Tigers from belligerence to Geneva

By Malinga H Gunaratne

The ceasefire talks begin in Geneva. There is a heightened sense of transparency and preparation. The participants in the conflict, the NGO's, the peaceniks (at any price) the soft liners, the hardliners, the experts at conflict resolution, are advancing their positions.

Offering words of profound wisdom some of them in tone 'the LTTE should not be trusted, they will violate every undertaking, if it is to their advantage', etc.

Anwar el Sadat said 'that strategic and tactical deception is part of state craft'. No enemy will speak the truth, and play the game of war by Queensberry rules. The LTTE is doing just that. No more, no less. To tactically deceive, to strategically confuse, is merely a part of war.

We are told by the powerful foreign governments, the ever present NGO lobby that we cannot conduct search operations. Kotakadeniya is castigated. 'Discrimination' they cry out aloud. 'Karuna must be disarmed. He is an obstacle to peace.' Is the gratuitous recommendation to the government.

However, it must be quite evident to those acquainted with this conflict, that the tigers sudden change from belligerence to Geneva is a direct result of their inability to cause mayhem and murder in the capital city. They were taking heavy losses at the hands of the many rival factions operating in their territory. The tiger was being hunted.

Now the NGO lobby wants us to halt Kotakadeniya and stop Karuna. so that the Tigers can give their undivided attention to securing a separate state. With the Government assisting them to do it! Who are these NGO's offering us unsolicited advice.
For what does the funds come - for the expensive poster, and banner campaigns, super luxury seminars at 5 star hotels? Investigations must be immediately launched for the source of funding and for the sponsors. They are the unseen enemy.

These international meddlers speak not a word about the recent exposures at the Guantanamo Bay American detention camp. The outrages against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Graib the sexual abuse, the torture. These pictures are horrifying the civilized world. Not a word about the child soldiers. No cry for democratic elections, decommissioning weapons by the tigers, is never articulated. Extortion and kidnapping by the LTTE is fair game. Strategic and tactical deception for the merchants of terror restrictions and controls for the sovereign state is the norm, and we comply.

We blame the world the Norwegians, the Americans, the Indians for our predicament. But does not the fault lie mostly with the State. Master Chinese warrior Sun Tzu in the military classic 'The art of war' states 'Therefore those who win every battle are not really skillful - those who render other's armies helpless, without fighting are the best of all. To overcome others armies without fighting is the best of skills'

How do we win without fighting?. The answer is to make yourself so strong militarily, that the enemy realizes clearly, that fighting you will be an exercise in futility. There is no other way.

'This is exactly what the LTTE has done to us. Past leaders preached the gospel of capitulation, of appeasement." 'They are strong, we cannot fight them, Colombo will come under attack. The economy will collapse, tourists will stop coming, bombs will explode in the capital city' was the repeated refrain. We fell at the feet of Pirapaharan of the Norwegians, of the Japanese and allowed the imposition of a terribly flawed ceasefire agreement. The LTTE won the war without fighting! The previous government ceded control, by giving them an LTTE controlled area. When they control the area, by not voting at the last presidential election we bemoan their treachery.

Oh! This tangled web you weave, when first, you chose to deceive.

'Why did you sign the CFA, if you did not agree with the clauses' the Norwegians queried when they visited the South. The defence and protection of the sovereignty of our Island is the foremost, sacrosanct, task of those who are elected to do the job. No compromise. The people have spoken in one clear voice at the last Presidential election.

What of the future. We need to understand the strategy and goals of the LTTE.

An exclusive area comprising of the North and East, to rule govern, control and terrorise as the unelected leader of the LTTE thinks fit.

The various negotiating stances, federal state, linguistic region, 'Tamil Homeland' are merely a part and parcel of the tactical and strategic deception.

We gleefully announce, 'they have abandoned their cry for a separate state.' "They are willing to work within the Sovereign State' etc. If we concede exclusive land rights to the LTTE, it is at our peril, and will cause incalculable damage to the long term survival of the nation. It is also a separate state. The name is not important.

The population density in the South after deducting the land not available for habitation would be approximately 600 persons per square kilometre.

In the North and East it would be a 157 persons per square kilometer. 75% of the people of the South will be consigned to live in ghetto like squalor, without land, water and the means of survival.

Border wars and conflicts will be inevitable. This is, a battle for the exclusive control of territory. Pacifists would say that this situation will arise in the future, so there is no immediate problem. I have no answer to that argument, except to state, that the future is now, events are creeping up on us, quick and fast. The pressure for land is intense in the South.

How do we resolve this deadlock? The LTTE wants exclusive control and rights. We cannot give it to them. Period. The talks end. Is this going to be the sequence. After the initial euphoria is over? A Professor in conflict resolution advocates a method of resolving this impasse. I am not in agreement with the entirety of the findings, however it is worthwhile examining the principle of this suggested process.
The professor states, "Positions, suspicions and interests
The integrative or problem-solving approach focuses more on understanding and exploring the causes of conflict through continuous and persistent questioning and re-questioning. Interests and grievances alone do not lead different groups to take up positions. Suspicions may play a vital role in developing positions. So does ideology. While ethno-nationalism may arise as a defensive strategy, it cannot be reduced to this defensive mechanism alone. Groups develop identity based ideologies and strategies. So the position formation is a result of a process that is complex and multi-faceted".

If there be the fears and apprehensions of the LTTE, speaking on behalf of the Tamil people, then, can we not resolve this within the unitary state, without recourse to heightened conflict and a costly war.

Similarly the land problems facing the majority Sinhalese and the other communities could be addressed.

The North and East is very much a part of the Sovereign State of Sri Lanka. Our citizens are suffering in silence.

Child conscription must cease immediately. A time frame to be established for free and fair elections in the North and East. Extortion of money from Tamil people needs to be halted. Decommissioning of weapons must begin on a phased out basis.

There can be no parallel Navy, or other armed force within the state of Sri Lanka. Drug running to finance world terror must stop. This will only be possible if the State can send a clear message to the Tigers. If they escalate violence they will lose much more than they gain, by talking peace.

The NGO's and the other foreign players can help. The tune must change. No self respecting country or government can permit the denial of the basic human rights of the Tamil people. This needs lobbying at international level. It may not be so difficult now, with the scourge of terrorism affecting the whole world.
