Action Plan: Play For A Draw

| by Gomin Dayasri

( August 12, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Olympians don’t carry away gold any more. Instead they take home a piece of silver. The imitation ‘gold’ medals contain more silver (92.5%) and copper (6.16%) than gold (1.34%). International Olympic Committee has laid the gold threshold at a princely 6 grams per medal valued at $ 337 to make sure all that glitters is not gold.

At the bullion exchange do we have a sovereign value? We peaked defeating terrorism - a gold gained. Fame achieved is fast fading, factoring the shame sought by those that tried and failed to reach Olympian heights in war games at other venues. They are not alone - helped along by our procrastination and scatterbrain. Is the winner being disqualified on being erroneously tested positive of a forbidden drug? Those fighting men who fought the war valiantly would be devalued as much as the glory the country gained. We cannot be deprived of those golden moments.

Action Plan is the antidote prescribed by the State for an acute infection spreading on foreign soil. It is fabricated on an outline of the LLRC recommendations with a timeline for implementation with a nominated authority entrusted for the fulfillment of the task. To its credit, applause was forthcoming from the American quarter. It’s applause that needs to grow into a Mexican wave developing over the Atlantic to reach the shores of Europe. The diaspora would try to barrack with a slow handclap.

How should the public react? Obviously support the Action Plan to the hilt with the alien Human Rights outfits calling it a sham. It’s home made on a LLRC recipe; far from perfect but a preferred option.

Watch your step. The cheer is for the Plan but the Americans will sure await Action to shout encore. Don’t err by resting on laurels; the mock cheer could be a ploy to egg on to Action in their desired area, in true Wild West style, of a deceptive maneuver before moving in for the kill - like being served an appetizer followed by a bowl of hemlock as the main course.

Paper work is one thing - implementation is another! USA will sure insist on delivery on the contents of the paper. Opposition is placing wagers that it is a mere paper weight - that will not get off the ground. Even after a slow takeoff, will we sprint the required distance? Lackadaisical performance of governments in the past is their yardstick for satisfaction. Did the US fete a Plan to apply pressure on taking Action making it our Achilles heel to keel over?

We should prioritize the Action Plan according to our specifications based on the national need. Human Rights is a bogey the West fashions according to their memorandum. The West lives with an overflow of frailties, excavating our past in search of dirt. We must switch to a path that is beneficial for the future.

It’s the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people, especially in the North and East, that needs immediate attention. It should not be confined only to matters set forth in the LLRC report. There are other sensitive areas the LLRC deliberately omitted that need attention in the North and East - primarily the caste and dowry systems. It’s disturbing grievances for the oppressed castes and women in the North/East to whom the TNA offers no solace.

TNA talks long on discrimination but does not walk any distance on the caste and dowry issues that Prabhakaran dealt with effectively. Strange, many women’s rights groups including those elite hundred weeping sisters of Colombo, quick to toss a lifebelt to any lady in distress, has not even held a seminar to focus on the dowry issue that has left so many of their northern sisters helpless - wearing ‘black pottus’ to live lonely lives. Formidable forums doing useful work should take these issues in discussing the plight of the north and east; otherwise an impression may be created they have selected targets and sacred cows.

The so-called ‘less privileged members’ are left with a toxic legacy under an oppressive caste structured society that exists in the North and East. In the South both dowry and caste are retreating and these benefit should be extended to other parts of the country. Those that suffered immensely lauded Prabhakaran for wiping these twin evils; it has surfaced again with the emergence of a freer society!

Sinhala nationalists should encourage the government to attend to the legitimate Tamil grievances because national unity is the most effective response to foreign interventions and the call for federalism by the TNA. Mega development projects do not help those in dire need; enhancing their home economy and self - employment projects are the immediate need in poverty alleviation.

Action Plan will help us to tide over the November sessions of the Human Rights Commission. Knowing the legendary dithering that is associated with State officials and relevant line ministries, it is inaction we need fret over in the implementation of the Action Plan. Delivering it and its acceptance by the Americans means our commitments are down in writing; making it easier for them to seek enforcement and inflict punishment.

None can expect to implement the Action Plan to its final paragraph. All we need do is to strive with genuine intent credibly forward without undue delay. Europe will never let us off the hook. America and India are working hard keeping watch on whether we are tilting towards China with an on-off switch in hand. The TNA and the diaspora will strive to discredit the country. However far we go, it will bring no satisfaction to hostile forces. It’s our friends in the international community that need convincing material with genuine results on display to help them carry the message where it matters.

The ball is squarely in the government court. It’s not the Peoples’ court since it is beyond their control - mere spectators in the stadium. Action Plan has no escape clause. We are truly committed. Government cannot let the country down by its legendary inaction. This is not a game we can expect to win or afford to lose; but we can play for a draw rather than walk back retired hurt with head down.