IN THIS PERILOUS HOUR
PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSE MUST ACT AS STATESMAN

By Shyamon Jayasinghe, Australia

Now, it is serious. Tamil Tiger terrorists have demonstrated an air attack capability that makes it imperative to rethink our perspectives of defence altogether. A huge old assumption is gone, namely that we monopolise the air and that, therefore, we have the ultimate instrument to rein in the terror that has been unleashed on our land. It is the Sri Lankan parallel of a non-nuclear country emerging as a nuclear power.

It doesn’t help trying to pretend anything else. President Rajapakse will no doubt be advised otherwise by sycophants and opportunity -seekers that hang around him. It is a fact of political life that underlings will tell their boss what he wants to hear. This may be why our President assured that any future attacks will not be permitted. When the next attack place it will be another “surprise” and a new set of excuses will be trotted out leading to another assurance by the President and so on until the irrevocable tragedy occurs.

Not to recognise the problem is an unpardonable blunder. One Lankan newspaper described the incident in bold headlines as a “failed raid”. On the other hand, India’s Hindu newspaper announced the event as constituting “a new perilous dimension”. The bold and daring raid may have not have hit its assigned target namely the MIGs. The fact that the LTTE was able to make an air attack without any external help and that they were the first terrorist group in the world to have done such a thing speaks a great deal for their focused passion and ingenuity. It was a home-modified light aircraft locally adapted to carry electronic bombs.

The dramatic foray uncovers the poverty of our defence preparedness. The Hindu added, “The fact that an aircraft or two could take off from the jungles of Vanni in the North, travel 400 kilometres, drop bombs on the SLAF main base and, after being in the air for at least two hours, return unchallenged to the so-called Tiger Air Force base is disturbing to say the least”, the Hindu added.

While leaving it to the investigators to dig out the details, we would like to remind the government that a few things must be done:

Firstly, government must make a realistic assessment of the enemy and of our defence capability to meet it. The stories of success so far have had their fanciful elements building euphoria among government leaders that prompted them to take the situation lightly. Although success cannot be denied, the precise extent is unknown due to the presence of censorship and control of media by government.

Secondly, the President must transform himself from politician to statesman and thereby give confidence to other parties that he can lead the nation above petty political strife. The key target group here is the major opposition party-the United National Party- that commands an electoral strength of over 45 per cent. Unfortunately, President Rajapakse is still bogged down in a role as a petty political leader trying to survive by manipulating and seducing other party supporters. Violating the MOU that he had signed with the Leader of the Opposition was a case of serious misdirection on his part.

Thirdly, government must sustain the goodwill of India and global powers because a conflict of this measure and magnitude requires global backing; at least not global support for the enemy. A devolution proposal must be prepared and submitted. The procrastination and failure in doing do so even after 14 months, is making our neighbour and the global powers lukewarm about what is taking place in Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapakse must show statesman-like leadership in this regard, too.

Finally, the government must build a strong internal administration that is efficient and free of corruption. A weak government cannot beat the enemy. Good governance will of course give good economic management. When it is reported that the CEB is loosing 50 million rupees daily one could get a glimpse of what is now going on. “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold”- a great poet said.