Posts filed under 'transCurrents NewsFeatures'
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj
An important militaristic development is unfolding in the Northern theatre of war!.
The 57, 58 and 59 divisions of the army continue to battle it out with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) within the Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitheevu districts in the North – west, south and South – east of the Northern Province while the 53 and 55 divisions are engaging in combat along the Kilaly – Muhamaalai – Nagar Kovil axis inside the Jaffna peninsula.
While fighting goes on almost on a daily basis in the Northern mainland known generally as the Wanni the Peninsula witnesses intense exchange of artillery fire each day.
There are also occasional skirmishes and minor offensives of a limited nature.
Line of control
As of now the initiative is with the security forces who are frequently launching attacks along the Kilaly – Muhamalai – Nagar Kovil axis.
The time, place and intensity of such attacks is decided and determined by the security forces.
The LTTE for the time being is merely reacting and responding to military initiatives by fighting what is essentially a defensive war.
The greater part of the Jaffna peninsula and outlying Islands are under the control of the armed forces. The LTTE controls the under – developed, sparsely populated areas in the South, South – west and south – east of the peninsula.
These areas consist of the Pachchilaippally AGA division and parts of the Thenmaratchy and Vadamaratchy – east AGA divisions. Some of these areas fall under the Jaffna district while others come under Kilinochchi district.
All areas of the Peninsula south of Nagar Kovil on the east coast, Muhamaalai in the middle and Kilaly in the west are under LTTE control.
Thus the effective line of control is along an axis comprising Kilaly – Muhamaalai – Nagar Kovil.
This is a “rekha” that both sides have been trying to cross for many years.
The LTTE conducted phase – four of its staggered “unceasing waves” (Oyatha Alaigal) operation in 2000 to extend this line further north but failed.
The tigers also made an abortive attack in Muhamalai in August 2006 to reach the defences at Muhamaalai.
The armed forces conducted “Operatio Agnikheela” in April 2001. It was a colossal disaster. Security forces also made a determined push in October 2006 that failed.
There were also two limited offensives in November and December last year.
Retaking Elephant Pass
The strategic objective as far as the security forces are concerned is to drive the LTTE away from the peninsula and re – take the Isthmus of Elephant Pass that links the Peninsula and mainland.
For this the armed forces need to progress southwards about 10 to 12 miles from where they are located now.
[near Elephant Pass:pic by Oliver van Straaten]
The terrain consists of plains, grasslands, fields, marshes, scrub jungle, coconut and palmyrah groves etc.
Despite the overwhelming military superiority of the armed forces they have found it difficult to dislodge the LTTE from entrenched positions.
The tigers holding on to territory are engaging in positional warfare like a conventional army to defend and retain it
The army is determined to push forward and re- take Elephant pass in the near future.
A key element of the military plans to push forward in the peninsula is the large – scale deployment of its newly created Mechanized Infantry Division.
The MID is a brainchild of Army commander Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka . It was formally “raised ” on Feb 14th 2007.
The MID is in actuality the 53 – 4 brigade that was designated later as the mechanized infantry brigade.It consists of three battalions called the first, second and third mechanized infantry regiments or MIR
The military personnel deployed in these MIR’s come from the 3rd light infantry battalion,10th Sinha regiment, 4th Gajaba Battalion, and 5th and 6th reconnaissance regiments of the Sri Lanka Armoured corps.
The MID has a variety of armoured vehicles including BTR-80A, BMP-2 , Type 63 and WZ551 for operational purposes.
Baptism of fire
The MID had a baptism of fire , literally.
It was on 14th February 2007, at the Regimental Headquarters of the 53 Division located in Kodikamam that the Mechanized Infantry Regiment was ceremonially inaugurated.
While the ceremony was in progress the LTTE fired its artillery accurately from across the lagoon in Poonagary on the mainland.
The Brigade Commander Lt Colonel Ralph Nugera , Lt. Col. Sumith Atapattu, Major Harendra Peiris, and two staff officers were injured.
A major factor that led to the establishment of the MID was the military debacle on October 11th 2006 when the army tried to push southwards to Elephant pass.
The LTTE allowed the soldiers to proceed to some extent and then counter attacked.
[Abandoned armoured vehicle at Elephant Pass: pic by Thomas Berg]
An important highlight of the fighting on that day was the severe losses of armoured vehicles by the army. At least twelve armoured fighter vehicles (AFV) and Armoured personnel carriers (APC) were put out of action by the tigers in three hours of fierce combat.
Even as fighting progressed, GOSL troops backed by artillery went forward. The advance was slowed down to some extent by tiger artillery as well as mines.
Two Main Battle Tanks (MBT) were hit by anti – tank “monster” mines. These mines were placed and triggered by the Victor unit of the LTTE which specialises in anti – tank and anti – armoured vehicle warfare.
After the first MBT tank was hit and rendered non – operational the second MBT overtook it and proceeded ahead. This too was hit in turn by a “monster” anti – tank mine.
A third armoured vehicle moved in a different direction and fell into a deep, waterlogged ditch. It was a pit dug and covered up with vegetation.
It was a well camouflaged tiger trap.This too was laid by the Victor unit and demonstrated that the LTTE excelled in both using modern weaponery as well as engaging in comparatively “primitive” yet effective warfare tactics.
LTTE’s Victor Tank Unit
The LTTE’s Victor anti – tank and armoured unit continued engaging in action during intensive fighting too. Despite having lost its founder – commander Lt. Col Akbar to a random army shell on Oct 7th members of the unit fought fiercely.
In addition to the earlier losses of two armoured vehicles to “monster” mines and another to a camouflaged pit – trap , three more Armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) were hit by anti – tank RPG’ s and destroyed.
Six AFV’s comprising 4 Czhech built T – 55 ’s and two Russian built ones were put out of action by the Victor unit.
The Victor anti – tank and armoured unit also fired at Chinese built Armoured Personnel carriers with success. Three APC’s were totally destroyed while another three were extensively damaged .
Altogether the Victor unit had put six armoured fighting vehicles and six armoured personnel carriers out of action within a few hours of fighting.
The armed forces had never sustained such massive losses in this manner before.
Significantly the LTTE had suffered a major loss four days before the fighting.
On Oct 7th Lt. Col Akbar of the LTTE was killed along the Muhamaalai FDL as a result of an army shell.
Akbar, a Batticaloa Tamil was the head of the Victor anti – armoured artillery unit.
Akbar who joined the LTTE in 1990 got married in 2003. He was from its inception the chief of the Victor unit.
It was named after former Mannar tiger commander Victor.
This unit known generally among LTTE cadres as the “RPG Commando” had its roots in the “Col” Kittu artillery unit and had its baptism of fire during “operation Sathjaya” in Kilinochchi.
It then became a sub – division of the “Imran – Pandian” unit named after two of Prabakharan’s trusted bodyguards.
‘Blood sacrifice’
By 1997- 98 the anti – armoured artillery unit began functioning independently under Akbar.
Members of this unit have vertical and not horizontal stripes on their uniforms.
Though many stalwarts of this unit like Maj. Navachandran, Lt.Col Manivannan and Lt. Col Chutta are no more Akbar had survived despite being a veteran of many “Jayasikurui: and “Oyatha Alaigal” battles.
Lt. Col Akbar’s death at a critical time may very well have affected LTTE fortunes as the Victor unit was of crucial importance in countering army advances.
His death however seemed to have inspired his unit members to perform well during war. Instead of being a bad omen it seemed to have become the “blood sacrifice” made to the Gods before war to ensure victory.
This was a practice in the lost martial tradition of the Tamils that has been revived by the Liberation Tigers.
Incidently R. Pageerathan alias Illango who led the attack on the Anuradhapura Air Force base in Saliyapura last October was also a stalwart of the Victor Unit
Illango’s greatest military achievement prior to the A ‘pura attack had been at Ithavil during the Elephant pass operation. LTTE cadres brought by sea had landed at Vadamaratchy east and moved inland.
They had penetrated Ithavil along the A – 9 highway at interdicted military movement along the road to Elephant pass/Iyakkachchi.
The security forces were fighting hard to drive the tigers away and clear the road so that supplies could reach beleagured troops at Elephant pass. The use of tanks and armoured cars placed the LTTE at a disadvantage.
It was then that the Victor anti – tank unit named after former Mannar LTTE commander got into action. Two armoured cars were hit by Light anti Tank weapons.
At one stage Illango is said to have jumped on top of a Buffel tank and shot dead the gunner. Illango had then turned the tank ’s weapons on the security forces. This act helped turn the tide of war it is said.
Deployment of the MID
The deployment of the mechanized infantry division is expected to turn the direction of the war in favour of the armed forces. Massive destructive power is to be unleashed on a terrific and widespread scale as the MID gets going.
The earlier role of Infantry advancing with the aid of armoured vehicles will be reversed with the armoured vehicles advancing with the infantry behind.
On Jan 31st this year the MID had its first taste of success. Thanks to the rapid deployment of the MID the armed forces overan the first line of LTTE defence along the Muhamaalai front. Around 25 bunkers were destroyed.
In mid – March the armed forces undertook another major push. The tigers quietly retreated and waited. Smelling a rat, the armed forces also opted to stay put for several hours and then withdraw.
Consequently military intelligence uncovered the LTTE strategy.
Apparently the tigers in anticipation of the mechanized infantry had embarked upon classical trench warfare.
In a bid to entrap the advancing tanks and armoured vehicles the LTTE had constructed a wide, deep ,and long trench behind their second line of defence.
Two other defence lines consisting of a network of trenches had been constructed behind the major trench.
The giant trench is wide and deep so the tanks could not bridge over the top but instead would fall into the trench and not be able to get out.
Welded “stars” of steel or specially designed blocks of concrete have also been placed in the way of the tanks so they could not get over or around.
The LTTE has forced a large number of civilians to engage in digging trenches and bunkers as part of defence preparations.
Every able – bodied man was required to do a minimum of seven days enforced “shramadana” in digging in one stretch.
If anyone wanted to opt out of it they had to pay a “fine” of 5000 rupees per week. The LTTE used that money to pay people doing manual labour to do the digging.
The LTTE kept 1000 rupees of the fine and paid the hired help 4000 Rs for a week’s work.
Trench warfare
It is noteworthy that the LTTE is engaging in trench warfare to confront the mechanized infantry formations when they advance.
Earlier the familiar tactics of the LTTE was “in – depth defence” where the security forces were encouraged to advance deep into tiger territory and were then counter – attacked.
Interestingly “tanks” were developed during world war one to overrun trench based defences.
During world war two trench warfare was modified to prevent defences being overrun by the mechanized and armoured divisions.
The French for instance constructed the famous Maginot line trench complex to stop German invasion but Hitler’s Panzer divisions just rolled around the end of it and kept going ahead.
A recent event of significance in the annals of trench warfare has been the construction of deep trenches in Western Golans by the Israeli defence forces.
Massive trenches are being dug by troops and civilians behind the slopes of the Golan heights in anticipation of a possible advance by Syria.
Meanwhile the Sri Lankan armed forces have also “delayed” their plans in the aftermath of knowing the trench warfare plans of the LTTE.
The Mechanized infantry division is being put through different types of tactical training to surmount anticipated trench based warfare of the tigers.
The unusually long rainy season is also a deterrent to the MRD as soggy, muddy terrain is not very conducive to forward movement by heavy vehicles.
In any event both sides are getting ready for the inevitable “big” bang.
There is no doubt that the mechanized infantry will play the decisive role in breaking down LTTE defences.
On the other hand the Victor anti – tank and anti – armoured vehicle unit will play a crucial role in countering the MID advance.
Ultimately the renewed battle for Elephant pass could be a novel form of trench vs tank warfare or. mechanized infantry vs anti – tank unit confrontation.
(D.B.S. Jeyaraj can be reached at djeyaraj@federalidea.com)
March 25th, 2008
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Provincial council elections for the Eastern Province are scheduled for May 10th this year. According to gazette notification on March 13th, nominations for Eastern provincial polls will be accepted from March 23rd to April 3rd. It appears that the eastern provincial stakes would attract more political parties than the recently concluded local authority polls for Batticaloa district.
While the spotlight is all on the east ,the north is being neglected in the current scheme of things. When the All Party Representative Committee (APRC)changed direction by shamelessly surrendering to Rajapakse’s diktat and presented the President’s directives as APRC recommendations , some mention was also made of the North.
It was said then that the North too would get it’s own elected provincial council when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) organization was dislodged from its present position and the whole province came under Government writ. Until that distant date an interim Advisory council (IAC)would be set up it was proclaimed.
Soon there was hectic lobbying for posts in the envisaged IAC. While anticipatory coo – cooing reached a crescendo within the dovecotes of the hangers – on , a “spoiler”, set the cat among the pigeons.
This was none other than former defence secretary Austin Fernando. In an article published in special section of “The Nation” dated Feb 3rd 2008, Mr. Fernando raised some pertinent doubts.
Mr. Fernando’s chief observation was that there was a difference between a” Provincial Council” and a “PC area”. PC and PC area were two different entities.He pointed out that though this Government had created the northern PC area as a de – merged unit, it had not created a PC under Article 154 A of the Constitution.
Austin Fernando who described himself as a “layman” in law went on to argue eloquently that the proposed Interim administration or IAC ran the risk of being “invalid” in law.
Since the IAC was not an “institutional arrangement to advise the Governor or PC” under the Constitution or any other law the possibility of the IAC being “interpreted as inconsistent with the Constitution” was there stated Austin Fernando.
There was a response to Mr. Austin Fernando the following week in “The Nation” of Feb 10th 2008. This was by Dr. K. Vigneswaran the General Secretary of the Akhila Ilankai Tamil United Front and former Secretary to the Chief Minister of the North-East Province
In 2006, Dr. Vigneswaran was a signatory to the Majority Report of the Experts Panel, appointed by the President to assist the APRC.
Here are some excerpts from Dr. Vigneswaran’s article
“Mr. Austin Fernando raises the question whether the appointment of an IAC for the Northern Province would be legal. Such a question could be applied to the Eastern Province as well. He rightly argues that a Provincial Council has not been constituted for the Northern Province under Article 154A(2).”
” I would go further than that and state that the two Provincial Councils established for both the North and the East under Article 154A(1) have not been constituted under Article 154A(2) since constitution takes place only upon the election of the members of such Councils. ”
“It therefore follows that a Provincial Council which has been established, but not constituted could only exercise executive powers vested in the Governor of the Province and nothing more. Legislative powers conferred on a Provincial Council cannot be exercised. As a corollary, it cannot also exercise executive powers conferred on the Province in respect of the Concurrent List since such powers cannot be exercised without the power to make statutes. Also, Articles 154K, 154L and 154M will not be applicable to the Provincial Councils of the North and East.”
After explaining further Dr. Vigneswaran then went on to suggest -
“The only other alternative would be to revive the merged North-East Provincial Council, the merger of which had been held by the Supreme Court to be ‘void ab initio’ for the tech nical reason that section 37(1)(b) of the Provincial Councils Act No.42 of 1987, was not properly amended prior to President Jayewardene making the Proclamation under section 37(1)(a). In my view the President has to take a bold initiative and present a Bill to Parliament an amend section 37(1)(b) with retrospective effect. Article 75 of the Constitution provides for enacting laws having retrospective effect.”
“If the President were to take such a bold initiative he would be applying a soothing balm to the deeply hurt Tamils of this country and would be able to convince the moderates of this country as well as the international community that he is genuinely interested in sharing power with the Tamils and the Muslims. I see this as a window of opportunity for the President to prove his bona fides.”
Whatever the validity and legal viability of Dr, Vigneswaran’s plea to the president that the North and East be re- merged, there is very little chance of Mahinda Rajapakse being amenable as the political implications of such an act would be massive.
The Sinhala ultra – nationalist agenda of the Rajapakse regime deems it imperative that the East remains separate from the North to facilitate speedy “sinhalaisation”. Thus the option of “re- merger” though legally practical is seemingly impractical politically.
The “debate” generated by Austin Fernando and K. Vigneswaran had its effect. The Government realised that there was a problem over appointing an Interim Advisory council. The idea was shelved and the appointment of a separate governor to the Northern province became important.
There is however much bickering among the Tamil lackeys of this regime to be Northern governor. At the same time there is also pressure on the president that a Tamil should not be appointed as governor to the pre-dominantly Tamil (95%) Northern province.
Thus the issue seems to be on hold for now and Eastern province governor Mohan Wijeywickrama continues as acting governor of the north too.
There is however a question of legality surrounding the issue in the aftermath of the Supreme court judgement of Oct 16th 2006 whih paved the way for North – East de- merger. Just as the merger was deemed illegal the legitimacy of the North – East governor is also disputed.
The de- merger of the North and East brought about through the historic SC judgement of Oct 16th 2006 has come to stay.
It was the chief justice Sarath Silva himself who wrote the ruling with supreme court justices Jayasinghe, Udalagama, Fernando and Amaratunga concurring.
The crux of that landmark judgement was as follows -
“The next question to be decided is in relation to the validity of Order P2 effecting a merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Section 37(l)(b) contains two mandatory conditions that have to be satisfied before a Proclamation effecting a merger is issued. The address made by the President to Parliament and the statements made as to the security situation seeking an approval of the Proclamations of the state of Emergency in the year 1988 referred to in the preceding analysis clearly establish that the President could not have been possibly satisfied as to either of these mandatory conditions. The endeavour to amend the mandatory conditions by recourse to the Emergency Regulations demonstrates that the President in his own mind knew that the two mandatory conditions have not been satisfied. An axiomatic principle of Administrative Law is thus formulated by Wade and Forsyth early in the treatise as follows
“Even where Parliament enacts that a minister may make such order as he thinks fit for a certain purpose, the court may still invalidate the order if it infringes one of the many judge-made rules. And the court will invalidate it, a fortiori, if it infringes the limits which Parliament itself has ordained.
(9th Edition page 5)
The Proclamation P2 made by the then President declaring that the Northern and Eastern Provinces shall form one administrative unit has been made when neither of the conditions specified in Section 37(l)(b) of the Provincial. Councils Act no. 42 of 1987 as to the surrender of weapons and the cessation of hostilities, were satisfied. Therefore the order must necessarily be declared invalid since it infringes the limits which Parliament itself has ordained ”
The SC judgement has been hailed by many for effectively de- merging the North and East by declaring that “merger” null and void. What has been overlooked in this is the logical consequences of such a lofty verdict.
For it stands to reason that the resultant consequences of such a judgement cannot be confined to limited spheres alone.One cannot engage in cherry – picking in this.
The Supreme Court decreed that the “merger” that had been in force for twenty years was null and void. Thus an “illegitimate” set – up was deemed to have been in force for two decades
Since the North – East merger was invalid , the old order had to be torn down and separate Provincial councils,administrations and governors have to be created for both provinces.
The perplexing question at this juncture is about the legal status of other related matters too. For instance how legitimate was the appointment of the governor for the merged North – Eastern province?
The same judgement that renders the merger invalid also by extension makes the N- E governor null and void .Therefore was the N- E Governor appointment legitimate or illegitimate?is the question.
This column posed this query to President’s counsel Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne who was until recently an adviser to the minister of Constitutional Affairs.
Dr. Wickramaratne has also played an important role in formulating the draft Constitutional reform bill of 2000 and was also a signatory to the majority report presented by the APRC experts panel.
Here is what Dr. Wickramaratne had to say about “legality” -
“According to the judgement, the Proclamation of the merger has been made when neither of the conditions specified in Section 37(l)(b) of the Provincial. Councils Act no. 42 of 1987 as to the surrender of weapons and the cessation of hostilities, were satisfied. “Therefore the order must necessarily be declared invalid since it infringes the limits which Parliament itself has ordained”, the Court held. ”
“The Court has held that conditions precedent to the exercise of the power to merge the Nothern and Eastern Provinces had not been satisfied. Although the words “void ab initio” were not used, that is implied. ”
“The resulting position is that all that followed the illegal Proclamation is also void. The appointment of the Governor is void. Acts of that illegally appointed Governor such as the appointment of the Provincial Public Service Commission are also void. Acts of the Provincial Public Service Commission are also void.The Commission must have made thosands of appointments and exercised disciplinary control over hundreds of officers. ”
Dr. Wickramaratne also ventured to opine ” Article 154 (3) of the Thirteenth Amendment states that Parliament may by law provide for the merger of two or three provinces. The merger was under the Provincial Councils Act. It may be possible to validate acts done consequent to the merger by special retrospective legslation. ”
“This is a matter that has to be looked into carefully” he emphasised.
This column also asked Colombo University Law professor Dr. Rohan Edirisinha to comment in this regard. Dr. Edirisinha together with Asanga Welikala, his colleague at the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) responded to some of the queries submitted via electronic mail.
Here are some excerpts from the observations made by Rohan Edirisinha and Asanga Welikala to the issues raised by this column.
On the questions of N- E de-merger, P.C’s, 154 A (3) and the validity of the appointment of Governor for merged North – East province -
” If one looks at the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, 154 A (1), it seems clear that a Provincial Council has been established in the northern province and the eastern province by virtue of a gazette notification of 3 Feb 1988 and referred to by the Supreme Court in its demerger judgement – Wijesekera at al v Attorney General, SC FR Appl. 243 245/06. ”
“It may be possible to argue however that a Provincial Council has not been constituted in the northern or eastern provinces as elections have not been held separately in each of the provinces. See Art 154 A 2.According to Art 154 B, a Governor shall be appointed for a Province for which a Provincial Council has been established. ”
“Art 154 A (3) is interesting as it commences with the words “Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this Article..” and then provides that Parliament may by law provide for two or three adjoining provinces to merge to form one unit with one Governor. This presumably even covers situations where the provincial councils have not been constituted. ”
“In the demerger case the Supreme Court declared that the merger of the northern and eastern provinces by the president acting under Section 37 of the Provincial Councils Act, was void. This was on the basis that the mandatory conditions that had to be fulfilled under that section for the merger to be effected had not been fulfilled and also on the basis that the president’s amendment of the mandatory conditions via an emergency regulation was ultra vires and, therefore, invalid.”
“The Supreme Court declared in its judgment that the merger of the two provinces was void but is silent on the validity of acts done pursuant to such a merger and also the validity of the appointment of the Governor of the merged north-east province. It could be argued that if the merger was void ab initio, then logically all acts that flow from such an act are void.”.
They also observed in this respect that -
” The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka usually is very concerned about not disturbing continuity, certainty in the law and settled expectations etc. These are the phrases used by judges to reject challenges to the constitutionality of legislation and even sometimes to refuse to overturn legal precedents which may be wrong, but have been accepted as law for a long period of time.”
” The fact that in the demerger case, the Supreme Court did not address this issue- the issue of the legality of the various initiatives, development programmes etc administered under the aegis of the North-Eastern Provincial Council is surprising, out of character and could even suggest a lack of concern about development and administration in the north and east from 1988 to 2006.”
” It could be argued that it demonstrated a primary concern for legality and technicality over empathy for the people/s of the north and east”.
Asked about the legality or illegality of the N- E governor and acts done by him , Edirisinha and Welikala said -
“Another possible approach is to argue from a kind of “presumption in favour of legality” perspective. Those who want to argue that the existence of a Governor of the North East is illegal will then have to challenge his appointment or his actions after the judgment, and until that is done and the courts declare his actions illegal, they remain legally valid. One will have to wait until this is done.Venturing an opinion before that would be premature”.
Asked whether re- merger of North – East was necessary for rectifying the issue their response was -
“The argument that the only way to legalise past decisions/actions is to merge the north and east again by retrospective legislation is weak. Parliament could instead by retrospective legislation merely validate all actions, appointments made by the Governor without going beyond that and merging the north and the east.”
Asked whether the fact that executive power remains with the President had a bearing on this, both replied -
“The argument that notwithstanding the 13th Amendment, executive power remains substantially with the President, (the position of Sharvananda CJ and the majority in the case on the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution 1987 2 SLR 312), that some clauses in the 13th Amendment itself, eg- Art 154 B (2) that provides that the Governor holds office, in accordance with Article 4 (b), could be used to argue that the President’s considerable executive power, in a way, validates everything.”.
Asked what the situation could be if the N-e governor position is legally challenged and upheld to some extent, Edirisinha and Welikala said -
“If the actions of the NE Governor or even his position is legally challenged and if there is a likelihood of the courts holding that some of these acts/ the Governor’s appointment itself was invalid, the President and Parliament can with a combination of the President’s executive power and the enactment of validating legislation avoid the possibility of ALL acts of the North-East administration being declared void. We are not necessarily endorsing such a course of action but suggesting that Sri Lanka’s constitutional tradition of ensuring executive convenience probably enables a government to deal effectively with such a challenging situation.”
Asked to speculate on how the courts may view the issue if it came up, both of them responded thus –
“There are no clear and obvious answers to the questions of constitutional interpretation raised. Various options exist, several arguments may be developed. A lot will depend on the attitude of the courts. Now that the Supreme Court has demerged the north and east, the court may well wish to cooperate with the executive in ensuring that what has happened in the past few years in the North and East in terms of administration and development, is not undone”.
It can be seen therefore from the comments made by Jayampathy Wickramaratna, Rohan Edirisinha and Asanga Welikala to the questions posed by this column that the legality of the appointment of the Governor to the merged north – eastern province is seriously doubted. The rationale for “merger” being null and void applies here too.
This then raises pertinent questions of a serious nature. If the N – E governor was “illegitimate” then what is the position of all acts done in an official capacity?
Can the fact that the President retains executive power suffice to justify or override the “illegality” issue?
In any event the power to make certain appointments was vested earlier with the cabinet of ministers and later the provincial public services commission and not the executive president.
Is re – merger of both provinces mandatory in a legal sense to rectify the situation? If so what are the political consequences?
Is new, enabling legislation with retrospective effect necessary to remedy the situation?
Why was this issue not addressed adequately during the landmark case and judgement of October 16th 2006?
Also why were not these crucial matters addressed in the aftermath of the judgement?
The focus has been on the dismantling of the merger alone without heed for other resultant effects.
How will the S- C respond if the legality of the N- E governor appointment is challenged before it as in the case of the N- E merger?
As the legal and Constitutional experts themselves have stated there are no definitive answers here.
In the final analysis it is the Supreme Court which ruled the merger invalid that must clarify all these issues and provide guidelines.
The “illegitimate” appointment of the North – Eastern governor issue is but illustrative of the problem and requires SC perusal and opinion.
With all due respect to the Supreme court it does appear that the October 16th judgement was only of a “limited” nature. There are other areas too that require clarity and a clear sense of direction.
This can only be done by the Supreme court in general and the present chief justice himself in particular.
For that to happen the issue must be raised in courts. The President or Government could explicitly seek SC direction.
Some civic minded individual or organization could also go to courts and seek a ruling.
Even some person affected by the N- E governor “legitimacy” issue could seek redress from the judiciary.
As is the case in many matters , this important issue about N- E governor legality has been allowed to drag on for too long.
It is imperative that it be addressed and rectified quickly.
Time is of the essence here.
March 22nd, 2008
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj
A proud claim by President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government during its military offensive in the Eastern province was that the armed forces were liberating Tamil civilians from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Rajapakse regime also boasted that no civilian was harmed when the security forces moved into the regions dominated by the tigers.
Foreign affairs minister Rohitha Bogollagama stressed this point when addressing members of the diplomatic community to explain the military successes of the east.
This columnist then wrote a series of articles in another newspaper exposing the blatant falsehoods and hollow propaganda of these claims.
[Walking past an office of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal Party Pic: Pablo Bartholomew NYTimes.com]
Technically the Rajapakse regime was correct in claiming that no civilian was harmed when the armed forces were physically moving into former LTTE controlled areas like Sampoor, Verugal, Vaakarai and the Western hinterland of Paduvaankarai (shore of the setting sun).
This was due to the fact that most civilians had vacated or been forced to evacuate from their homes prior to the armed forces moving in. Thus most of these places were virtually deserted when the military juggernaut rolled in.
In such a situation there were no civilian casualties simply because there were no people there. So there were no incidents during the physical occupation of areas controlled by the LTTE.
The government was therefore telling the “truth” partially in making these claims.
But the whole truth was starkly different.
The security forces had engaged in aerial bombardment and artillery shelling of the LTTE regions for weeks and months before the actual act of moving in took place. Hundreds of civilians were killed or injured. Their dwellings were destroyed or damaged.
Moreover these tiger controlled regions were in a state of siege for a long period during which the supply of food, medicine and essential items was restricted.Transport was curtailed. The chief means of livelihood , Agriculture , fisheries and dairy – livestock were affected.
All these were part of a cruel but effective strategy to compel the civilians into moving out from their traditional homelands.
So the people for no fault of their own were made “internally displaced persons”. At one stage the number of the IDP’s topped 350,000 in Batticaloa and Trincomalee. B’caloa in particular became a district of the displaced.
It was Mao Ze Dong who compared guerillas amidst the people to fish in an ocean.
The idea was to deny the “guerilla fish” the “ocean of people” to swim about
This strategy did succeed in the East. It is now being followed to a certain extent in the Vavuniya – Mannar districts of the North.
Despite the government boasting that no civilian was harmed when the armed forces seized tiger territory the reality was different.
The civilians had indeed been affected severely but not during the time when the armed forces were actually moving in.What the government did then was to obscure and distort the reality for propaganda purposes.
The recently concluded polls to local authorities in the Batticaloa district of the Eastern Province evokes a sense of Deja Vu.
Once again the Rajapakse regime is boasting about restoring democracy to the East. It is also citing the very low level of violence on election day and during the election campaign as proof of the polls being free and fair.
Much is being made of the low level of violence and government propagandists are pouring scorn on those who expressed pessimism about the polls being free or fair.
The situation is reminiscent of the times of eastern military offensives.
Yes it is true that the level of violence was very low if not altogether absent during election day. The “campaign” too was significantly devoid of major violence in the Tamil areas.
Comparatively the violence in Muslim areas was more than what happened in the Tamil areas.
The overall argument of the Government is that the Batticaloa local authority elections were free and fair.
If one were to look at what happened on polling day in a superficial manner without any understanding of the complexities involved it is possible to arrive at such a conclusion.
But the devil as they say is in the details.
In this instance it was not actual election day and the polls campaign that mattered but what went on before those developments in the East in general and Batticaloa in particular.
There was a time when the people of Batticaloa were caught between tiger terror and state terror.
With the conquest of tiger territory by the armed forces and large – scale re-location of LTTE cadres from the east , the threat of one terror has diminished.
The elections witnessed the tigers being conspicuous by their absence.
This has not been the case in the other type of terror.
The LTTE may not be there but the mantle of terror is now worn by its off – shoot the Tamil Makkkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP)
In plain English the TMVP means Tamil People Liberation Tigers.
The TMVP is nominally headed by “Col” Karuna now languishing in a British jail.
[Pillaiyaan casts his vote at a polling station in Pettalai, Pic: Eranga Jayawardena, via Yahoo! News]
In practice , the TMVP is led by his deputy leader Pillaiyaan who is now the most” powerful” Tamil in the East.
The TMVP functions as a para – military force in association with the security forces. It practises terror as a matter of routine.
The state and sections of the media who complained loudly against LTTE terror are deafeningly silent about TMVP terror simply because these guys are our guys or “Apey Kollo”.
In a bid to gain respectability the TMVP contested the recent elections. In the B’caloa municipality the TMVP contested under the aegis of the government adopting the betel symbol of the UPFA.
The TMVP has made a clean sweep of the B’caloa municipality and eight Pradeshia Sabhas it contested.
What is important in this so called victory is the fact that these polls occurred in a climate of calculated terror. Thus there is a serious crisis of credibility about elections amidst a culture of fear.
An important aspect of these elections is that apart from the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, all other contesting parties and independent groupings were connected to the Governmen in some way.
The chief opposition party the United National Party (UNP) and the premier Tamil party the Tamil National Alliance did not participate.
Thus the SLMC was the only credible “opposition” party to participate in these elections.
The absence of the UNP and TNA practically eliminated the necessity for a hard – fought election in the Tamil majority areas. This was a major contributory factor to the low level of violence in the Tamil areas.
Because of SLMC participation and the on going feud between Kattankudi’s Hizbullah and Oddamavaddy’s Ameer Ali the level of violence was considerably higher in the Muslim majority areas.
If the SLMC did not contest then the violence would have been much reduced in Muslim areas also.
If there is one political party deserving boquets for democratic performance that party is the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
Apart from the risk it ran of encountering violence during the elections the SLMC also withstood great pressures while campaigning.
The only signs of genuine electioneering were only in areas where the SLMC campaigned.
The Police and Government officials were heavily “biased ” against the SLMC. Many of its complaints were not taken note of by the authorities.
Despite the odds being against it, the SLMC performed creditably. It appears that around 75% – 80 % of the Muslim votes cast were in favour of the SLMC.The SLMC got the most number of Muslim local representatives.
The SLMC has demonstrated that it is the premier political party representing the Muslims in general and of the East in particular.
During earlier local authority polls the SLMC won 11 of the 13 Muslim majority local authorities in the East. The only two it failed in were Oddamavaddy and Akkaraipatru where Ameer Ali and Athaullah exercised considerable influence.
The current elections were for local authorities dominated by Tamils. There is a sizable Muslim population in some of these local authority areas but the Muslim are only a minority here.
Besides these mixed areas are only in the littoral “Eluvankarai” or shore of the rising sun. The hinterland is homogenously Tamil.
Theoretically , keenly contested elections may have been possible in the Tamil areas if the UNP and TNA had contested.
This did not happen and that is the main reason for the comparative absence of election related violence in the Tamil areas of the district.
The reason for the UNP and TNA keeping away from elections was due to terror and fear.
If these parties had dared to contest the candidates would have been snuffed out or made to disappear. Close relatives and active supporters would also have suffered.
Moreover free and fair campaigning would not have been possible. Vote rigging and ballot box stuffing would have been rampant.
Since the UNP and TNA did not contest there was no necessity for large – scale violence or fraud. Thus the polls have a thin veneer of being free and fair.
A culture of fear caused by a climate of terror has been spreading in the district. It was this that deterred the TNA and UNP from contesting.
The TNA has been at the receiving end of anti – tiger violence in the east for quite a while now.
TNA national list MP Joseph Pararajasingham was shot dead by the TMVP in a Catholic Church. Former TNA Amparai district MP Chandranehru Ariyanayagam was shot dead at Welikande by the TMVP. Several elected TNA members of eastern local authorities in Trincomalee and Amparai districts have been killed.
There was also the spectacle of close relatives and aides of TNA Parliamentarians being abducted by the TMVP during budget voting days. The son in law of Kanagasabhai , brother of Ariyanendran, son in law of Jeyanandamoorthy’s sister and the secretary of Ms. Thangeswary were all abducted to intimidate the MP’s into refraining from voting against the budget.
It was obvious therefore that the TNA would have been subject to terrible violence if they had dared to contest.
Thus by restricting participation the violence succeeded in preventing a free and fair election from taking place from the time that nominations closed.
Moreover violence and intimidation was prevalent to some degree at least. Some incidents were reported but many went unreported.
The TMVP forced many persons to “contest” on their lists. Some who refused like the teacher trade unionist Nandakumar were killed.
The “opposition” to the TMVP came from the EPDP – PLOTE – EPRLF independent groups and the EDF group. These are also linked to the government. By participating some semblance of a contest was afforded to the polls.
Even here the close relative of EROS local leader Prabakharan was abducted and killed by the TMVP.Also local supporters were warned that if any posters came up they would be killed. So the few non – TMVP posters came up only near army camps and police stations.
But in the grand scheme of things envisaged by the Rajapakse regime Jaffna is for the EPDP and Wanni for PLOTE but Batticaloa is for TMVP.
So the EPDP and PLOTE may be given a place but certainly not pride of place in Batticaloa.
The lions share in Batticaloa is for the renegade tiger faction .
The TMVP also terrified many Tamils into voting for them as they were now holding the “gun” just as the LTTE did sometime ago.The people were told that if they did not vote in large numbers their children would be conscripted by the TMVP.
Suspected supporters of non – TMVP parties were threatened with death if the others fared better than the TMVP at polls.
More importantly many Grama Niladhari’s were warned of dire consequences if the TMVP fared poorly. Also most government servants were terrorised into submission while the Police and army were patently partisan.
Voting cards were seized in many cases. No supporters or agents of non – TMVP were allowed in the rural voting booths. Few neutral observers or election monitors were seen outside the urban areas.
There were instances of ballot box stuffing and vote – rigging. Another big mystery was the sudden “black – out” during the counting of votes.
Still this does not necessarily mean that all voting was enforced. Also, not all the votes for the TMVP were cast unwillingly.
The Tamil – Muslim divide played a role in increasing voter turn – out just as in the 1988 North – East provincial council polls. Fear of the “other” community getting more representation by default was exploited to encourage voting.
There was also a sense of pragmatism. It was obvious to the average Tamil voter that the power equation had changed in the district. The new “power” was Pillaiyan and his henchmen.
There was also no real contest in the elections as the UNP or TNA were not in the fray.
Even if the non – TMVP groups won they would not be allowed to function by Pillaiyan and his cohorts. So in pragmatic terms the only choice available was the TMVP. It was Hobson’s choice.
During earlier times the Tamil people were conditioned through terror into submission by the LTTE. Now the Tamil people are submitting to TMVP terror. Masters may change but slavery contiues.
[President Rajapakse swearing in Sivageetha Prabakharan of TMVP-pic: Puthinam.com]
In Batticaloa there was a limited sympathy factor also in the case of Sivageetha Prabakharan alias Padmini who got the most number of preferential votes and is now the mayor.
She is the only daughter of Rajan Sathiyamoorthy the pro-Karuna TNA candidate brutally murdered by the tigers who later dug up and defiled his body.
The TMVP boys who concealed their weapons for a short period and were on their best behaviour for some time during elections are now back to the old ways. Armed cadres are visible once again. Taxation continues and conscription goes on.
Some TMVP goons are keen on using their new power in procuring spouses. Some girls have been abducted while others are being forced into marriage.
Most of the lists of elected TMVP representatives are likely to be re- constituted. Lackeys and loyalists of Pillaiyan are likely to be nominated.
[At the swearing in event-pic: Puthinam.com]
A group of nine civil society organizations undertook a three day fact – finding mission to Batticaloa in Fenruary and issued a report titled “Afraid to even say the word:Elections in Batticaloa” The group urged that elections in the East should not be held as they wont be free and fair.
An observation made by the grroup about the political environment in Batticaloa summed up the scenario precisely.The pre – polls assessment has been proven right in a post – polls situation.
Here is the relevant excerpt:
“If one uses a ‘toolkit for democracy’ and simply checks the presumed indicators without an understanding of the complexities and the instilled culture of fear, then the Batticaloa election process approximates freedom and fairness. But an examination of the whole structure of elections in Batticaloa reveals serious issues that undermine any such possibility: from the Election Commissioner, appointed in breach of the 17th Amendment; to the electoral lists, which do not include all eligible voters; to the decision by the UNP and TNA not to contest out of fear for their prospective candidates, thereby shrinking the choices available to voters; to the nomination process which has involved violence against unwilling candidates; to threats against voters and candidates alike. Even a few of these elements would undermine the credibility of an election; seen altogether, that credibility collapses utterly.”
Meanwhile provincial council elections for the Eastern Province are scheduled for May 10th this year. According to gazette notification on March 13th, nominations for Eastern provincial polls will be accepted from March 23rd to April 3rd. It appears that the eastern provincial stakes would attract more political parties than the recently concluded local authority polls for Batticaloa district.
It was President Mahinda Rajapakse who decided to go ahead with plans to hold Provincial council elections for the Eastern Province. He imposed his will on the All Party Representatice Committee (APRC) and made that entity “resolve and recommend” that elections be held to the Eastern Provincial council (EPC).
The Rajapakse regime’s undue haste in going through with EPC elections is rationalised on the basis that the long – suffering people of the province must have democratically elected representatives.
There is nothing wrong in this “noble” intention. But there is also a hidden agenda with an “ignoble” objective.
The merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces was rendered invalid on procedural grounds by the Supreme Court (SC)in its path – breaking judgement of Oct 16th 2006.
Thereafter the option of re- merging both provinces through appropriate procedure was always available to President Rajapakse.
Rajapakse who had been against the N- E merger right from the beginning utilised the opportunity provided by the SC judgement to de- merge and dismantle the Indo – Lanka accord legacy.
The joint N- E administration gave way for separate provincial administrations. The N- E governor Mohan Wijewickrema was re- appointed as governor of East and acting governor of North.
Once the EPC elections are held an “elected” administration for the Eastern province will be in place. Thereafter the de – merger would be concretised.
The Indo – Lanka accord provided for a “merger” first and subsequent ratification through a separate referendum for the Eastern province.
But once the eastern provincial council becomes operational after polls the EPC would acquire permanency.
Thereafter a referendum may be decreed necessary for re – merger. Given the current politico – military configuration in the East such a possibility via referendum is extremely unlikely.
Moreover the “de- merger” of both provinces could be made permanent after EPC elections.
The newly “elected” council with a “Tamil” chief minister may pass a resolution calling for de – merger and request a referendum to decide upon it.
Thereafter President Rajapakse may hold an eastern referendum and settle the merger issue once and for all.
The setting up of an “elected” Eastern provincial administration is also essential for the Rajapakse regime’s “re- awakening of East” project. India has promised massive assistance to the EPC once it is set in motion.
The official name for the renewal of east project is “nagenahira Navodhaya” though the province is 74% Tamil – speaking.
The Eastern project supervised and co-ordinated by the President’s sibling Basil Rajapakse has grandiose plans for reconstruction and development.
Though some development schemes are on the cards for Tamil and Muslim areas the overall thrust of the project will be demographic engineering.
The groundwork is now being laid for the gradual settlement of outsiders in the province. Within the province traditional Tamil and Muslim areas will be appropriated in the name of security, development and archaeology.
What is being envisaged is demographic alteration that would ultimately result in “Sinhalaisation” of the East.
For this a “puppet” provincial administration imposed upon the people through a questionable electoral process would be of great use.
The fact that the new administration could be headed by a Tamil is immaterial in this if the new CM is going to be a Government stooge.
The recent local authority polls was only a dress rehearsal of what is in store for the east in the name of democracy.
A puppet provincial council would also be of use in preserving supremacy of the security forces in several spheres of control in the east.
All these could go on in the name of democratising the east.
The local authority polls in Batticaloa was not a litmus test for democracy but a limited experiment to see how LTTE terror tactics can be replicated into winnig an election as done in April 2004.
The modus operandi will be duplicated in the eastern provincial polls and later extended to the north also.
The tried and tested methods can be adopted for Parliamentary and Presidential elections also.
If unchecked and unfettered this means an extra 20 – 25 seats for the Rajapakse regime in the next Parliamentary polls and a minimum of 600, 000 extra votes at the Presidential stakes for Apey Mahinda !.
Whew!!
Related articles by D.B.S. Jeyaraj:
- Endless Agony of Eastern Tamils Must be Ended
- Col. Balraj leads Tiger SF attack on three TEMVP – ENDLF camps
- Muslim-Tamil friction due to Karuna faction
- Karuna-Pillaiyan Factions of TMVP Clash in East
- Hidden Agenda for Demographic Change in Trincomalee
- “Will Tamil Kudumbimalai be Turned into Sinhala Thoppigala Soon”?
- Peace Moves Within TMVP as Karuna and Pillaiyan Bury Hatchet
DBS Jeyaraj can be contacted on: djeyaraj@federalidea.com
March 22nd, 2008
by Nirgunan Tiruchelvam
Sri Lanka’s encounter with the West Indies is that of a rejected lover. For years, Sri Lankan fans have venerated the West Indian legends ranging from Constantine to Lara. In the pre-test years, cameo appearances in Ceylon by the West Indies were an integral part of the folklore. Old-timers such as Berty Wijesinghe spoke in superlatives when describing the six that Sir Frank Worrell hit out of the Colombo Oval during his monumental 285 in 1951. When Sir Gary Sobers was coaxed into coaching Sri Lanka in the early days of test cricket, his arrival was treated as though it was the second arrival of the messiah.
Sadly, the West Indies has treated Sri Lanka with arrogant disdain. In the 26 years of Test cricket, Sri Lanka has played only four Tests in the West Indies. In the same period, New Zealand a team that has consistenty ranked below Sri Lanka in the ICC rankings has played eight tests there. The West Indies have lost five tests in a row in Sri Lanka and can hardly afford such condescension. To add insult to injury, the West Indian board even took the hostile step of withdrawing from the 1996 World Cup matches in Sri Lanka on flimsy security considerations, possibly to curry favour with the Australian board.
Travesty
The two visits that Sri Lanka has made to the Caribbean have been low-key affairs, where Sri Lanka was treated shabbily and subjected to the misnomer of a two-Test series. On both occassions, Sri Lanka were the guinea pigs on debut venues? St. Vincent in 1997 and St. Lucia in 2003. Both these islands are specks in the Atlantic Ocean , with pathetic cricket facilities.
It is a travesty that the World Cup runner-up that has the world?s highest ranked batsman (Sangakkara) and bowler (Muralitharan) has been given just two tests. Perhaps, the attitute of the West Indian board stems from a post-colonial complex, where teams such as New Zealand , South Africa and England are higher in their pecking order.
The callous approach of the Windies board is in contrast to the popularity that the Sri Lankan team enjoys thoughout the islands. With the early exit of the home team in the 07 World Cup, Sri Lanka were without doubt the favored team. Apart from Jayasuriya’s cavalier hitting, Lasith Malinga’s freakish action and his unique feat of four wickets in four balls placed Sri Lanka on a pedestal in the Carribbean.
Aussie Debacle
This series will take place with Sri Lanka struggling to shrug off the indignities of the Australian tour. Mahela Jayawardene, who presided over one of the country’s worst ODI forays in recent years, will be anxious to bury the past. The scoreline of 2 wins, 5 losses and an abandoned game does not do justice to the meek manner in which the batsmen performed. At times, the batting was a throwback to the country’s dark days as a minnow.
Sanath Jayasuriya, the patron saint of opening, failed repeatedly. The rest of the batting, except the ruling duo of Jayawardene and Sangakkara, was inept. The worst offender was Chamara Silva, a dynamic middle-order batsmen who starred in 2007 World Cup campaign. Silva failed to reach fifty in the tournament. While the bowling delivered, the fielding was timid and at times embarassing.
Murali looms Large
But the Test tour of West Indies is not only in another continent, but also the cricket will be far removed from ODIs in Australia. As is the custom, the exalted Muttiah Muralitharan will loom large over his opponents.With 70 wickets against the West Indies at an awesome average of 17 a piece, the home side will fear Murali. They will face him without his nemesis Brian Lara for the first time in the West Indies. Ominously, the matches will be played in Georgetown and Port-of-Spain, venues where test cricket’s highest wicket-taker had robust success in the World Cup.
Muralitharan will be touring the Windies as a geriatric in a youthful side. Mentally and tactically, he is as good a bowler as he has ever been. However, at almost 36 his shoulder is faltering. For the first time in his career, his famed accuracy seems to be deserting him when under pressure. This was apparent in the Australian test series, when he had meagre returns of 4 for 400. Nonetheless, the brittle West Indian batting should be wary of underestimating Murali. None of them have scored centuries against him. Murali will be heartened by the naming of left-armer Rangana Herath as his spin partner. The tiny Herath has a proud record of 555 first-class wickets, which places him head and shoulders above other Sri Lankan spin aspirants.
Injuries to Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando deprieves Sri Lanka of their fastest and most penetrative seamers. However, the reserve strength of Ishara Amerasinghe and Thilan Thurshara Mirando are more than capable of aiding Vaas. Both Amerasinghe and Mirando have a long record of success in domestic cricket and will be anxious to reverse frustration of being neglected.
Gayle’s Inept Leadership
Happily for Sri Lanka, captaincy is one of the many causes for turmoil in the host’s cricket. In the past few seasons, the West Indian administrators have conjured a merry-go-round of the captaincy between Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Gayle and Bravo. Gayle has been named as captain for this series, but he is as indisciplined a captain as he is an attacking batsmen. There are dark rumours of his unpopularity, which may worsen with reports that he will prefer to skip the Australian tour in favour of the IPL.
The feeble West Indian bowlers will find it hard to contain the Sangakkara-Jayawardene duo. The senior pair have outstanding shot selection and reserves of patience. Their form will determine the team’s fate. Above all, they should be aware that nothing short of a series win will erase the humiliation of a two test tour.
Courtesy: Dilmah Cricket Network
March 20th, 2008
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres has been conventional as well as unconventional.
A significant feature of the unconventional war fought by the GOSL is the deployment of deep penetration assassinationn squads known as Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols or LRRP.
Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian Kittinan Sivanesan (51) was killed in a claymore mine last week in the Kanagrayankulam region of the Northern mainland known as the Wanni. The area was under the control of the LTTE.
[6th March, after the explosion that killed the TNA Parliamentarian-pic TN]
The LTTE accused the army’s deep penetration unit (DPU) of being responsible. This was promptly denied. Interestingly the LTTE refers to the LRRP squads as DPU for some reason.
Instrument of war
The assassination of Sivanesan has once again focused the spotlight on the LRRP/DPU phenomenon that is becoming a crucial factor in the current war.
The LRRP became an instrument of war by the armed forces since the turn of this century. Basic modus operandi of the LRRP is for small groups to clandestinely infiltrate territory controlled by the LTTE and target senior tiger leaders and key operatives. This is done in two ways.
One is to infiltrate tiger territory through jungle routes, conduct an operation and return. Sometimes the operatives stay in safe houses within LTTE controlled areas for days to do this. On other occasions they camp in the jungles and lie in wait for several hours to take on their target.
The usual method is to explode claymore mines with remote devices. In some instances timers have been used. Pressure mines too have been used on a few occasions. It is presumed that these attacks are planned and executed on the strength of precise intelligence .
The other method has been to co-opt civilians living in the Wanni to “plant” mines and target tiger leaders. This is done through bribery and coercion. In some cases some LTTE oppressed civilians nursing a grudge against the tigers have become willing tools.
The usage of hit squads to assassinate the enemy has been practised by different states and different armies in different situations. Despite the “heroic glamour” surrounding these teams they are in essence glorified assassination squads .
‘Legitimately’ sanctioned ‘illegitimate’ operatives
So legitimate states and governments do not like to claim credit for these operations. Those involved in such operations are “legitimately” sanctioned “illegitimate” operatives.
Since they are usually controlled by intelligence officials these operatives are like spies in enemy territory.If successful they are rewarded “quietly” within the organizational structure. If they fail or are caught in the act they are disowned. They are “heroes” who cannot be honoured publicly.
Propagandists may try and project these operations as romantic adventures but by their intrinsic nature these fall under the “covert warfare” category. So officially these acts are not publicised and are usually unacknowledged or denied.
There are other reasons too for keeping these operations and particulars of those involved under wraps.Those engaged in such operations do not want to publicise them because of concern that they or their loved ones may be victimised if identities are exposed.
The other is that those residents in enemy territory who were collaborating with the hit squads may be rendered vulnerable if more details were publicised. Also there is the danger of the enemy gaining insight into the methods used if too much publicity is given.
All these reasons necessitate an environment of secrecy around such clandestine operations. Globally , this is the usual practice .
This was how Sri Lanka too conducted these operations in the beginning during the Chandrika Kumaratunga regime. When tiger leaders were being targeted and the LTTE began accusing state backed deep penetration units the Govt officially denied responsibility. Instead state propaganda blamed internal squabbles within the LTTE.
It was the ceasefire agreement of 2002 which first “admitted” officially to the existence of LRRP’s by stating in the CFA that all such activity would cease.
Then came the bizarre drama where a so called ’safe house” of the LRRP was raided in millennium city, Athurugiriya and five occupants arrested. After protracted wrangling they were released.
Then came the bizarre drama where a so called ’safe house” of the LRRP was raided in millennium city and five occupants arrested. It was alleged then that these men were linked to one of the sons of Anuruddha Ratwatte and were plotting to assassinate Ranil Wickremasinghe.
After protracted wrangling these men were “released” but in a peculiar twist some of them rushed to the media with their story. They also threatened legal action against the government. This was perhaps the only instance where so called members of a clandestine outfit like an LRRP squad owned up that they were part of a covert operation and threatened to sue the Government.
It also transpired that the so called safe house belonged to the wife of a senior LRRP team leader and that rent was being paid.This was another first in the annals of covert operations where a clandestine squad was paying rent to the spouse of a fellow – operative to use a house as a secret safe house.
Later one of these so called LRRP operatives was sent abroad as defence attache in one of our embassies abroad. At the end of his term there was an orchestrated hue and cry about the man and family disappearing. As usual the LTTE was blamed. It was later discovered that the family was safe and sound as refugee claimants in a western country.
These jocular antics by certain elements should not obscure the fact that the usage of LRRP squads has become a powerful weapon in the security force arsenal. Recent events indicate that these squads have developed into killing machines of devastating efficiency.
Balagalle’s brainchild
It is said that the LRRP was a brainchild of former army commander Lionel Balagalle who had conceived the project earlier as head of military intelligence. The green light was given during Chandrika Kumaratunga’s second Presidential term.
When the LRRP teams came into existence three different agencies were involved in setting them up and running them.
Fundamentally the LRRP teams were a combination of disgruntled ex-tigers, members of anti-tiger Tamil groups, Muslim militants and carefully selected Sinhala personnel. They were given highly specialised “commando” type training here and abroad.
The first phase of LRRP operations commenced in 2001 in both the northern and eastern tiger controlled regions.
Among those killed in the East were Lt. Col Nizam LTTE intelligence head for Batticaloa district, Major Mano LTTE comminications chief for Batticaloa – Amparai and two artillery specialists Major Sathiyaseelan and Capt Thevathasan. Among those killed in the North were “Col” Shankar head of the LTTE air wing and Lt. Col Kangai Amaran the sea tiger commander.
Of those who narrowly escaped death at the hands of the LRRP in the North then were former political commissar Brig. Suppiah Paramu Thamilselvan (twice) , his deputy Major S. Thangan, Vavuniya special commander “Col” Jeyam and Deputy military chief “Col” Balraj. Of those who escaped death in the East were former regional chief “Col” Karuna, Eastern political commissar Karikalan, Jeyanthan regiment chief Jim Kelly Thatha and regional intelligence chief Lt. Col Ramaan.
LTTE out for blood
LRRP activity was shelved after the ceasefire.Most of the Tamil LRRP operatives had been absorbed into army ranks. The LTTE was out for their blood.Some of these men were allegedly betrayed to the LTTE by influential persons for large amounts of money.
On 16th January 2002 V. Vidyarathan, alias ‘Mike’, head of the paramilitary intelligence unit of the Army’s Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol was seized by the LTTE and executed four days later . On 10th February 2002 Lance Corporal “Clarry” was abducted and killed by the tigers.
On 3rd July 2002, Lance Cpl Saundrarajan was captured by the LTTE and later killed. On December 11, 2002, Cpl. Ganeshamoorthi alias Thilakaraj was killed. Lance Cpl Pulendrarasa was killed on 3rd January 2003. Cpl.Kadirgamathamby Ragupathi alias Ragu was shot dead in Colombo on 18th March 2003.
On April 26 2003, Lance Cpl Kalirasa Devarasa was killed by the LTTE at Dehiwela, just 45 minites after leaving the Army Transition Camp at Kohuwela.Lance Cpl Paramanathan Ravindrakumar was shot on 15th July 2003 but survived the attack.
Apart from these Tamil LRRP operatives the tigers also targeted important members of the Tamil armed groups collaborating with the army and described by the LTTE as para – military.
Sinnathambi Ranjan alias Varadan who led a breakaway TELO group working with the army was shot dead at Aaraiyampathy.
More importantly PLOTE Mohan who led the PLOTE faction working with the security forces was shot dead in Colombo.
Razeek the chief of the EPRLF faction working with the army was killed by the LTTE during the war itself when a suicide bomber targeted him Batticaloa town. .
LRRP renaissance
It appeared that the LRRP was now toothless as the key Tamil operatives who knew tiger terrain and acted as guides, pathfinders, safehouse providers and information gatherers were either eliminated or had fled abroad.But the LRRP concept experienced a renaissance when the ceasefire unravelled.
The election of Mahinda Rajapakse as President and the appointment of Sarath Fonseka as Army chief and Gotabhaya Rajapakse as defence secretary brought about a qualitative change in the security situation. With the LTTE playing into Colombo’s hands a determined no holds barred war effort was underway.
The revival of the LRRP’s was a key element in this new war strategy. Some of the hibernating old timers were recalled.
Fresh input was gained through the induction of the LTTE brealaway faction headed by Karuna. Some other northern LTTE deserters were also inducted.
The PLOTE possessing some clout in Vavuniya also contributed some input. Above all there were now several highly trained “Sinhala” operatives with knowledge and experience of the jungle terrain.
The usage of LRRP squads became a powerful weapon in the security force arsenal. Recent events indicate that these squads have developed into killing machines of devastating efficiency.
These “new” LRRP teams have been in operation for quite some time now. There have been successes and failures and also “unclaimable successes”.
Tit for tat
Chief among the claimed successes was the killing of LTTE head of military intelligence Shanmuganathan Ravichandran alias “Col” Arulvendhan a.k.a. Charles who was killed in Mannar district on Jan 5th this year.
Apart from this the LRRP has targeted several other LTTE leaders too. One of those targeted and injured was Lt. Col Kumaran who was manning defences in the Manal Aaru/Weli Oya region.
There have been also incidents where civilians have been victimised through LRRP activity.
In most cases these were “accidents” though there are a few deliberate acts perpetrated as tit for tat. Meeting terror by terror is part of this Government’s counter-terrorism strategy.
For instance a schoolbus carrying schoolgirls was targeted in Mannar as revenge for the LTTE attacking a bus with schoolchildren in Moneragala.
Likewise the killing of TNA’s Sivanesan on the way to Mallavi can be construed as quid pro quo for DM Dassanayake’s killing on the way to Kotte.
But these acts though “successful” will always be “unclaimable” and denied due to politically negative consequences.
There have also been instances where ambulance vehicles were targeted by LRRP groups. Apparently there was method in this madness as the LTTE was using ambulances to transport key leaders.
There was also the incident where a vehicle carrying women and children being landmined near Silavathurai in Mannar when a military operation was in progress. This vehicle too belonged to a tiger leader but tragically many of his relatives were using it to flee the area.
LTTE under strain
The LTTE is under severe strain due to LRRP activity. One reason for LRRP successes is growing resentment within Wanni residents against the LTTE. Some are clandestinely helping the LRRP.
The LTTE intelligence division is trying hard to check this and hundreds of Tamils were detained and interrogated.
In one case an entire family was executed on charges of accommodating LRRP members at their house. In another instance the father of a “Maaveeran”( great hero) LTTE martyr was punished for allegedly being in possession of explosive devices.
The LRRP attacks along with precise aerial bombardment of high profile LTTE targets has caused a sea change in the LTTE way of life in the Wanni.
Routes are changed frequently and no longer do important leaders travel in convoys. Clearing of routes is also done as much as possible.
The “Ellai Padai” (border force)civilian militia along with women brigades and leopard Commando units are used to guard the borders. The extent of the area and jungle terrain make these borders porous.
LTTE media organs used to mock leaders in Colombo for their elaborate security precautions and projected an image that they are living in fear.
With the situation being reversed many LTTE leaders are now resorting to drastic security measures and precautions for reasons of personal safety.
Underestimation
In a bid to stave off charges of LRRP complicity in the killing of Sivanesan some defenders of the state have argued that it happened 22 miles to the north of army control lines and was therefore impossible.
These defenders in their zeal to deny state responsibility are actually underestimating LRRP capabilities.
In recent times there have been many LRRP operations deep in the interior of LTTE territory. This was the case when the LRRP was in its initial phase of 2001 too.
It must be remembered that the successful attack on “Col” Shankar happened in tiger heartland along the Oddusuddan-Puthukuditiruppu road in Mullaitheevu district.
Lt. Col Kangai Amaran was killed in Aanaivilunthaan in Mannar district near Akkarayan kulam in the Kilinochchi district.
The unsuccessful attack on SP Thamilselvan happened in Kokkavil in Kilinochchi district.
Compared to those the Sivanesan incident occurred comparatively “closer” in the Vavuniya district.
The current reality is that LRRP squads can proceed deep into tiger territory from either the Mannar mainland jungles or the Manal Aaru /Weli Oya region jungles. They can also proceed parallel to the A – 9 highway on either side via jungle routes.
Those familiar with Wanni areas say that there are several footpaths and elephant trails criss – crossing the Jungles that can be used. So LRRP teams going in deep is not impossible.
Demolishing the myth
What is happening now is that the invincibility myth surrounding the tigers is being eroded.Also the LRRP successes are demolishing the myth about LTTE terrain being impregnable.
But the man who made a mockery of tiger territory impregnability was none other than former deputy defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte.
His helicopter crashlanded inside tiger terrain more than a decade ago. Ratwatte with his walking stick and his service chiefs walked eight miles to army FDL’s safely.
It was then that the image of tiger terrain impregnability was shattered first. Now with successful LRRP operations myth demolition continues.
[D.B.S. Jeyaraj can be reached at djeyaraj@federalidea.com]
Related: LRRP: D.B.S. Jeyaraj Responds to Brigadier V.U.B. Nanayakkara
March 11th, 2008
by Prasad Gunewardene
Come March 8, Women’s International Day, we are bound to witness Women’s Organisations coming out to scream for gender equality and to make other demands. The day glitters for some leaders of those organizations.
Diana would dress herself in the best saree with a mod cap her head. Jennifer would stand before the mirror, wear a cap to avoid sun burn and ask her daughter whether ‘Mummy’ looked pretty to lead the march.
Sandra would get into her best denim three quarter trouser for convenience, her organisation’s printed T-Shirt as the top and ask her husband emotionally whether she looked like a ‘kolla’ to lead her demo.
They then board their luxury vehicles to be driven to the venue. All of them are the affluent leaders of those organizations, better called the “Colombo-7 type”. All this fantasy is witnessed in the month of March, the month all annual school cricket encounters get off the ground.
The membership of these organisations comprises women from the other social strata of life. The yelling, screaming of slogans and carrying placards are their responsibility. Very few of them are fortunate to get caps from their organisations as the numbers available are limited.
The unfortunate brave the scorching sun. After a hectic demonstration before television cameras which are ready to click the glorious day of our women, these women go home. Some of them are at the receiving end of their husbands. Why? She had gone home late, no food cooked for dinner and other charges levelled against her.
These women are back to square one at home suffering, discriminated and abused by their partners. The children scream looking up the roof as the father and mother are battling. When we talk of women, the child is an integral part of the woman.
We have another group of women’s organisation which emerges during election time demanding equality. They are politically painted by their Mentors. During the political campaign, we hear that at least one woman is stripped by male supporters of the other faction.
The organisations make a big hue and cry till elections are over. The victim’s faction wins the poll. But, the issue of stripping or forced nudism dies a natural death. This is how women have been playing their annual encounter demanding gender equality and equal rights in the society so far.
Be that as it may, the attainment of a fully fledged democratic society would only look full and deeper in meaning, only if it is accompanied and strengthened and protected by the struggle for the emancipation women.
In that context, we should accept the proposition to measure the success of the progress towards such a social democratic transformation, through the struggle of women for a society of gender equality and other rights.
Over the years or decades, in the path we have traversed through, we have seen frightening scale of women abuse and domestic violence, where poor women have been at the receiving end.
In the recent past how many young women were strangled to death? How many were caught up in terrorist bomb explosions? It is opportune to raise the query as to what role was played by these women’s organisations when such tragic incidents took place.
Was it not the men in the villages who led protest marches against the perpetrators demanding justice from the law enforcement authorities? Are these women’s organisations only active on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day? Certainly, the available statistics may quantify that the level of human anguish and suffering, by any standard is impermissible.
Now let us examine the nature and quantum of cases reported to the Institutions which maintain law and order. They are mostly domestic in nature. Some are violent in nature where women have been gang raped, raped and murdered.
A woman is physically, emotionally or sexually abused by her male partner. This is rampant at homes where the male partner is addicted to liquor or narcotics. As a result of abuse on women, the child too suffers. The number of child abuse cases has risen sharply over the years. What about child conscription and child soldiers? They also add to the woes of unfortunate women.
What have women’s organisations have done on behalf of these suffering women and children during International Women’s Day celebrations? Have they planned out a Women’s Charter to seek and protect the rights of the women who undergo untold sufferings? The scale of violence and abuse against women and children demands our fullest appreciation to the fact that such a form of oppression is a terminal illness that affects all levels of a civilised society. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the authorities to address political, constitutional, social, cultural and economic issues which relate to the cause of abuse of woman and child.
Several concrete structures are essential and necessary to fight and eradicate abuse of woman and child. These women’s organisations which scream much for gender equality should now walk that extra mile to battle against gender discrimination. They should demand a Women’s Charter for effective equality.
Economic discrimination against women is another important factor. The woman is always placed in a condition of economic subordination as the man is accepted or perceived as the breadwinner of family livelihood.
In homes where the woman is the sole breadwinner with an unemployed husband, the society recognises the man as the Chief Occupant, though the ownership of even the house they occupied legally belonged to the woman.
That perpetuates a condition of economic and social oppression on women. Women’s organisations must focus much on the plight of the illiterate women, the most downtrodden. That is the segment which should top the agenda of those organisations, if those organisations are the true defenders’ of women’s rights.
Social ills like rape, violence against women and child should not be allowed to spread or ignored by law enforcement authorities. Laws must be amended and strengthened to punish the perpetrators early. A number of such cases are pending in court for years.
The perpetrators are out on bail. Some have jumped the country. In such cases the suspects are tried in absentia. Does it serve any purpose? The victim suffers more as she cannot face the society. Rape and violence on woman and child have no limit in this country.
Let us not forget the brutal manner a doctor at a Negombo hospital raped and killed a young girl who came for treatment. Another innocent girl was raped and killed by a young man at Ja-ela for refusing to love him. How many under aged children are employed as domestic aides? How many of them are brutally assaulted or burnt by their cruel employers?
We only seem to record these tragic incidents. Why not we hurry up legislation and set up additional tribunals to speed up the pending cases for early execution of justice? If we talk of a future generation, we must protect the woman and child in our society. It is only then we could achieve a nation of civilisation and not otherwise.
We need to increase the social capacity to protect the woman and child from all social dangers and ills. More security for woman and child should be the priority of our society. If communities are allowed to be inflicted by political and criminal violence, it is the woman and child who are called upon to bear the brunt of such an ugly exercise under the guise of democracy.
We must build an environment for the affected woman and child to reconstruct their lives psychologically, socially and materially if we are to ensure the emergence of a strong woman and child for a better Sri Lanka. Women’s organisations in this country must make a firm commitment on March 8 in that regard to seek better status for the woman and child in this country.
March 8th, 2008
By Dharisha Bastian
When Woodward and Bernstein wrote about their investigative reporting into Nixon’s Watergate crisis, they picked a fantastic title. “All The President’s Men” was derived from the nursery rhyme, ‘Humpty Dumpty’ in which “all the kings horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put humpty together again” and was meant to allude to the oligarchic policies of the Nixon administration. Sri Lanka under the Rajapaksa regime is not very different and the resurrection of the title seems apt, with apologies to two of the greatest investigative journalists in modern history.
The running of the Rajapaksa administration is pretty simple. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has a coterie of advisors/loyalists and favourite ministers, a tightly knit community who can, in the President’s eyes at least, do no wrong. The list is not too long and features names that are almost always in the news – and often for no good reason.
Meet the players
Sajin Vaas Gunewardane: Coordinating Secretary to the President, CEO of Mihin Lanka, the government owned budget airline that has been making ridiculous losses since its inception. Sajin travels everywhere with the President, on state and personal visits abroad and is His Excellency’s travel planner. He also makes decisions on who shall be on the presidential entourage and naturally, ensures that one of two decrepit aircraft can be chartered for the duration of the Presidential visit (abandoning all its paid passengers to codeshare flights). The government charter of the aircraft ensures that monies are transferred from one government fund to the other (in this case, from the Treasury to the Mihin Lanka account) while the budget airline meanwhile pays SriLankan Airlines to accommodate its paid passengers. Bad enough that Mihin Lanka is already in debt to SriLankan to the tune of millions of dollars and the national carrier has refused further credit to the budget carrier. It’s a twisted system any way you look at it and screams economic mismanagement especially given the cash-strapped status of the budget airline – not to mention the state coffers. CEO Sajin however, merrily allows Mihin Lanka aircraft to be used like an Air Force 1 .
Ajith Nivard Cabraal: The only man in the country who thinks the economy is doing stunningly well, despite inflation hitting the 20s since the latter part of 2007 and the continuous depreciation of the rupee. Investor confidence, tourism and the people’s purchasing power might all be at an all time low, but the Central Bank Governor lives in a dream world in which everything is just peachy. The tragedy is that the position of Governor, Central Bank of Sri Lanka has always been an apolitical office, with past governors picked solely on their credentials of integrity and expertise in economics. Cabraal might be an economical expert, but he is very much a political animal having once contested on the UNP ticket and during the 2005 presidential election, shifted his allegiance to the then UPFA presidential nominee, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Cabraal was justly rewarded with this key post less than an year after the new president took office.
Mervyn Silva: Deserving of a prison sentence simply for his notoriety, this politician is of the firm opinion that the fact that he hails from Beliatta, the homestead of the President, he is above reproach. Having been charged with fraud, linked to several underworld figures, abused journalists and recently, stormed state television with his pet thug to thrash the station’s news director and got his just desserts would in any sane country be cause enough to be thrown out of public service and deep into jail. But not in Sri Lanka. Silva serves very little purpose as far as the public eye can see, but he continues to be tolerated by the administration. Perhaps the home ties are more binding one could have imagined.
Rohitha Bogollagama: Since being appointed Foreign Minister in January 2007, ‘Boggles’ as scribes have nicknamed him has broken all records of foreign travel and expenditure on these official visits. In this short span of a year, Boggles has rarely been in the country for more than a week at a time, addicted to trotting the globe with his wife and son in tow on occasion. His visits have drained the Foreign Ministry coffers and thanks to his exorbitant travel, the Ministry used up its fund allocation for the year 2007 in a matter of six months. All this notwithstanding, the Foreign Minister continues to fly First Class on all airlines and stay in the best suites in the best hotels in the world, all at state expense. Blatant nepotism has also been a highlight of his stint in the Foreign Ministry. Bogollagama relatives have been appointed to key stations in New Delhi and more recently as exclusively reported first in The Bottom Line, the Minister ensured his son-in-law to be Aminda Rodrigo was given a diplomatic posting as Second Secretary of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington DC. His clashes with Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona are public knowledge and the two are collectively wreaking havoc at a Ministry which is crucial when a state is fighting a war.
Palitha Kohona: Despite holding the key administrative post at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kohona functions largely as a second minister, jetting off on first or business class several times a month. Like Bogollagama, Kohona is more often out of Sri Lanka than in and knows nothing of the day to day running of the ministry which are matters particularly pertaining to his office. Instead Kohona has shown far more interest in bringing Bogollagama down than he has in attending to crucial administrative duties at his ministry. The tragedy is that Kohona succeeds distinguished public servants like H.M.G.S. Palihakkara whose acumen and efficiency as a Foreign Secretary held the Ministry in good stead no matter which way the political winds blew.
P.B. Jayasundera: Treasury Secretary under two regimes, first Chandrika Kumaratunga and now Mahinda Rajapaksa, Jayasundera has significant allegations of corruption against him. Many of the allegations were highlighted by the now virtually defunct COPE, chaired by UPFA dissident Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe. Despite the allegations, Jayasundera continues to hold key public office and manage the state coffers in a time of severe economic peril.
To say the media has been consistently raising all issues pertaining to this inner circle and more would be a massive understatement. The individuals highlighted above and many more cannot be touched; will not be admonished. The media realises that the war against these questionable officials is an unwinnable one, but continues to take shots at them in what is at best, vain hope. The lacklustre, weak opposition only spurs the President on and ensures that no action is taken to arrest a situation that will surely lead both the presidency and the country to depths from which there will be no return.
Since his campaign for office, if there has been one thing startlingly obvious about President Rajapaksa, it has been his inability to say ‘no’ to anyone. How can we ever forget how he wooed both the JHU and the minority parties at the same time, promising each party two diametrically opposite things? He has carried this characteristic through to his presidency and more than two years down the line, nothing seems to have changed at all.
One might even thinks the President enjoys setting one officer against the other this way – whether Kohona and Bogollagama, Dhammika Perera and P.B. Jayasundera or Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka and Navy Chief Wasantha Karannagoda. In each of these cases, Rajapaksa has it well within his power to address these conflicts and bring about compromise and peace. But he plays both sides, endlessly, allowing each party to believe that the President is on his side of the argument, and so the wagon rolls merrily along. The President’s strength is to shower each one of these warring officials with praise, allowing them to develop an unwarranted sense of self-importance. When they speak to Rajapaksa of their problems, each of them are convinced that the President believes them to be in the right and that their ‘enemies’ would be ‘put in their place.’ If one were to study it objectively, it would be apparent that Rajapaksa is a master stroke, capable of using his formidable PR skills to his political advantage – after all, nobody falls out to him and all remain faithful. But it is also a fact that it is a matter of time before all of this comes undone.
In time, President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s greatest strength is bound to become his weakness. Already his inability to make decisions that are crucial to the development and growth of this nation has put Sri Lanka in an incredibly unenviable position, economically and socially speaking. The only thing that is going right appears to be the military push, and in that, it is no secret, that the President has no hand. The war is being managed entirely by his younger brother and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya, who, thanks to his own military background, possesses the wisdom to allow the service chiefs to do their job and keep politics out of it. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa might make a right royal mess of things every time he is called upon to make a public statement, ensuring that the UN and human rights organizations are breathing hellfire down our necks, but so far, no one can complain about his execution of the war effort.
Ironically, despite the pathetic state of things, the fact of the matter is that the cards are all stacked in the President’s favour. He has mastered the art of communicating the message, even though the message itself is hollow. With nothing to say for policy or decisions in the last two years and more, Rajapaksa continues to enjoy considerable popular support, something the opposition UNP is so sadly lacking.
Furthermore, thanks to the massive erosion in UNP ranks, Rajapaksa also has in his camp some of the brightest in the political firmament – Milinda Moragoda, G.L. Peiris, Hemakumara Nanayakkara, Sarath Amunugama and Karu Jayasuriya. Instead of being given crucial tasks to manage in terms of governance, many of these political stars have been relegated to the sidelines, unable to effect change or exercise any positive influence over this administration.
Rajapaksa needs to realise this. Power never lasts forever. His men, one by one will take the fall. Only by taking firm decisions and showing himself to be above the unscrupulous actions of his officials can the President hope to keep the people on his side. To side with his ‘men’ at the cost of the peoples’ support would be a mistake – and one which several seemingly all-powerful leaders have made at one point or the other to their own detriment.
(This article appeared in “The Bottom Line” of Mar 5th 2008 under the heading “All the President’s Men”)
March 8th, 2008
By Sarath Kumara
The euphoria in the Sri Lankan government and military over the prospects of a quick victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is beginning to fade. While the security forces regularly report the killing of LTTE members, little progress appears to have been made in seizing the LTTE’s major northern strongholds in the Kilinochchi and Mullaithivu districts.
[Map: bottomline.lk]
Open warfare erupted in July 2006 when President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered the army to capture the LTTE-held area of Mavilaru in open breach of the 2002 ceasefire agreement. In the space of a year, the military quickly overran the remaining LTTE bases in the East and turned its attention to the LTTE’s northern territory. Last July, the Rajapakse government celebrated the victory in the East with jingoistic speeches and a parade through the capital of Colombo.
In January, Rajapakse finally dropped the pretence of adhering to the ceasefire. The decision to pull out of the truce was accompanied by a series of statements declaring that the LTTE would be defeated militarily by the end of the year. On December 30, Army Commander, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, bragged to the Sunday Observer that “the LTTE could not prevent losing their remaining 3,000 cadres and there is no assurance that the LTTE Leader V. Prabhakaran would survive for the next six months”.
Fonseka, who is expected to retire in December, told foreign journalists on January 11 that he would not hand the war to next army chief. Government leaders enthusiastically repeated the statement, even declaring that Prabhakaran would be captured and sent to India for trial over the murder of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by a LTTE suicide bomber.
A month later, however, the military high command is not so confident. On February 10, Fonseka explained in Irida Lakbima that he was not committed to a deadline for winning the war. “They [the LTTE] are an organised force with a lot of experience. I don’t conduct the war looking at deadlines and timeframes.” Expressing a degree of frustration, he added: “Can a war that has been going on for more than 25 years be completed by March? But, what I say is-give us a chance.”
On February 23, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara echoed the army commander’s comments. As reported by Agence France Presse, he declared that the military was “winning the war…but we have never said that we will finish them off. We have never set deadlines.”
Military operations in the North were always going to be more difficult than in the East, where the LTTE had been seriously weakened by a devastating split in its ranks in 2004. The breakaway group, initially headed by V. Muralitharan or Karuna, took an estimated one third of the LTTE’s total fighting force. It has since collaborated closely with the military in conducting operations in the East against the LTTE, and terrorising the Tamil population.
The course of the war is difficult to follow in detail. The only sources of information are the security forces and the LTTE, which both distort reports to suit their own propaganda. The army allows no correspondents into the war zones. The Colombo media functions under the threat of censorship and physical violence. Anyone publishing negative reports on the military is quickly branded a traitor.
The military’s basic strategy appears to be one of attrition-the use of superior firepower, including air strikes and artillery bombardments, to sow panic among the population, wear down the LTTE’s defences and kill its fighters. The high command is only too well aware of the failure of previous broad scale offensives. In 2000, the LTTE inflicted a devastating series of defeats on the army, capturing its key strategic base at Elephant Pass, in a sharp counteroffensive against an overextended military operation.
In the North, the military is seeking to slowly advance on the LTTE strongholds from all sides-from Mannar in the west, Vavuniya in the south, Welioya in the east and Muhamalai in the north. While there have been numerous reports of small victories and LTTE casualties-all undoubtedly exaggerated-the military has failed to gain a great deal of ground.
The Mannar operations started last July. The army captured the fishing village of Silavathurai last year and has since seized several other areas but the gains remain small. The main aim in present operations is to secure the Madhu area then Viduthalaithivu. The area is crucial to the LTTE’s main supply routes from the neighbouring southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Recent fighting has taken place around the Madhu church area, including Admapan and Pandivirichchan, in preparation for a push on Viduthalaithivu. The Sunday Times reported last weekend that the military had announced the capture of the Pandivirichchaan area and the killing of 20 LTTE members. The pro-LTTE Tamilnet reported the recapture of the area on the evening of the same day, with the killing of 11 soldiers.
On Sunday, the LTTE claimed to have repelled the military’s advance from Palaikushi. This week, the defence ministry claimed the army had penetrated deeper into LTTE-held area in Mannar, killing 83 LTTE cadres and wounding many more. It admitted the military had lost 9 soldiers with 40 injured. Whatever the true figures and territory gained or lost, the fighting is obviously heavy.
On the Welioya front, the results are similarly inconclusive. The military reported that it gained control of some areas previously in “no-man’s land” under the ceasefire arrangements. On February 26, the army handed over the bodies of 14 LTTE fighters to the International Red Cross. This week, however, the LTTE claimed to have thwarted the military’s advances, killed six soldiers and taken ammunition. The seizure of Welioya would open the way for an advance on Mullaithivu, a major LTTE basing area.
The aerial bombardment of LTTE-held areas continues unabated. Earlier this week, the air force bombed Poonakari close to Muhamalai, claiming its fighter jets were targetting an LTTE sea base. On February 22, warplanes bombed the same area. According to the LTTE, that attack resulted in deaths of nine civilians, including an infant and two children. On Monday, the air force bombed what it claimed was a communication centre in Kilinochchi where the LTTE headquarters are based.
Another sign of the military’s difficulties is its turn to India for assistance. General Fonseka began a six-day tour to India on Sunday “to further strengthen the military ties”. He will meet India’s defence minister, A.K. Anthony, as well as top military and civilian officials in a bid to obtain weapons and light aircraft. However, Fonseka is unlikely to get all that he wants from India, which to date has provided limited assistance and training. While wanting to prevent an LTTE victory, New Delhi is concerned that the ongoing war will inflame opposition in Tamil Nadu.
The Sri Lankan military is under pressure from Rajapakse to deliver a quick victory. His government, an unstable coalition of 13 parties, confronts growing popular discontent over the economic impact of the war, which is helping to fuel inflation and undermine living standards. Rajapakse needs success stories to boost his chauvinist appeals and to dispel fears in ruling circles of an inconclusive and protracted war that will inevitably fuel an economic and political crisis.
Speaking on Sunday at a rally in Ratnapura organised by his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Rajapakse declared that the government would carry out “liberation operations” against the LTTE until “every inch of land is captured and the last terrorist is completely destroyed”. He insisted it was the “bounden duty” of people to support the war.
The government is not conducting a war for “liberation” or against “terrorism” but to maintain the economic and political dominance of the country’s Sinhala Buddhist elite. For six decades, Colombo governments have whipped up communal politics to divide working people and prop up their rule. Rajapakse’s decision to plunge the country back to war was bound up with his government’s inability to deal with growing unrest over declining living standards.
The return to war has only compounded the economic burdens on working people. The military has purchased new weapons and boosted its strength to 150,000, recruiting 34,000 last year. Another 15,000 are to be recruited this year. Along with rising oil prices, military expenditure is a major factor fuelling inflation. The annualised inflation rate hit 24 percent in February. Rajapakse has responded to any opposition, including strikes and protests, by demonising critics as “pro-LTTE”.
These social and political tensions will inevitably sharpen if the military operations against the LTTE slow, or if the army suffers reverses. That accounts for the shrill tone of Rajapakse’s speech at Ratnapura-it is a sign of growing desperation. [courtesy: WSWS.org]
March 7th, 2008
by D.B.S.Jeyaraj
“Is Angela Kane bringing a cane to Sri Lanka”? was how a website speculated on the eve of the visit by the ,UN Assistant Secretary -General for Political affairs to Sri Lanka last week.
[Angela Kane, UN Assistant Secretary -General for Political affairs]
The senior UN official was in Sri Lanka on a six – day visit from February 20th to 26th.
The German national joined the UN in 1977 during the time Kurt Waldheim of Austria was secretary – general.
Angela Kane was only the latest in a long – line of high – ranking UN offials to visit sunny Sri Lanka in recent times.
Usually, there has been visible, a predictable pattern in the responses from Sri Lankan power corridors to these visits.
While extending all possible assistance and courtesies to facilitate these visits, a barrage of criticism is levelled at these officials over their findings at the end of their tripr.
If the visiting personalities are critical of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) it is a case of hurras and hosannahs.
But if they are even mildly critical of the state or its agencies over particular issues then woe unto all those dignitaries.
From Parliament to sections of the paparazzi these men and women would be condemned and attacked.
They would be accused unfairly of being tigers or tiger sympathisers or of being on the LTTE payroll.
Thereafter Human Rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe would enter the picture.
He would meet the persons concerned and pour oil on troubled waters.
Samarasinghe would apply soothing balm in a blatant exercise of damage control.
Angela Kane has been spared the attacks – so far at least!
One reason may be due to the fact that she is yet to make any public pronouncement on the visit.
Unlike visits by some UN officials Ms. Kane was not on a fact – finding mission. Her trip had more to do with the internal affairs of the UN in Sri Lanka.
Perhaps there may be an outcry if parts of the report she submits to UN Secretary – general Ban Ki Moon is made public and if those are considered unfavourable to Sri Lanka.
So far there have been only two types of reaction to Angela Kane’s visit.
One is the complaint by political parties representing the national minorities of Sri Lanka that the UN official did not find time to meet them. They are incensed over the fact that she met the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) but not them.
The JVP on the other hand is once again playing to the “Sinhala” gallery over the visit and meeting. The crimson comrades wrote an explosive epistle to Ms. Kane and then released the letter to the media.
So it is not a case of Ms. Kane bringing a cane but that of our locals giving her and by extension the UN a caning.
There was an interesting sequence of events preceding the UN Asst. Sec – Gen’s visit.
Initially there was a request made by Netherlands,Sweden and Denmark that a European Union (EU) delegation be allowed to visit Sri Lanka in January this year and look into the human rights situation.
When the request was made by the respective envoys they were informed that it was not possible in January. Both Human Rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and Foreign Ministry secretary Palitha Kohona were of the same opinion in this.
Subsequently approval was given for a “general” visit by an EU high – profile three – member delegation’s visit in March this year.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and EU Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner are tipped to be on it. The third member is likely to be from Britain,Germany or Netherlands.
It was apparent that the EU was concerned about deteriorating human rights standards in Sri Lanka and increased militarisation.
Then came a hard – hitting interview by Germany’s Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Heidemarie Weiczorek-Zeul to the German Tages Spiegel newspaper.
She strongly advocated withdrawing the General System of Preference Plus (GSP+) facility from Sri Lanka. The GSP+ facility is the Sri Lankan garment industry’s mainstay.Over 100,000 jobs and around US$1.2 billion export earnings depend on this. It was this which the German Minister was thinking of withdrawing.
“The international community must influence both parties to the conflict to seek a political solution and withdraw from the war
which brings only suffering to the people. In the beginning of March a EU-troika will travel to Sri Lanka. If the Sri Lankan government continues to insist on a military option, I will demand that the EU should withdrew the GSP+ offered to Sri Lanka” she said.
The German minister further said . “This concession enables Sri Lanka to export its goods and products to the EU at reduced or exempted tax and duty levis. This step will really bring economic pressure on the Government of Sri Lanka. For Sri Lanka a Preference System Plus is in place until the end of 2008 which however requires good governance.”
In that interview an interesting suggestion was made by Weiczorek-Zeul .The Minister suggested that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon should send a special envoy to Sri Lanka to study the situation,
The next development was when UN secretary – General Ban Ki Moon telephoned President Mahinda Rajapakse. Moon was concerned about the escalating war , detriorating human rights situation,absence of a viable peace process and increasing violence.
The UN Sec – Gen also had two specific issues concerning his own organization.
[Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 24, 2008]
One was the increasing danger to UN officials and other personnel working in UN related organizations. On the one hand UN officials were being vilified and on the other hand many NGO workers were being killed or going missing.
The second issue was about increasing difficulties faced by the UN related organizations in discharging duties in the conflict areas of the North and East. The UNHCR , WFP and UNICEF in particular had to surmount enormous odds to bring relief and serve the civilian population .
President Rajapakse told the UN chief that there were some minor problems but not of great magnitude.
After blaming the LTTE for the war situation the president assured Ban Ki Moon that the smooth functioning of the UN would be guaranteed by his government.
At this point the UN Sec – Gen asked the Lankan president whether he could send a special representative to assess the situation with regard to the working of UN agencies in Sri Lanka and also to gauge conditions about the safety and security of UN personnel.
President Rajapakse whose position is that his government has nothing to hide agreed readily to Ban Ki Moon’s proposal.
Thereafter Moon nominated UN asst sec – gen Angela Kane as special envoy to Sri Lanka and assigned her a specific task .
“The Secretary – General has requested Angela Kane, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, to visit Sri Lanka from 20 to 26 February. The visit is part of her regular consultations in the areas of her responsibility. She had previously visited Sri Lanka in February 2007. The primary purpose of her visit is to review the work of the United Nations Country Team in Sri Lanka in all key areas” stated an official UN communique.
Angela Kane’s credentials are quite impressive. Born in Germany she first went to university in Munich. She later obtained further degrees from Brynmawr College and John Hopkinns school of Advanced international studies.
She worked for industry in Germany and the World Bank in Washington before joining the UN. Prior to being Asst. Sec. gen for political affairs she was ASG for General Assembly and conference management.
She was a also Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), where she was based in Asmara.
Angela Kane also held the position of Director of the Americas and Europe Division in the Department of Political Affairs, which she assumed in 1999.
Responsibilities included assessing political developments in the 89 countries of the Western Hemisphere, giving support and political guidance to United Nations missions in the two regions and close consultation with Member States, regional organizations and other principals.
From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Kane held a managerial post in the Department of Public Information where she was in charge of a large Division with responsibility for publications and the United Nations’ publishing policy.
She oversaw global marketing and sales and information resources. She initiated the United Nations’ move into online publishing and was responsible for the development of the United Nations home page in all official languages.
Ms. Kane’s previous United Nations experience included a four-year assignment in the office of former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali as Principal Officer for political affairs.
In 1990-91, she assisted the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central American Peace Process with the negotiations to end the conflict in El Salvador; and in the late 1980s, she was responsible for disarmament issues and the World Disarmament Campaign.
She also served as election monitor in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Her field experience includes postings in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Bangkok, Thailand, where she gained experience in development issues.
She has been a United Nations staff member since 1977.
Looking at her credentials and experience it appears that Ban Ki Moon made a carefully considered choice in selecting Angela Kane to be his special envoy to Sri Lanka.
Thus Kane’s primary focus during her mission to Sri Lanka was on interacting with UN staff and related personnel to identify problemsm harship and danger faced by them in discharging their duties.
It was a case of reviewing the situation in association with the UN country .team as opposed to conducting just a fact – finding mission on Sri Lanka.
The highlight of her visit was the meeting with President Rajapakse on Feb 25th at Temple Trees. The Sri Lankan president was in for a slight surprise when Angela Kane hand – delivered a sealed letter from Ban Ki Moon to him.
The contents of the letter have not been divulged but it is understood that the UN Sec – gen had expressed concern over a number of issues including deteriorating human rights and escalating war.
He had also urged that the UN be allowed to discharge its duties in the coinflict areas and emphasised that UN staff and related personnel be afforded protection and assistance.
Ban Ki Moon also requested closer ties between the UN and Sri Lanka. It appears that a formal request may have been made that a UN field mission be set up in the Conflict – ridden areas.
Officially there was no confirmation about a request being made explicitly by Ban Ki Moon for a UN field mission.
However the official press release by the Presidential secretariat had a somewhat cryptic reference to UN concerns about the prevailing human rights situation after the meeting with Angela Kane.
“The President told Ms. Kane that some groups had tried to show a negative picture of Sri Lanka’s Human Rights situation,” the Secretariat statement said after the meeting.
[Somawansa Amerasinghe, leader of the JVP-pic:JVP]
While her focus was on the working of the UN in Sri Lanka, Angela Kane also met a cross – section of political leaders including opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe, Human Rights minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and JVP supremo Somawansa Amerasinghe.
Though there were plans to meet with leaders of political parties representing the minority communities the meetings did not materialise.
This caused heartburn among these parties. Some complained to her about this.
[Mano Ganesan MP]
Prior to her departure from Colombo, Angela Kane had a telephonic conversation with Western Peoples Front leader and Colombo district parliamentarian Mano Ganesan.
During the discussion Ms. Kane had expressed her regrets for not being able to meet Mano Ganesan for discussions and requested Ganesan send her a situation report said the media communiqué issued by the WPF office of Mano Ganesan MP.
The release further stated,
“We consider JVP an extremist party which is pushing the government towards war which is the direct cause for the issues of human rights violations and IDPs. Ganesan told Angela that JVP is a minor party and not a minority political party”.
“We fail to understand why the Colombo office of UN was not able to arrange meetings with the political leaderships of the Tamil speaking people. The leaders of TNA and SLMC have not met Angela Kane. The United Nations has overlooked the Tamil and Muslim political leaderships in the core issues of political solution, human rights violations and war and hence completed this visit as an one sided affair”.
“This is unbelievable. Colombo UN officials initially made contacts with my office for meetings through e-mails and later withdrew for reasons better to them. Therefore we consider the visit of United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Angela Kane is too political”
Responding to Mano Ganesan’s statement was Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne of the Left Front/NSSP. Bahu sahodaraya had his own take on this. This is what he said
“we have explained again and again that the UN is an instrument of global capital and is biased to all oppressed people including our Tamils. Mahinda is a good boy to them in spite of his racism and oppressive politics, because he is implementing their agenda. they, hence supply not only funds but directly and indirectly weapons for repression”.
“of course due to our campaigns in international plane pressure is brought on political leaders of the developed world. hence they shed crocodoile tears about human rights and national rights, and press for reforms. we have to struggle hard, and we must take the message to the workers movement and among democratic elements in the developed world as well”.
It appeared therfore that Angela Kane had incurred the displeasure and dissatisfaction of minority community parties like the WPF. Meeting the JVP had added further salt to the wound. Ironically the meeting with the JVP did not go well either..
The JVP met Kane on Feb 23rd. During the discussions the JVP had been very critical of some alleged acts of omission and commission by the UN. The national socialists also came up with the now familiar conspiracy theories.
When the JVP began reciting a litany of complaints , Angela Kane had tried to clarify the UN stance to the best of her ability.
After a while she gave up as the JVP had certain fixed positions from which it would not budge. It was a case of talking at rather than talking to each other.
The JVP also wrote a letter addressed to Angela Kane.. It was signed by Somawansa Amerasinghe and given to her on Feb 24th.
An interesting feature about that letter were the excessive references to “Nazi” Germany. Here are some excerpts -
“The United Nations arose out of the ashes of World War II and the defeat of the ideologies and practices of Hitler and Mussolini. The United Nation’s rise was accompanied by the rise of those oppressed by Western colonialists and the emergence of new free nations from the ashes of colonialism”.
” The United Nations arose at a time when the victorious Allied Powers were removing the poison of Nazi and fascist propaganda from the minds of the liberated Germans and Italians through major changes in the media and in school curricula. Most importantly the German anthem “Deutschland Uber Alles” was banned as was the book by Hitler “Mein Kampf”.
“We believe that you would understand this very well. That philosophy of removing racial hatred and fascist intolerance was transferred to the UN itself. At the beginning of UN there was no equality made between the forces of darkness and forces of democracy and tolerance”.
“A direct follower of Hitler and his philosophy is the LTTE and its leader Prabhakaran. Like the Lebensraum of the Nazis it has demarcated a “racially pure” area as his Heimat- homeland from which all other ethnic communities have been ejected wherever it was possible. Like the Nazis, Prabhakaran has killed off all the democratic Tamil leadership and brooks no dissent”.
“He has assassinated a President of Sri Lanka and a Prime Minister of India and has unsuccessfully attempted the lives of another Sri Lankan President and one Prime Minister, in addition to several other successful and unsuccessful attempts on many other Sri Lankan leaders. Going beyond the tradition of Hitler Youth “Hitler Jugend”, Prabhakaran kidnaps little children, trains them in a racist ideology and uses them as cannon fodder”.
“Following the example set by the fanatic Japanese Kamikaze of World War II Prabhakaran introduced suicide bombings to the modern world. In Prabhakaran’s sick mind there is no room for tolerance, freedom of expression, human rights or democracy. Like in World War II, there is only one alternative left for the democratic forces in Sri Lanka that is to eliminate this intolerant cancer like the Allied Forces, precursors to the UN, did in the case of Hitler”.
” The JVP values the UN for the good it does but will always resist it being used as a Western colonial proxy. We want the UN to stick unwaveringly to its anti-colonial roots. If it does, you do not have to worry about public protests and demonstrations of which you said you were very concerned. And as you correctly said, we must have a new beginning in Sri Lanka – UN relations. We will heartily support you if this is done in the correct spirit”.
“We believe that your visit to the Eastern Province would have been very useful to convince yourself that the Sri Lanka security forces have liberated the innocent people who were languishing in the open prison of the LTTE. Now it is the duty of the UN to assist Sri Lanka, an old and active member of the UN, to restore democracy in the Northern province by dismantling the remaining part of the open prison of the LTTE”.
The JVP’s comparison of the LTTE to the German fascists is not entirely without its merits. At the same time the crimson comrades themselves are perceived as neo -fascists despite their leftist pretensions.
Indeed their current ideology smacks more of national socialism than socialism. A detailed study of the rise of Hitler in the pre – 1933 years would reveal a greater affinity between the strategies and policies adopted by the Geran ational socialists and some measures of the JVP at present.
Against that backdrop it was a little peculiar for the JVP to hark back to the Nazis. Of course neither the JVP nor its followers would ever admit to their ideology and methods resembling the Nazis just as the LTTE and its supporters deny charges of being fascist.
The main reason for the JVP harping on recent German history was rather simple. The explanation is in the letter to Angela Kane where it is said “We believe that you would understand this very well”.
At one level this innoccuous sentence would mean that the JVP is of the opinion that Angela Kane is simply capable of comprehending what they had to say. On another level it was a veiled reference to her ethnicity and nationality.
Angela Kane is a German national. Therefore the Crimson comrades may have thought themselves clever to flay Hitler and Nazi Germany. Comparing Prabakharan to Hitler may have been thought a smart move by the JVP.
Given Angela Kane’s acumen and experience such puerile exercises by the JVP may turn out to be totally counter – productive.
Recent politico – military trends in Sri Lanka are fast becoming an area of concern for the International Community.
In such a situation the UN cannot remain inactive for long.
[UN Building in New York City-pic by: mirsasha]
The visit of Angela Kane shows that mercury is rising within the UN Glass house over Sri Lanka.
The results of the UN Assistant Secretary – General’s Sri Lankan mission would be known in the days to come.
March 1st, 2008
by Izeth Hussain
[Dr. Rama Mani]
The main focus of this article is on the external aspect of the Rama Mani case, more specifically on the damage that it can do to our foreign relations. But it is relevant for my purposes to begin with a brief observation on its internal aspect. Reportedly Ms Mani had received a letter dismissing her with immediate effect from the post of Director at the ICES. Apparently no opportunity was given to her to defend herself against any charges prior to the issue of that letter, which can therefore be taken as outraging the norms of natural justice. However, she was reinstated in her post by a further letter and asked to continue for the full term for which she had contracted. Worth emphasising is that she had received strong support from the ICES staff, who had given her a grand send-off even though it was known that she was being ordered out of the country by the Government.
There is in humanity a deep love of justice. There is also in humanity a deep love of injustice. Otherwise we cannot explain why injustices are committed all over the world practically all the time, and at the same time injustices are corrected. In order to maintain ourselves in a tolerably civilised condition we have to see somehow that injustices are quickly corrected, and that on the whole justice clearly prevails. This seems to be an uphill task in the world of Sri Lankan cricket. Exchanging notes with an exceptionally knowledgeable cricket aficionado I find that more cricketing careers have been blighted through injustice in Sri Lanka than in any other test-playing country. Our NGOs have not been famous for a deep love of injustice, so that it is not surprising that what looked like an aberrant case of monstrous injustice towards Rama Mani was quickly corrected. We must now see that what looks like monstrous injustice towards her at the level of the State is also corrected.
At this point I must make some observations about the State and injustice. The State concentrates far more power in its hands than any other institution, such as for instance in Sri Lanka the NGO network or Sri Lanka Cricket. We must bear in mind also the fact that the modern state concentrates far more power than the typical pre-modern state, and that that power is exercised ubiquitously. Consequently in the Western democracies, or in India, countervailing power is brought into play in the form of a separation of powers within the state structure, the opposition political parties, and above all a vibrant civil society. However, all those institutions can be in place and all of them can somehow come to be in a somnambulistic condition. That happened under the 1977 Government, which is why it became possible for Sri Lankans such as myself to say that far and away the most impressive feature of the 1977 Government was the depth of its dedication to injustice. Things have improved greatly of course, but we have to be wary.
The details that have been publicised about Ms Mani’s ejection from Sri Lanka are as follows. Though she was reinstalled in her post, her visa was cancelled and she was given notice of just a few days to leave Sri Lanka, apparently as a consequence of a CID inquiry. It is surmised that her involvement with Gareth Evans’ Responsibility to Protect project was the major reason for the visa cancellation. On an ICES appeal she was allowed a few additional days of grace, but it was thought prudent to pack her off straightaway as apparently there was a threat to her life and that of her son. According to one report her house was to have been searched by the security authorities, but that did not happen because of the influence wielded by the Indian High Commission. Finally she left for the airport in a French Embassy vehicle, she being a French citizen. In Parliament an assurance was given by the Prime Minister to a JVP member that her visa would not be renewed.
I cannot vouch for the veracity of the details given above. I have not sought to check on them because I am writing this article in the capacity of a concerned citizen with a background of foreign relations experience, and not as an investigative journalist. But I must say that those details ring true. Some readers may wonder whether there really were serious death threats against Ms Mani and her son. I must ask them to remember that some years ago the Bollywood idol Shah Rukh Khan and some other members of his troupe narrowly escaped being bomb-killed in Colombo. That showed the irrational murderousness of our ultra-nationalist super-patriots. The death threat in the present case had to be taken seriously.
I will now make a few observations on the Rama Mani case in relation to her status as a non-national, the image of our NGOs as hot-beds of subversion, and the Responsibility to Protect project. It may be that the Government cannot be faulted on technical or legal grounds for having cancelled Ms Mani’s visa and packing her off with just a few days notice as she is a foreign national. Most states, probably all, claim the absolute sovereign right to deny visas or cancel them without giving any reasons at all. However, it is generally acknowledged that law gets its sanctification or legitimation in terms of its moral underpinnings, which is why the notion of equity figures so prominently in jurisprudence. A foreign national does not have all the rights of a Sri Lanka national – and quite rightly so – but he/she has rights as a human being, the so-called human rights. I would go even further and say that all human beings have an absolute right to decent, fair, just treatment, irrespective of what may or may not be included in all the human rights declarations and covenants.
In Sri Lanka there seems to be a readiness to assume that foreign nationals have no business to be here in the first place – except to the extent that we are prepared to tolerate them – and therefore they have no rights. It is meet and proper to treat them like dirt, should it suit our interests to do so. Some years ago foreign spouses of local nationals who went to get their visas renewed found that the fees had been increased – without the slightest forewarning – by a colossal proportion. I wrote an article about it, more than one Minister to my knowledge was against that increase, and wiser counsels soon prevailed. I must recall also the Bracegirdle case of the 1930s, in which an Australian national regarded as a Marxist subversive by the then colonial government was to be deported, Our LSSP struck a mighty blow for justice by fighting a successful court case against that deportation.
According to the details available to the public Ms Mani seems to have been given very shabby treatment at the level of the state, part of the explanation for which might be found in the negative Sri Lankan mind-set about foreigners that I have outlined above. A more important part of the explanation is the fairly widespread notion that our NGOs are hot-beds of subversion. Unfortunately Ms Mani was the Director of the Colombo ICES which has somehow acquired notoriety for subversion more than any other NGO.
Since my retirement in 1989 I have interacted a great deal with our NGOs, including with the ICES, except during the last few years. I have been at a loss to understand how this notion of subversive NGOs has acquired such wide currency. The idea seems to be that anyone who holds certain views – most importantly the view that the ethnic problem can only be solved by a wide measure of devolution amounting to federalism – is covertly a subversive. The time has come to point out some hard facts. The LTTE has hated the idea of devolution to the extent of wanting to kill any influential person who has tried to promote it, such as Kumaratunga, Lakshman Kadirgamar, and Neelan Tiruchelvam. The Sinhalese hardliners, chauvinists, racists, also hate the idea of a peaceful solution through devolution. Therefore I am on one side of the barricades with other peaceniks in wanting devolution, while the Sinhalese racists are on the other side of the barricades together with the LTTE Tamil racists in preventing devolution. The LTTE I am sure would say that the Sinhalese racists are “objectively” – whatever may be their subjective intentions – serving the separatist purpose of the LTTE. We must stop this nonsense about certain ideas being inherently subversive.
Most readers probably have wrong notions about what goes on in NGOs like the ICES. It functions as an intellectual forum holding film shows, lectures, and seminars, most of which are meagerly attended and are quite dull. The intellectual stimulation provided by most of them is nil. That has surely to be expected because most of the people involved in such institutions, here and all over the world, have to consist of ordinary humanity, that is to say of decent and well-meaning people who above all are dull conformists with nothing subversive about them. Its major focus is on research projects, and doubtless some excellent work has been done, but the papers are not available on the internet and their circulation must be very limited. It is difficult to see how they can possibly constitute a significant subversive force. I am not in the least surprised that although charges about NGO subversion have been made for over fifteen years, not one iota of evidence has been unearthed to show it. Behind it all is enviousness, intolerance, and a rage for totalitarian control.
The above sets out the background to the ejection of Ms Mani from Sri Lanka. The ejection itself was reportedly precipitated by some injudicious action on the part of Ms Mani arising out of her close connection with the former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans and the R2P project. She had apparently proposed that the ICES be brought into some sort of association with the Global Centre of the R2P in New York, and that had been brought to the notice of the Government which for some time had already been suffering from convulsions over that project. The ejection by an alarmed Government quickly followed.
As everyone knows the Neelan Tiruchelvam lecture on the R2P has proved to be highly controversial. Notably there has been a negative critique by Minister G.L. Peiris and a counter-critique by Tisse Jayatileke, but I have the impression – perhaps mistakenly – that the core problem has not been properly addressed. Certainly a serious problem is that the R2P can be misused for neo-imperialist domination by the strong against weak countries such as Sri Lanka. But the core problem is that the idea that the international community has the responsibility of intervening to protect a people irrespective of the wishes of governments arises out of the revolutionary upsurge of the masses and their demand for protection and a better life. R2P has behind it far more than neo-imperialist strategy. The core problem therefore is how to protect state sovereignty while allowing for the international community’s responsibility to protect the people when that becomes necessary.
Not long after the Evans lecture I happened to visit the ICES. I asked an officer there to convey to the Director that it would be useful to hold a seminar on R2P. Had one of my late friends Neelan or Regi Siriwardene been there I believe that such a seminar would have been held because they would have recognized that a lecture sponsored by the ICES had set off a political storm and therefore the ICES had some measure of responsibility to try to quell that storm. Had that seminar been held the core problem could have been addressed, some useful clarifications since made by Ms Mani could have been ventilated, and some measure of balanced thinking about R2P might have been brought about.
The failure to hold such a seminar seems instructive. I have remarked above that the research products of the ICES have very small circulation, something that is certainly true of almost all the NGOs, which does not seem to bother them in the least. There seems to be something that is precious, elitist, hermetic, an ethos that spawns coteries, in NGOs like the ICES – which is not of course to deny that some useful work has been done by them. It is an ethos that is favorable to the ambitious go-getter, the intellectual mediocrity, who wants to secure places in academia, the UN system, and so on. It is not at all surprising therefore that the Rama Mani case has shown that the ICES had practically immured itself from the political currents swirling all around it. Otherwise it is not possible to explain her astounding political naivety in proposing some sort of affiliation of the ICES with the R2P Global Centre in New York.
The intemperate reaction of the Government in summarily packing off Ms Mani may be understandable, but it does not seem justifiable. Surely that affiliation she allegedly proposed could have been prevented through the intervention of people like Professor Kingsley de Silva and Bradman Weerakoon. That packing off has almost certainly worsened the already poor international image of the Government, which should therefore justify its action. Alternatively, it could offer to renew her visa. Whether she should actually return is another question. A mob of citizens could clamor for injustice.
(The writer is a retired Sri Lankan diplomat)
February 25th, 2008
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