‘APRC and vampire on murunga
tree’ – A rejoinder
Reading the above article which appeared in The
Island of February 6, with interest, I noticed that the heading
was practical but the subject matter theoretical. Take the
practical situation at present, put the past aside, where both
sides had equal measure of evil and goodwill and contemplate the
forces our President is up against:
1. The terror and wrath of the LTTE
2. India
3. The international community
4. The rank and file within his own party
5. International Laws and Covenants which govern
occupation of territory for long periods of time .
6. The people of Sri Lanka.
If one were to analyse force by force, take the
LTTE for instance. When they were persuaded to come for talks,
they never came, although in the article the writer says that
the LTTE emphasized during peace talks that they would consider
any model, especially the Canadian (quasi – federalism)
and Swiss (confederalism), to bring a permanent solution
to the ethnic conflict. I would like to know when such peace
talks took place and with whom? Why did they not persist on
these lines when they were often invited to attend peace talks
unconditionally, by President Mahinda Rajapaksa immediately
after his election and assumption of office.
They are a terror group and it is difficult to
have peace talks with such a group. Still they did not come when
invited. Further there is no other moderate Tamil group that can
silence this terror group and take over. Therefore is it
conclusive as per the article that the LTTE is the sole
representative or the voice of the Tamil people? So there is a
severe paradox here, where one has to deal with a terror group
and also negotiate with the moderate Tamils regarding their
needs and wants. More than a mere paradox this situation creates
an unedifying hiatus, in the negotiating process. It is the
prime duty of the President of any country to maintain law and
order. In the circumstances, the President has no alternative
but to crush the LTTE, maintain law and order, restore normalcy
and then see what kind of system develops in the best interest
of all Sri Lankans. You could give it any name. Names are not of
importance now, what is required is maintaining law and order
and restoring peace.
Take the ceasefire agreement for instance. It
was being violated from the date of inception and only existed
by name, serving no purpose whatsoever, but when abrogated many
people raised a hue and cry, and are still protesting.
India our neighbour and big brother and home to
a very large Tamil population is the next force to contend with.
They are obviously unhappy over the way our government gave arms
and ammunition to the LTTE to fight and kill the IPKF when they
had come here to assist us. However when President Mahinda
Rajapaksa was interviewed by veteran Indian journalist Mr.
Gupta,at a talk show called "Walk the Talk" by NDTV, he very
cleverly answered him. When asked whether the Sri Lankan
government had in fact helped the LTTE to get rid of the IPKF,
he replied: " That was during the period of the Late Ranasinghe
Premadasa and as per our culture it is not good to speak ill of
the dead, I think it is so according to your culture also."
When asked why, especially the JVP and SLFP
protested against the peace accord signed in 1987, and the
subsequent arrival of the IPKF he said: "Although done with good
intentions, your actions especially the Chappathi drop from
aircraft in Jaffna showed that you were exerting force, and not
as a gesture of goodwill. This was not appreciated by our
people." So the re- introduction of the 13th amendment merely
in words, the deeds are still to be seen,is probably to appease
India and have them on our side.
The abrogation of the CFA and the sacking of
International Monitoring mission as a result, has raised a large
hue and cry in the international community, not as if they were
doing anything much, but nobody likes to feel dispensable. Many
complaints about human rights violations have to be handled, as
this is something which is very difficult to control in times of
war. With the tentacles of the LTTE reaching far and wide and
preaching atrocities and attacks to anybody willing to give them
a patient hearing, the government is faced with immense problems
of human rights violations. It is in this area that India can be
of immense help.
There are objections within his own party over
the abrogation of the ceasefire agreement and the
re-introduction of the 13th amendment and the All Party
Representative Council Committee. These situations will have to
be handled very delicately.
There are certain international covenants which
govern periods of occupation of territory, and based on this
period, recognition as a separate state from the United Nations
can be claimed. In his election manifesto, the President gave a
solemn pledge that he would bring about an honourable peace and
he holds responsibility to the nation as a whole regarding the
sovereignty, territorial integrity and unitary status of this
wonderful nation.
With all these forces and the present
predicament, the President will have to demonstrate his
political skill, which includes diplomacy and guile. Given the
present situation he is of the view that conditions in the
Eastern Province are conducive to holding elections to the
Provincial Council and that elections should be held
immediately. The situation in the North not being so still, the
President is trying to set up a five-member interim council for
the North - three from the Tamil community, and one each from
the Moor and Sinhalese communities. They also intend to commence
development in these areas while restoring normalcy. What a
blessing this would be especially to the people of the North who
have been only seeing the barrel of a gun for the past so many
years, to resume life under normal conditions. According to me
this is the best step taken by any leader to restore normalcy.
Simultaneously, if interest can be taken to look after the needs
of the communities with regard to language, education,
employment, and other burning issues by seeing what people can
achieve by working together instead of working against each
other, cooperating with each other to achieve common goals,
share similar interests, and if a beachhead of cooperation can
remove the jungle of suspicion, with the strong being just and
the weak secure, a new system might evolve. Hang the name, and
live in peace.To be a good President, one has to be a skillful
politician and when the people have given the mantle of
leadership, they cannot and should not, find fault and
complain at every twist and turn if the intention of the
President is genuine and with the welfare of the state in mind.
At this moment of time I would recall an
incident during the election campaign of late President J. R.
Jayewardene in July 1977, when he addressed a large gathering at
Attanagalla, a SLFP hotbed, when somebody threw a stone at him
and at the spur of that moment he ducked, and the stone missed
his head by a few centimetres. Without displaying any anger
whatsoever, or even the slightest irritation, even managing a
thin smile, his face betraying nothing he continued saying to
the amusement of many: " If I had been an upright politician; I
would have been killed."
To be a good President one has to be a skillful
politician, and of course ; "To live long in politics, you must
possess the hide of a rhinoceros, the memory of an elephant, the
persistence of a beaver, the native friendliness of a mongrel
pup. You need the heart of a lion and the stomach of an ostrich.
And it helps to have the humour and ubiquity of the crow, but
all of these combined are not enough, unless when it comes to
matters of principle, you also have the stubbornness of an army
mule." J.R had it all. Only time will tell the percentage
President Mahinda Rajapaksa possessed.
Kan Butani
Via e-mail
