A group of citizens have formed an organisation, the Nagenahira Udanaya (Awakening of the East) to call for the de-merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces which were merged in 1987 under the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement. It was to be a temporary merger, which was to be followed by a referendum to decide whether the merger should be permanent or be de-merged. However with the LTTE leader falling out with his godfathers in India and taking them on in battle, no referendum was possible and the de facto merger remains although it has no legal basis.
This merger although it has no legal basis, continues to be in force. This merger also assumes greater importance because of the demand for an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) of the LTTE. The Authority, which would be under the sole control of the LTTE, as has been demanded, should administer the merged Northern and Eastern Provinces for five years.
The merger though it is not legally justifiable has been taken as a permanent feature by the LTTE, which contends that, the Northern and Eastern Provinces are the’ traditional homelands’ of the Tamils. While this ‘traditional homeland of the Tamils’ concept has been hotly disputed by historians, the conduct of the LTTE during the past 20 years certainly does not enable any responsible government to hand over any part of the country to be administered by this ruthless fascist organisation. The other factor that goes against the LTTE demand is that in the Eastern Province, Sinhalese and Muslim communities together almost equal the Tamils in number. And the LTTE claim of being the sole representatives of the Tamils was blown sky-high recently by the military commander of the LTTE when he broke away from Prabakaran’s faction and rejected his leadership. Besides in the North there is the leader of the TULF Mr.Anandasangaree whose election to parliament was prevented by brazen thuggery of the LTTE and one other Tamil, Mr. Douglas Devananda whom the LTTE attempted to kill on nine occasions but failed and is an elected MP in parliament after defying the LTTE.
The absence of most aspects of the Rule of Law in areas controlled by the LTTE certainly entitles the people to escape from the fascist boot of Prabakaran.
Past statistics of elections indicate that despite the death threats of the LTTE, a near fifty per cent has consistently voted against the terrorists.
The emergence of another force to challenge the hegemony of the LTTE is certainly welcome. They should be given full security cover by the government. The democratic foreign powers that have involved themselves in the Sri Lankan imbroglio should recognise this new movement and give them full encouragement to express their democratic rights.
The LTTE cannot blackmail the Sri Lankan government any longer. They have successfully done so by pressurising the government to lift the proscription as terrorists, if they are to come into negotiate peace and now are using the threat of: ‘ISGA or War’.
That kind of peace can never work. It is the peace of a concentration camp.
Gangsterism overtakes terrorism
Sri Lankan army and policemen are being picked for United Nations Peace Keeping Forces. A battalion from the Sri Lankan army left for Haiti last week and yesterday it was reported that senior policemen too have been selected for UN peacekeeping missions.
This is all well and good. It indicates development of professional standards in our services. But back at home the cops, it is apparent, are taking quite a beating from gangsters.
On Monday mid- afternoon, a crime unprecedented in the posh verdant Cinnamon Gardens where diplomats and the richest of the rich-some say filthy rich are quartered, happened.
A well-known gangster – Jibo of Borella was shot dead at mid noon in the premises of the newly constructed Indian Oil Company pumping station. A car carrying two persons that entered the pumping station had been followed by a double cab with men armed with a T-56 and a 9-mm pistol. A report said ‘ volley after volley of gunfire was fired’ and 30 shell casings were recovered.
This scenario is one from the Hollywood and now Bollywood movies. Sri Lanka crime has not been as sophisticated as before. A report said that the attackers were members of the Olcott gang. ‘Twenty three members of our family had been killed and we have only two left’, a relative of the deceased was quoted saying.
Monday’s slaughter at Horton Place was said to be a fall-out of a drugs war between two rival gangs.
Gang warfare it does appear to have replaced the terroist war. A Southern gang known as the Wambotta ( Brinjal) Gang comprising army deserters is alleged to have killed about 25 persons opposed to them in the Walasmulla and Sooriyawewa areas. These gangsters are said to have top polticians as their patrons.
Guns, drugs, deadly weapons and hired killers seem to be aplenty in the underworld. The obvious question is: What are the cops doing?
If there is no immediate crackdown, gangsters will outdo the terrorists.
(http://www.island.lk/2004/09/14/editorial.html)
