“You can't bring peace by being afraid of war” - JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe
| by Thomas Johnpulle
( June 16, 2012, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) This outrageous statement was made by the self-exiled JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe in September 2005 immediately after the JVP signed an election winning pact with the SLFP heading into the most crucial election of our time. Many a moderate was saddened by this attitude. Going by subsequent events, it clearly demonstrated what they had in their minds and they were not hesitant to make it public. It was obviously not his making. It follows the popular western saying, “you can’t have peace without war”.
Sri Lanka more peaceful than most neighbours
According to Global Peace Index 2012, Sri Lanka (ranked 103) is more peaceful today than most of its neighbours including India (142), Pakistan (149), Afghanistan (157), Thailand (126) and Myanmar (139). Sri Lanka’s previous ranks were 126, 133, 125, 125 and 111 for years 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007 respectively. Clearly there is a steady improvement.
Now the challenge is to maintain peace and improve on the indicators. It is the responsibility of all; not a few because peace means less violent acts; approximately 4,000 less violent deaths a year.
After seven years when one looks back at the dramatic events that happened since then, this outrageous statement has actually come true. May be it reflects a grave structural problem in our society or someone somewhere has not accepted the bitter truth. But what the JVP leader failed to realise is that his statement is a double edged sword that may be used by his opponents as well. We hear similar statements today from the TNA.
Rabble rousing
The day the 14th TNA conference was held in Batticaloa is a very sad day for all peace loving people. It was a day marked by violence, threats of violence and the burial of reconciliation. It started with the alleged ‘petrol bombing’ of the venue, a serious violent act. Speeches of TNA leaders were not better. News media reported these for all to read; they have been translated for a wider audience. It was highly irresponsible for TNA leaders to make such statements as they did. It is naive to think the reconciliation atmosphere between Tamil political parties and the rest remains same after these statements. Peace loving people on all sides should coerce these politicians not to make vile threats that have already caused irreparable damage to trust.
What seems to be happening now is the same set of events that unfolded in the 1960s and 1970s leading to open war. Only differences are the internationalisation of the problem, a different geopolitical balance and the availability of heavier weapons. These new realities mean an even more violent confrontation is in the offing unless this chain of events is broken.
Misusing Gandhian principles
As in the 1950s to 1970s there is abhorrent misuse of Gandhian principles. Gandhian principles were used in India not for the liberation of one ethnic community but for a large number of them. In fact India has the most number of cultures in a single nation. TNA agitations for Tamil exclusive demands cannot be comparable to inclusive Gandhian concepts. Gandhi never teamed up with colonials. Naming a movement that has its blessings from colonial nations in the west as Gandhian is a serious insult to the great leader.
Although the threatened campaign is termed ‘non-violent’ the truth is far from it. With most Sri Lankans vehemently against autonomy or self-rule based on ethnicity, demanding them cannot be non-violent. Division of the country is a violent event by any measure. The Pakistan-India division and the Pakistan-Bangladesh division were extremely violent and the break-up of Sri Lanka will not differ too much from its regional neighbours.
So called non-violent demonstrations will invariably clash with the police and troops leading to injuries and hatred. This is what happened for decades before 1975 when open warfare started with the killing of the Jaffna mayor. Even the champions of the previous non-violent campaign eventually decided to ‘fight’ for Tamil Elam in 1976 as their non-violent schemes failed to achieve anything. They had a choice; to give up their demands or to use other means to get them. They chose the latter when all non-violent means were exhausted. It will be the same this time too.
Self-rule war in numbers
Tamil groups resorted to violence after 1975. There was a large number of groups that cannibalised each other initially leaving only one group that claimed to be Tamils’ sole representative. TULF’s 1977 manifesto demanded autonomy for Tamils. TULF won the election in unprecedented numbers becoming the largest opposition party by seats. It received 421,488 votes. Armed groups with blessings from India took over the baton from TULF. The war left over 85,000 Tamil war widows in the island with the highest estimate of casualties being 125,000 Tamil deaths.
In other words, the war that started with the TULF manifesto killed a number equal to 20% to 30% of 1977 TULF voters.
It also killed two TULF leaders and scores of other Tamil politicians to the extent there is only a handful of senior Tamil politicians left. Interestingly most of them were killed by Tamil armed groups over disagreements.
This means even without the government not getting dragged into an inevitable confrontation, there will be clashes within that will take out a substantial number of Tamil leaders and people.
Civil disturbances, curfews, clashes and burnings can seriously disrupt resurgent economic activities in the north and the east. They can endanger the lives and property of Tamils living outside the north and the east. Unlike in the past cases of rioting, there are many other new dangers today that can cause even more destruction. Wide proliferation of explosives, guns, ammunition and mortars can cause worse carnage than rioting incidents.
People already start to feel the danger that lies ahead. For the five months to May 2012, there have been more Tamil asylum seekers from the island arriving in Australia than 2010 and 2011. Their numbers are expected to exceed even the 2009 numbers this year.
Lack of ethnic integration in war zones
The government takes half the blame for its chronic inability to implement a political solution based on ethnic integration for the past 3 years. Instead of arguing over various shades of devolution, a solution based on ethnic integration should be introduced. Northern Province still remains a mono-ethnic province three years after the war ended. This is a sure recipe for ethnic isolation, mistrust and total absence of opportunities for village level ethnic integration.
Eastern Province on the other hand has been ethnically integrated. Attempts are made to reverse these moves by merging it with the mono ethnic Northern Province. It is another move that will lead to violence. What should happen is to change the Northern Province to a multiethnic province much like the Eastern Province.
Depending on the international community to support disintegration of the nation is a dangerous mistake. The impact of the IPKF experiment is still to be found in the north. Indian national interests can never equate to Tamil ‘national’ interests. They are contradictory. Plight of northern fishermen today is just one example of divergent interests. No one talks about their plight today because it is inimical to their political agendas. After UNHRC vote, Lankan Navy has scaled down operations against illegal poaching by Indian fishermen in northern seas. There is no political benefit for the government to protect the fisheries resources of northern fishermen. Local Tamil fishermen now have to share their fisheries resources with poachers. However, unlike before even TNA and Tamil groups don’t complain. They too are wary of antagonising Tamil Nadu politicians. At this rate there will be severe long term effects on every aspect of life in the north.
Divergent international interests thus play against Tamil and Sri Lankan interests. Geopolitics will soon turn the north and the east into a playground or a battleground of various divergent interests. Welfare or safety concerns of the people are non-considerations for them in their quest for regional superiority. For these neo-colonialists, “there is no peace without war”.
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