Mr. Keith Vaz, the British MP, is desperately trying to muster support amongst Parliamentarians in Britain to convene a ‘Summit’ in London to lift the ban on the LTTE and to resurrect the CFA. This is basically what comes out of an interview given to an English daily.

Mr. Vaz is at pains to refer to a smear campaign carried out by "certain groups and media in Sri Lanka" against people "concerned with the conflict in Sri Lanka". Mr. Vaz is quite obviously stung by the exposure of his numerous misdemeanours and his dubious antecedents, laid bare by the local press over the last couple of weeks. If the numerous allegations levelled against him are false and the alleged dubious deals and defalcations are unfounded and his credentials are impeccable, Mr. Vaz has only to put the record straight, thereby clearing the air and disabusing his British constituents and the Sri Lankans here, of the serious misgivings they would naturally entertain about his rather questionable past and somewhat murky credentials.

We Sri Lankans have had our quota of do-gooders, most prominent among these being the Vikings (now minus their horned head gear and their battle axes) with their suavity and undisguised, shameless partiality to the LTTE. Their devilish handiwork, the CFA, enabled the LTTE to tide over a difficult period for the latter when terrorism of any kind was anathema to the West following 9/11. The illusory visions of peace and stability conjured up by the CFA had to be necessarily short -lived as the LTTE quickly set to work to kill off Intelligence personnel of the Services, smuggle in weaponry and equipment and consolidate themselves in the East with hardly a semblance of resistance offered by the authorities who were under strict orders not to engage in any activity, however legitimate it might be, if it posed even a remote threat to the continuance of the CFA. The CFA is now non est, defunct and buried, what with all the violations of this infamous Agreement by the LTTE, by the admission of the Norsemen themselves, topping 3,500 while the recorded violations by the Security Forces is hardly 800 ! The outgoing British PM Mr. Blair too is talking of resuscitating the CFA quite obviously not having a clue as to the situation on the ground here in Sri Lanka. Tony Blair of course has been the faithful Sancho Pancho to the big Don Quixote from across the Atlantic. The latter continues to rashly tilt at windmills, stubbornly fighting the imaginary evil nexus of fire breathing dragons and getting his lances irretrievably entangled in the wind sweeps, in the process. Mr. Blair appears somewhat chastened on the eve of his departure from office, relenting some of the rash decisions taken by him earlier, particularly those relating to Iraq. Mr. Vaz however, seems to be wildly inspired by the reference made by Mr. Blair to the need to resuscitate or is it resurrect the CFA as a pathway to peace and reconciliation.This is what makes Mr. Keith Vaz MP, feverishly dream of a ‘London Summit’!

The Jaffna University Teachers Association, the much respected Mr. Anandasangaree, apart from many others from the Tamil community, have unequivocally condemned the LTTE as a ruthless group of terrorists, terrorizing the Tamil population in the areas controlled by them and trying to keep them in perpetual subjugation. They have boldly aired these denunciations locally as well as abroad. These unfortunately, are not given publicity in the West where LTTE propaganda subsumes the true picture in a web of unvarnished lies and deceit.

If Mr. Vaz were to pay a visit to Sri Lanka and assesses the situation here with an open mind, he could see for himself how happily the Tamil people live among the Sinhalese and the Muslims, outside the LTTE controlled areas. He could also find out for himself, by making discreet enquiries, the absolute misery and the terrible hardships the Tamil people living under the LTTE yoke, have to undergo. Mr. Vaz can certainly get over ambitious in his British political constituency but should refrain from indulging in wild private hallucinations and pipe dreams when it comes to the peace process in Sri Lanka.!