Wake-up call from Lahore

By N Sathiya Moorthy

(March 08, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Enough has been written about the gruesome attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan, but no words would suffice to explain it – or, explain it away -- as the implications for the island-nation and the region as a whole are far-reaching. It is a crude reminder for Sri Lanka, which is slowly but surely winding up terrorism nearer home that mindless attacks of the kind are not confined to one’s won territorial borders.

This was the first time that terrorists have targeted Sri Lankan sportspersons, nearer home or afar. Under possible/imminent threats of the kind from the LTTE nearer home, Sri Lanka had witnessed foreign teams calling off their pre-fixed cricketing tours to the island-nation in the past.

Yet, the LTTE was known to have celebrated Sri Lankan victory in World Cup finals on earlier occasions. Yet, the last time round, the LTTE did target Colombo City from the air during the World Cup finals. This forced a ‘black-out’ through the city and denied the cricket-crazy citizenry the opportunity to watch the game on the television at night.

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama pointed out, it’s the first time Sri Lankans have been targeted by terror groups in foreign nations. Needless to recall, the LTTE had killed EPRLF leader Padmanabha and 15 others in Chennai, capital of the south Indian State of Tamil Nadu, years ago. On an earlier occasion, LTTE chief Prabhakaran and PLOTE founder Uma Maheswaran had shot at each other on the busy Pondy Bazar Street, again in Chennai.

It was all part of a fratricidal war among Tamil militant groups – or, the one-sided annihilation that the LTTE launched against the rest of them all. They did not involve the LTTE, or any other Tamil militant/terror group targetting those outside their ilk, including personnel of the Sri Lankan armed forces or political leaders.

The implications of Bogollagama’s observations would sink in deeper when considered against the LTTE’s willingness to kill innocent civilians of all hues without immunity on the island-nation. Overseas, the outfit also caused the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Another score died with Gandhi that fateful night.

Going beyond the observation, Bogollagama did not rule out the possibility of an LTTE hand in the ‘Lahore attack’ on Sri Lanka cricketers. It’s not clear if the Foreign Minister, or others in the Government holding a similar view, implied that the LTTE did it all – or, was in cohorts with local elements, or if local elements acted for and on behalf of the LTTE, with or without motives of their own.Host Pakistan has been quick to rule out the possibility as suggested by Minister Bogollagama in that country. They have also denied all suggestions of an ‘Indian hand’ in the affair. To Bogollagama and Sri Lanka should go the credit of setting the record straight, after certain elements in Pakistan, including Government Ministers, had played mischief on this score.

Obviously, Minister Bogollagama was acting cautiously, pending a final verdict on the identity of the terrorists involved, from the Pakistani investigators. If any trace of truth is found to be there, the LTTE can then can expect all remaining sympathies of the international community – or, sections thereof – to evaporate without trace. It would be particularly so in the context of the current humanitarian crisis in the North, where much of the international community found itself arguing the LTTE’s case – whatever the intention.

Conversely, for the Sri Lankan State to claim that the LTTE has spread its wings on its own – or, has allies elsewhere -- would be an admission that the outfit could not be wished away, as has been predicted all along. The complex nature of a collusion of the kind, if found true, could mean worse as much for Sri Lanka as for the rest of the world. In the island-nation, the ethnic war could find a sudden revival, if not immediately – and could take more dangerous turns than is conceivable.

There is clear evidence to the presence of active LTTE sympathisers and front organisations in western countries. Any connivance of the kind, as is being sought to be made out in the context of the ‘Lahore attack’, would indicate that they could double for jihadi groups in regions of the world where the latter could not be seen as present and active.

If pro-LTTE protests in global capitals in recent weeks are any indication, then the host governments have a huge problem on their hand – than they might have fathomed, or may want to acknowledge, either. Thus it becomes absolutely necessary for the Sri Lankan Government to satisfy itself completely about the truth the suspicions about possible LTTE involvement in Lahore.

It is to sovereign States that sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacrosanct. For terror groups, neither has any meaning – as long as their goals are met. What these goals are, and why those goals should be what they are beats comprehension. It is particularly so in this case.

In turn, this has given a new meaning to sovereignty and territorial integrity as far as protecting one’s citizens go. Neighbouring India has cried itself hoarse over the past decades, on cross-border terrorism, and nations like the US and Israel have taken pro-active positions. Sri Lanka may not find the need, nor the wherewithal, to ape the latter – but it definitely has a role to play in relation to the former.

Lahore is only a wake-up call that transcends the immediate needs and territorial jurisdiction of the Sri Lankan State. When it comes to fighting global terrorism, it does not stop with the LTTE. There is also cross-border terrorism of a kind, in fighting which Sri Lanka has now acquired home-grown expertise and capabilities. They need to be shared.

(The writer is Director, Chennai Chapter of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), the Indian policy think-tank, headquartered in New Delhi. The article an originally carried by the Daily Mirror, Colombo based daily news paper.) -Sri Lanka Guardian