(June 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The great federal debate began long before Prabhakaran was born. But it was Prabhakaran who committed the Sri Lanka government to accept it as a matter that requires examination as the solution to the problem in the Oslo Declaration We did so in a state of feebleness before the Norwegians just as when we signed the 13th Amendment before the Indians.
The UNP is more servile and subjugated to international opinion than any other political party except the Communist Party. Both the UNP and the Communist Party are reined by foreign elements. It is not surprising two parties with so divergent views agreed on a federal concept as the final solution.
It is equally not surprising at elections both the parties are not acceptable to the people. The people vote for a national agenda-not an agenda dictated by a foreign hand.
Oslo Declaration was greeted by the UNP as a major triumph in their negotiating process while the critics argued against it as a stepping stone to a separate state.
Basic proposal
It is worth while harking back to the approved text of the Royal Norwegian government outlining the basic proposal which was hailed by the UNP government as jettisoning the Eelam concept-
"the parties agreed to explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self determination in areas of historical Tamil habitation of the Tamil speaking peoples based on a federal structure within a federal framework within a united Sri Lanka."
Sri Lanka delegation to Oslo talks consisted of G.L.Peiris, Milinda Molegoda, Rauff Hakeem and Bernard Goonetilleke. LTTE was represented by Anton Balasingham, Adele Balasingham, Jay Maheswaran and R.Rudrakumaran.
Looking back at the text it is frightening and if implemented would have placed Sri Lanka in peril. It recognizes the (a) concept of internal self determination and (b) such internal self determination in areas of historical Tamil habitation.
It was agreed at a time when Sri Lanka had merged the provinces of North and East which were depicted to constitute Eelam on the maps of the LTTE. Yet the term 'historical Tamil habitation of the Tamil speaking people' can be extended to mean the tea country in the hills to form a homeland of the Tamil speaking people.
Oslo Declaration did in fact extend the borders of Eelam reaching beyond the North and East.
Furthermore it introduced dissolution of the unitary state to be replaced with a federal constitution. Envisaged within a federal constitution was the creation of internal self determining unit for the Tamil speaking people on a vague historical concept.
Indeed, crafty word play by the Norwegians which escaped our delegation and UNP government which went overboard with the sight of the word 'Federal'. Fortunately, Prabhakaran disassociated himself with the text and the local patriotic forces were sufficiently enlightened to highlight the impending dangers. We never came closer to establishing Eelam and yet Ranil Wickremesinghe determined it as a historic victory. The belief that undermined our inner strength was the bloated image of the LTTE war machine and a view of a war incapable of being won. Naturally the chicken-hearted saw in the 2002 December Oslo Declaration as a golden egg with the yoke of peace.
The state of mind is best reflected in the transcript at the press conference at the Peace Talks at Sattahip Thailand in September 2002, where G.L.Peiris in the presence of Anton Balasingham asserted:
"Well, all I would like to say is that the overwhelming majority of people in the country are solidly behind peace. There cannot be any question about it. Across the political divide there is a deep desire for peace…..The country does not believe in war. This war has gone on for 18 years; we can see the destruction that has been caused by the war. And today the country is deeply committed to a political process and there is a profound conviction that is the only key to a viable solution." It was not a winnable war so the process of appeasement was to grant the maximum and leave the rest to history.
In 2009, in retrospect such a bounty on a platter is virtually unthinkable. It is the reason for those in the West, the Diaspora, the NGO community, and the Colombians to counter by attempting to degrade the victories on the war front by raising the issues of humanitarian violations, war crimes and the plight of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to achieve through a political solution what was not reachable in their war or peace exercises.
Political solution
LTTE and their local and foreign coterie lost on both fronts - in war efforts and peace negotiations. The final resting place is in the forum of political solutions; to which they will next turn their attention. So must others.
The political solution must be to attend to the grievances of the minorities and not to confer more power to minority politicians by which the ordinary people do not gain any or sufficient benefits. The grievances of economic, social and cultural nature which are the pressing demands include the hardships faced by children can be fast tracked only by the central government. IDPs must be given better facilities and be resettled in their homes swiftly. This again is the province of the central government and beyond the reach of the peripheral outfits. These are the priority issues which need immediate remedial measures. The IDPs is the show piece for foreign interventionists. It is the make or break issue for Sri Lanka with foreign aid and the attending NGO personnel. The country could be held to ransom and it must be handled delicately to safeguard the image of the country and win the hearts of the displaced people.
The soundings have already being made by some Government MPs partial to a federal framework leaning on an extensive devolution pattern which could lead to secession. Among them are those left leaning internationalists and some recent crossovers from the UNP and those inclined to federal solution. In the opposition in parliament there are stalwarts still under the influence of western embassies and NGOs propagating the federal formulas under deceptive captions.
Supportive
Both in the government and the opposition the bedrock is supportive of a country that will be never be placed on the road to secession.
It is because the people voted for Mahinda Rajapaksa as President and for his Unitary State platform on which he stood; and he utilized his presidential powers to defeat the LTTE comprehensively, that we are blessed not to be in the hands of Norwegians reading out the text of the Oslo declaration.
The decision again is with the people. Vote for any party of your choice for any candidate of your choice but for candidates who stand firmly for a unitary state and not yield an inch to separatism, peacefully or otherwise. In a nutshell, vote to retain the glory achieved by our forces with blood sweat and toil to eliminate terrorism without any revival of a movement towards the creation of two states again.
The value of the vote is two fold. It will bring to parliament from the government and the opposition, the patriotic members to the forefront, who will not stoop to sell the country with local and foreign internationalists. It will silence those politicians who seek to divide the nation. Afraid of the voter-as patriotic voters irrespective of politics- constitute the majority in both the main parties, such loose talk will soon fade away. There could also be those who will try to win the minorities with sweet talk on IDPs and win the majority bashing the 13th Amendment comprehensively. That blend will win only a handful of supporters.
Such men can do as much damage to the country wittingly or unwittingly as J.R.Jayawardene.
The title of this article is 13th Amendment-- plus or minus? But there is hardly anything there about that. Mahinda Rajapakse government has promised the UN and even to Japan and India , that Sri Lanka will implement 13th Amendment. Gomin D. says . "We did so in a state of feebleness before the Norwegians just as when we signed the 13th Amendment before the Indians." Simply put, to support 13th Amendment is unpatriotic and internationalist. Why doesn't Gomin D. oppose the government support to 13th Amendment. Even Dayan J. in Geneva supports 13th Amendment. Why keep an unpatriotic fellow there. Also, Gomin D. ridicules the governments "sweet talk " about IDPs. Why does Gomin D. not lead the patriotic front against all this?
Terror in people that existed since the 1970s is real. Conditions have to arrive when anyone could feel that they could go anywhere freely. That is not there today. That's the effect of terrorism. There is a lot for the military to do before the politicians swoop in like vultures onto a dead carcass. The foremost authority on intra-state wars, Professor Monica Toft of Harvard University showed that for lasting peace, the military of the winning party should patrol the territory and win the hearts and minds of the people.
She spoke on Sri Lanka’s war the day following the declaration by the President and politely hinted that peace depends on what the government is going to do next. The IDPs need to be treated fairly, no doubt. At the same time justice has to be done regarding the people that are never talked about, that is, those who were brutally massacred by LTTE in their successful ethnic cleansing campaign. IDPs are not simply those in camps. There are many who moved Southward due to terrorism.
The past royalty was royalty, with a good share of Indians and even a Malay. People of different language / faiths lived in their villages. Sometimes like twin-villages, a Sinhala quarter and a Muslim quarter. It did not have territories with language / religion profiles so different from the other areas where people from other areas would feel like outsiders. Unfortunately, now there is such an area forcefully created. That is not acceptable nor conducive to future peace. An election would cause the terrorized people to return terrorists as their rulers (as happened in the Eastern Province) and there would be no representation for the people that were displaced. Democracy needs peace. Electing thugs from lists will not bring democracy.
This country was never partitioned into states, ever. Devolution is for Britain where it was three countries, England, Wales and Scotland. Devolution is reversing to some extent of the merger of former countries. You devolve certain powers to Provincial governments because the people are different in each former state. We have nothing to devolve back to except a unitary state. If that happens starting with pseudo provinces, the end result would be the unitary state called Eelam. The reason is simple. The enemy is powerful and sophisticated, too powerful and sophisticated for the pacifist Sinhalese.
Tamil Diaspora, which means the entire Tamil population, dispersed all over the world, mainly who are descendants of Indentured Servants of the Colonial British, not just Ceylon Tamils. The concept of Diaspora goes with its twin Promised Land. Just like Israel is the Promised Land of the original Diaspora, Eelam is the Promised Land of the Tamil Diaspora. That’s the purpose for adopting the appellation.
The threat does not end there for Sri Lanka. The leaders of the LTTE movement are still engaged in the criminal business such as drug trafficking and arms dealing. They have been in bed with Organized Crime for far too long. They even obtained loans from them.
Lanka has twin enemies, Tamil Diaspora looking for Eelam and Organized crime looking for a base to operate their business away from the radar of the Western Law enforcement and scrutiny of Western governments. India is their perfect market, which is easy to penetrate. Any Tamil controlled Province would be under the shadow of the Organized Crime. The caste hierarchy hugely helps in controlling and manipulating the people. The people in the camps probably are already grouped by caste. Sinhalese and Tamils are not Tutsis and Hutus. Though hate was inculcated in the Tamils for 5 decades they’ll quickly learn their mistake when the military works with them. Abolish Provincial Councils and give the military to help with reconstruction. Bring back Rajakaariya that the British abolished. It is now fashionable even in the US.
13th amendment is a trap to jeopardize island's politics. This reduces most popular president's power and increases least popular opposition leader. Main push behind the implementation of this amendment comes from anti-nationalist elements. People elected a president and continued to support him through all elections because they accept his policies. So-called international community is now trying to topple the popular government by political power rather than from an election.
According to 13th amendment members need to consist with minorities. This will lead to division among community more and more. The concept of minority has to be redefined to exclude racial identities in order to promote harmony among people. This amendment brought hurriedly for some reasons without subjecting to proper debate or referendum. Before implementing 13th amendment, this must be subjected to referendum. Former chief justice also recognizes this amendment is not suitable for our country.
The rule of thumb to recognize what is good for our country is to find who is behind the course. In this case, both so-called international community and Ranil Wickramasinghe who are determined to destroy our country are behind the push.
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