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How many more LTTE carnage for action to be taken?Shenali Waduge
The Opposition Leader to the heads of NGOs must all be busy preparing their dossiers to prove that the Government is at fault for discontinuing the "cease fire agreement", carrying out military onslaughts & not making any efforts to resume peace negotiations. Then the foreign emissaries will follow suit with their diplomatic statements asking "both sides to protect civilians". Obviously little or no attention gets paid to stark facts that reveal that killings have taken place very much while the cease fire was in operation, while foreign monitoring missions were stationed in Sri Lanka & which even claimed the life of Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister. Peace negotiations held proved little of LTTE sincerity in so far as negotiations for any settlement were concerned. All past negotiations have yielded nothing but an opportunity for the LTTE to stock arms, ammunition, travel internationally & garner funds for the LTTE. Jane's intelligence reveals LTTE can still generate $300million dollars annually - we can wonder how. Thus, all those who cry foul over the loss of civilian life hardly put the blame with the LTTE & their atrocities but prefer instead to pin the blame upon the Government because it is not willing to give a freehand to the LTTE. The US's war against terror meant that they could land on Iraq & indulge in an effort to nullify terrorism & liberate the Iraqi people. Well, the mighty US army has failed in over 8 years of Iraqi rule to bring even a semblance of normalcy to Iraq. However, the East of Sri Lanka has been liberated of LTTE rule & elections have been held months after that very liberation & a former LTTE"er placed as its Chief Minister possibly wondering now why he was cooped up in the Wanni jungles all this while. This does not make the Sri Lanka army mightier than the US army but it goes to show what definite resolve at what needs to be done can do. Yet, it is apparent that there are international & local forces
that wish to vindicate the LTTE internationally & locally for what
they truly are. Where were the NGOs when the current bombs left over
25 dead? Were they not quick to activate themselves echoing LTTE's claim
that the army had targeted a civilian bus up North? Why the hypocrisy
of silence in this instance. Many of the NGOs were working overtime
in canvassing Sri Lanka's omission from re-election to the the Human
Rights Council perhaps they may care to comment on why the US has even
walked out of the very Council as observers citing that the Council
cared only to indulge in Israel bashing? Essentially, vindicating the
LTTE is not going to stop their killing spree. But, it does give them
a semblance of respectability internationally & that is what is
presently happening. None of the negotiations of peace talks held led to any period of lull where killings were concerned & it begs to question of those who wish to continue the peace mantra....a simple WHY & WHAT FOR & FOR WHOSE BENEFIT....are these peace negotiations? Either way civilians have perished - even during peace talks. Money talks they say & we can well understand how far money talks...Mrs.Clinton went so far as to say the LTTE should be considered different to other terrorists after accepting LTTE funds for her campaign....luckily a few campaigners brought to light her faux pas & she returned the money. Similarly, we have the BBC Sinhala service interviewing LTTE leaders & practically whitewashing them by providing a platform to claim to the Sinhala listeners' through BBC taxpayers money that the LTTE have no knowledge of LTTE killings in the South". Possibly the LTTE are suffering from memory loss or may not remember the lists of assassinations & killings they have indulged in over 25 years. For over 25 years we have crusaded through defining who the LTTE are - for foreign nations like the US, UK, Canada, EU, India the LTTE are conveniently listed as terrorists but for any real action to be taken against them one of their citizens would have to get affected. Killings taking place in Sri Lanka only lead to "we call upon both sides to enter the negotiating table...respect civilian life" which are the oft quoted statements by diplomats & the UN. That these statements mean nothing to the LTTE is clear when they decided to eliminate Rajiv Gandhi on Indian soil using a high profile team comprising LTTE & Indians. Did the world do anything but show dismay & of course those infamous statements? Did these "dismays" affect Prabakaran & the LTTE in any way at all? So if Rajiv's killing did not manifest in any action upon the LTTE, we can well assume that the LTTE is not bothered what the world thinks of its killing in the present or future context. From how the international community functions it stands to reason that the LTTE can get away with any carnage. We see suddenly that the LTTE of late is resorting to carry out a series of blasts mostly in the suburbs of Colombo - possibly it is to create a backlash like the 1983. The public for its part must be commended for despite a surge in killings of innocent lives they have not given what the LTTE wants - a backlash of the 1983 type but then we should also remember that though the public were blamed for this in 83 it was the present Opposition & not the public that spearheaded the riots. Much needs to be said in the conduct of all political parties in Sri Lanka. We lack a united front in the context of the war - it is apparent that Sri Lanka's common enemy has still to be designated. The political parties of Sri Lanka must realize that the country needs to firstly find a solution to the LTTE - it is our common enemy. When political parties are divided & their statements controversial it makes great opportunity for forces working with that enemy to showcase how weak Sri Lanka is in controlling the affairs of its country. Breaking, pots, going to the pola, protesting against the rising costs of living can all be secondary efforts but it is most necessary at this juncture to have the political parties to come together in a stand that they will have a unified agenda where it comes to the LTTE...skirmishes, debates etc on all other topics can continue within the stage of the Parliament but where the LTTE is concerned the country should stand as one. As a country we have suffered over 25 years of misery - deaths of innocent people, the armed forces treated as cannon-fodder, destruction to buildings & property...but the resilience of the people stands out as commendable features. A country that has gone through so much can but ask what karmic force necessitates us to experience continued deaths & destruction....a man whose megalomania is at the center stage of the country's crisis seems to prefer to take us into his old age to see a reality of an erstwhile dream for an Eelam that has not only lost his men but scores of innocent others....a hallucination that is unlikely to occur in this generation but at what cost is it for the country & its people? How long does the world wish to wait until they realize the inevitable
& put the blame where it should lie - with the LTTE & offer
them the option of giving up their struggle & arms to enter what
the West loves to term as the democratic framework of things.
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