The First Casualty of Many
fold Ceasefire Violations was the Ceasefire Itself!
Dilrook Kannangara
Let the past bury its dead; so goes the saying. The recent annulment
of the CFA was the act of burial of an agreement that died long ago
and decomposed for an even longer time. Those who recognised a de facto
state that they argued existed by 2002 within the island of Sri Lanka
have failed to understand the de facto end of the truce. A truce ends
when it is violated. Thereafter adherence to it is voluntary and in
fact there is no de facto ceasefire in place by that time. It is absurd
making a big howling about the burial of a dead thing, even a human
being.
The CFA was not a well thought after agreement; it was agreed to hastily
by the then Prime Minister and his Cabinet, illegally, as they had no
authority whatsoever to agree to the CFA which violated many laws in
place in sovereign Sri Lanka. It was an LTTE masterpiece to achieve
many horrible things the LTTE couldn’t have achieved otherwise.
By early 2002, the world was intensely engaged in the Global War on
Terror. Afghanistan was attacked by the coalition forces which sent
shock waves throughout all terrorist empires. Al Qaeda only bettered
the spectacular LTTE attack on the Katunayake airport in July 2001,
just one and a half months before 9/11. Sri Lanka could have easily
wiped out the LTTE under the cover of the War on Terror or it could
have sought international assistance in finishing off the LTTE. This
was the driving force behind LTTE’s desire for a ‘ceasefire’.
By agreeing to the CFA, Sri Lanka once again lost a golden opportunity
to end the terrorist menace.
Then came the tsunami that hit hardest two war torn areas in South and
South East Asia, namely Aceh province in Indonesia and the North-East
of Sri Lanka. Tidal waves flattened the terrorist group and its assets
in Indonesia and soon the remaining weak terrorists were overpowered
by law enforcement authorities. Aceh rebels were disarmed. When violence
ended, a political solution was advanced based on Indonesian interests
in Sumatera.
LTTE lost most of its best bunkers and a large haul of weapons to the
tsunami that came in the wake of a planned LTTE attack on Trinco –
the navel base and logistics centre that supplied men and material to
the Northern government controlled Jaffna garrisons. From Batticaloa
to Pulmodai, tigers were ready to launch a maritime offensive on Trinco
by suffocating the navel base and thus cutting-off supplies to the very
North forcing the government to pull its troops from Jaffna which is
considered the heartland of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka. The tsunami
offered unparalleled opportunities for the security forces to wipe out
the weakened tigers and to rescue the people in Vanni with humanitarian
aid.
A military offensive to facilitate a humanitarian operation could have
finished off the tigers in no time. However, unfortunately, there was
a ‘ceasefire’ agreement in operation in Sri Lanka and the
government at that time was all for the continuation of it. Tigers turned
the tsunami in their favour using the CFA. The CFA had already recognised
a de facto state in LTTE controlled areas. Therefore, foreign donors
had to co-ordinate with the LTTE and TRO to carryout humanitarian, reconstruction
and development work in this ‘de facto’ state. Foreign aid
that would otherwise have flowed to Lanka went into TRO coffers. Without
any shame, responsibility or concern tigers used this humanitarian aid
to purchase weapons.
Meanwhile amidst rampant corruption, Sri Lanka managed to rebuild many
affected areas within its control in wide contrast to the conduct of
the TRO/LTTE. The bottomline is that while Sri Lanka overcame many perils
of the tsunami, areas under LTTE control still continue with the aftermath
of the tsunami.
In 2007 the United States froze TRO assets after it became clear that
the tigers were using money collected in Western countries for terrorism.
But the CFA saved the tigers again, this time from the tsunami and its
effects that weakened the terror outfit.
During the CFA tigers managed to pump up their terrorist capabilities;
recruit children as suicide bombers; their new air wing was added during
the CFA; their military communications capability was established; sea
tigers almost managed to intimidate the SLN to abandon all sea patrols;
more than 32,000 mortars mainly heavy mortars were bought from Croatia
during the CFA; a large assortment of surface-to-air missiles were added
to the tigers arsenal; new bunkers were built within striking distance
to defence facilities in Trinco, Muhamalai, Batticaloa, Weli Oya, etc.
Additionally the LTTE established their foreign relations office, own
judiciary/police/central bank and made foreign visits as guests from
a country different to Sri Lanka. A high level LTTE delegation had held
talks abroad for procuring weapons. Tigers won and Sri Lanka lost once
again.
On the cultural front they launched an aggressive brainwashing campaign
named ‘pongu thamil’ targeting Tamils here and abroad. This
helped them collect money for what they termed the ‘final war’.
If it was peace that existed during the CFA (at least at the beginning),
then peace bred war in Sri Lanka!
All these benefits accrued to the LTTE thanks to the CFA. While the
CFA kept Lanka’s hands tied by asserting international pressure,
it allowed the tigers a free hand to assault Lanka at will. CFA was
their bargaining chip to get everything they wanted. They killed the
Lankan foreign minister who was also a forerunner in the battle against
terrorism in Sri Lanka. The only ‘ceasefire’ in history that
killed a foreign minister and yet continued unabated!
Tigers are in a desperate bid to save the CFA that has brought them
so many victories they couldn’t dream of before the truce. They
also want to buy time until their child soldiers attain adulthood so
that humanitarian agencies won’t blame them for child soldiers.
The biggest disadvantage for Sri Lanka caused by the CFA was the internationalisation
of the internal conflict. The CFA made the internal conflict look like
a conflict between two nations. This attracted many blue bottles from
all over the world. The international community must be careful of tiger
attempts to win sympathy by crying over the CFA that was annulled by
them just days into its signing. It was the LTTE that killed the CFA
hence there is no ground to blame the government for giving it a decent
and official burial.
It was the start of the Global War on terror and the operations of the
army’s Deep Penetration Unit that brought the tigers to the Agreement
in the first place. However, by now many coalition partners in the war
on terror have backtracked and a few government office changes have
also taken place in key countries including Australia and the UK. The
run up to the US election this year has made strides in Sri Lanka for
the same reason. These have emboldened the LTTE once again. Only a massive
military defeat can turn them even temporarily towards negotiations.
However, no amount of negotiations can give the LTTE what they want
– a mono-ethnic land mass disproportionately larger for its intended
local inhabitants, but ridiculously small for the entire Tamil population
in the world craving for a nation!
Therefore if the international community wants Sri Lanka to negotiate,
aren’t they trying to tell us to accede to all tiger demands because
otherwise there will be war again?
Some humorists argue that SL goes for the same marriage partner (the
LTTE) but with a different marriage broker (instead of Norway)! Good
humour amidst grim violence and I can predict like a prophet what will
happen next if we continue along this beaten track.
How many times Sri Lanka should go round and round in this predictable
merry-go-round to prove the international community wrong? It only costs
them time and few bad news flashes over dinner, but it is about continuing
deaths, poverty, misery and mayhem for those who live in Sri Lanka.
The war is very much winnable and it can bring about peace on the terms
Sri Lankans could agree. There is no need for Sri Lankans to compromise
for self-destruction, suffer terror, poverty, curtail their movements,
refrain from pilgrimages to Nagadeepa, Madhu, the remnants of Mooladuwa
ancient Buddhist Shrines, the Girarukka ancient Buddhist Shrines, the
Nallur Kovil, etc. any further. All peace efforts must be concentrated
towards eliminating the terrorists soon; Sri Lanka, please get-off this
merry-go-round at least now.
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