Help India to help us

"It is in this context that we endorse Ambassador Jayatilleke’s call for a trade-off or grand bargain, holding fast on the continuance of the military offensive while conceding on the political front. Let us not forget that the LTTE was facing certain defeat at Vadamarachchi in 1987 when India interfered, brazenly intruding into Lankan air space with Mirage jet fighters to engage in what they called a ``humanitarian’’ food drop."

-Sunday Island Editorial

(October 19, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Wearing his acadamic/journalistic hat, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Switzerland and the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. Dayan Jayatilleke, yesterday articulated a truism that must be self-evident to all Lankans, especially at this moment when the light seems to be emerging, at least militarily, at the end of the over three decades long conflict tunnel.

Writing in yesterday’s issue of The Island, Jayatilleke strongly advocated that the time has come for a trade-off in the Indo-Lanka equation. Underpinning his argument is the reality that the Tamils matter far more than the Sinhalese to Tamil Nadu; Tamil Nadu matters more than Colombo to New Delhi; and New Delhi rates much greater importance than Colombo in every capital of the world. That is inescapable realpolitik made much more acute by the fact that elections are due in India in the next few months and votes in Tamil Nadu will be a vital consideration for those jockeying for power at the Indian Centre.

As President Mahinda Rajapaksa never tires of saying, he is firmly committed to a just and fair solution to Sri Lanka’s Tamil question. But the promised political package has not been forthcoming even in this his third year in office. The APRC, which is not All Party despite its title, has been dragging on far too long and India, like the rest of us in Sri Lanka, have been too often told that its proceedings are nearing conclusion. A report we carry in this issue says as much – 90% of the work is nearly done, Prof. Tissa Vitarana has said. Obviously the dirty word ``federal’’ is being avoided and keeping ``unitary’’ too out of the draft may be an attempted compromise. But it is clearly apparent that the Indian government is under severe pressure from its coalition allies in Tamil Nadu and while Sri Lanka can be reasonable certain that there will be no direct Indian interference as in the case of the infamous parippu drop 1987, New Delhi will twist our arm up to a point. That, it seems, is already happening.

There can be no let up in the military effort despite the obvious suffering of the internally displaced, many of whom are being coerced by the LTTE to remain within the Wanni to serve as a human shield as well as a barrier no holds barred offensive. President Rajapaksa has led the nation within sight of victory – victory it must be said over the LTTE and not the Tamil people of Sri Lanka, the majority of whom are thankfully out of Tiger clutches. Successive administrations, and not only the incumbent, have been supplying LTTE held areas with essentials with the full knowledge that much of these go to the Tigers. No wonder then that the Commissioner General of Essential Services, Mr. S.B. Divaratne, has gone on record saying that IDP numbers he had received are inflated. He has rightly not blamed government officials for over-stating the figures because he knows better than most that officials serving in the Wanni are answerable not to their paymaster in Colombo but to the LTTE. They must do what the Tigers want them to do or they are dead. It is as simple as that.

It is in this context that we endorse Ambassador Jayatilleke’s call for a trade-off or grand bargain, holding fast on the continuance of the military offensive while conceding on the political front. Let us not forget that the LTTE was facing certain defeat at Vadamarachchi in 1987 when India interfered, brazenly intruding into Lankan air space with Mirage jet fighters to engage in what they called a ``humanitarian’’ food drop. President J.R. Jayewardene got the message and the Indo-Lankan Agreement that brought the Indian Peace Keeping Force here was signed soon thereafter in Colombo between himself and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Jayewardene well understood the predicament the country was placed in, bowing to the inevitable. There are those, like Jayatilleke, who opine that JRJ would have signed that agreement even before the air drop. That of course must remain in the speculative arena but given the explosion of the JVP’s second adventure soon after the signing of the Indo – Lanka Agreement – some will no doubt claim that it was unleashed because of that agreement which brought Indian troops here - the president would have been happy that he had only one and not two fires to fight.

As a correspondent in London, Dushy Ranetunge, responding to Jayatilleke’s think piece out of Geneva has said in this issue, conditions then were not what they are now. He fully grants the necessity for an ``extensive and progressive political solution after the demise of the LTTE, not during or before.’’ There will be many who agree with this point of view. But the question is whether Sri Lanka risks endangering the present military advances prior to their successful completion by not helping India to help us. We believe that there will be no repetition of the Indian action of 1987 but there will be other pressure, subtle and otherwise. Given that the Sri Lanka government, and hopefully the entire polity here, is committed to a solution that is just and fair to the Tamils, why do we not lay a generous devolution package on the table without further delay?

Given that it has an enlightened leader in Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the UNP will not attempt to sabotage such an attempt. Wickremesinghe, as an authoritative foreign affairs commentator has said in this issue, better understands the imperatives of good relations with Tamil Nadu than most other politicians in this country. Outside the lunatic fringe, there will not be serious objection to a fair deal to the Tamils. The LTTE and its leader will never be satisfied with anything less than separation. Negotiations with the Tigers, unless they lay down arms, will only abort the real prospect of finishing them off once and for all. We cannot repeat past mistakes by giving them space to weather the military heat just as they are about to get burnt. That is not an option now. As we well understand, all Tamils are not Tigers and the non-Tiger Tamil constituency is what must be satisfied as the war is fought to a finish. We must be big enough to do that in the interest of all our people and unborn generations.

- Sri Lanka Guardian