Rajapakse Must Reach Out For Hearts And Minds Of Tamil Community
by Padraig Colman
Even those Sri Lankans, including Tamils, who were dubious about their government’s decision to pursue the military option against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), are relieved that the venture appears successful. They also are surprised at the reaction to the victory by nations such as the US, the UK, India and Israel, and the sharp criticism about civilian casualties and displaced people.
From Sri Lanka, it feels as if the Tamil diaspora in the UK, Canada, US and Australia has overly influenced the media in those places. People in the West seem to believe that all Sri Lankan Tamils were confined to a narrow strip of beach under shellfire from government troops, and are now herded into concentration camps. I do not wish to downplay the suffering of those in the north, but the reality is that Tamils are spread throughout Sri Lanka and many are prosperous and influential.
A distinguished Tamil journalist based in Canada, DBS Jeyaraj, wrote: “The Tamils need to remind themselves that the LTTE, despite its prolonged campaign, has ultimately achieved nothing for the Tamil people. If the LTTE had converted the military strength it once enjoyed into bargaining power at the negotiating table, the Sri Lankan Tamils would have been much better off. It did not and in the process has brought misery and despair to the Tamil people.”
Dr Noel Nadesan, editor of Uthayam, a Tamil newspaper in Australia, wrote: “The Sri Lankan president deserves the congratulations of all Sri Lankans regardless of their ethnicity. More than any other community, the Sri Lankan Tamils owe him their thanks for ending their misery.”
As a Tamil blogger remarked: “I hold no brief for the Sri Lankan government which, unfortunately, is growing more despotic by the day”, but he wondered why Sri Lanka should have agreed to a ceasefire when it had the Tiger leader trapped; it was unlikely that, in similar circumstances, the US would let Osama bin Laden escape.
Hillary Clinton has criticised Sri Lanka for being too tough on the Tamil Tigers — and Pakistan for not being tough enough on the Taliban. (In Swat there are up to two million displaced civilians. There is a shortfall in humanitarian aid and NGOs are pulling out.)
The current Indian government promotes reconciliation and a just settlement for Sri Lankan Tamils. Memories of India’s previous interventions are still acute in Sri Lanka. Indira Gandhi’s government funded and armed Sri Lankan terrorists, including the LTTE. In 1987 an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) tried and failed to disarm the LTTE.
Tamil sources asserted that more than half of the victims of the IPKF 1987 offensive were Tamil civilians and Brigadier Manjit Singh admitted: “We could not differentiate between the LTTE and the civilians.” In October 1987 Indian troops stormed into Jaffna hospital, throwing grenades and firing, killing 70 doctors, staff and patients.
Michael Roberts, a Sri Lankan historian, argues that the Sri Lankan army had similar problems recently, noting that “the category ‘civilian’ is an ambiguous category”, because the LTTE command-state integrated civilians into the front line. Roberts makes a comparison with the end of the second world war, when the Allies insisted on unconditional surrender and carpet bombed civilians (and exploded the atomic bomb) to attain that goal.
The Sri Lankan government was taken by surprise when Israel, in spite of or because of, its actions in Gaza, accused Sri Lanka of indiscriminate military action and violations of human rights in fighting LTTE terrorism. Israel supplied military hardware and expertise which were probably significant factors in the LTTE’s defeat.
The writer and journalist Neil Ascherson has written about the way the British delude themselves that they built and divested themselves of their empire in a decent fashion, although, in fact, “In the detention and work camps, and the resettlement villages, the British created a world no better than the universe of the Soviet Gulag.” The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, was involved during a recent visit to Colombo in a shouting match with Sri Lanka’s defence supremo, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who felt it necessary to remind Miliband that Sri Lanka was no longer a British colony. Miliband has been complicit in US rendition and torture and Britain continues to allow the US to use the British colony of Diego Garcia, from which it expelled the inhabitants, for those purposes.
A recent report by Philip Alston, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, found that accountability in the US has been "deplorable"; few would doubt that the US has killed civilians and used torture in Iraq. In Britain, Miliband proposes that an inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Iraq be held in secret, but Air Marshal Sir John Walker, the former head of Defence Intelligence, said: "There is only one reason that the inquiry is being heard in private and that is to protect past and present members of this government. There are 179 reasons [179 dead soldiers] why the military want the truth to be out on what happened over Iraq." Major General Julian Thompson said that the military wanted to be heard in public “the allegation that a British government manipulated intelligence to take part in an illegal war.”
Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lankan ambassador to the UN has said: “Sri Lanka is not the case of an army of occupation invading and occupying another country. Sri Lanka’s army is a military that serves a constitutional democracy, a military that fought a war strictly within its recognised borders against a separatist, terrorist militia, with whom the state had tried to arrive at a peaceful settlement on numerous occasions. Therefore, we will not have forced upon us formulae and paradigms derived from entirely different contexts.”
Because those accusing Sri Lanka of war crimes are not free of guilt themselves, should the issue of war crimes in Sri Lanka be ignored? Some would argue that a full investigation of war crimes would be a distraction from the reconciliation process; others argue that reconciliation is impossible if war crimes are not investigated (perhaps more bitterness is felt among the diaspora than among Tamils in Sri Lanka).
The reconciliation process in countries such as South Africa, Rwanda, Chile and Northern Ireland have been cited. There is no doubt that Sri Lankan Tamils have suffered discrimination and there has, in the past, been horrific anti-Tamil violence.
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka is not an apartheid society like South Africa, Palestine or even Louisiana. The government was fighting terrorists, not trying to wipe out the Tamil population. In Sri Lanka a democratically-elected government increased its popularity with voters by overthrowing a de facto unelected, totalitarian military dictatorship in part of its internationally recognised sovereign territory, and intends to restore democracy to that area.
n Northern Ireland peace was achieved through long negotiations when both sides became exhausted and accepted that neither could win. The IRA gave up its arms and put its goal of a united Ireland in abeyance. The LTTE went into any “negotiation” with an uncompromising demand for a separate state of Tamil Eelam.
There are arguments that the government must blame itself because of inept PR and censorship. Certainly, the news has been manipulated under the cover of “prevention of terrorism” and press freedom will continue to be threatened. Anti-terrorism laws (perhaps not as draconian as in the UK or US) remain in place and many investigations into attacks on the media remain unresolved.
President Rajapakse’s reputation is high with the Sinhalese majority and he should now have the political capital to reach out for the hearts and minds of the Tamil community and bring them within a unified nation without fear of backlash. It is to be hoped that other governments and the international media will help the nationbuilding by supporting reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
COURTESY: Le Monde Diplomatique
8 Comments
Unfortunately there seems to be no significant effort on the part of the President to reach out to the Tamil Community as a whole. For instance he has still not visited the IDP camps to see for himself in person how the victims of war are fareing. This would be expected of any head of state where such a massive tragedy has occured. There appears to be some kind of block preventing him from engaging whole heartedly with the Tamil Community.
Yes indeed, MR can do much now to win over the Tamil community. But his inaction is costlty, as the window of opportunity which has been open for close to 2 months, will not exist indefinitely.
I would like to comment on the following remark made by the author :
"Hillary Clinton has criticised Sri Lanka for being too tough on the Tamil Tigers — and Pakistan for not being tough enough on the Taliban. (In Swat there are up to two million displaced civilians."
My comment:
True, we have only 250.000 IDPs as against the 2 million in Pakistan. BUT. please note that the IDPs in Vavuniya Sri Lanka are refugees and persons devoid of freedom of movement ( The word Prisoners, is to dramatic... ).
So that's why it needs urgent attention.
I agree with a lot of what this Irishman says, but not that the Tamils were discriminated against, in Sri Lanka. The Sinhala were the lesser beings while Sri Lanka was part of the empire, and the Tamils, both from Jaffna and the recent imports from South India, were the privileged
ones, so much so that they held some 35-40% of all Civil service and Professional jobs (for 12% of the population). This was because they were willing to work against the Sinhala population for their own personal benefit. This was the reason for making the utterly unreasonable demand from the British prior to Independence for 50% representation in Parliament for this group of people. The "aspiration" for a third of the land mass exclusively for the Tamils is yet another such demand, which they tried to achieve by force of arms and terrorism. This they presented to the world as their fantasy for a homeland, which India, from where they originate, denied them. India therefore exported this problem to Sri Lanka, and trained and funded them at first, before some sane minds took over Indian foreign policy, and realized what problems India was creating for itself in the future.
Sri Lankans have no problem with "equal Rights" for the Tamils or anybody else, but they do with unreasonable demands and aspirations. The Tamil mind has been corrupted with these by the previous eliminated leadership, and it will take time for this fantasy to be forgotten.
The very fact that more than half of the Tamils live among the Sinhala in harmony is proof enough that they have equality. When Tamils accept their due place is equality and forget the demand for privileges, they will contribute to the well being of the whole nation.
We need to understand SL history, mainly to understand why the Tamils were ready to lose everything (including their lives) to fight for a seperate state.
There is no need to hold your breadth, to see any genuine efffort from any of the political leaders from the South, who has political ambitions to hold power at Colombo. Any one, who has the courage to make an genuine attempt to share powers with the Tamils will be murdered either through ballot or bullet.
As JR correctly said, the political South will be happier when the Tamils are tortured and starving. Because, the Sinhalese are scared of Tamils due to their talent and hardwork displayed during the colonial times and exploited by the British.
As MR is currently set to create another committee (Development and Reconciliation?) to reset the game from zero (because when a committee does not achive its goal, the audience begin to understand they are being fooled)we are all set to see another round of comedy act by Colombo, with one difference. This time the Tamils are subjugated, and therefore, we will not hear that much of political outcry from Tamil MPs fearing White Van visits. But, they may and will silently pass the word outside the country for the diaspora to voice their concerns. - I do not see any other options for them at this juncture.
Tamils will not (and should not) count on International community (IC) to raise their voice on their behalve as they have already seen the IC's performance early this year. But, the diaspora should be activated to let the western public to be aware of what is happening, so at least in the long-term, the International community (govts) will be forced by their people to take the right stand.
Currently, the UN is an organization, with the purpose of NOT to serve the world public (people), but it is with the purpose of to protect its member states from punishment when they do things wrong.
Now that LTTE and the tag of terrorism is out, the IC
should use it full powers to set things straight, in the name of justice and demnocracy. All the force
of INGOO should bear its weight of MR Regime, unless
one wants to see the birth of a Mynammar with the
MR Trio. The changes on land taking place in the NE
is evidence of the gloom and no amount of Councils
can override the command of a glorified Public Servant! (Forget about the 17th Amendment).
In Sri Lanka, it is possible to hold elections even without the contenstants being able to visit the
area and its people!! This is lawful in Sri Lanka.
LOL! WHAT UTTER RUBBISH. It is Tamils who have EMBRACED, CONDONED, and CODDLED SEPARATISM and TERRORISM toward the SINHALESE who must now make amends with the SINHALESE. Not the other way around. No one is going to go Chasing Behind Tamil Communalists and Begging them to join the country. If they want to be a part of Sri Lanka they must reconcile for the 25 years they stood by and even supported the War and Terrorism. We Sinhalese have NOTHING to Apologize to Tamils for anymore.
Noel Nadesan: "The Sri Lankan president deserves the congratulations of all Sri Lankans regardless of their ethnicity. More than any other community, the Sri Lankan Tamils owe him their thanks for ending their misery."
Really? So, if you kill 30,000 innocent civilians to kill less than 5000 LTTE cadre, probably less than 1000 of them hardcore and the rest conscripted children who are your fellow citizens, you deserve praise and thanks? Tamils don't need this kind of idiots speaking for them.
Mr. Colman's entire artice is quoting a series of people rather than making any cogent arguments, an indication of cluelessness and ignorance on his part.
"Sri Lanka's anti-terror laws are not as draconian as in the US and UK..." Really, Mr.Colman? What planet are you from? If you have simply talked to at least a few of the people you quote, you would have found out about the white vans and other atrocities. Robert Kaplan in his piece also published on this blog is right on target while you are clueless and dead wrong.
Le Monde for very long has remained one of Europe’s – and indeed the world’s - leading Free newspapers. Mon. Padrag Colman endeavours to be balanced quoting eclectic sources. But I fear the delicate nuances and intrigues in the Lankan political landscape have escaped his attention. He states “GoSL was fishing out terrorist - not trying to wipe out the Tamil population” The State had sufficient official documentation to identify the Tamil civilian population from the hardcore LTTE cadres – except for some who were forcibly held by the militants is something that needs no emphasis. The entire world including Bernard Kouchner, Minister of the French Cabinet, who personally came here to persuade the Govt to ensure minimum casualties among the civilian women, children and the elderly. This was because the army was going about without any consideration killing many civilians in their war campaign, The EU was clear it had no intention to try save VP and the LTTE. But the Govt twisted the issue – and this remains the basis on which the current War Crime data is being prepared. As to the “shouting match” the writer states David Milliband engaged with the Defence Secy, surely the latters’ lack of finesse and diplomacy is now universally known. Milliband was only giving indications to the man not to go about thinking he has the entire world fooled and there can be a price for the aberration in due course. But that aside, we are with you when you remark “President Rajapakse’s reputation is high with the Sinhalese and he should now have the the political capital to reach out for the hearts and minds of the Tamil people community and bring them within a unified nation” Sir, this has not happened so far, as you may have learnt. Le Monde must not merely note but also take suitable and effective action to the stark reality the war ended nearly 3 months ago but most of the Tamil civilians are still held - against their wishes and protestations - on false premises. Worse, although the President assured the country and the world he will bring relief to the Tamil people in the North “once the war is over” now he shifts gears and says “the solution is in the hands of the Sinhala people who will make their decision at the next General Elections” How about that, Messieur? This can be next year or years later – because dates of elections are now at the whims and fancies of the Govt that cares too hoots to the Constitution. What is Le Monde’s response to the sham judgement of the Commission that went into the massacre of the 17 Action Contre de faim (ACF) workers? The people of Muttur have no doubt these innocent, educated young were killed execution style by a military-police squad who were fed with false information by a disgruntled Muslim youth “all of them are LTTers” The police know the name and identity of this man and was in fact using the young man as a spy. Not only the judgement brought discredit to Sri Lanka’s hitherto excellent reputation for the judicial process, it also devoured the reputation of a decent man who Chaired the Commission. His reputation as a judge until then was beyond reproach. It should also be noted a former distinguished Civil servant and now political activist Dr. Devanesan Nesiah – was duly appointed to the Commission to tell the world there was a Tamil also as a Commissioner. However, as proceedings went on he was forced out by the Govt on a relentless false campaign against him launched by a lawyer idenfitied with Buddhist Sinhala supremacism. They knew with Nesiah there was no chance of a “cooked up” judgement. Where is the credibility of the Justice system here? The Chairman was clearly forced to compromise to save the Govt in the eyes of the world. It is because ACF had no faith in the system here they quit in June 2008 and now, after this questionable judgement, appeal to the E/U for an impartial inquiry. Would Le Monde have reacted differently if some of these ACF workers were French nationals?
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