‘Unfortunately, the government’s present approach to the ethnic conflict, and in particular to the challenge posed by the LTTE, is also not solution oriented either. The government’s democratic credentials are being constantly eroded by the reports of ongoing human rights violations and violations of the constitution such as the 17th Amendment.’
_____________
by Jehan Perera
(July 08, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) With reports coming in on a daily basis of military progress in the battlefields of the north and of the destruction of LTTE bases, it is to be expected that the government’s military strategy would be generally perceived as a successful one. Although concerns are sometimes expressed that the costs of this strategy are high, conclusive evidence to buttress this claim is hard to come by. The presentation of the military campaigns in the present time is in contrast to the previous phases of the war when reports of reversals and high human and military costs frequently undermined the impression of success.
Nearly all reports to be found in the media today are indicative of military success with little of the costs being incorporated into them. This is partly on account of the voice of dissent in the media being virtually silenced in the face of repeated assaults and threats of violence. In this context, the interview to the media given by army commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka is particularly important. He has said that the Sri Lankan armed forces have effectively eliminated the LTTE’s capacity to engage in conventional warfare as they had in the past. He also said that another year may be necessary for the LTTE to be made to lose the territory it now controls.
The mission of the Sri Lankan military appears to be to recapture the territory controlled by the LTTE and to dismantle their administrative and political apparatus, as was accomplished in the east. Unable to face the onslaught by the Sri Lankan military, this territory is already much less than what the LTTE controlled two years ago, having lost the entirety of the east, and some parts of the north. However, it is also significant that the army commander gave a warning that the LTTE could continue as a guerilla force of a thousand cadres for another two decades, and that the armed conflict might even last forever, though in a different form.
In his interview General Fonseka said, “There are people who believe in Tamil nationalism. The LTTE might survive another even two decades with about 1000 cadres. But we will not be fighting in the same manner. It might continue as an insurgency forever.” Implicit in this responsible observation is the acknowledgement of an ethnic conflict between the forces of competing nationalisms that requires a political solution. The experience of conflicts in other parts of the world suggests that military solutions cannot suppress the nationalistic impulses of people.
TAMIL NIGHTMARE
It is nationalism, or love of one’s own people and their history and culture, that leads people to make immense sacrifices, even of laying down their lives for the cause of their nation. This suggests that if a lasting solution to the problem of nationalism is to be found, it cannot be limited to one that is imposed by force. There is only one alternative to a military solution and that is a negotiated solution. But the problem in Sri Lanka is that so long as the LTTE is determined to wage war against the government, the government will respond in kind. The nature of government is to wield the monopoly of armed force, which is vested in it by both international law and dominant concepts of state sovereignty.
There is a large school of thought at the present time in Sri Lanka that those who call on the government to negotiate a political solution with the LTTE are being unrealistic at best and traitors at worst. This school of thought has grown in strength after the failure of the peace process of 2002-2005. During that period, the two governments, one headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and after his dismissal the one headed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, went farther than any other previous government to avoid war as the path to a solution. But the LTTE rejected those efforts as insufficient, and finally acted with inflexible determination to provoke the return to war.
As a result there is today an increasingly nightmarish situation in the country, especially as it affects the Tamil people. Supporters of Tamil nationalism and the LTTE need to re-think their stances if they wish to ease the sufferings of the Tamil people whose basic rights they must surely wish to uphold. The counter-productiveness of supporting a war that is destroying the Tamil people needs to be considered. Heightened security measures have meant that thousands of Tamils living in Colombo were recently forced out of their homes in the early hours of the morning, along with their aged, infirm and children, to be interrogated, investigated and video filmed. Disappearance and abductions are also reportedly taking place, although the government denies this, and says that most have either been legally arrested or are absconding from their homes.
In the north, Tamil people flee from the LTTE-controlled areas, either to escape the remorseless forced recruitment of the LTTE or to escape the bombardments of the military engagements that are taking place. It is reported that the LTTE does not give prmission to people living within the areas they control to leave those areas, and keep them as virtual human shields and pools for recruitment. It is also reported that those who do succeed in fleeing, often at risk to their lives, end up in welfare camps in government-controlled areas, where they are virtually confined without being given the freedom of further movement. This is on account of the government’s fears that LTTE cadre may also have sought to infiltrate in with them.
Some of the especially stringent security precautions being taken by the government at this time could be on account of the SAARC Summit that is to be held at the end of the month in Colombo. This summit will bring together the heads of all the eight South Asian countries, and is major public relations exercise for the government which looks to these countries for friendship, military assistance and economic partnership. The LTTE may be planning for terror attacks, but needs to realize that these attacks have not dissuaded the Sri Lankan government from going ahead with its own military strategy, as outlined by the army commander. Terror attacks by the LTTE only convince the people and the international community, that the LTTE is part of the problem to be eliminated, rather than a party that is fit to be made a part of the solution.
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE
Unfortunately, the government’s present approach to the ethnic conflict, and in particular to the challenge posed by the LTTE, is also not solution oriented either. The government’s democratic credentials are being constantly eroded by the reports of ongoing human rights violations and violations of the constitution such as the 17th Amendment. The government appears to be engaged in an effort to forcibly impose its own version of a solution on the multi-ethnic and plural society of Sri Lanka, in which competing forces of nationalism have the upper hand, and are being further fueled by government actions.
The continuing assault on journalists, especially those who have been defense correspondents, is a serious indictment on the government. The most recent such attack that caused injury to a journalist working for the Sri Lanka Press Institute got international coverage, largely on account of the presence in the victim’s vehicle of a local staff member of the British High Commission, who also got assaulted. It is likely that the latter victim was an inadvertent target of the attackers. But this incident, which took place in the heart of Colombo, serves as a warning of how abuse of power, if left unchecked, can spill over and claim more groups of victims.
The response of the government to this attack, as well as to previous ones, has been disappointing. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, alleged that the government was the victim of a conspiracy to discredit it. Other senior government officials made claims that these attacks may be staged, as journalists benefit from them by being granted asylum in foreign countries. Ironically some of these attacks have taken place in high security zones. The reluctance to take responsibility suggests that the government is prepared to countenance further such attacks.
An extreme example in the opposite direction comes from France. The Army Commander there recently resigned following an incident in which a soldier fired live bullets instead of blank ones at an exhibition. A developed society is one in which the lines of command are intact and work with precision, where responsibility is taken at the very highest level and mistakes, and certainly abuses, are discontinued. Only in such a society will citizens trust the government to solve their problems and lead them to a better future. It is democratic processes, a sense of honour and universal values that alone can restore the government’s credibility with its multi ethnic and plural population.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
_____________
by Jehan Perera
(July 08, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) With reports coming in on a daily basis of military progress in the battlefields of the north and of the destruction of LTTE bases, it is to be expected that the government’s military strategy would be generally perceived as a successful one. Although concerns are sometimes expressed that the costs of this strategy are high, conclusive evidence to buttress this claim is hard to come by. The presentation of the military campaigns in the present time is in contrast to the previous phases of the war when reports of reversals and high human and military costs frequently undermined the impression of success.
Nearly all reports to be found in the media today are indicative of military success with little of the costs being incorporated into them. This is partly on account of the voice of dissent in the media being virtually silenced in the face of repeated assaults and threats of violence. In this context, the interview to the media given by army commander Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka is particularly important. He has said that the Sri Lankan armed forces have effectively eliminated the LTTE’s capacity to engage in conventional warfare as they had in the past. He also said that another year may be necessary for the LTTE to be made to lose the territory it now controls.
The mission of the Sri Lankan military appears to be to recapture the territory controlled by the LTTE and to dismantle their administrative and political apparatus, as was accomplished in the east. Unable to face the onslaught by the Sri Lankan military, this territory is already much less than what the LTTE controlled two years ago, having lost the entirety of the east, and some parts of the north. However, it is also significant that the army commander gave a warning that the LTTE could continue as a guerilla force of a thousand cadres for another two decades, and that the armed conflict might even last forever, though in a different form.
In his interview General Fonseka said, “There are people who believe in Tamil nationalism. The LTTE might survive another even two decades with about 1000 cadres. But we will not be fighting in the same manner. It might continue as an insurgency forever.” Implicit in this responsible observation is the acknowledgement of an ethnic conflict between the forces of competing nationalisms that requires a political solution. The experience of conflicts in other parts of the world suggests that military solutions cannot suppress the nationalistic impulses of people.
TAMIL NIGHTMARE
It is nationalism, or love of one’s own people and their history and culture, that leads people to make immense sacrifices, even of laying down their lives for the cause of their nation. This suggests that if a lasting solution to the problem of nationalism is to be found, it cannot be limited to one that is imposed by force. There is only one alternative to a military solution and that is a negotiated solution. But the problem in Sri Lanka is that so long as the LTTE is determined to wage war against the government, the government will respond in kind. The nature of government is to wield the monopoly of armed force, which is vested in it by both international law and dominant concepts of state sovereignty.
There is a large school of thought at the present time in Sri Lanka that those who call on the government to negotiate a political solution with the LTTE are being unrealistic at best and traitors at worst. This school of thought has grown in strength after the failure of the peace process of 2002-2005. During that period, the two governments, one headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and after his dismissal the one headed by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, went farther than any other previous government to avoid war as the path to a solution. But the LTTE rejected those efforts as insufficient, and finally acted with inflexible determination to provoke the return to war.
As a result there is today an increasingly nightmarish situation in the country, especially as it affects the Tamil people. Supporters of Tamil nationalism and the LTTE need to re-think their stances if they wish to ease the sufferings of the Tamil people whose basic rights they must surely wish to uphold. The counter-productiveness of supporting a war that is destroying the Tamil people needs to be considered. Heightened security measures have meant that thousands of Tamils living in Colombo were recently forced out of their homes in the early hours of the morning, along with their aged, infirm and children, to be interrogated, investigated and video filmed. Disappearance and abductions are also reportedly taking place, although the government denies this, and says that most have either been legally arrested or are absconding from their homes.
In the north, Tamil people flee from the LTTE-controlled areas, either to escape the remorseless forced recruitment of the LTTE or to escape the bombardments of the military engagements that are taking place. It is reported that the LTTE does not give prmission to people living within the areas they control to leave those areas, and keep them as virtual human shields and pools for recruitment. It is also reported that those who do succeed in fleeing, often at risk to their lives, end up in welfare camps in government-controlled areas, where they are virtually confined without being given the freedom of further movement. This is on account of the government’s fears that LTTE cadre may also have sought to infiltrate in with them.
Some of the especially stringent security precautions being taken by the government at this time could be on account of the SAARC Summit that is to be held at the end of the month in Colombo. This summit will bring together the heads of all the eight South Asian countries, and is major public relations exercise for the government which looks to these countries for friendship, military assistance and economic partnership. The LTTE may be planning for terror attacks, but needs to realize that these attacks have not dissuaded the Sri Lankan government from going ahead with its own military strategy, as outlined by the army commander. Terror attacks by the LTTE only convince the people and the international community, that the LTTE is part of the problem to be eliminated, rather than a party that is fit to be made a part of the solution.
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNANCE
Unfortunately, the government’s present approach to the ethnic conflict, and in particular to the challenge posed by the LTTE, is also not solution oriented either. The government’s democratic credentials are being constantly eroded by the reports of ongoing human rights violations and violations of the constitution such as the 17th Amendment. The government appears to be engaged in an effort to forcibly impose its own version of a solution on the multi-ethnic and plural society of Sri Lanka, in which competing forces of nationalism have the upper hand, and are being further fueled by government actions.
The continuing assault on journalists, especially those who have been defense correspondents, is a serious indictment on the government. The most recent such attack that caused injury to a journalist working for the Sri Lanka Press Institute got international coverage, largely on account of the presence in the victim’s vehicle of a local staff member of the British High Commission, who also got assaulted. It is likely that the latter victim was an inadvertent target of the attackers. But this incident, which took place in the heart of Colombo, serves as a warning of how abuse of power, if left unchecked, can spill over and claim more groups of victims.
The response of the government to this attack, as well as to previous ones, has been disappointing. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, alleged that the government was the victim of a conspiracy to discredit it. Other senior government officials made claims that these attacks may be staged, as journalists benefit from them by being granted asylum in foreign countries. Ironically some of these attacks have taken place in high security zones. The reluctance to take responsibility suggests that the government is prepared to countenance further such attacks.
An extreme example in the opposite direction comes from France. The Army Commander there recently resigned following an incident in which a soldier fired live bullets instead of blank ones at an exhibition. A developed society is one in which the lines of command are intact and work with precision, where responsibility is taken at the very highest level and mistakes, and certainly abuses, are discontinued. Only in such a society will citizens trust the government to solve their problems and lead them to a better future. It is democratic processes, a sense of honour and universal values that alone can restore the government’s credibility with its multi ethnic and plural population.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
What else can a "Dollar Kakka" like you say than criticising the government when trying to eliminate terrorism. Can you please explain to people of Sri Lanka and the world in your opinion what is this "Ethnic conflict" that you and your goons are referring to as we dumb people cannot see any ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
Also it seems that you all have been busy counting the amount of dollars that was received from LTTE, INGOs and NGOS when all the governments of Sri Lanka over the last 30 years tried their best to accommodate most of the reasonable and some unreasonable LTTE demands at the expense of civilians of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslims.
What are the grievances of the Tamil people? So far LTTE goons cannot name even one that is not common to all races in Sri Lanka. Probably you may know than LTTE, so can you tell us what they are? Or are you worried that your dollar income will drop?
How many times have you told the LTTE not to kill innocent civilians including babies, children, pregnant women and old people? Are you scared and gutless to talk the truth?
If you can't bear to see the demise of the LTTE please leave Sri Lanka and go to where LTTE will give accommodation. Let the Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and others sort out their grievances peacefully, as LTTE never had any intention of settling grievances peacefully in the past and they will never do it in the future.
Can you please explain to us one more thing, if the government of Sri Lanka accepts the LTTE as the sole representative of the Sri Lankan Tamils and give the Tamil Eelam, do you guarantee that all the problems of the Tamil people will be solved?
'Dollar' Jehan has come to senses by dropping his long held view of 'impossibillity of military solution'. Definitely, strategy of current SL government is working. You do not need any more proof than this Jehan's article. NGO 'kakkas' like him promoted the view of 'LTTE invisibillity' to keep the terror problem live to make a living. They are now realising the end is close. I'm very sure that they will find new ways to earn their living by changing the music. But, those ways will almost always be against the wishes of patriotic Sri Lankans because there is no foreign money to be made in writing to protect Sri Lanka against the it's enemies.
Very intersting Gehan talking about the Frnech comander. I wonder where this Dollar Kakka was when Gandhi was attacked by a Naval Rating? Did you mention about resigning? No Dollars No
Stupidity at it's best.This writer shows who he is.
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