Canada , Netherland, Australia etc. are dreamers. They live in clover and dream about building an Eelam in keeping with their standard of living overseas. The ordinary Tamil people do not want to live in a fascist state under a group of terrorists, who will steal their freedom to suit a state that would impose a strict Hindu fundamentalist life style.

It is the Tamil diaspora who wants to keep the terrorism alive to build their dream land . But little they know that if the terrorists who have taken up arms to set up an Eelam ever succeed in doing so, it will be an Eelam set up in their own way as Talibans did in Afghanistan. It will be quite different from the Disney Land that the LTTE Tamil Diaspora is wishing for.