Ignoring the Issues
By Binoy Kampmark
(May 21, London, Sri Lnaka Guardian) The demise of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), might give a moment of passing joy to the Sinhalese, chanting in the streets of Colombo at the quashing of ‘terrorism’ on the island, but such relief will be short lived. Images have been released showing the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, slain as he was trying to flee, though the material can’t, as yet, be verified. This is, however, academic. The pro-Tiger website TamilNet has come out with the words from senior rebel spokesman Selvarajah Pathmanathan: ‘We have decided to silence our guns.’
It has come as something of a shock. Three years ago, the Tigers controlled a little less than six thousand square miles of Sri Lanka to the north and east. In 2002, there was even a ceasefire with the opening of the Jaffna peninsula. President Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to end the stalemate, forcing the Tigers into a last stand soon after the capture of the de facto capital, Kilinochchi.
The ethnic troubles in that tragic country are long, and they go beyond the 26 years of conflict and 100 thousand deaths. Certainly, till the Tigers manifested themselves, the cause of the Tamils was a dire one. With the coming to power after independence in 1948 of Sinhalese-led governments, positions once favoured by Tamils were rapidly snapped up. Murders in instances of communal violence, notably those of 1958, soon followed. The seeds for a populist, chauvinist response were sown.
Dressing up political labels under titles such as ‘terrorism’ and registering them on international ‘lists’ is useful to an end (to be precise, the state’s end), but remains cosmetic. Yes, bombing civilian targets in a guerilla war and murdering political officials (amongst them, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and Sri Lankan President, Ranasinghe Premadasa), amounts to terrorism. The use of female and child warriors may also be highly questionable. The Tigers were certainly adept at disseminating fear, using suicide bombers long before warriors of fundamentalist Islam decided to employ them. Brutal tactics employed against the Tamil population are then justified as the necessary antidote, and a compromise with them seen as impossible.
This has, effectively, been a war of extermination. The final phases of the conflict, waged with a relentless brutality, have shown what is at stake. Dissent has been quashed in a heavily militarized state; extra-judicial killings and abductions against the Tamil population, frequent. The UN has estimated that anywhere up to 7,000 civilians have been killed and a further 16,700 wounded since the start of this year. A quarter of a million refugees have been created as a result of the final stages of conflict and humanitarian agencies barred. The wire-ringed refugee camps have become centers of squalor.
Having poured money and material into the campaign to win the war, the government will now have to keep the peace. Vengeance on the Tamil population, no doubt tempting for the Sinhalese representatives, will have to be curtailed. The idea of Eelam took firm root in Tamil identity, however distasteful their techniques might have been. Once the celebratory kissing and the crackers stop, hard decisions will have to be made. To cope with an estranged Tamil population, Sri Lanka must itself be reconstituted and reformed, possibly as a multinational state. Power may have to be shared, and constitutional reforms passed. Till that is done, peace will simply remain chimerical.
Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com
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I do have to say that this author is well-versed in the arts of grammar and writing, not to forget, his extensive vocabulary. However, I would like to comment on one statement: "the use of child soldiers is highly questionable"???
Granted, the use of the words 'highly questionable' may have been used as a simile to aide in the general flow of this article; but using the words 'highly questionable' and 'child soldiers' in the same sentence is appalling. The LTTE was notorious for its forcible use of child soldiers; and if anyone dare tell me that a 12 year old child has enough conviction to risk or abandon his/her life needs to seriously consider registering for a psychology course and study pediatric development or just develop a conscience, whichever is more conceivable.
It's a good thing that this author is educated and currently at Cambridge; unlike many Tamil children who were snatched from their families and thrown in to violence. I don't think the families of involuntary 'drafted' LTTE cadre would have the same opinion. What is 'highly questionable' is this author's range, if not capability, of compassion.
Why are so many people so quick to presume and discourage the hope for a better country? Instead of writing about what can go wrong or what is going wrong, write about and influence things so the same mistakes will not be made again. Those who have the ability, have the responsibility; else, you are just giving up on Sri Lanka.
Many pundits on terrorism or freedom struggle in Sri Lanka, talks about the present victory on defeating tiger terrorists is a temporary one.
These well known pundits do not understand, due to these terrorists, how many youth or younger generation lost many opportunities. Most of the youth in the north and east of Sri Lanka lost basic right to their education, parental love, learning vocational skills etc leading to decent living. They only being taught (by terrorist) forcefully to take-up arms. This was due to the Sri Lanka's inability to attract investment on developing the north and east as a result of terrorism. We hope, now the war is over, Sri Lanka can attract more investment, so that north and east of Sri Lanka could be developed very quickly leading to more opportunities to innocent tamil youth. More opportunities for youth will certainly, prevent youth taking up arms in the future. We are optimistic, that the rapid development of north and east will occur in the near future, as well as the political devolution. I advise these well known pundits to look at Sri Lanaka on a positive note rather than expecting negative things to happen. Sri Lankan people over here are more resilient and will not fall into the same pit in the future. Small advice, please do not take seriously of these political pundits (living in comfortable places) who are carrying out academic research without knowing the practical or ground situation of Sri Lanka. These research studies are only good for academic interest not for any other useful reasons.
Rangoda
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