Talking to the enemy

by Durand Appuhamy
Courtesy The Island 08-03-2007

The enemy of our nation is the LTTE. Many inter-meddlers in our affairs keep demanding from our government that it talks to this enemy, yet it is this enemy that has walked out of talks many times. These foreigners pretend not to know that the LTTE is averse to negotiations for peace, other than an offer of a separatist Eelam on a plate. The one time "axis of evil" member North Korea (NK) is today talking to the USA. This came about because of the intransigent position taken by the USA, Japan and South Korea that NK should dismantle its nuclear programme for it to have any social and economic benefits from the three neighbours. It took some time for NK to realise the futility of pursuing its nuclear ambitions, given the fact that it has a starving population and a decaying economy. The desperate economic circumstances under the prevailing obstinate insistence of its neighbours have more or less forced NK to sue for talks and the dismantling of its nuclear facilities. The uncompromising stand taken by the three countries have paid off.

In Northern Ireland, the IRA was reduced to a pariah state and shut off from all avenues to raise funds to continue its violent activities and propagate its objective of unification of Ireland. IRA too realised, after nearly three decades, the futility of armed insurrection against resolute and unyielding UK and Irish governments. It is now engaged in talks to attain power sharing as against its endgame of unification with Ireland and has surrendered its arms and ammunition. A terrorist IRA wilted, unable to face the stubborn policies of both UK and Ireland. Vigorous opposition to terrorism has paid off here too.

In Spain Prime Minister Zappaterro is obstinate in his decision that he will not talk to the terrorist ETA until they have renounced in public all forms of violence. His colleagues in the EU dare not tell him to talk to the ETA terrorists ignoring the terrorist violence—a policy they try to ram down the throat of our President. I have no doubt that PM Zappaterro will be proved right and ETA will soon come to him with the tail between their legs.

Syria and Iran, the other two in the axis of evil too are scheduled to attend a security conference on Iraq on the tenth of March. USA has signalled its willingness to participate in this meeting. Under President Bush, USA’s stand on Iraq and Israel is uncompromising. This policy is backed by the mighty US military. Probably Syria and Iran too have come to realise that at some point, if they continue with the current policy of meddling in Iraq, they might have to confront the US military even under a new President. There might not be any winners in such a confrontation, but there will be enormous destruction of lives and property. So talking to the enemy and forestalling an armed confrontation would be considered a better option to pursue. Negotiation with Syria and Iran is unlikely, instead the US is likely to demand that the two countries cease and desist supplying arms and ammunition to the warring factions in Iraq. After all, the US "does not talk to terrorists, it simply puts them out of business". Perhaps ambassador Blake could intervene here and help US to make full use of this rare opportunity to talk to and with Syria and Iran and patch up their quarrels and make Iraq a peaceful place to live. His frequent advice to our government is really relevant in the middle-east.

In the above examples, it is the realisation that armed conflict would take the armed insurrectionists nowhere, that changed the perception of the problem and opened space for dialogue and compromises. Have we got to this level of perception of our conflict in Sri Lanka? No, we have a long way to go.

The immediate topics for any negotiation would be the compulsory recruitment of children and adults and the militarisation of the Wanni, the clandestine importation of lethal weapons and their de-commissioning, the extortion and illegal taxes levied on Tamils and the suicide killers roaming the country stalking their prey to plant claymore mines on their path. In short a full stop to all forms of violence is needed. It is only then other political issues could be taken up for discussion. No way would LTTE accept such an agenda and as the veteran TULF politician Mr. Anandasangaree has said on several occasions, it would be useless to talk to the LTTE. At the moment they know only the language of claymore mines and artillery fire.

So, what strategy has the government to get the peace negotiations on course? The current policy of the government to destroy LTTE’s war assets on land and sea should be supported by the people without reservation. The virility of the LTTE is in the weapons they possess. Their destruction therefore will reduce them to impotency and loss of morale among LTTE cadres. We should laud the efforts of both the air force and the navy on their recent successes in striking the enemy at his most vulnerable points. The army and the STF too have done us proud by defeating the LTTE in the east. They will no doubt pursue the LTTE until it is completely ejected from the east. At this point all arms supplies to the LTTE should be considered as terrorists’ assets and should be captured where possible or destroyed.

A strategy the government has failed to adopt so far is to actively encourage disaffection among the LTTE cadres. There should be a loud and clear publicity campaign in the North, the East and the Wanni to wean away from the LTTE, the young, the old and the unwilling cadres among the LTTE. The invitation to them to return to normal civilian lives should carry convincing offers of alternative livelihood or substantial help to establish such alternative lives. As the LTTE is on the run in the East, this is the opportune time to try this well establish method of reducing the manpower of the LTTE.

It is most likely that the LTTE would have enforced news blackout of all their recent defeats among its cadres in the Wanni. It is therefore incumbent on the government to penetrate this news blackout and let the ordinary LTTE foot soldiers aware of the many recent defeats and the capture and destruction of the many boats, trawlers and ships loaded with LTTE weapons. This information will have a shattering effect on their morale and help them to desert the LTTE at the first opportunity. This is the most opportune time to institute the psych-ops on the LTTE.

Another strategy is the speedy rehabilitation of the internally displaced people (IDP) in the East. If this is done properly and humanely then these people would soon realise that their security and destiny are tied up not with the LTTE but with the rest of the population. They would see for themselves the rapacity and oppression visited on them by the LTTE while they were enslaved by them. Their loyalty to the LTTE will wither away to be replaced by the desire to lead lives free from harassment and the distress of loosing their children to war. While the physical rehabilitation of the people in houses and towns with proper infra structure facilities is taking place, the government should also take the necessary steps to instill in these people the desire for living under rule of law and democratic norms. Other armed groups should not be allowed to enforce their might on these hapless people.

Once Thoppigala has been cleared and IDPs have been rehabilitated, a full census of the East should immediately follow suit. The Electoral Register should be updated and local elections should be held without undue delay. The elected candidates should then be entrusted with the wherewithal to rebuild their towns and villages. Some fear that elections at this stage would bring to power the erstwhile LTTE acolytes. This is unlikely as the people would not have so soon forgotten all the troubles and oppression they endured under the LTTE regime not so long ago. They certainly would not like to go back to that situation again. The parents who risked their lives and that of their families, by trekking through swamps and thick jungle, to distance themselves from the LTTE to protect their young children from conscription, would not want to get into that insecure situation again. Nor would they want to be subject to arbitrary taxes and extortions again with forced labour thrown in as per the edicts of the LTTE. In short it is time to trust these people and help them to return to normalcy and freedom.

When the LTTE is sufficiently debilitated, it is possible that there might be regime change within the LTTE itself. That would be the time to talk to the LTTE on the larger issue of a political settlement. Until then, we need to persuade our international friends, some of them covert supporters of the LTTE, to either actually support us to fight terrorism or leave us alone to fight LTTE’s terrorism in the same manner as they fight their terrorists both in their country and abroad. Now that Pirapaharan has had a direct shot at Robert O’ Blake and his diplomat colleagues, I hope the next time he gets the urge to slate our government, he will instead also tell Pirapaharan, "stop shooting, start talking".