CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Is Sri Lanka’s Problem Solvable?

Shenali Waduge

We live in labyrinth of terminologies most of which have been coined by the West. In this scenario we end up defining wars, peace, conflicts, ethnicity etc according to how the West would have it described. How far they are really applicable to our local scenario becomes questionable. It is unfortunate that it is these words & terminologies that have created upon us & more importantly amongst our children the need to think of each other not as a single nation but separated & demarcated loosely into “ethnic groups” - Sinhalese, Tamils & Muslims – taking it further to apply packaged terminology like majority & minority to the people of one single land. It is used in the public sector, in education & practical everywhere else. Was this really necessary & is this not a major cause for the strife prevalent today?

The same can be said of the word “war” the West has an affinity towards the word war. Having been engaged through 2 World Wars we can well understand why the word “war” becomes taboo to them, it may also explain why the western community shudders when there is a “war like scenario” in Sri Lanka & why they feel they should insist on the “negotiation table” as an alternative. But then was there a “negotiation table” for Iraq or Afghanistan?

We have a problem raging over 25 years. The egoistical whims of a few has successfully engineered the decline of a nation & its people to enter phases that result in nothing but pain & sorrow. The strife that was created was enough for international forces with diversified interests to hop over & add to the trouble. Do we blame it on those who started it or on those who could have stopped it? Did we or do we have any far-sighted leaders capable of taking the nation beyond the present pit of anarchy? From West to East there have been major players to help us find that elusive “Peace” yet 25 years & counting there has been no formula – we are not likely to find one too, until such time we realistically ask ourselves what went wrong & what we as a nation should do to remedy it. Our solution should be something that we can all relate to & all can accept as the best possible solution.

First of all we need to ask ourselves some simple questions. The West was quick to describe the conflict in Sri Lanka as “Ethnic” – did any of the Governments demand that the term be removed on the grounds that around 52% of the total Tamil population actually lives in the South amongst the Sinhalese? Yet, for years we have been carrying the “ethnic” tag coined by the West unnecessarily through the countless peace talks that have been engineered by “peace makers” of the world. Then the LTTE which proclaims itself the voice of the Tamil people have a resume full of killing their own. Was any of this adequately highlighted enough to demand that the Western world especially the media do not refer to the LTTE as the voice of the Tamil people. Did no one ever wonder why Prabakaran would want to use bodyguards if he is confident of his status amongst his own people. Rarely coming out into the open & living in the jungles of Wanni does he need to have any body guards – he should be like the king of the area. Then there is the demand for a separate homeland which is really the basis of starting the guerilla movement. Taking the UN terminologies to better use this soon turned into the right for “self-determination” – it was most convenient to use western terminology to argue their case & be accepted by the West. Did we argue that the roots of the Tamil homeland were actually in India in the State of Tamil Nadu, where they really have a better stake for the Tamil homeland?

The West, the East, have all teamed together to play roles of “facilitator”, “peacemaker”, “peace envoy” etc… they have had no formula that could give our country what the public most wanted PEACE. The scenario of 1983 & the scenario in 2008 cannot be likened. Yet, the International Community has been demanding that the Government enter peace talks, sit round a negotiation table …. to discuss what? The international community are completely oblivious to the thoughts of the people who should matter – the masses. They believe in one-sided versions & thereafter like parrots repeat each other’s statement (differently worded) but all adding up to mean the same thing yet totally irrelevant to solve the problem at hand. This has been a continuous trend that the UN, the Western & Eastern powers have adapted whenever any noteworthy incident has occurred in Sri Lanka. Bombs exploding at random, innocent civilians being targeted, convoys carrying injured soldiers being attacked – all are against international law but each time it was the diplomatic statement of “both sides are encouraged to enter the negotiation table”. Negotiations are a must but there are many stages to surpass before such a venture. Does it not mean that the militants must not engage in a single attack on the military or on civilians, that they should not procure weapons or collect funds for same? Is there any point in chit chats when repeatedly this has occurred & there is enough evidence to highlight this? Then we have that awesome document known as the Cease Fire Agreement – signed in 2002 oblivious to the Sri Lanka Parliament & even the Executive President. It only gauged the self-centered interest of our green leader for glory never did he or those associated with the document ever think of why our sovereign land should be demarcated to a “terrorist” outfit & allow them to have areas under their control “LTTE controlled areas” & subject our soldiers to their barracks. The original document is also missing – we cannot know what was signed by the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. If this historic agreement held true we would not be bemoaning the deaths of many innocent civilians, the death of the best Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka (Lakshman Kadiragar) the 2nd in command of the Sri Lanka Army (Parami Kulatunga) the men of the military intelligence who were gunned down after their names had been exposed to the LTTE. If the CFA was such a great entity why would the Monitoring Mission have to record a single violation – they should not have been any. Yet, with all this reality there are some holding international portfolios who feel that the Government should have remained committed to an agreement that was just bound by paper & not deed & a Monitoring Mission that was paid to only jot down violations.

Norway has been proud of its efforts in international peace facilitating. Bosnia & Palestine immediately come to mind. Their Sri Lankan experience however will not go down in history as something to savor. Their presence in Sri Lanka has brought no memorable accolades. Norway should seriously ask themselves why their Sri Lankan success-story should turn sour.

US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is yet to understand the full context of our predicament – that is better than being given the wrong information & basing ones strategy on ill-advised theories. For Americans the black & white issue has been a hallmark of their history. Today the Clinton camp is attempting to push the “religion” factor to demean Obama’s race to the Presidency. Likewise, the world is misusing the two terms “race” & “ethnicity”. They have come to conclude that we are having a “civil war” but how many of our Governments have actually put their arguments to correct these references?

Coming to the crux of the argument, we have been living through 25 years with a ruthless enemy. This enemy is the enemy of all the peace loving people of Sri Lanka irrespective of the gender, race or ethnicity they belong in. To their record of killings include man, woman, child, Sinhala, Tamil, Musim, Burgher, Buddhist, Hindu, Islam, Christian & Catholics. Do they then have an iota of right to ask a “separate nation”, when their very existence depends on a killing spree – of ridding those in their way?

Modern warfare’s & associated entities like the weapons trades are viable enterprises. These people are as powerful as any Government but operate transparent from society. They have no religion, no ethnicity, no race & no morals – their common ground is to amass money from their dealings. It is this trade monopoly that the world leaders & their respective Governments need to topple to stop terrorism but cannot.

There are countless organizations that work for peace, human rights etc… their very existence & the jobs of their staff really depend on the existence of wars, strife & conflict. If there are no wars, no conflicts & no strife they would not be able to travel to all corners of the world & they would have to look for other employment means. We have various entities speaking on behalf of the Tamil people – starting closer to home; the Tamil Nadu leaders often demand the Center take stern actions against the Sri Lankan Government without even setting a foot in Sri Lanka or visiting any of the areas in the North or East. Similarly most of those who project a pitiful state for the Tamils of Sri Lanka are not aware that the majority of Tamils live & work amongst the Sinhalese. We have never had a situation as in the US or in South Africa. The public or private sector has never had cases of discrimination taken up in courts as a result of ones ethnicity.

What is the most important point to project throughout this argument is that even in a small nation as Sri Lanka the people’s thoughts differ – Colombo’s need are very much different from those in Jaffna, Ampara, Kandy or Matara. We may bemoan the price of bread or hikes in gas but those in Jaffna may have a different plight to bemoan. This instills the need to really assess what the people really want & not what the world or the so called representative leaders want. Personally it is my view that no party that is elected for a particular term of office has any moral right to decide what is best for the country, especially when their journey to Parliament becomes a questionable feature & also on account of the rise in cross overs taking place in Parliament. The monetary tag to their function beckons us to be cautious of their actions & it is why the APRC & CC once again becomes questionable entities. Who is it that wants devolution? Did the masses in the North & East demand it? We have the present Provincial Council system yet it is often been argued that those in the Provincial Councils do little for the provinces while amassing wealth for themselves. Do we see any difference in the way Ministers attached to the Center functions at present? What must be reiterated if proper provincial council administration is to be thought of as an alternative to any hurried devolution proposals is that while all macro projects in the interest of the nation should be handled by the Center all micro projects should be given to the provincial councils & the Center must stop the nationalization of schools. This has been a major obstacle & has created problem after problem.

In the present condition it is ill-advised to hurry any proposal to just satisfy the world’s demands. We need to have an environment of peace first. Even if the proposal is accepted can we see the likelihood of its implementation in the present scenario when we don’t know when the LTTE is likely to strike next? Therefore, the Government must get this message across to the world community in no uncertain terms first. Any proposal can be implemented with the LTTE or without the LTTE. Presently the APRC doesn’t even have its proxy TNA being represented so we can well forget the likelihood of the LTTE sitting at the table voicing their views. The US invaded Iraq because Saddam Hussein was a dictator & the people were supposedly suffering. The invasion took place in 2003, the Iraqi people are still suffering & they have lost over 151,000 lives despite the promise by the Americans to usher in peace. In fact Iraq is worse off than before. How many UN statements have been issued against the US? Israeli forces are daily bombing the Gaza does Ban Ki Moon issue any statement against the Israeli’s. These double standards devalue the mandate given to the UN & it really questions their moral grounds as well.

The reality of the situation in Sri Lanka is that the Tamils are suffering not because of the Sinhalese but because of the LTTE. Those in the North continue to suffer monetarily & emotionally yet for some incomprehensible reason they have kept silent to the wrongs of the LTTE possibly because the hand of the gun is more powerful than the voice. Yet, we argue when the JVP during their 1989 period of murder in the South & the then Premadasa Government took the decision to wipe out the insurgents the Sinhala populace backed the Government – the Sinhalese did not say not to kill the Sinhalese. We identified the JVP as murderers & backed the Government to put an end to their killing spree. Most often the Government of Sri Lanka is also loosely taken to mean it is the Government of the Sinhalese – another baseless theory for many would be surprised how many Sinhalese query their Governments actions through all the Governments that have been in power.

At this stage, I feel it would be best to conduct an All Island poll & ask significant questions directly from the people.

Do we want the country to remain a unitary state
Do we agree to devolution of power
Do we think there is a ethnic conflict

Obtaining answers to similar questions may really tell the world exactly what the country & its people want. It may be an expensive exercise but I am sure the world community will fund such if the argument can be projected clearly.

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