CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

The Art of Negotiation

Janaka Yagirala

Our country has no shortage of pundits with sky high (but often bogus) credentials advising to pursue a negotiated settlement with the LTTE. These pundits are motivated by nothing more than NGO and diaspora blood money. They are easy to identify from their catchphrases which include, “Sri Lanka is fighting an unwinnable war”, “the only path to peace is through a negotiated settlement”, “the LTTE can never be defeated militarily”, “the economy cannot prosper without peace”, “peace cannot be achieved within a unitary state” etc.

Our gullible politicians fell for these pundits time and time again. A negotiated settlement was pursued in 1985 in Timphu. It was ended by the LTTE after taking time to regroup with devastating consequences. Peace talks were again pursued in 1990, as usual the LTTE ended it after a short holiday with their hallmark killing of 113 unarmed policemen in Galamuna (Kalmunai) who had surrendered.

By the time the Queen of Peace (Thieves) came to power in 1994, the SL forces had cleared the east. Her peace process gave the LTTE vital breathing space which they took maximum advantage of by re-infiltrating back into the east. Finally came the agreement of capitulation, the Eunach’s CFA in 2001. The euphoric atmosphere at the time gave the pundits ample opportunities to tour the world and the LTTE trash free helicopter rides both at our taxpayer’s expense.

The LTTE had always been inflated by the pundits, Fidel Castro took 6 years to win the Cuban revolution (1953-59), the LTTE even after 30 years could not go beyond the jungles and often relied on peace processes and foreign intervention (like the Parippu invasion) to expand. We can thank the pundits for inflating the LTTE too much to the point that they were convinced that their infamous Mahaweli Oya (Mavilaru) plan would lead to the capture of Gokanna (Trinco) and consequently all of Jaffna. Our valiant soldiers proved them wrong with devastating effect..

Today the leadership of SL is pursing the proper line of negotiations with a cowardly terrorist outfit, using multibarrel rocket launchers, the mahasohon brigade, bunker busters, MI24’s, MiG’s and Kfirs. This is the one and only language terrorists truly understand!

Disclaimer: The comments contained within this website are personal reflection only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LankaWeb. LankaWeb.com offers the contents of this website without charge, but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions expressed within. Neither the LankaWeb nor the individual authors of any material on this Web site accept responsibility for any loss or damage, however caused (including through negligence), which you may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of your use of or reliance on information contained on or accessed through this Web site.
All views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the surfer and do not necessarily represent those of LankaWeb.com. .

BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER