So we have Anton Balasingham, upstaged in recent months by S. P. Thamilselvan, saying that there’s no such thing as an Oslo Declaration. He’s taken a long time to say so and has, as usual, indulged in his usual verbal polemics to back out of the previously stated position that the Tigers were willing to work towards a federal solution. In his newest book, War and Peace, where he has borrowed the title of Tolstoy’s masterpiece, Balasingham has felt the need to clarify what he has called "this controversial issue" declaring that there was "not any specific proclamation called the ‘Oslo Declaration’."
He admits that the decision to explore federalism was included in the record of decisions at the Oslo talks and signed by the chief negotiators of both delegations, that is the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, as well as the head of the Norwegian facilitating team. But he maintains that the Tigers still operated within the "overall framework of the right to self-determination, with its internal and external aspects" meaning a right to secede. If their demand for regional self-rule is rejected, they have no alternative but to secede and form an independent state, he has said. Whatever Balasingham may now say, what the Norwegian foreign ministry had to say at the conclusions of the Oslo talks is firmly on record. We quote: "The parties agreed to explore a solution founded on the principle of internal self-determination in areas of historical habitation of Tamil-speaking peoples, based on a federal structure within a united Sri Lanka."
At the end of the talks in Oslo two years ago, an LTTE agreement at least to "explore" a federal solution was hailed as a breakthrough and a great deal was said about that. "Oslo Declaration" was a frequently used label embracing the decisions reached at those talks. But during the many months that passed between December 2002 and the publication of his book, Balasingham did not feel the need to say what he has now done. He did not merely bury this position deep within the pages of his book where it might have passed unnoticed but ensured that TamilNet, the pro-LTTE web site posted the relevant excerpt to ensure that it would attract the attention it now has. The timing is significant as the Tigers are currently under international pressure to resume the negotiations that have remained stalled since April last year. They have adopted an iron-clad stance that the talks can only begin on the basis of their Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) proposals and the current effort of both the Sri Lanka government and the international community is to get round this obstacle.
President Kumaratunga who had much to say about the ISGA and what the Ranil Wickremesinghe government was going to do to the country by caving in on that issue is now confronted with the self-same dilemma. She can only play it the way that Wickremesinghe might have – on the basis of the Oslo Declaration. That is why Balasingham now says that there is no such declaration. Cabinet Spokesman Mangala Samaraweera was guarded in his response to Balasingham’s statements at his press conference last week saying he did not want to comment without reading the book. That’s fair enough and nobody will quarrel with him on that score. But he did go on record saying that not only Norway, but also some other European nations in contact with the LTTE, have told Colombo that the Tigers will stay with the Oslo position. "What we know is that the facilitator (Norway) has told us and what the LTTE has said in Europe and that is that the LTTE accepts the Oslo Declaration," Samaraweera said.
Given that Thamilselvan, who led a ranking LTTE delegation to several European countries will be back this week for talks with Japan’s Yasushi Akashi, it is to be hoped that he does not follow Balasingham’s tack. A federal solution appears to be Sri Lanka’s best option now and both India as well as the wider international community will go along with that. How the LTTE’s political wing chief playing his hand will reveal whether Balasingham is on a trip of his own. If otherwise, and what he has said reflects Prabhakaran’s intentions, it will be a clear signal that only lip service had been paid to federalism in Oslo. As TULF leader V. Anandasangaree has advocated in our front page today, perhaps it is time for the country to begin work on drafting a constitution that will address the national problems rather than the political fortunes of individuals or parties. Generous autonomy is a right of the Tamil people who were short changed with Sinhala Only and other unfair laws. Those plus communal riots climaxing in July 1983 not only created a genuine sense of grievance but also resulted in the country losing some of the best and the brightest of its people.
Depressingly, the LTTE has up to now acted in a way that suggests that separation is their goal. The posts may be changed from time to time depending on ground conditions and the global climate. The international community must use its muscle to bring the LTTE into line. But if southern politics is only concerned with the contest for office with the national problem always a second priority, support from abroad will be necessarily eroded. In recent months, despite the anti-terror sentiments that followed 9/11, the LTTE has been able to improve its global image. Diplomats from countries where the Tigers are banned or non grata routinely travel to Kilinochchi for talks with the hierarchy. LTTE leaders are warmly received in many countries as honoured guests. The advantages that Colombo had are slowly but surely being lost as the southern parties keep shooting the country in the foot. This must change and the sooner both the government and opposition realize this, the better for Sri Lanka.
