Given the ear-splitting chorus of "talk to LTTE on the basis of ISGA", it is apparent that there is a very vocal lobby of worshippers of the ISGA in Colombo. They appear to be convinced that this Suriva Deiyo given document is the infallible way out of our pathetic predicament of no war, no peace and no foreign aid.
Besides reminding these loquacious acolytes of the LTTE that this very same crafty plan to create Eelam had been rejected by the people in two recent elections, let me also challenge them to demonstrate how the democratic principles of justice, equality and rule of law would be preserved under this ruthless dictatorial supremacy of one man. It is easy to include a few clauses on democratic principles in a document, but it is quite an arduous task to practice democracy. Further as stated by Thamilchelvan many times, it is not a question of talking about the ISGA, it simply is the very institutionalization and the legitimation of the ISGA as documented by the LTTE. Accept the ISGA as it is or else war! Is this not blackmail?
Where is the democracy when opposition candidates at election are brutally murdered? Where is democracy when the election itself is so patently rigged, that the otherwise sympathetic (to LTTE) EU election monitors, condemn it as totally fraudulent? Where is democracy when pistol gangs roam the streets and dragoon the people to vote for their hand-picked candidates? Where is democracy when opposition candidates are not allowed to canvass votes? Even with all the violent compulsion imposed on the people, only 40% of the registered voters in the mono ethnic Tamil Jaffna turned out to vote for the LTTE nominated TNA candidates. The other majority 60% surely had other ideas and spurned the LTTE by not casting their votes for TNA candidates. The LTTE’s claim therefore to be the "sole representative" of the Tamils is at a minimum spurious, and at best a contemptible arrogation of power over a hopeless people. Such insolence is to be expected from a fascist leader. Everytime TNA MPs claim that they are the "sole representatives" of the Tamils, they should be challenged to prove this from the results of the last general election. In the whole of the North and the East out of 1,778,162 registered voters, only 633,654 voted for the TNA. This is 36% and does not bestow any credence to their claim.
Where is rule of law when highly regressive and onerous taxes are imposed on all and sundry having no regard for their ability to pay? "No-taxation without representation" of the Magna Carta of UK does not carry any weight with the LTTE. Does this matter to the UK representative in Colombo, who often times acts as the chief guest at LTTE functions? Where is rule of law when the law enforced and administered is one man’s proclamation based on his whims and fancies? Where is rule of law when the dissenters are brutally murdered and not given any opportunity to state their case? Where is rule of law when the LTTE and its cadres are above any law in their tribal lands and also in the areas under government control?
Where are human rights when children are forced marched into camps and trained to kill? What is the difference between the outright beastly murder of innocent children in Beslan (Russia) and the indoctrination and training of Tamil children to fight to kill and be killed? In Beslan and in Killinochchi, the terrorists (were) and are using children as fodder for their implacable racist ambitions. Mr. Putin was annoyed with the western liberal press for treating those inhuman terrorists as "guerillas and liberation fighters". He told them in no uncertain terms, that he was not prepared to talk to "child killers". Why is the same logic inapplicable to Sri Lanka? Where are human rights when dissent is brutally suppressed, freedom of expression is totally denied, and freedom of association and movement are allowed only at the will and pleasure of the supreme ruler? These are some of the many questions remaining unanswered by those vociferous peace mercenaries. These slippery traitors have no time to answer questions. They are the vultures waiting expectantly for their dollar rewards when the carcass of Sri Lanka gets dismembered and the country vanishes from the maps of the world.
There is the lethal arsenal of the LTTE. Why is it not in the agenda of "talks based on the ISGA"? De-commissioning of arms of the IRA was central to the Good Friday agreement in Ireland. It still is also the stumbling block to permanent peace there. Why, therefore, is it ignored in Sri Lanka? An Eelam without its army, navy, air force, a police and sophisticated weapons of death and destruction is an impossibility. The LTTE will not give them up and to this extent they are untrustworthy when they maintain that they are for an undivided nation. The virility symbol of Eelam is its death dealing forces armed to their teeth. The US ambassador I Cofer Black has reiterated that the LTTF: "has to in good faith renounce terrorism in word and dead." While we commend such forthright statements, we ought also to remind Mr. Black that words alone have been ineffective. Sanctions on LTTE are called for not only by the US but also by the other members who co-chaired the Tokyo Conference.
All of them should stop their pilgrimages to the Wanni. Get the LTTE to come to the nearest border village: if they have business to conduct.
The present parliament is completely ignored by the ISGA in order to stake its claim that the ISGA is equal to, or rather, greater than the parliament. Similarly the Supreme Court is also ignored. Thus the ISGA monster is both beyond the control of parliament, and beyond the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. You probably guessed my next few words. Yes, there is only one man, Pirapakaran the despot, who is the source of all power and the fountain of justice in the ISGA. His appalling tract record so far only proves, that far from being a wise legislator and fair dispenser of justice, he is the epitome of racist hatred and murder most foul. Should he be vested with powers greater than the present parliament and the Supreme Court? He may have assumed the mantle of divinity, but for many people he is just another human wanted for many murders in this country and abroad. In any case, how can this parliament completely ignored by the ISGA, create the very same ISGA and position it completely outside the present Constitution? Can our over eager SLFP politicians explain this conundrum? From the way the CFA/MOU is flouted now almost five times a day, how can one place any trust on the sanctimonious words on human rights and rule of law scattered about in the ISGA?
There are also few born again ISGA converted fellow travellers. While they were in the parliamentary opposition, the ISGA was the red rag to the bullish SLFPers. Now they have started to sing the praises of spurious peace and to exert efforts to cover up the murderous depredations of the LTTE all over the land. JHU please note that these people have been converted by the huge inducement of 4.5 billion dollars and the allurement of staying in power to enjoy all the perks and privileges, and also the opportunity to plunder the treasury at will and accumulate dollars in foreign bank accounts. Should this not be covered by JHU’s Anti conversion Bill, given, that the consequences of this conversion will be the demolition of Sri Lanka itself, its millennia old religion, language, culture and a way of life as we know it today?
So what options do we have? We have got to reject the ISGA wholesale and request a redraft. As President Putin said "we have showed ourselves to be weak. And the weak get beaten". In the meanwhile, a solution acceptable to Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims and a substantial number of MPs, ought to be cast in the form of negotiating document to be presented as an alternative to whatever proposals submitted by the LTTE. The negotiation itself should be in the hands of professionals in constant touch with the politicians for ultimate decisions on vital issues. The end game should be a permanent peace within a democratic Sri Lanka. We cannot simply give into their demands. Let me remind our politicians what President Putin said to his people after the Beslan massacre. "As the President, the head of the Russian state, as someone who swore an oath to defend this country and its territorial integrity, and simply as a citizen of Russia, I am convinced that we have no choice at all. Because to allow ourselves to be blackmailed and succumb to panic would be to immediately condemn millions of people to endless series of bloody conflicts". The politician converts to the ISGA have a case to answer. They have demonstrated themselves to be reckless idiots unfit to act as leaders of the country.
