He Crushed the LTTE militarily. But is he losing the real battle?

by Dr. M. Edward Perera

(August 13, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian)Amidst controversies over the above subject, I made up my mind to go ahead with my personal observations concerning what is taking place in Sri Lanka at the moment. When I say “personal” it does not mean that I am trying to draw inferences based on subjective experiences on the matters concerned.

Straightaway, I can start with a quotation from my own article written on Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, which had been published by one of websites. It says, “No one can hide the fact that local and international elements are working day and night to see the end of a great son of Sri Lankan soil”. I would repeat the same sentence in the present time in Sri Lanka with a little alteration. If anybody says that “he is no more a great son of Sri Lanka” definitely I would not defend this “great son” any more as the things have been changed to that extent in the meantime. The Defence Secretary has disappointed the whole nation. The objective of this article is to adopt an impartial view on this matter.

According to the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), after 19th of May 2009, there is no threat from the LTTE. But, the government forces were hunting suicide bombers even in the mid of 2009. (See the public notice advertised by the SL Air Force in http://www.airforce.lk/news.php?news=31) What is the assurance the GoSL can give to its subjects that this menace is over forever? I remember, immediately after crushing the LTTE, and then Archbishop Oswald Gomis publicly said that the war is not over. It sounds he knows better than anyone in the government that what is scheduled for Sri Lanka in the future. It may be the reason, why a Sri Lankan Catholic Priest namely Father Emanuel is giving the leadership to Tamil Global Forum. Anglican priest Desmond Mpilo Tutu, who is the Chairman of The Elders, has also a special agenda for Sri Lanka. Theoretically, they all are against violence but none of them showed any special interest to stop atrocities committed by the LTTE. Interestingly, even after defeating the LTTE, this kind of reconciliation did not come to the minds of both parties. Did Catholic and Anglican Churches take an initiative to tame Kumaran Pathmanathan, the successor of Prabhakaran?

Whatever the Church and the Western allies have in their agenda on Sri Lankan politics, there should be a transparency at least in the activities of the government. Gotabaya was known as a hardliner in the government from the beginning against the interference from Western elements but he was careful enough not to talk about the involvement of the Church as he has his family members related to non-Buddhists.

At the time I was praising Defence Secretary Gotabaya and General Sarath Fonseka in my article published in 2008, everything was OK with the contents of the write-up in the prevailing conditions of the country at that time. Most unfortunately, the situation has developed to the state of affairs fulfilling the expectations of the enemies of the country. Although I cannot prove it, I had the feeling that both the Defence Secretary as well as General Fonseka got caught in a trap set by the people who were continuously supporting the idea of a separate state for Tamils. The LTTE played just an instrumental role in this regard. What really happened was that they both suffered due to this well planned strategy of the anti-GoSL elements.

There was a time where the GoSL stuck to a military solution to eradicate terrorism out of its soil, even though the government top people were not in full agreement with it. But the Defence Secretary and the General were strongly determined to finish the war with extreme efficiency.

That is why the LTTE suicide cadres made bold attempts to assassinate these two veterans. Both survived to continue the war to the end but unfortunately the enemies have set one against the other to assassinate the character of each other. This is not what the peace loving Sri Lankans including many Sri Lankan Tamils living abroad expected.

The enemies had a clear picture on the strength of these two heroes and they knew what will happen if these two work jointly to bring peace to Sri Lanka since they both proved their extraordinary capability of completing the job assigned to them. A fighting spirit prevailed among public although only the members of the Armed Forces waged the actual war. It reflected unconditional mass support for the Armed Forces. The people had great faith that the same forces would help in the process of restoring peace and rebuilding nation.

However when former Archbishop predicted, the war is not over, he may have thought that there would be a “war” between the Defence Secretary and the former Army Chief. I am strongly convinced that this new war was planned by an unseen force. The whole country became divided. Officially or unofficially, publicly or secretly a part of the country has waged a war against another group. Earlier, the battle against terrorism could be won because of the unity among all these groups.

Ironically, one group is now defending the real enemy and persecuting the others who played a significant role in the defeat of terrorism. I wonder why the Defence Secretary instead of the President of Sri Lanka is wasting his energy on this issue. Despite his relationship to the President, DS is just another government official with administrative powers pertaining to his responsibilities. He has no special legal powers. It is for this reason that he once mentioned that handling of General Sarath Fonseka’s case would be done by a Courts Martial and Civil courts. But then why does the Defence Secretary not allow the law to take its course in the case of KP?

In a recent interview with the Island newspaper, the DS said “The Tamil Diaspora should be given an opportunity to join the on-going rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement efforts. KP and his associates are free to help us”
(http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=3793)
I am not a specialist in law. But I think my commonsense would allow me to raise the following question. What are the special powers given to a secretary of a particular ministry to free an internationally wanted criminal? When the DS Gotabaya Rajapakse says “KP and his associates are free to…….”, it can also be interpreted to mean that very soon, KP and all his criminal associates will be pardoned.

Otherwise there is no possibility of a notorious international criminal becoming a future Chief Minister in the North. He cannot be compared to Karuna or Pilleyan since they both helped the GoSL to defeat the LTTE. On the contrary, K.P. continued his active support to the LTTE and went into hiding after the Tigers were crushed militarily. He was still a Tiger at the time he was “arrested”. It is only thereafter that he said he was disillusioned with the LTTE ideology. The Defence Secretary can allow himself to be fooled but he has no right to fool the others.

KP was arrested under very suspicious circumstances. According to international law as well as domestic law in any country, delivery of a person into the jurisdiction of another State can be justified only through an approval of extradition by the government concerned. But it did not happen and the question why so is a question that will remain unanswered.

KP was wanted by Interpol for a vast number of crimes he committed including handling of illegal weapons, drug trafficking and possession of 38 odd bogus travel documents etc. I remember, nearly two years ago, I had a telephone conversation with Gotabaya on KP’s “hide and seek” performance. To my surprise, he was not that keen on the subject but now all of a sudden, KP has become a focal point of the Defence Secretary’s interest. It seems, no one can stop this criminal becoming a star in the horizon of Sri Lankan politics.

There were so many blunders committed by the GoSL even during the military campaign but I did not want to emphasize much on such matters as we all wanted to win the war. Once I was told by the DS that he would accept donations even from the devil. I do not want to see it as a negative expression as I knew his full commitment to the cause. He had a great concern for his soldiers and it was his idea to raise funds as much as possible to help soldiers and their families.

But now the situation is different. The witch-doctor (Kattadiya) needs the help of evil spirits ranging from Yaksha, Pretha, Kumbanda and Pisacha during exorcism to help a diseased person (Athuraya). These spirits however do not obey the witch-doctor without “incentives” (pulutu).
As children we heard lot of stories where the “Kattadiya” got killed by the “Yaka” for not having fulfilled Yaka’s wishes. Gotabaya did not identify exactly with which Yaka he can work together. That makes me feel a bit unhappy.

The Defence Secretary was talking about Tamil Diaspora. He has forgotten that Tamil Diaspora is not one single organisation under the LTTE umbrella. I have been working with Anti-LTTE Tamil Diaspora for over 27 years. Time to time they became strong and weak depending on the ability of controlling LTTE activities by the central government in Colombo. I admire the unconditional support given to us by anti-LTTE Tamil Diaspora when we worked hand in hand to counter LTTE propaganda abroad. Sinhalese expatriates are now disheartened over their wonderful Tamil friends withdrawing their support to the common cause due to the current developments.

As the Patron to the Sri Lankan Diaspora in Switzerland, I am experiencing this bitterness, as the newly appointed secretary of Tamil origin has already declared his resignation. A very strong anti-LTTE Tamil activist in Canada, who works with me closely asked for my help to publish an article written by him protesting Defence Secretary’s decision to cooperate with KP and other leading LTTE supporters.

This Tamil friend told me that his Tamil colleagues have now become suspicious about his claim that he is now an anti-LTTE activist. Another Tamil friend in Germany who spent his money, energy and time to counter LTTE propaganda during last 25 years expressed his repulsive feeling towards the events taking place in Sri Lanka with regard to KP’s role. He had already convinced 20 German investors to visit Sri Lanka and to join the rebuilding and peace process of the country. He told me that these German investors are now reluctant to invest in Sri Lanka as they do not trust the LTTE at all.

Under these circumstances, I do not see a bright future to Sri Lanka so long the GoSL does not realize its mistakes in relation to their confidence in KP’s role in reconciliation and the development of North and East. I do not hesitate to say that it is a big blunder. The pro-LTTE groups have already started humiliating Sinhalese and Tamils, who worked jointly against them. It seems, all of a sudden the power balance amongst Tamil groups is being gradually lost and the pro LTTE groups emerge with new vitality definitely under the patronage of the government of Sri Lanka.

When the GoSL wanted to get the LTTE proscribed in the West, consequently, these countries responded positively but it took a long time for the GoSL to ban it on their own soil. Now the GoSL wants the West to give their blessings to this unethical “matrimony”. For the GoSL, it could be a simple matter but for the world community, it is a big contradiction. Before the LTTE was militarily defeated, the GoSL’s main campaign slogan was that the LTTE is not the sole representative of the Tamils. Now the GoSL wants whole world to accept the notion that the government can bring peace and prosperity to the country only by cooperating with the pro LTTE Tamils. Thereby, the GoSL is neglecting a large number Tamils who would never trust terrorist outfits, as they know that the Tamil image outside Sri Lanka was totally ruined by the LTTE.

Finally, I would like to say that the DS backed by the GoSL is doing an irreparable mistake by trusting this criminal gang. KP as the new Supremo of the world’s most ruthless terrorist movement has not yet made an appeal to the head of the World Tamil Forum Father Emanuel to dissolve his pro-LTTE outfit. While KP was enjoying all the privileges in the “remand” at Visumpaya, the one who led the war is treated in a different way. This has become an untold story in Sri Lanka’s modern history. The law must be equal to everyone disregarding his or her social status and every criminal act must be dealt with severe punishment. It seems, Gotabaya is following the motto that “the enemies of my enemies are my friends”

According to natural law, everything is vulnerable to change. Gotabaya or KP is not exceptions by any means. It seems, the DS is contended with the ‘transformation’ of KP and believes all what KP is telling to deceive him. Now Gotabaya has also changed and he is not the same person whom we met some years ago. Chameleon is known to Zoologist as an animal that can change its colours whenever it needs. This is for its dire survival. With this camouflage, a chameleon can catch all what it wants to eat and digest. This transformation is good for the sinner but not for the victim. The ultimate question seems to be, who will swallow whom?

Our heroic soldiers gave their lives to defend the country from LTTE terrorism and to keep it as a unitary country. The still active Tigers have only changed the forest but not the stripes. The government should not belittle the contribution of the heroic sons and daughters who sacrificed there present for our tomorrow.