At last, Sri Lanka can breathe easy

By: Shobori Ganguli

(April 09, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The moment one lands at Sri Lanka’s Bandaranaike International Airport, one is struck by the battle-readiness of this tiny island nation that has been waging a bloody war with Tamil separatists for three decades now. The airport clearly wears the look of a military base, complete with a standing fleet of fighter aircraft heavily manned by security forces and sand bunkers and Army vehicles lining the runway. While Indians are no strangers to terror, the sheer number of security personnel all around is a grim reminder of how dangerously close Sri Lanka’s civilian population actually lives with violence. After all, two years ago, on March 25, 2007, a day after we arrived on our maiden visit to Colombo, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam had bombed the Lankan Air Force base adjoining the international airport. Although no aircraft was damaged and passengers on the tarmac were immediately rushed to safety, the bomb attack was by far the most brazen act of violence by the Tigers targeting Sri Lanka’s nerve centre — its only airport that connects it with the rest of the world. While flights were immediately resumed, the attack was indeed the last straw for the authorities. In a way, the incident cemented the Sri Lankan Government’s determination to go for the final offensive which the armed forces are now in the process of concluding.

With LTTE strongholds Killinochi and Mullaitivu under the control of Sri Lankan troops, it is widely felt that it is now only a matter of time before the militant organisation that has claimed as many if not more innocent lives than Islamic jihad is finally defeated militarily. Although the LTTE’s violent history and determination to inflict maximum casualties on the civilian population, with some high-profile assassinations thrown in, do fuel the fear that the organisation may now resort to an underground guerrilla campaign, the Sri Lankan Army has succeeded in physically wresting away every bit of territory the Tigers have had under their control all these years. Admittedly, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s offensive has caused some concern about the war-trapped innocent civilian population. However, major world powers like the United States, Japan and the European Union have lauded his efforts to defang what is widely viewed as a militant organisation with a violent agenda.

Time, perhaps, for this gem in the Indian Ocean to breathe easy and welcome fun-loving carefree tourists instead of peace-keeping forces, aid workers and international negotiators. Time, perhaps, for this incredibly beautiful country and its people to concentrate on Sri Lanka’s biggest money spinner, tourism. Time, indeed, to reclaim an appeal that received a body blow in 2004 when the tsunami smashed into this serene tourism haven, exposing its helpless vulnerability to the forces of nature. Indeed, the tsunami could not have come at a worse moment for Sri Lanka. It finally ensured that tourist footfalls that had been considerably weakened by the ongoing civil war dipped dramatically post-2004, hitting the Sri Lankan economy where it hurt the most.

Today, Sri Lanka has made a remarkable journey to recovery since the tsunami devastation. Two years ago, on a drive down to Galle on Lanka’s southern tip, one was shocked at the sight of nature’s mindless destruction for miles on end, ghost towns that had overnight ceased to exist. Today, these very places stand transformed, plush shopping malls vying with prosperous fishing villages to bring the bustle back to Sri Lanka’s southern shores. Rehabilitation work has been a success here since aid agencies were able to work uninterrupted and bring in relief supplies from Colombo along the western coast largely undisturbed by the Tigers.

Unfortunately, the worst-hit areas in the north and the east were greatly deprived of rehabilitation since these were deep inside LTTE territory. And it is only now that the Sri Lankan Army has gained access to these areas, largely peopled by Tamils. In fact, one reason forwarded for the sudden crumbling of the Tigers is that post-tsunami the Tamil population here, among whom the LTTE enjoyed considerable popularity, was left thoroughly disenchanted with the manner in which the militants prevented relief work from reaching them, hijacked aid deliveries and blocked agencies not ‘authorised’ by the organisation. That the Tigers were also inducting tsunami orphans from refugee camps did not go down well with the people of the region who felt they had been robbed of their right to rehabilitation. With the Army now in control of these areas, there is hope that development in the northern and eastern parts of the country can now be integrated with the rest.

Admittedly, most of Lanka’s popular tourist destinations lie outside the conflict zone, but terror attacks like the bomb blast at the international airport two years ago have severely threatened and hurt the tourism industry. It is indeed unfortunate to read travel advisories about Sri Lanka’s gorgeous sun-kissed beaches, mesmerising lagoons, colonial tea plantations, ancient cities, their shrines and temples, rich jungles, unique elephant orphanages, all accompanied with a caveat: Check the political situation before planning a travel since the country is in the throes of a civil war. While Sri Lanka’s western coast has been relatively safe for tourists, the authorities themselves warn travellers about visiting the north and the east. As on date, tourists are encouraged not to visit the picturesque town of Batticaloa in the east or Trincomalee in the north-east, cities that still bear the deep imprints of their Dutch, Portuguese and British past, their shores having been touched by the likes of Marco Polo and Ptolemy.

All this may perhaps change now that the Sri Lankan security forces finally seem to have broken the LTTE’s back. Clearly, the Government is keen to get development projects started in hitherto LTTE-controlled territory. On Wednesday, the President appealed to the international community for loans and investments “now that the war is almost won and terrorism is almost wiped out”. There are also plans to reopen the crucial A-9 Jaffna-Kandy highway to the public by May once the Defence Ministry submits its situation report. The highway is being currently de-mined after security forces wrested it from the Tigers who controlled the route for over a decade. This is being done in the hope that the highway will facilitate free movement of people and goods across the island, and help increase commerce and reduce prices of essential items in the Jaffna peninsula.

This inspires the hope that, although gradual, the end of the three-decade-old conflict will return Sri Lanka to the pride of place it once enjoyed on the itinerary of every traveller to the South Asian sub-continent.

-Sri Lanka Guardian