Sri Lanka and the war on terror

Actually, the LTTE had until recently one of their biggest funding and arms operations running from the UK. The British govt. refused to proscribe the LTTE as a terrorist organisation and let their funding and arms rings run in the country, despite Sri Lankans enduring 60,000 deaths through suicide bombings, claymore mines, child soldiers, etc.

It was only after much persuasion and the ultimate failure of the very last peace process, when the British authorities realised that the LTTE were in fact not interested in any peaceful solution to the Sri Lankan issue, that they decided to proscribe the outfit - a good 30 years after the whole thing started!

If anything, Britain, Canada and other European nations where the LTTE had an official presence and openly ran their funding operations, are complicit in the deaths of thousands of Sri Lankans from both sides of the conflict. Their constant wavering in pushing the LTTE to come to a peaceful negotiation and the increasing international recognition they gave to the organisation, despite it’s continued violation of the Cease Fire Agreement through suicide bombings and assasinations, were one of the main catalysts in the LTTE abandoning the peace process in the belief they had enough international clout and support to fight the Sri Lankan civil war successfully. A war crimes probe in fact should be levied against these very countries, to determine how they managed to permit such a large organisation function so openly in their countries when people were dying in their thousands in Sri Lanka.

Canada, Britain and other European nations continued to host prominent LTTE leaders, who openly made statements regarding the conflict and had official positions in the organisation. In fact, the death of one, Anton Balasingham’s funeral was held in Alexandra Palace in the U.K.! This is the equivalent of Sri Lanka playing host to prominent Al Qaeda leaders, where they would constantly be issuing statements on their plans and hatred for Britain, Europe, U.S.A and Canada from the island. By looking at what happened in Afghanistan to the Taleban for playing host to Al Qaeda, the same fate would have fallen on Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka however pushed through diplomatic means to fight for the LTTE to be banned and was often shunned away in this struggle.

Yes, there are many things that need to change in Sri Lanka and the process of reconciliation will be long and tedious. But it is best in such instances to encourage and work with these war weary nations in solving their problems - not pushing solutions down by nations that were largely responsible for creating and enhancing the problems in the first place.

Of course no country is free from any discrimination. Minorities everywhere face some kind of discrimination - may it be religious, racial or even sexual. Nothing justifies it and we must all work together to fight it. However, the use of suicide bombers, inc. pregnant women as some, child soldiers, etc. isn’t the way about sorting the issue of discrimination.

But it is also important to note a few things about Sri Lanka which neither Canada or any other country can claim in terms of inclusiveness:

1. Although Tamil citizens make up only 12% of Sri Lanka’s population - 30% of Sri Lanka’s elected MPs are from a Tamil speaking community and 18% are directly Northern Tamils.

2. The religious, cultural and historical festivals of all communities in Sri Lanka are national holidays. This includes Christmas and Muslim festivals, religions practised by only 6% of the population.

3. Both Sinhala and Tamil are official languages of the State. All road signage, official documentation, transport and public as well as private facilities are found in fact in the three languages of English, Sinhala and Tamil. It is mandatory to study all languages in school (where facilities are available) and all new public servants must sit a mandatory exam in either Sinhala or Tamil (whichever language which is NOT their mother tongue).

4. Sri Lanka’s capital and largest city Colombo is only 40% Sinhalese - 60% are from Tamil speaking communities and 40% are exclusively Northern or Indian Tamils.

5. The Govt. has made a public apology for all the riots of the past and for errors of the state in creating the problem.

6. Sri Lanka has had top politicians from the Tamil community, inc. former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgama and highways Minister Jeyeraj, both who were ironically assasinated by the LTTE.

7. Even after the conflict flared up in 2006 - following 6000 violations of the Ceasefire Agreement by the LTTE and only about 600 by the Govt. of Sri Lanka (recorded by the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission), an attempted assassination of the Army General by a PREGNANT Suicide Bomber and following a series of bomb attacks in Colombo and outside - the Sri Lankan govt. continued to provide gestures of goodwill to the LTTE to come to the negotiating table. This includes continuing their policy of attending to the health needs of LTTE leaders by flying them down to the best hospitals in Colombo for any treatments. Gratitude was often expressed through another bomb.

8. Both of Prabhakaran’s children were educated in State schools at the expense of Sri Lankan tax payers, whose own children had to be victims of bombings, etc. across the country. The Sri Lankan govt. held special exams for Prabhakaran’s children to sit for the O Levels and A Levels separately and enrolled them into State University. When security risks were feared, the Sri Lankan govt. also assisted and sponsored the children to travel to foreign universities for education. The eldest son, Charles Anthony, returned to Sri Lanka and started to attack the very citizens whose tax money and goodwill paid for his education and foreign travels, with the airplanes that the LTTE managed to acquire during the CeaseFire Agreement.

9. The recent restrictive access to aid agencies in the displacement camps or concentration camps (whatever one may call it), is only a restriction on vehicle usage within the camps and not any other aspect of their operation. This restriction only came about following incidents of people being smuggled out of these camps in aid agency vehicles. This was accepted by Gordon Weiss - UN Spokesman Sri Lankan Spokesman.

Of course, the final stages of Sri Lanka’s war was ugly and tragic. Crimes were certainly committed by both sides. One must also not forget that the conflict went to such extremes after the constant pleas of successive Sri Lankan govts to combat the LTTE problem through negotiations or war was constantly ignored by the European and North American bloc of nations, where most of the funds of the group were coming from.

Now that the conflict has finally ended, the best options available is to work alongside the Sri Lankan govt and all it’s people - a population and a state mechanism just as distraught after three decades of fighting. Instead of criticism at this juncture, cooperation is the best solution to help the displaced people and all of Sri Lanka’s people. One must not forget the govt is very raw and weary right now and it’s always best not to rub an open wound further.

Sri Lanka will have to work out an extensive devolution of power to all its provinces so that power goes back to the people. It will be a long and tedious process but the current all party conference in devising this plan will hopefully work.

Sri Lanka is a beautiful island with beautiful people. I have faith and have seen its people live together, from all different communities. Never have I seen a place where places of worship are so intertwined and communities so well knitted. The civil war has been tragic and has left many wounds open and many souls scarred. Its end is something to appreciate so that all communities in Sri Lanka can heal, address the root causes of this problem and move ahead. Let Sri Lankans, esp. those who live there, heal their wounds, unite and progress. The Diaspora community should assist their people in this progress. Stop funding rebel/terror groups which only bring more pain and suffering to people.Yes, I can understand it's done mostly out of the anger and frustration for the discrimination endured by an older generation. But bombings and guns don't make things any better. Contribute to rebuilding your land, both economically as well as socially, so that your children or grandchildren can go back and call it their home.