Action vs Reaction

All anti-Tiger political parties and the Regime are in political dilemma rather than pro-LTTE parties like the TNA. Is TNA’s decision correct?

By Mathali

(March 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The TNA has refused the invitation of so called political cohabitation extended by President Mahinda Rajapaksha. The President called for a special meeting with other Tamil and Tamil speaking political parties at Temple Trees on the evening of March 26 to highlight/discuss the new political scenario in the country. All anti-Tiger political parties and the Regime are in political dilemma rather than pro-LTTE parties like the TNA. Is TNA’s decision correct?

I would argue that the TNA has taken a good and genuine decision this time. I am not talking of the ongoing war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam known as the Tamil Tigers in the small jungles and civilized areas in Wanni. The war will clear the ground of terrorists, but we should not imagine that the roots of terrorism in the Island Nation will be wiped out. There is no evidence to suggest that the Regime is making genuine efforts to solve the real problems of the Tamil civilians who continue to suffer. The Mayor of Batticaloa raised an alarming issue at the meeting today evening. According to her sources the Government is issuing anti-pregnancy injections to females within the IDPs. But Minister Nimal Siripala vehemently denied there was anything like that happening. He added that even if it was to be done, people would refuse it because doctors, nurses and also patients are all Tamils. This was revealed by a reliable source in the Temple Trees. Is this the first step towards the elimination of the Tamil community? Is this the first step in creating a permanent vacuum of Tamil leadership in this pluralist country?

The regime is creating a mindset in the south (especially among the Sinhala community and other minorities) to count every square kilometre of land they want to be liberated from the Tamil Tigers. They are perhaps envisaging a future for Sri Lanka with empty land and number of refugee camps in the North, without concern for the present situation. People at different levels of the social system have not yet understood the post-war period. There seems to be no reflection on what will happen to the country in five or ten years.

At the meeting at Temple trees TULF leader, V. Anandasangaree criticized the Government’s policy and its ally, the EPDP’s actions in the Northern areas. He demanded that the huge barriers in Jaffna be removed and human rights violations carried out by the EPDP members with Government support be immediately stopped. An EPDP leader, replying to these allegations, said that “Sangaree must stop. We are doing the right things and walking on prompt path. Nobody can stop our process,” reliable sources from the Temple Trees revealed. I have already mentioned earlier that the pro-Government political parties are facing a political dilemma over their friendship with the head of the Regime. Otherwise the end of the LTTE would have been a good chance for the TNA to rethink their political drama on the democratic path rather than as puppets of the Government. There seems to be little concern for the people and the leadership vacuum in the Tamil Community.

In this context, the appeal to the Sri Lankan diaspora to return to their homeland made by President Mahinda Rajapaksha in his Independence Day address was another political drama. Franklin D. Roosevelt, former President of United States, had once said, “We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction.” When can we achieve lasting peace in Sri Lanka? Time will tell us more.

-Sri Lanka Guardian