Is Sri Lanka East or West?

by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam

(September 01, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I refer to the article ‘Libyan lessons for Lanka’ by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke, published in Sri Lanka Guardian.

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke states ‘The essay dated August 26, 2011, is by Stewart Patrick, a former Policy Planning Staffer of the US State Department, currently a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Program on International Institutions and Global Governance at the Council itself. Entitled ‘Libya and the Future of Humanitarian Intervention’, the article deals, as the subtitle indicates, with ‘How Qaddafi’s Fall Vindicated R to P’. In a particularly ludicrous but pernicious passage, he writes: "...To be sure, the atrocities Qaddafi orchestrated in Libya prior to the intervention pale in comparison to those committed during the course of other recent violent conflicts. In Sri Lanka, for example, the government killed thousands of civilians while finishing off the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. ‘

A relative of mine who is a native of Vanni said that the Government is now following the systems of the Tamil Tigers!

To my mind the above is similar to the assessments of other investors in Western/Global values. So long as they are independent, their assessments on the basis of ‘what happened’ / facts is the right diagnosis of the problem. The Sri Lankan Government, by expelling ‘foreigners’ – not only had the advantage of the claim of sovereignty and therefore ‘confidentiality’, but also – facilitated these ‘foreigners’ to be independent observers of Sri Lankan Government.

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke goes on to state ‘Is there a place for deterrence in Sri Lanka’s strategic options? Our Northern borders are acutely vulnerable for two reasons and from two types of threat, which may interact: a disaffected minority adjacent to a historically hostile and intervention prone area, and exposure of our assets and dispositions to stand-off weapons and aerial strikes. Our advantages lie in a large, patriotic population, a tough armed forces and a proven capacity to fight even in the demographically inhospitable North. A credible deterrent or ‘second strike’ capacity would entail the possibility of protracted asymmetric warfare along a long ‘border’.’

I take it that the demographically inhospitable North is therefore excluded from Dr. Dayan’s ‘large patriotic population’. In essence, to the Sri Lankan Government which is represented by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke - Tamils of Northern Sri Lanka are NOT patriotic. Dr. Dayan is confirming the feelings of Northern Tamils – that they are not valued by the Government to be ‘hospitable’ nor ‘patriotic’. How Tamils assess themselves as a Community, seems to not matter to Dr. Jayatilleke and therefore to the Government he represents. He sees and he concludes. Hence, they are to Tamils, as the US State Department is to them – Outsiders.

‘Outsiders’ have the Responsibility to be Accountable through consciously applied Objectively Measurable criteria in ‘finding fault’ with Tamils of Northern Sri Lanka. The Government used the Internal right of Sovereignty and Confidentiality to defeat the Tamil Tigers and hence is guilty of wanting it both ways! The more Tamils invest in Western systems - the more Westerners would criticize through their own analyses on the basis of their Observations. There is no dispute that Tamil civilians died and suffered immensely during the 2009 battle. How outsiders interpret this is their independent right. There is a saying in Tamil – ‘ when the eggplant grows in plenty it would come to the market’ (katharikkai malinjal santhaikku varum). The Government of Sri Lanka – failed to control the supply of words of terrorism and hence it came to the world market. Then it claims sovereignty and privacy!!!!! – back to the private backyard - Vanni??

Dr. Jayatilleke states ‘However, a recent successful experiment has been conducted in Sri Lanka with the armed forces’ support, for an orientation course of university entrants. In preparation for a worst case scenario, that model could be expanded to provide a huge youth/student populace, including women, trained in the use of weapons, and which could make any invader, secessionist or irredentist puppet regime (and its ‘rebel army’) bleed from death by a thousand cuts. As Fidel Castro once said when Cuba was under threat of intervention, "we shall arm even the cats!"’

A relative of mine who is a native of Vanni said that the Government is now following the systems of the Tamil Tigers! Now Dr. Dayan is confirming this to be the case. When I was traveling within Vanni a couple of years before the final Battle – one of the auto-rickshaw drivers said they were regularly trained to use arms in case of enemy invasion. I asked him whether he liked it? He said ‘yes he did but that his family – especially his wife did not’. My advice to Dr. Dayan and anyone else who cares enough about Sri Lanka to listen is – if University students are being trained in the use of weapons - that is carte blanch to rebels including Tamil rebels. An ‘invader’ of Government Territory need not necessarily be an ‘invader’ of the University system. In fact, Government armed force within the University system is an invasion of the University system except by specially appointed security staff. Armed intervention needs to be a project in the University system and not a program. The more a University student uses brawn, the less the usage of brain. To my mind, if Tamil leaders had recommended the above – they would soon be labeled ‘terrorists’.

As per my observations, Sri Lankan Political leaders appear to be led by who says something than by the Objective (Global) value of what is being said. Take for example, the inclusion of Colonel Karuna – the Eastern Leader of the LTTE who is now a Minister in the Sri Lankan Government. How could the same person who accepts Colonel Karuna as a Minister, accept LTTE as a Terrorist and v.v.? By appointing an LTTE leader as its Minister, the Government of Sri Lanka has in action, communicated to the world that it did not consider the LTTE to be ‘Terrorists’. An independent outsider has the duty to accept that verdict in action above any words to please the ordinary voter who goes with the wind.

When the UN listed the LTTE as a Terrorist Organization, the UN seems to have failed to take into account the effects of such a listing on the Tamil Community as a whole. If the UN’s intentions were to facilitate the Government to get rid of dangerous elements – the UN had the Responsibility to Protect Civilian Tamils from the effects of such listing. If it had taken steps to protect civilians back then, it is highly likely that it would have prevented the suffering of Tamils in 2009.

One of my bosses in Public Service here in Australia said about one of our former NSW Premiers ‘Do as I say and not as I do’. I now say ‘to me you are what you do and not what you say’.

The Government cannot be an insider as well as an outsider at the same time to the same person. Similarly, the Government cannot be East as well as West in this issue. The Government of Sri Lanka did not grow tall enough to be Global in this issue. Hence it is acceptable if it felt that there was a need to go East to win the war. In doing so, the Government alienated itself from the West – including all investors in Western system. Thus the Government helped the Tamil Diaspora group itself with the West and this effectively overrode in action, the UN listing of the LTTE. Karma finds a way to happen when it finds a Natural outlet.