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Another massive public relation
blunder by the GOSL, which does not seem to have a clear understanding
of its current action....?
Jaliya Wickremarachchi
(CSLAT)
The motives of this action may have been genuine in preventing
the potential LTTE violence in Colombo, by rounding off the suspected
Tamil terrorists and sending them back to their homes in the north.
However, it is the wrong thing to do by any government, especially the
GOSL, which is already black-marked for its alleged human right violations,
etc. Not to mention the feelings of the moderate Tamils who have nothing
to do with the LTTE. Consider the following:
1. There seems to be an outrage already in Sri Lanka by the Tamils,
Sinhalese and Muslims alike against this very sensitive move by the
GOSL. Even the hardliner JVP seems to be against it..?
2. The GOSL must be extremely careful not to create another situation
similar to " Black July of 1983" , when the goodwill between
the Sinhalese and the Tamils deteriorated badly, turning most of the
Tamils to side with the LTTE even unwillingly, creating a golden opportunity
for Prabhakaran to exploit the ethnic divide.
3. The same situation can arise again, pushing the moderate Tamils to
the hands of the LTTE. The results, unfortunately will be very damaging
to the GOSL which is already under severe pressure by the International
community, and by the human-rights do-gooders, NGOs, etc.. for alleged
human rights violations.
4. There is no doubt that the LTTE will capitalize on this issue by
campaign against the GOSL/Armed Forces and the Sinhalese in general,
to show that the Tamils in Sri Lanka are being discriminated, and they
have been right in their demand for a separate state for Tamils.
5. Soon we will be bombarded with words such as "Ethnic Cleansing"
and "Genocide", etc., in the pro-LTTE media all over the world,
comparing Sri Lanka to places like Balkans, Darfur and even Rwanda....
As much as I support any government that fights terrorism, I am afraid
this move by the GOSL is totally inappropriate and will eventually lose
the support from the world community, no matter how much they are against
terrorism. This is only going to help the LTTE to gain support from
the Tamil population around the world, even the Tamils who do not support
the LTTE violence. These actions will never win the hearts and minds
of the Tamil population who wants to live in peace with the rest.
In my opinion, the biggest danger of this move by the GOSL is, it will
confirm the perception that there is a Tamil Homeland already exists
in the North / East , and that is why the GOSL is sending them back
to where they belong. In other words, GOSL is playing exactly into the
LTTE hands.... Now they can easily use these facts to back their claim
that the North East of Sri Lanka is the Tamil Homeland, and this latest
government action confirms their claim. It is going to be tough to argue
otherwise.
Fighting terrorism must be the priority of the government, yet It is
hard to understand why GOSL is not willing to go all out by destroying
the LTTE military capability, including bombing the hell out of the
LTTE HQ in Wanni. It is not clear why President Rajapakse and his Military
advisers are not willing to take such risks and finish off the LTTE
for once and all..? The world will not be outraged by such actions..
at least not the way they would be by rounding off and deporting the
citizens of the country to Tamil area controlled by the terrorists..
The Military and political experts in the present government should
never underestimate an enemy like the LTTE, and they should never ever
leave any room for the pro-LTTE forces to take advantage of the government
blunders such as this.
Unfortunately, this type of action will only confirm the world that
Sri Lanka is indeed a racially divided country, and the LTTE may be
correct in their demand for a separate state for the Tamils.
The government should think twice, before it undertakes such disastrous
actions which will further jeopardize the lives of many people who are
already suffering from the evil of terrorism, corruptions and lawlessness...
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