"Given past experience, New Delhi ought to have learnt well the risks of riding the Tamil Tiger. The presence of the LTTE and other Sri Lankan Tamil groups in Tamil Nadu had dangerously vitiated the political atmosphere in that state. Chennai was the arena for their fratricidal killings, bomb blasts, shoot-outs, smuggling of arms, narcotics and gold. From here, the network of violence and illicit activities spread to other parts of Tamil Nadu and the south." _________________________________
by Prof. Nalin de Silva
(February 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I am neither a supporter nor member of the JVP, even though in the late eighties some NGO spokesperson in Colombo branded me as the theoretician of the JVP. In fact these vicious elements who are directly or indirectly on the pay roll of western Christian states had given this misinformation to some Indian journalists who had published it in their newspapers. In the late eighties, the JVP with other political parties and organisations, was in an association called the "Mavbima Surakeeme Sanvidhanaya" that was against the Indo Lanka accord and the thirteenth amendment to the constitution.
At that time the JVP was a proscribed political party but they were able to work with the other political parties through their front organisations. Though I and some others had criticised the J. R. Jayewardene government when it unleashed terror on the JVP and resorted to undemocratic measures, when the JVP itself took to terrorism we criticised them for such activities and as a result I myself was threatened by the JVP. What many people do not know or do not want to know is that the so-called Jathika Chinthanaya movement was instrumental in defeating the JVP (as well as the anti JVP Marxist Independents, some of whom were later active in PRRA,) in the University of Colombo. (This experience has convinced me that with a sound nationalist ideology the non national movements could be defeated.) However, the NGO circles propagated the view that we were JVPers or supporters of the JVP and organisations such as PRRA had no sympathy for us to say the least. Thus we were under attackby the JVP as well as by the anti JVP forces, and during that period attack was not confined to verbal criticism.
The JVP is one of the most "nationalist Marxist" parties in Sri Lanka. In fact they are yet to chose between nationalism and Marxism and as such exhibit political schizophrenia. In countries outside western Europe, including Tsarist Russia many nationalists were drawn towards Marxism, or rather Leninism and Sri Lanka was no exception. The nationalist forces had not evolved their own ideology (ideologies) against imperialism and they had to depend on Marxism (Leninism) that had worked out a theory against capitalism and on national independence movements. Fidel Castro remains the best example for a nationalist who turned out to be a Marxist for want of an ideology to fight imperialism. In western Europe the situation was different. In these countries Marxism, was not a substitute for nationalist ideologies and as such not only the Marxists could not come to power but the Marxist movements were diluted by western European nationalism into social democratic parties, that have become custodians of western Christian civilisation. When Mr. Blair goes round the world he speaks for the western Christian civilisation and not in the name of any form of Marxism, though Marxism being a product of western Christian civilisation would not be unhappy with the role played by the British Labour leader.
If Marxism in Sri Lanka was able to attract some Bhikkus, Teachers and Vedamahaththayas in the thirties and the forties it was mainly due to this lack of Jathika or national ideologies. The Marxist movement in Sri Lanka declined not after 1964 when the LSSP went into a coalition with the SLFP, as some Marxists like my friend Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne would like to believe. As far as these Marxists are concerned the downfall of the Marxist movement was due to coalitional politics with the national bourgeoisie. However, the Marxist movement went down the hill after 1955 when the SLFP metamorphosed into the party of the Sinhalathva, even without a sound nationalist ideology.
As long as the SLFP remained a liberal party the Marxist movement was not under threat and even at the general elections held in 1952, the Marxist parties fared better than the SLFP. However, after 1955 the politics in Sri Lanka took a different turn and since then one could witness members of Marxist parties joining the SLFP or Marxist parties themselves going into coalitions with that party, Mr. Philip Gunawardane’s so-called VLSSP leading the way. The JVP tried to reverse this trend by becoming a "nationalist Marxist" movement. Today they are at a cross roads and they could chose either to be a strong nationalist party or another weak Marxist (Leninist or whatever) party.
The JVP has come strongly against the so-called peace talks with the LTTE. It is vehemently opposed to deproscribing the LTTE. It has expressed these views in statements and posters and have launched a series of seminars to convey their ideas to the public. The JVP has the right to engage in all these activities and the government should allow them to carry on their propaganda. However, the government has other views. As we have been saying for some time the non national forces, including the NGOs and the "civil society" supported by the western Christian countries, sections of the Church, the western embassies backed the PA at the general elections held in 1994, with the objective of fulfilling the aspirations of Tamil racism in Sri Lanka.
They thought that it would be easy to get this done through a SLFP government as they believed that the national forces would not go against the SLFP. For this specific job they got down Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga from London, whose SLMP was in sympathy with Tamil racism. After the PA victory in 1994 and all were set to give a federation to Tamil racism. Even at that time we predicted that if the PA fails to deliver the goods to Tamil racism, they would be kicked out by the non national forces and that they would turn to their traditional ally the UNP. In spite of Chandrika bangles, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga bungled under pressure from the national forces contrary to the expectations of the non national forces and those who backed the PA gradually withdrew their support stating some undemocratic measures of the government as excuses.
The UNP unlike the SLFP has no national forces represented in their ranks and with the backing of the western Christian countries and sections of the Church is going ahead with their plan to fulfil the aspirations of Tamil racism. They are prepared to talk to the LTTE and if necessary to de proscribe the LTTE. It is very likely that the negotiations will be held in Madhu which comes under Bishop Rayappu Joseph who did not want the army to be present in the Madhu church premises though he had no objections to the presence of the LTTE terrorists in the vicinity of the church. The army which had cleared the Madhu church area had to be withdrawn under pressure from the non national forces. Eric Solheim whose partiality to the LTTE terrorists is well known is back with the Norwegian team. It is clear that the so-called peace talks will be one sided and the majority of Sinhala people who voted against the UNP led UNF government should be allowed to express their opinion at least in ways accepted under western democracy by a government that swears to uphold the western democratic tradition. (It must be emphasised that the majority of the Sinhala voters have votedfor the PA and the JVP, against the UNF and as such this government has no mandate from the Sinhala people for any "peace talks" with the LTTE.) The government is acting as if the national forces are the enemy of the country. From the statements of the influential people in the government it appears that they are fighting the JVP and not the LTTE the biggest enemy of the country that wants to establish an Eelam.
There are veiled threats against the JVP referring to their past terrorist activities, ignoring the far more heinous acts of the LTTE, with whom the government is prepared to talk. The government is getting ready to talk to the LTTE that bombed Sri Dalada Maligawa, the central bank, Sapugastenne Oil Refinery, the Katunayaka Air Base but is threatening the JVP and telling them they should not oppose so called peace talks with the LTTE terrorists, because the JVP who blasted some transformers and set fire to some buses has no right to do so. The LTTE is in the habit of blasting transformers almost on a daily basis and the logic of the government appears to be if the damage is very heavy we are prepared to talk otherwise we will use the army to destroy the movement. The new government’s priorities are determined by non national forces and it is a sad story that the safe house of the deep penetration unit (Long Range Petrol Group) at Athurugiriya was raided thus exposing the officers of the unit that had been very effective against the LTTE in the so-called uncleared areas. With this raid any semblance of symmetry that was there between the movements of the army and the LTTE has been broken. Now the LTTE cadres are free to move into the "cleared" areas as has been the case always but the army is prevented from going into the "uncleared" areas. Will those apologists for Tamil racism who insist that the LTTE should be de proscribed in order to give equal status to the government and the LTTE (does it mean that the LTTE has to be considered as a government as well to give equal status) in the same vein ask for equality in movements for the LTTE and the army in the so called cleared and uncleared areas? No, instead they would be thinking of punishing those valiant soldiers of the LRPG under the pretext of a coup against the new government.
Before we examine these threats to the JVP by the leaders of the UNP, in order to appease the LTTE, an army of the Church as claimed by the Vishva Hindu Parishad of India, and the western Christian countries let me quote some of the views expressed in the Indian press. The Indians know that the LTTE is a terrorist organisation and they treat them as such. The Indian leaders in general are more nationalist than ours and they know how to play their cards. They have been successful in getting extremist organisations in Pakistan banned. No doubt they were helped by the present western Christian onslaught against terrorism by Islamic groups and we are in the unfortunate situation of fighting terrorism of the LTTE based on a western Christian fundamentalist ideology and on fascism another product of the western Christian civilisation.
The Times of India in its editorial on 10th January 2001 has this to say : "New Delhi should nip in the bud any attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to use India or Indian territory for negotiations with Colombo. That the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has not already done so, suggests ambivalence if not confusion in South Block following precisely such a proposal by the LTTE. Instead of a categorical rejection of the LTTE’s efforts to implicate New Delhi in its negotiations with the Sri Lankan authorities, the MEA spokesperson has come up with the usual bromide of the government "keeping its options open". The LTTE is desperate to get a foothold in India to strengthen its position in the peace process which appears to be reviving with the initiatives of the new Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe. Towards this objective, the Tamil separatist rebels have sought Indian help on two counts: for its chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, to shift from London to Chennai; and for holding the Norwegian-brokered talks in Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram or Bangalore. In return, the LTTE, would deign to permit Indian officials to be present as ‘’non-participant observers ‘’ during talks with Colombo, if and when they take place. The LTTE’s argument for Mr Balasingham’s relocation to Chennai is that he needs sophisticated and sensitive medical care and that security considerations preclude his flying in and out of Colombo, or to any other European city, and further that he would need to make forays into the Vanni jungles of Sri Lanka for periodic consultations with the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran. These considerations make a southern Indian city both an ideal, and inevitable, choice for reviving negotiations, in the argument.
Given past experience, New Delhi ought to have learnt well the risks of riding the Tamil Tiger. The presence of the LTTE and other Sri Lankan Tamil groups in Tamil Nadu had dangerously vitiated the political atmosphere in that state. Chennai was the arena for their fratricidal killings, bomb blasts, shoot-outs, smuggling of arms, narcotics and gold. From here, the network of violence and illicit activities spread to other parts of Tamil Nadu and the south. The IPKF fiasco, the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and the humiliation and hostility heaped on India by every party involved in the Tamil-Sinhala conflict - despite their own pleas at various times for Indian help and intervention - ought to serve as reminders of why New Delhi should be wary of being ensnared again in this trap. While it cannot be denied that India has high security stakes in resolving the conflict, its engagements in the past have had disastrous consequences. As has been stated repeatedly in these columns, New Delhi’s readiness to support the peace process should stop short of direct dealings of any kind with any of the parties to the conflict. It should let Norway, which is acting at Washington’s behest, to soldier on with its efforts; and if there is no safe and convenient venue in Europe for talks, then they can choose any other place from the Maldives to Malaysia. New Delhi cannot attack cross-border terrorism in the north and embrace it in the south. The LTTE is a "terrorist organisation" and its chief is wanted in India for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. It would be self-defeating to seek to solve problems in the neighbourhood by inviting them in to our home."
Times of India has no hesitation to call the LTTE a terrorist organisation and has identified the role of Norway correctly as acting at Washington’s behest. We remember how Eric Solheim ran to Washington whenever he had problems and the proscriptions of the LTTE in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia have not much of an effect.
(To be continued)
(Professor Nalin de Silva is a Sri Lankan theoretical physicist, philosopher and a political analyst. He is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.)
(February 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) I am neither a supporter nor member of the JVP, even though in the late eighties some NGO spokesperson in Colombo branded me as the theoretician of the JVP. In fact these vicious elements who are directly or indirectly on the pay roll of western Christian states had given this misinformation to some Indian journalists who had published it in their newspapers. In the late eighties, the JVP with other political parties and organisations, was in an association called the "Mavbima Surakeeme Sanvidhanaya" that was against the Indo Lanka accord and the thirteenth amendment to the constitution.
At that time the JVP was a proscribed political party but they were able to work with the other political parties through their front organisations. Though I and some others had criticised the J. R. Jayewardene government when it unleashed terror on the JVP and resorted to undemocratic measures, when the JVP itself took to terrorism we criticised them for such activities and as a result I myself was threatened by the JVP. What many people do not know or do not want to know is that the so-called Jathika Chinthanaya movement was instrumental in defeating the JVP (as well as the anti JVP Marxist Independents, some of whom were later active in PRRA,) in the University of Colombo. (This experience has convinced me that with a sound nationalist ideology the non national movements could be defeated.) However, the NGO circles propagated the view that we were JVPers or supporters of the JVP and organisations such as PRRA had no sympathy for us to say the least. Thus we were under attackby the JVP as well as by the anti JVP forces, and during that period attack was not confined to verbal criticism.
The JVP is one of the most "nationalist Marxist" parties in Sri Lanka. In fact they are yet to chose between nationalism and Marxism and as such exhibit political schizophrenia. In countries outside western Europe, including Tsarist Russia many nationalists were drawn towards Marxism, or rather Leninism and Sri Lanka was no exception. The nationalist forces had not evolved their own ideology (ideologies) against imperialism and they had to depend on Marxism (Leninism) that had worked out a theory against capitalism and on national independence movements. Fidel Castro remains the best example for a nationalist who turned out to be a Marxist for want of an ideology to fight imperialism. In western Europe the situation was different. In these countries Marxism, was not a substitute for nationalist ideologies and as such not only the Marxists could not come to power but the Marxist movements were diluted by western European nationalism into social democratic parties, that have become custodians of western Christian civilisation. When Mr. Blair goes round the world he speaks for the western Christian civilisation and not in the name of any form of Marxism, though Marxism being a product of western Christian civilisation would not be unhappy with the role played by the British Labour leader.
If Marxism in Sri Lanka was able to attract some Bhikkus, Teachers and Vedamahaththayas in the thirties and the forties it was mainly due to this lack of Jathika or national ideologies. The Marxist movement in Sri Lanka declined not after 1964 when the LSSP went into a coalition with the SLFP, as some Marxists like my friend Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne would like to believe. As far as these Marxists are concerned the downfall of the Marxist movement was due to coalitional politics with the national bourgeoisie. However, the Marxist movement went down the hill after 1955 when the SLFP metamorphosed into the party of the Sinhalathva, even without a sound nationalist ideology.
As long as the SLFP remained a liberal party the Marxist movement was not under threat and even at the general elections held in 1952, the Marxist parties fared better than the SLFP. However, after 1955 the politics in Sri Lanka took a different turn and since then one could witness members of Marxist parties joining the SLFP or Marxist parties themselves going into coalitions with that party, Mr. Philip Gunawardane’s so-called VLSSP leading the way. The JVP tried to reverse this trend by becoming a "nationalist Marxist" movement. Today they are at a cross roads and they could chose either to be a strong nationalist party or another weak Marxist (Leninist or whatever) party.
The JVP has come strongly against the so-called peace talks with the LTTE. It is vehemently opposed to deproscribing the LTTE. It has expressed these views in statements and posters and have launched a series of seminars to convey their ideas to the public. The JVP has the right to engage in all these activities and the government should allow them to carry on their propaganda. However, the government has other views. As we have been saying for some time the non national forces, including the NGOs and the "civil society" supported by the western Christian countries, sections of the Church, the western embassies backed the PA at the general elections held in 1994, with the objective of fulfilling the aspirations of Tamil racism in Sri Lanka.
They thought that it would be easy to get this done through a SLFP government as they believed that the national forces would not go against the SLFP. For this specific job they got down Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga from London, whose SLMP was in sympathy with Tamil racism. After the PA victory in 1994 and all were set to give a federation to Tamil racism. Even at that time we predicted that if the PA fails to deliver the goods to Tamil racism, they would be kicked out by the non national forces and that they would turn to their traditional ally the UNP. In spite of Chandrika bangles, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga bungled under pressure from the national forces contrary to the expectations of the non national forces and those who backed the PA gradually withdrew their support stating some undemocratic measures of the government as excuses.
The UNP unlike the SLFP has no national forces represented in their ranks and with the backing of the western Christian countries and sections of the Church is going ahead with their plan to fulfil the aspirations of Tamil racism. They are prepared to talk to the LTTE and if necessary to de proscribe the LTTE. It is very likely that the negotiations will be held in Madhu which comes under Bishop Rayappu Joseph who did not want the army to be present in the Madhu church premises though he had no objections to the presence of the LTTE terrorists in the vicinity of the church. The army which had cleared the Madhu church area had to be withdrawn under pressure from the non national forces. Eric Solheim whose partiality to the LTTE terrorists is well known is back with the Norwegian team. It is clear that the so-called peace talks will be one sided and the majority of Sinhala people who voted against the UNP led UNF government should be allowed to express their opinion at least in ways accepted under western democracy by a government that swears to uphold the western democratic tradition. (It must be emphasised that the majority of the Sinhala voters have votedfor the PA and the JVP, against the UNF and as such this government has no mandate from the Sinhala people for any "peace talks" with the LTTE.) The government is acting as if the national forces are the enemy of the country. From the statements of the influential people in the government it appears that they are fighting the JVP and not the LTTE the biggest enemy of the country that wants to establish an Eelam.
There are veiled threats against the JVP referring to their past terrorist activities, ignoring the far more heinous acts of the LTTE, with whom the government is prepared to talk. The government is getting ready to talk to the LTTE that bombed Sri Dalada Maligawa, the central bank, Sapugastenne Oil Refinery, the Katunayaka Air Base but is threatening the JVP and telling them they should not oppose so called peace talks with the LTTE terrorists, because the JVP who blasted some transformers and set fire to some buses has no right to do so. The LTTE is in the habit of blasting transformers almost on a daily basis and the logic of the government appears to be if the damage is very heavy we are prepared to talk otherwise we will use the army to destroy the movement. The new government’s priorities are determined by non national forces and it is a sad story that the safe house of the deep penetration unit (Long Range Petrol Group) at Athurugiriya was raided thus exposing the officers of the unit that had been very effective against the LTTE in the so-called uncleared areas. With this raid any semblance of symmetry that was there between the movements of the army and the LTTE has been broken. Now the LTTE cadres are free to move into the "cleared" areas as has been the case always but the army is prevented from going into the "uncleared" areas. Will those apologists for Tamil racism who insist that the LTTE should be de proscribed in order to give equal status to the government and the LTTE (does it mean that the LTTE has to be considered as a government as well to give equal status) in the same vein ask for equality in movements for the LTTE and the army in the so called cleared and uncleared areas? No, instead they would be thinking of punishing those valiant soldiers of the LRPG under the pretext of a coup against the new government.
Before we examine these threats to the JVP by the leaders of the UNP, in order to appease the LTTE, an army of the Church as claimed by the Vishva Hindu Parishad of India, and the western Christian countries let me quote some of the views expressed in the Indian press. The Indians know that the LTTE is a terrorist organisation and they treat them as such. The Indian leaders in general are more nationalist than ours and they know how to play their cards. They have been successful in getting extremist organisations in Pakistan banned. No doubt they were helped by the present western Christian onslaught against terrorism by Islamic groups and we are in the unfortunate situation of fighting terrorism of the LTTE based on a western Christian fundamentalist ideology and on fascism another product of the western Christian civilisation.
The Times of India in its editorial on 10th January 2001 has this to say : "New Delhi should nip in the bud any attempt by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to use India or Indian territory for negotiations with Colombo. That the ministry of external affairs (MEA) has not already done so, suggests ambivalence if not confusion in South Block following precisely such a proposal by the LTTE. Instead of a categorical rejection of the LTTE’s efforts to implicate New Delhi in its negotiations with the Sri Lankan authorities, the MEA spokesperson has come up with the usual bromide of the government "keeping its options open". The LTTE is desperate to get a foothold in India to strengthen its position in the peace process which appears to be reviving with the initiatives of the new Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe. Towards this objective, the Tamil separatist rebels have sought Indian help on two counts: for its chief negotiator, Anton Balasingham, to shift from London to Chennai; and for holding the Norwegian-brokered talks in Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram or Bangalore. In return, the LTTE, would deign to permit Indian officials to be present as ‘’non-participant observers ‘’ during talks with Colombo, if and when they take place. The LTTE’s argument for Mr Balasingham’s relocation to Chennai is that he needs sophisticated and sensitive medical care and that security considerations preclude his flying in and out of Colombo, or to any other European city, and further that he would need to make forays into the Vanni jungles of Sri Lanka for periodic consultations with the LTTE chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran. These considerations make a southern Indian city both an ideal, and inevitable, choice for reviving negotiations, in the argument.
Given past experience, New Delhi ought to have learnt well the risks of riding the Tamil Tiger. The presence of the LTTE and other Sri Lankan Tamil groups in Tamil Nadu had dangerously vitiated the political atmosphere in that state. Chennai was the arena for their fratricidal killings, bomb blasts, shoot-outs, smuggling of arms, narcotics and gold. From here, the network of violence and illicit activities spread to other parts of Tamil Nadu and the south. The IPKF fiasco, the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and the humiliation and hostility heaped on India by every party involved in the Tamil-Sinhala conflict - despite their own pleas at various times for Indian help and intervention - ought to serve as reminders of why New Delhi should be wary of being ensnared again in this trap. While it cannot be denied that India has high security stakes in resolving the conflict, its engagements in the past have had disastrous consequences. As has been stated repeatedly in these columns, New Delhi’s readiness to support the peace process should stop short of direct dealings of any kind with any of the parties to the conflict. It should let Norway, which is acting at Washington’s behest, to soldier on with its efforts; and if there is no safe and convenient venue in Europe for talks, then they can choose any other place from the Maldives to Malaysia. New Delhi cannot attack cross-border terrorism in the north and embrace it in the south. The LTTE is a "terrorist organisation" and its chief is wanted in India for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. It would be self-defeating to seek to solve problems in the neighbourhood by inviting them in to our home."
Times of India has no hesitation to call the LTTE a terrorist organisation and has identified the role of Norway correctly as acting at Washington’s behest. We remember how Eric Solheim ran to Washington whenever he had problems and the proscriptions of the LTTE in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia have not much of an effect.
(To be continued)
(Professor Nalin de Silva is a Sri Lankan theoretical physicist, philosopher and a political analyst. He is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.)
![](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2008/02/jvp-ltte-india-and-govt-part-i.html&media=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kbRog6uZceU_rtlvh-Pq9WSvSdOxWmKPvq9syivUWJJIonADNFgfC6SGxpy36NtW4wFBCWaMpp81eY-2wDSvHDGWaKQD3hWz7vyur7HlJWzkNQWR-eNGZh_dH2OdUYuxzZuV8y6yq7s/s72-c/Nalin.jpg&description="Given past experience, New Delhi ought to have learnt well the risks of riding the Tamil Tiger. The presence of the LTTE and other Sri...){kind=link}
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