by Dayan Jayatilleka
Mao Ze Dong, arguably the greatest military theorist of the 20th century and one of its finest philosophers, enjoined his followers to A?a??A?turn bad into good!A?a??A? The timing of the Supreme Court judgement was, as Dr Sarath Amunugama among others is reported to have said in Cabinet, not a good thing. But now that it has been rendered, and is in some senses irreversible A?a??a?? it is never a healthy thing for the executive or legislature to display scant regard for a Supreme Court decision – one has to make the best of it, and if possible turn it to good use. Just such a possibility has opened up with the reported comment of KarunaA?a??a??s TMVP welcoming the decision of the Supreme Court.

A?a??A?De-merger gives East a chance to decide its future says Karuna

The Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), the political arm of the Karuna faction, says the de-merging of the North East gives the chance for the people of the East to decide their own future and not be A?a??A?political orphansA?a??A? anymore.

In a statement emailed to the Daily Mirror the TMVP said the rights and aspirations of the Eastern people were rejected under the guise of war and now that they have been given the chance to decide the fate of their own future, the de-merger should be welcomed.

A?a??E?Because of the war a certain section was at an advantage in the areas of political, security, education, employment and residence, creating unfairness to the eastern people. But now a full stop has been placed to that and the eastern people can elect their own representatives to address their problems. This is a victory they have got,A?a??a?? the TMVP statement said.

Now that the Supreme Court has decided to de-merge the North East, the TMVP says the country should respect the wishes of the Eastern people by accepting the decision which will in turn help the future of the country.A?a??A? ( Daily Mirror Oct 23, 2006)

While it is important not to let down the non-LTTE Tamil moderates, it is also important to note that they are not all of one mind, and that of them, those who militarily challenge the LTTE, those who are the objective allies or quasi allies of the Sri Lankan armed forces, those who have the military potential to defeat the Tigers, are the most important. Choices must sometimes be made, and if so, the priority must be accorded the Karuna faction.

It seems that the Karuna group sees an opportunity to liberate the Tamil people of the East from the North, in the Supreme Court decision. If a separate provincial council is set up for the east and an election is held, the TMVP stands an excellent chance of being elected and thereby wielding real power, authority and influence. Endowed with some degree of electoral legitimacy, it can act as a strong partner and ally of the Sri Lankan state, can be put forward as a stakeholder in the conflict, a new partner in the peace process and introduced to the outside world.

A Karuna dominated Eastern provincial council would permit the present bipolar balance to be transformed into a multipolar one with a new power centre arising in the east, countervailing the Tiger dominated north and what one of my ex-militant Tamil comrades who was recently in Havana and New York calls A?a??A?the arrogance of the Jaffna Tamils who think they are the Israelis of South Asia and the Tigers are the armed expression of this arroganceA?a??A?. An eastern council would permit the long standing zero-sum game to be transformed into a non-zero sum one.

Elections to an Eastern council would have one positive consequence: either the LTTE would have to commit its fighters to disrupting the election, thereby exposing them to Sri Lankan army, STF and K faction firepower, or it would have to conserve its cadres, thereby allowing the eastern council to be elected and established.

Cipro price at walmart A KarunaA?a??a??dominated Eastern council would achieve two positive results:

Myambutol price 1. It would enable Karuna to strengthen himself and expand his base, which in turn would mean that we could hand over many security functions to the Eastern council (the law and order function is devolved and there is provision to raise a police force, hence the earlier North east Provincial CouncilA?a??a??s CVF militia) draw down our forces from the East and commit them to defeating the Tigers in the North.

2. With the patronage he is able to extend through the Council, Karuna would be able to raise an army in the East which can work in parallel with the Sri Lankan armed forces in any offensive in the North and the Wanni.

A Karuna dominated council can decide at a subsequent stage, i.e. after the defeat of the LTTE, whether it wishes to opt for institutional linkage with the Northern council in the form of an apex body (Sirisena CoorayA?a??a??s favourite formula).

Sinhala chauvinists may resent giving Karuna control of the Eastern council, but it is only such an arrangement that can contain Tamil chauvinism in the North – or Northern Tamil expansionism A?a??a?? by changing the terms of the present conflict from A?a??E?Sinhala vs. TamilA?a??a?? to A?a??E?Eastern Tamil autonomy and integration vs. Northern Tamil separatism/expansionismA?a??a??. There are two variants of Tamil separatism: that of Prabhakaran and Perumal (Velupillai and Vardharaja)! Karuna knows that either one of those trajectories will be under the hegemony, or will result in the hegemony, of the wealthier, internationally and regionally (Chennai, New Delhi) connected Jaffna Tamils. Therefore he will resist the secessionist temptation. On balance, this makes Karuna a safe strategic Tamil ally for the Sri Lankan state.

Sources of De-merger

The de-merger of the North and East was only partially a consequence of JVPA?a??a??s recent legal intervention.

Had the Tamil parties accepted the December 19th 1986 proposal of P Chidambaram, the Tamil people would have obtained a sightly smaller but merged North-east, minus the Ampara district. However, given the usual combination of arrogance and myopia, the Tamil side rejected it, only to wind up today, with almost nothing.

The de-merger is sourced in a lack of legitimacy. That illegitimacy derived from a radioactive combination: the A?a??E?shotgun weddingA?a??a?? character of that merger by an administration (that of JR Jayewardene) that had lost legitimacy through the holding of a fraudulent referendum instead of a parliamentary election, coerced by the military intervention (the airdrop) by a powerful neighbour which was an ancient foe and had just prior to the merger, prevented the Sri Lankan armed forces from defeating the Tigers after Vadamaarachchi!

JR Jayewardene, co-author of the Accord, promised to campaign for a A?a??E?noA?a??a?? vote at the referendum while Vijaya Kumaratunga, the most outspoken supporter of the Accord and devolution, maintained a longstanding opposition to the merger (evidenced by the printed proceedings of the Political Parties Conference of mid-1986). So too did his party the SLMP, even after his death.

The de-merger is also A?a??E?materiallyA?a??a?? sourced, in the fact of the uneven development of the North east, and the resultant domination of the East by the North, especially Jaffna. This is no Sinhala propaganda creation: my attention was first drawn to the sociological potential for a North/East schism by a path breaking and prophetic research essay by Brian Pfaffenberger in the radical leftwing Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, almost two decades ago!

When Dutugemunu defeated Elara, he didnA?a??a??t run the place with a Sinhala Buddhist jackboot. He appointed a Tamil Yuvaraja to run it, with a large degree of autonomy according to its own customs. In any case ancient Lanka had a high degree of regional autonomy in that it was demarcated into three zones: Ruhunu, Maya and Pihiti ratas.

Today, in the 21st century, it is necessary to invert the sequence in order to obtain the same result. A Tamil yuvaraja cannot be appointed after the defeat of Prabhakaran. He has to be appointed before that defeat, so as to render that defeat possible.

PrabhakaranA?a??a??s Project

While PrabhakaranA?a??a??s defeat is not inevitable, the defeat of his project is. Meaning, he may continue to damage us and destroy our future prospects, but he cannot establish Tamil Eelam, nor can it be established by anybody else. He cannot triumph and we cannot be defeated, existentially. This is not because we are a thrice blessed isle, but because of the nature of his cause, the character of todayA?a??a??s world and the dynamics of contemporary history. A cutting edge study has resulted in a new book entitled A?a??E?No More States: Globalization, National Self Determination and TerrorismA?a??a??. It is edited by distinguished scholars Richard Rosecrance and Arthur A. Stein. Rosecrance is a research professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and senior fellow in the Belfer Centre for science and International Affairs at the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Arthur Stein is professor of political science at the University of California, LA, and a former member of the Policy Planning Council of the US State Department. Francis Fukuyama says that their volume A?a??A?deals with one of the most important issues in global politicsA?a??A?, namely A?a??A?the question of state fragmentation and state formationA?a??A?.

Bringing together 15 distinguished contributors, the volume studies the factors that lead to the rise of new nation states, and examine the Middle East, Asia North America, Europe and Russia, A?a??A?where pressures for new states are intenseA?a??A?. Drawing attention to globalisation/integration/dependency, the nuclear issue, and A?a??A?the disadvantages of terrorism as a tacticA?a??A?, the authors opine that the phase of proliferation of nation states is over. A?a??A?The book concludes that discontented national movements will have to find ways to exist within current geopolitical boundaries.A?a??A? (Foreign Affairs, Sept-Oct 2006).

This means that Tamil Eelam is a futile fantasy and Sri Lanka, though in dire need of internal reform and domestic change, is here to stay as a state in its present boundaries.

Cost of amoxil Order zaditor Aljazeera 21-10-2006

Sri Lanka’s war has begun to take on a gruesome dimension with news of innocent civilians being slaughtered becoming commonplace, something that is creating an atmosphere of distrust and making ordinary Sri Lankans nervous.

Mafaz, a Sri Lankan aid organiser who would not give his surname, told Aljazeera.net: “We hear of people being killed all the time, and we don’t know what to think. Of course we want peace, but to be honest we don’t know where it will go from here”.

Accusations abound on each side of the conflict, but who is responsible for the slaughter of ordinary people remains a grey area. The list of innocent civilians who have been killed in the conflict runs into hundreds, but numbers are hard to confirm.

The execution of 17 Sri Lankan aid workers, who were killed with one shot to the head while at work on August 4, exemplifies the confusion of Sri Lanka’s 23-year war. The government has repeatedly blamed the Tamil Tiger separatists (LTTE) for the killing, while Nordic peacekeepers blame government forces.

A second autopsy is now being undertaken to unravel the execution of the 17 Tamil aid workers, who were employed by the French aid organisation Action Contre La Faim (ACF), but whether it will offer any conclusive proof remains to be seen.

Nine out of 15 bodies were exhumed in Trincomalee on October 18 and two bodies were exhumed earlier in the month. The autopsy is to be carried out by a Sri Lankan legal medical team with Australian experts present to observe. The arrival date of the Australians is still not known.

The case

ACF had repeatedly called for an international inquiry to determine the deaths of the 17 Tamil workers, when the first autopsy proved to be inconclusive. But it took two months to get permission from the Sri Lankan government.

Lucile Grosjean, a spokesperson for ACF, told Aljzeera.net: “We have been demanding an independent inquiry ever since”.

Finally on October 4, the court granted permission for the second autopsy but the conditions were that a Sri Lankan medical team would carry it out, and that Australian experts could be brought in to observe.

Grosjean said: “We have however been given the option of having Australian experts present at a second autopsy not unlike the first, they will be there in a supervisory role”.

Serious decomposition

During the first examination the bullets were not found, and according to Sacha Kolar, a specialist registrar in forensic pathology based at the Medico-Legal Centre in Sheffield, UK, with Sri Lanka being a hot climate the bodies will have suffered from some serious decomposition.

This could reduce the clarity on drawing conclusions from forensics on how the killing was carried out, if no traces of ammunition can be found.

Kolar, told Aljazeera.net: “One of the most important factors to consider when looking at cases like this is the experience of the coroner carrying out the post-mortem.

“Also with Sri Lanka being a hot climate the bodies will have serious decomposition, which also brings to mind the question of identity. How confident are you of the identity of the bodies being exhumed”.

Who is to blame?

The government has publicly been blamed by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) for the killings. The peacekeeping mission issued a report on August 30, that concluded there were no other forces in Muttur, at that time, and blamed the army for trying to cover up the killing by restricting movement of the SLMM in the region.

Based on eye-witness accounts the SLMM report said: “The security forces of Sri Lanka are widely and consistently deemed to be responsible for the incident”.

Finding concrete evidence in times of war is fraught with problems. But Sri Lankans are fed up with their government and do not understand how the country has come to this point after many years of relative calm.

A Sri Lankan taxi driver who lives in Qatar told Aljazeera.net on the condition of anonymity: “I donA?A?A?t understand what this government is doing. This government is very bad. The former prime minister was much better at handling this issue”.

Logistics of war

Only last month, 11 Muslim labourers were found hacked to pieces 9km south of Pottuvil in Ampara district. They were on their way to fix a sluice gate but never returned home.

Ampara is a government-controlled area and a Sri Lankan military [Special Task Force (STF)] camp is near the location of where the brutal killing took place.

Residents of the town reportedly said that they believed it was the STF who were acting in the area in co-operation with the Karuna faction A?A?A? a spin off of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who have openly been supported by the STF.

Mafaz said: “It’s no secret that there have been tensions between the local Muslims and the STF”.

The government blamed the LTTE for the killing.

The Karuna faction has been operating freely in government controlled areas since the conflict erupted four months ago.

Thorfinnur Omarsson, a spokesperson for the SLMM told Aljazeera.net: “In the Batticoloa area, which is partly-government controlled, the Karuna faction have been operating quite freely”.

Peace talks

Peace talks are now on the table with a date set for October 28 and 29, when the government and the LTTE will travel to Geneva to hopefully put an end to the conflict.

Analysts say, with the recent upsurge in violence it is difficult to see how anything positive will come out of it. On October 16, at least 103 people – many of them navy sailors – were killed in a bus bomb, which left hundreds injured.

It is likely that the SLMM will play a role in the peace talks, but with the escalating violence, what type of role has yet to be defined.

Omarsson told Aljazeera.net: “One might think there is no use for peace talks under the present situation, but quite the opposite is true. There is a need for peace talks to begin, there is no other alternative than to go ahead with the talks”.

What ever the outcome of the talks and/or the autopsy, it is clear that Sri Lankans have been hurt by the conflict and it has set up a deep distrust for this government. The families of the dead will deserve to be compensated for the loss of their loved ones, how the government will deal with it is yet to be seen.

Sri Lanka’s aid workers continue to work in an environment that is becoming more and more dangerous day by day. The tragedy of Sri Lanka is that not only is the safety of aid workers important to help the thousands of people displaced by the conflict, but also to continue the ongoing reconstruction work in the tsunami affected areas.

Message

While the execution of 17 innocent aid workers remains unsolved it has sent a message to others.

Omarsson said: “It seems the one who carried out this attack did it to send a warning to others. International NGOs across the country have been threatened by anonymous groups. Especially local NGO workers who are working for international bodies”.

Mafaz told Aljazeera.net: “I don’t feel so safe anymore. I am planning to leave Sri Lanka at the end of this month. What can I do?”

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A CHARITY Saunton paddle has raised more than A?A?2,700 to help tsunami victims on the east coast of Sri Lanka.

Seventy-two people took part in the second annual Paddle4Relief organised in August by Braunton surfer Tim Tanton to raise money to build a preschool in Komari.

Despite a fresh northerly wind that made conditions rough, long boards -supported by goat boats, short boards, paddleboards and rescue skis – paddled out to the point to create a memorial circle

“It was a real community event, with experienced surfers and surf lifesavers supporting the less experienced participants through encouragement and physically towing individuals,” said Tim.

“I’d like to give a heart-felt thanks to all those that took part, helped out, and to the businesses that donated such a fantastic array of raffle prizes. I’d also like to say a big thank you to members of the Saunton Surf Life Saving Club for their fantastic support.”

Tim said that work on the project at Komari – 20 kilometres north of Arugam bay where last year funds were used to build and equip a classroom -would start as soon as was safe to travel in the region.

“Civil war is escalating there and friends living in Arugam Bay have suggested it is unsafe at present,” said Tim.

“Numerous locals have lost their lives in recent weeks and others have had their businesses attacked but we still hope that the money will go a long way towards providing the young children of Komari with a preschool.”

If anyone would like to donate money towards the project, they can contact Tim on 07917032523.

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Prisoner’s innocence proved after 11 years
A poor rag picker, who was given a lifer for rape and murder of a minor, has been found to be innocent after 11 years and three months.

Arugam Munnaswai Kounder (45), who speaks only Tamil, came to Mumbai for employment and pay off a debt of Rs 1000 in 1995, when he was picked up by the police for the rape and murder of a minor girl.

Order vantin antibiotic Arugam told reporters here that he never knew his crime.

“I was just picked up and never told my crime and later got convicted for it”. The incident came to light when in a suicide note written to the then Mumbai Police Commissioner by a PI with the Oshiwara Police Station, Abdul Qadir Bargir, said he falsely implicated Arugam on the orders of the then DCP Nand Kumar Chowgule.

From then the matter was fought by human rights activist, Asim Sarode who ran from pillar to post and finally given a hearing by Justice H Gokhale of the Bombay High Court, who gave a release order on Saturday.

“In the case, police has not followed judicial norms, there has been glaring miscarriage of investigations while also misguiding the court”, remarked Sarode. He said that an accused has to be told his offence, every investigation and finding conveyed to family or close friends, even every proceeding that concerned him had to be informed that also was not followed. Besides language proved to be huge barrier as Arugam could speak only Tamil. It was his right to know the happenings in court, he said.

When asked for the next course of action, Sarode said, he was hopeful that the real killers would be booked and compensation of Rs 25 lakh be given to Arugam to begin life afresh. At the time that Arugam was arrested, he had an ailing father, a wife and a young child. “I want to know whether they are still there for me,” he said.

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(UNI)

Trincomalee. DPA/baz.
Der Club Oceanic gilt als die beste Adresse in der Gegend um Trincomalee im Nordosten Sri Lankas. Ein Traumstrand erstreckt sich vor den Bungalows, entspannte Musik lA?A?uft in der Bar, ein Plakat kA?A?ndigt das abendliche Unterhaltungsprogramm an – das mangels Urlaubern allerdings nicht stattfindet. Seit Juni ist kein einziger Tourist mehr gekommen, die ganze Hochsaison A?A?ber nicht. Schuld ist der Konflikt zwischen den Tamilen-Rebellen der LTTE und der Regierung, der seit dem FrA?A?hjahr eskaliert. FA?A?r den Tourismus in Sri Lanka, den schon der Tsunami Ende 2004 in Mitleidenschaft zog, wird der nicht erklA?A?rte Krieg zur neuen Katastrophe.

Zu Jahresbeginn hoffte die Tourismusindustrie noch, die Folgen des Tsunamis – der die Urlauberzahlen 2005 einbrechen liess – wA?A?rden dieses Jahr A?A?berwunden. Diesen Januar kamen 36,4 Prozent, im Februar satte 43,8 Prozent mehr Touristen als im jeweiligen Vorjahresmonat. Doch der Konflikt machte den Trend zunichte. Im Juni verzeichnete die TourismusbehA?A?rde verglichen mit dem Nach-Katastrophenjahr 2005 erstmals ein Minus, im Juli ebenso, im August gab es nur ein leichtes Plus. Besuche der zahlungskrA?A?ftigen Deutschen gingen im August um fast 20 Prozent, die der Schweizer um A?A?ber 15 Prozent zurA?A?ck.

Auch in der Hauptstadt Colombo, wo es zu AnschlA?A?gen der LTTE kam, und im touristischen SA?A?den, der bislang verschont blieb, sind die Folgen des Konflikts spA?A?rbar. Hoteliers klagen A?A?ber ausbleibende Urlauber und Stornierungen, hoffen aber, dass sich die immer noch guten Reservierungen fA?A?r die dortige Hochsaison ab SpA?A?therbst retten lassen. Diese Hoffnung hat im Nordosten, wo in den vergangenen Wochen schwere KA?A?mpfen tobten, keiner mehr. “Wir hatten viele Buchungen bis zum Jahresende, aber die sind alle storniert”, sagt ein Manager des Club Oceanic, der seinen Namen nicht verA?A?ffentlicht sehen will. Ein Ende des Konflikts ist nicht in Sicht.

Der Tourismus im Nordosten feierte zwar nach dem bislang weder von der LTTE noch von der Regierung aufgekA?A?ndigten Waffenstillstandsabkommen Anfang 2002 die Wiederauferstehung. Im Sommer 2003 sei der Club ausgebucht gewesen, im Sommer 2004 ebenso, sagt der Manager. Nach den Flutwellen blieb die Drei-Sterne-Anlage geA?A?ffnet, der Tourismus erholte sich langsam. Doch jetzt kA?A?mpft das Hotel ums A?A?berleben. Was den Club gerade noch A?A?ber Wasser hA?A?lt, sind die Mitarbeiter von Hilfsorganisationen, die sich dort niedergelassen haben. Zimmer kosten noch rund 25 Euro, weniger als die HA?A?lfte des Preises, der im April verlangt wurde. Der Rabatt wird ungefragt gewA?A?hrt.

Das AuswA?A?rtige Amt rA?A?t inzwischen d[BAD]end von Reisen in die nA?A?rdlichen, A?A?stlichen und sA?A?dA?A?stlichen Landesteile ab. Auch in Colombo und “den A?A?brigen Landesteilen” sollten Reisende “grundsA?A?tzlich hohe Wachsamkeit walten lassen” – keine gute Werbung fA?A?r die tropische Urlaubsinsel. Die Australierin Sarah Salkild gehA?A?rt zu jenen Touristen, die sich trotzdem nicht abschrecken liessen. “Wir hatten A?A?berlegt, abzusagen, sind dann aber doch gekommen”, sagt sie auf der letzten Etappe der Reise in Colombo. Jetzt bricht die 32- JA?A?hrige ihren Urlaub vorzeitig ab – auch wegen des Konflikts.

“Die stA?A?ndige MilitA?A?rprA?A?senz ist ziemlich entnervend”, sagt Salkild. “In Australien sind wir keine Maschinengewehrstellungen gewA?A?hnt.” Die angespannte Lage habe sie und ihren Begleiter davon abgehalten, manche SehenswA?A?rdigkeiten zu besuchen. In einem Fall hA?A?tten sich Anbieter einer Ausflugstour vor ihren Augen um den Auftrag geprA?A?gelt – aus lauter Verzweiflung darA?A?ber, dass sonst keine Touristen kamen. Insgesamt habe sie den Urlaub genossen, manchmal sei er aber auch “echt gruselig” gewesen, sagt Salkild. “Ich wA?A?rde allen, die hierhin reisen wollen, raten, nochmal darA?A?ber nachzudenken.”

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Peace eludes Sri Lanka
Over-Militarisation Gives False Hope To Rajapaksa Sam Rajappa
Sri Lanka has emerged as the most militarised country in South Asia, according to a recent study conducted by Strategic Foresight Group, Mumbai. For every thousand population, it has eight military personnel against 1.3 in India or four in Pakistan. In terms of military expenditure, Sri Lanka spends 4.1 per cent of its GDP against 2.5 per cent by India or 3.5 per cent by Pakistan. Its defence expenditure is expected to cross one billion dollars this year against eight million dollars of the LTTE. The only threat to its territorial integrity comes from the LTTE. Against the 8000-strong ragtag armed cadres of the LTTE, Sri Lanka has an Army of 150,000 well-equipped men and a Navy of 20,000 personnel.
Its Air Force uses Israeli Kfir supersonic fighter bombers, MIG-23 and helicopters, including MI-24s. Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was voted President on a hardline manifesto in alliance with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and Jathika Hela Urumaya, both Sinhala chauvinist parties, has been forced by his allies to renege on whatever concessions his predecessors had shown to the ethnic minority and settle the crisis by liquidating the LTTE. In the USAA?a??a??s global war against terrorism, the LTTE, a liberation movement for the legitimate democratic rights of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, has fallen a victim.

Antipathy to Tamil

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is surrounded by a clutch of advisers who are incapable of understanding the Tamil ethos. Whether it is a coincidence or deliberate design, the Prime MinisterA?a??a??s principal secretary, Security Adviser, Minister of State for External Affairs dealing with Sri Lanka, Foreign Secretary, High Commissioner in Colombo, chiefs of intelligence agencies, including RAW are Malayalees whose antipathy to Tamil, the only living language to be declared a classical language, is well-known.
Taking advantage of IndiaA?a??a??s hands-off policy, Sri Lanka has allowed Pakistan to fill the void. Basheer Wali, former director of PakistanA?a??a??s Intelligence Bureau and an ISI operative, who completed his term as his countryA?a??a??s High Commissioner in Colombo on 30 June but stayed on till an attempt was made on his life, was succeeded by Air Vice-Marshal Shehzad Aslam Chaudhri, who retired recently as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Operations) of the Pakistan Air Force. An expert in air-mounted operations against insurgency, his posting coincides with clandestine co-operation between the armed forces of Pakistan and Sri Lanka after Rajapaksa became President.
During Chandrika KumaratungeA?a??a??s presidentship, Colombo used to keep New Delhi informed of its important military developments. Not any more. Sri Lankan Air Force sends its fighter aircraft to Pakistan for overhauling and maintenance.
The SLAF had now asked the PAF for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and bunker-buster bombs, to be obtained from the USA, for operation against Velupillai Pirapaharan, the LTTE supremo. His elimination will not solve the ethnic crisis Sri Lanka is facing.
The ArmyA?a??a??s shopping list is valued at $20 million while the Air ForceA?a??a??s list is estimated to cost $38.1 million. Sri Lanka had also written to Pakistan to provide swift technical assistance for its T-55 Main Battle Tanks and C-130 transport aircraft.
The ArmyA?a??a??s shopping list includes 10 Baktar Shikan anti-tank guided missile weapon systems, 300 warheads and two training simulators. The success of the recent air strikes by the SLAF against the LTTE and civilian targets in the Tamil areas is attributed to the training imparted by the PAF officers with experience of air-mounted operations against Baloch freedom fighters.
Another sinister move of the Rajapaksa government is the attempt to raise a Muslim regiment in the eastern province to counter the LTTE. Muslims had been given a raw deal by the LTTE in the past. Taking advantage of the discontent of Muslims, who are also Tamils, Rajapaksa has been trying to widen the gulf between the two and use the Muslims as a bulwark against the LTTE. On 18 September, 10 Muslim youths were massacred in Pottuvil, Ampara district, allegedly by the elite counter insurgency Special Task Force troops, and the blame was put on the LTTE. The youths had gone to repair the anicut at Rattal Kulam in a predominantly Sinhala area. A training base of the STF is located near the massacre site. The media in Colombo has to accept the government version as there is no way of checking it independently.
In the first week of August, 17 AID workers in the northern town of Mutur were killed by the Sri Lankan armed forces and put the blame on the LTTE. All but one of the 17 were Tamils, working on tsunami relief for the French NGO, Action Contre La Faim. Fifteen of them were forced to kneel and then shot in the head. The other two were killed in a car as they tried to flee. All the 17 were wearing clothing that identified them as AID workers. The Swedish-led Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission squarely blamed the security forces for the killings.
On 16 August an orphanage in Mullaithivu in the Vanni area of the Northern province was bombed in which 61 innocent girls were killed. The Sri Lankan authorities, including the Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai, P M Amza, tried to mislead the public by saying that the victims were child recruits of the LTTE. International observers, who had visited the orphange, refuted the Sri Lankan version.
In his address to the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Havana on 16 September, Rajapaksa described the LTTE as the most ruthless terrorist organisation and called upon NAM and the UN to A?a??A?strongly renew the commitment to fight terrorism whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head.A?a??A? Meanwhile, Sri LankaA?a??a??s Prime Minister, Ratnasiri Vickramanayaka, said: A?a??A?More countries are coming forward to help us in getting rid of terrorism in Sri Lanka by pledging more weapons to seek them out from any jungle in the country.A?a??A?
Now it is quite evident that the Rajapaksa government is determined to settle the ethnic conflict by military conquest. The 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement enabled the merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces, one of the long cherished demands of the Tamils. Rajapaksa is all set to undo it by the dubious method of a Supreme Court order using the JVP to move a petition to renege the merger.

No understanding

Indira Gandhi knew well the mindset of the Sinhala politicians and appointed the late G Parthasarathy as Special Adviser on Sri Lankan affairs. She had a definite plan to solve the ethnic crisis. But before it could be implemented she was assassinated. Rajiv Gandhi continued his motherA?a??a??s policy and brought about the merger of the two Tamil provinces though it took some arm-twisting of President J R Jayawardene by J N Dixit, then Indian High Commissioner in Colombo who was dubbed the A?a??A?Viceroy of IndiaA?a??A? by the disgruntled Sinhala politicians.
After Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, none of our Prime Ministers showed any understanding of the ethnic problem or desire to help Sri Lanka solve it. Simply repeating parrot-fashion that India believes in Sri LankaA?a??a??s unity and territorial integrity will not solve the problem. A certain amount of arm-twisting of Rajapaksa to come out with a federal solution is called for to solve the endemic ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka.

The author, a veteran journalist who retired from The Statesman, is based in Chennai. Buy bestina obene

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