NO SUCH THING AS A WAR FOR PEACE
By: Qadri Ismail
(Mon Dec 27, 1999 )
President Kumaratunga: I was relieved on the 18th night when the news
disclosed only minor injuries to your person. I was happy in the early
hours of the 22nd, when the news revealed your re-election. My joy
evaporated when I heard your remarks upon being sworn in. These words
come from the conviction that you are still opposed to racism. But that
you are, at least, misguided. Because, if you execute the course
outlined in your victory speech - war by another name - the consequence
won't be the peace you ostensibly desire.
Rather, this country will become a battlezone for the Tamils and a
permanent checkpoint for the rest of us. The first thing you've got to
understand is very, very difficult. I know this may sound crazy, but
the assassination attempt wasn't personal.
Velupillai Prabakaran has killed every consequential Lankan politician
in the recent past. By targetting you, he merely followed established
Tiger policy. So, you musn't take it personally. You cannot seek
revenge. War, whatever name you call it, would be revenge. Point two:
you surely know by now that the battle is unwinnable? Your soldiers
don't have the will to fight and they can't hold territory.
You could multiply the military budget, but this will only magnify
Tamil misery and further damage the economy. Three: the Tamil people
voted against you. Overwhelmingly. In Batticaloa, Vavuniya, Colombo,
Nuwara Eliya, Badulla - and Jaffna, too, despite the official results.
They believe you are against them: because of your deeds - as opposed
to your words - over the past five years. You can make them forsake the
LTTE. Indeed you must. But that won't happen by merely proclaiming your
anti-racism. You must actually do things to prove it.
Four Sri Lankan governments tried to militarily defeat the Tigers.
We've seen the results. Three tried negotiations. We know the results.
The pragmatists - those people without imagination or ability to read
the evidence - will insist you talk again. Others will insist you
fight. These are false choices. Both. The war cannot be won. And,
really, the Tigers only want to talk about the transfer of power to an
independent state.
The challenge before you is truly daunting: to produce a new,
innovative and non-violent strategy, some things never tried before, to
win back the Tamils and eventually solve the problem. It will take
time, four to five years at least. Some aspects of such a policy may
appear unrealistic, if not way-out; but when business-as-usual has
demonstrably failed, then one must damn the pragmatists and attempt the
unusual.
For a start, stop fighting. There is no point trying to gain ground if
you can't keep it. Consolidate the defences around your major camps,
close down the others and launch attacks solely against identified
Tiger bases. You will lose territory, but not many troops; and ordinary
Tamils will realise, slowly, that you are not attacking them.
Especially if you never bomb or shell civilian areas. The nationalist
segments of the military will object. So, sack Srilal Weerasooriya. (He
commanded Jaffna during the Chemmani murders and should have been
court-martialled a long time ago.) Recommend the other racist brass to
retire (and join the Veera Vidhana if they are so inclined). Many
professional officers know this war cannot be won. Listen to them - not
to those who advice you out of ideology or personal aspiration. Boot
Anuruddha Ratwatte. Nobody takes him seriously - including the Kandy
voter. (I presume you know the official count was somewhat
exaggerated.) Promote him to Field-Marshal as compensation. While you
are about it, dump Lakshman Kadirgamar as well. He accepted the foreign
ministry hoping it'll lead him to the U.N. secretary-generalship. He
can start his campaign early. Replace him with someone credible,
passionate and articulate who'll conceive his task not as justifying
the Sinhalese to the world, but as explaining the Tamil cause to the
Sinhalese. Your cabinet desperately needs a Tamil motivated by
conviction rather than ambition. On this subject, stop backing Douglas
Devananda. He represents only his bank account.
If you are genuinely committed to a multi-ethnic Sri Lanka, you would
insist that the Sangha restrict its public pronouncements to matters of
religion. If you truly want to stop hatred, you must make them stop
meddling in politics. These actions will send a message to the Tamil
people, but they are not enough. Stop the restrictions on essential
items to the Wanni.
Using food as a weapon is truly base. Stop requiring civilians to get
permission to travel to and from the north. Requiring passes is
reminiscent of apartheid South Africa. Yes, LTTE cadre will then find
it easier to get to the south. (Though they don't seem to find it
difficult now.) So, enhance security at checkpoints.
To prevent abuse of Tamil civilians, a human rights official should
monitor every point; actually, one should be attached to every military
encampment and police station in the country. If there aren't enough
Sri Lankan volunteers, get them from Norway or the Quakers. Other
initiatives are also necessary on this front. The Prevention of
Terrorism Act must be repealed. It is a truly obnoxious piece of
legislation - and nobody can claim it has prevented terrorism these
past twenty years.
Release all Tamil political prisoners. Some Tigers will go free - but
they don't have a problem with recruitment, anyway - and the bulk of
the emancipated would be innocent. This is one gesture the Tamil people
will certainly appreciate. In the short term these moves will
strengthen the LTTE. But, in the same short term, you have lost the
Tamils. It is the medium term one is fighting for. All this would be
useless, of course, without a new, federal constitution - one that
conceives of Lanka as composed of equal social groups, not of a Sinhala
majority and Tamil, Muslim and Burgher minorities.
This means starting from your original proposals of 1995; this means
everything, including the so-called national anthem and flag, are up
for negotiation. But your victory speech, disturbingly enough, made no
mention of devolution. If Gamini Lakshman Pieris has no stomach for
this fight, put Mangala Samaraweera in charge. Tell him, in addition,
to actually pass legislation outlawing hate crimes and enabling equal
opportunity and ethnic harmony. Then make sure these acts, and similar
ones like on official language, are implemented.
If the Tamil people could forgive the UNP and vote for Ranil
Wickremesinghe, they could come to forgive you, too. But you have to
give them reason to believe. If you do, and if their feelings change,
this will have an impact on the LTTE's fundamentalist commitment to
Eelam. In the medium term. Right now, that remains only a slim
possibility, a fantasy even. Right now, their vote is evidence that
ordinary Tamils found your first term a disaster. If you want this to
change, so must your policy. Your victory speech only promised more of
the same. It's about time you realised that there ain't no such thing
as a war for peace.
Courtesy: The Sunday Leader, December 26, 1999
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