The western countries at this stage do not want to oppose the humanitarian operations by the government in public. However, they will take up so called human rights issues in order to embarrass the government and to present their views on "war" in an indirect manner. While the west and their henchmen in the payrolls of the NGOs raises "human rights" issues, the UNP, TNA, SLFP (M) of Mangala and SLMC and few of the other parties would raise the question of negotiations with the LTTE.
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by Prof. Nalin de Silva
(June 18, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) We have been saying no talks with the LTTE for more than twenty years when many of who are advocating humanitarian operations against the LTTE were on the other side of the barricades. There were people who wanted the government (who started referring to the government as GOSL thus reducing it to a four letter "word" like the LTTE. This is a subtle way of demeaning the stature of the government equating it with LTTE a ruthless fascist organisation. How about GOUK and GOUS?) to talk to the LTTE. We are happy that many people who were then on the peace brigade have crossed over to this side with or without crossing the floor in the parliament. However, Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, one of the well known "sudu nelum" leaders has not changed his views and last week he reiterated his position that the government should commence talks with the LTTE to achieve what he calls peace, and sign a ceasefire agreement.
It is not only Mr. Samaraweera who is of the view that the government should negotiate with the LTTE. The leadership of the UNP, SLMC, TNA the proxy party of the LTTE, LSSP, CP and many Marxist parties who can hold their conventions in a 10’ by 10’ room without any difficulty at all would love to see the commencement of negotiations with or without conditions. We should not forget that the western countries are also advocating so called peace and that they are forcing the government to negotiate with the LTTE, in very subtle ways.
When everybody who can remember the history of the LTTE knows that nothing had been achieved through talks with the LTTE from Thimpu days, why are some people interested in having talks between the government and the LTTE? The LTTE that had been branded as an invincible outfit is today being surrounded by the armed forces and writing is on the walls (of the bunkers) for the terrorist outfit. Every time the LTTE has come out stronger after negotiations and this time they may need prolonged negotiations to build up to the strength that they had before Mavilaru closure by the terrorists. The LTTE that has been reduced to a few thousand cadre members and to a few thousand children cannot fight the armed forces, and is desperately in need of a long period of breathing space.
Now who would come in favour of the LTTE at this critical juncture in their history? Whatever the reasons given, in the final analysis it is those who want the LTTE to live to fight another day who are in favour of negotiations. The LTTE is interested only in breathing spaces and nothing else. What does Mr. Samaraweera expect from negotiations with the LTTE?
The western countries at this stage do not want to oppose the humanitarian operations by the government in public. However, they will take up so called human rights issues in order to embarrass the government and to present their views on "war" in an indirect manner. While the west and their henchmen in the payrolls of the NGOs raises "human rights" issues, the UNP, TNA, SLFP (M) of Mangala and SLMC and few of the other parties would raise the question of negotiations with the LTTE.
Then some journalists would support the cause of the LTTE by criticizing the armed forces. There is no ideal army in the world, and sometimes innocent people get killed in war. In Sri Lanka too it is not an exception to the rule if few innocent people get killed in the humanitarian process. However, there are some journalists who would go to town with such killings ignoring the intentional killings of civilians by the LTTE.
The so called human rights organisations that get away with a mere insignificant statement on the LTTE bomb explosions would give an exaggerated account of deaths that are attributed to the armed forces. The objective is to demoralise the armed forces and to create a bad opinion of the soldiers among the westerners who finance these organisations.
It is curious that Fort Railway Station and Lipton Circus remain silent after bomb attacks by the LTTE but "come to life" if civilians are killed, though not intentionally, by the armed forces. Perhaps Sri Lanka is the only country where the government does not get the full support of the opposition to defeat an armed gang that is killing people to set up a separate state. The opposition may have some criticisms of the way the operations are conducted. Then it is up to the opposition parties to meet the government and voice their disapproval without criticizing the armed forces and the government in public.
For the first time in about three decades we have a government that is not prepared to listen to foreigners on how it should conduct the operations. It is to the credit of the President that he has not bowed down under pressure and proceeded with the operations. Recently he requested the GOUK to see to it that LTTE is not supplied with funds. It is a well known fact the LTTE gets its funds mainly from the western countries and these countries are not doing a thing about it. The LTTE would not have acquired aircrafts and other war machinery without these funds and one wonders whether the funds came only from the Tamil diaspora.
The so called invincible LTTE is now on the verge of defeat and the supporters of the LTTE, mainly the anti Sinhala Buddhist elements in the western Judaic Christian culture who want to see the Sinhala Buddhist culture wiped out from the earth, are now disturbed to say the least. They will try all their monkey tricks to boost up the LTTE and talks between the LTTE and the government of Sri Lanka would be welcomed by these people. Mr. Mangala Samaraweera, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe are not those who can be counted among those who belong to the Sinhala Buddhist culture and they were not willing to fight and annihilate the LTTE for the sake of peace. Peace can only be achieved only by annihilating the LTTE and not through by talks. For more than twenty five years the government tried to solve the so called problem through negotiations, and did not proceed with the operations wholeheartedly. The Sinhala people were misled to believe that the LTTE was invincible. Now we have a government that is prepared to finish it by defeating the LTTE without bowing down either to the west or to India. In two years the armed forces have shown what they could have done and one gets the feeling if not for the NGOs west and India we could have finished it off long time ago. Even at this stage some of them are forcing the government to commence negotiations. The reply of the government should be "no talks at all with the LTTE". - Sri Lanka Guardian
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