Looking back at the past two decades of attempts to resolve the north- east problem a very clear picture emerges. Leaders of successive Sri Lankan governments have tied themselves in legal and political knots to resolve the problem while LTTE leader, Vellupillai Prabakaran has been looking at these efforts with supreme disdain and rejected them all.
Our seekers of peace, political leaders and foreign well wishers yet can’t see the clear picture: Prabakaran wants only one resolution to the problem—- a separate Tamil state.
He has not gone back on this pledge even on one occasion. His annual statement on his birthday celebrations has been: Kill me, if I deviate from the sacred path of achieving a separate state’
There were times when he did strategic deviations but that was only momentarily. When the Indians bundled him into a helicopter and flew him out to New Delhi and held him virtual prisoner in the Ashok Hotel, he did relent and went along with the Indian proposal. But on coming back to Jaffna, he reneged and within months was at war, with mighty India. When the Indian troops finally had him cornered after a long and hard struggle he did a strategic retreat, and entered into negotiations with President Premadasa. When the Indians left, he once again took on the Sri Lankan troops and finally killed President Premadasa and also a significant part of the UNP leadership. In 1994, when Chandrika Kumaratunga offered to negotiate peace he simply could not refuse. He did commence negotiations but broke it off and once again warred.He missed assassinating her by a hair’s breadth.
Meanwhile, world opinion was turning against the LTTE. They were no longer being considered ‘liberation fighters’ in the west which was accommodating ex- patriate Sri Lankan Tamils who were filling up the LTTE war chest with their contributions. The LTTE was being proscribed by these nations as a foreign terrorist organisation. Then Prabakran once again did a strategic deviation. He sued to peace and under pressure of the ‘ International community’ signed the Cease- fire agreement with Ranil Wickremasinghe. Conditions around the world right now are not favourable for armed insurrections against democratically elected governments and he is compelled to hold his fire, even though he and his cohorts think that they could get the better of the government forces.
Prabakaran then fell into a Peace Trap. The all powerful ‘ international community’ after organising the peace negotiations between the LTTE and the government, promised reconstruction rehabilitation and economic assistance. But all this would come when democracy is established in a federal state where human rights are guaranteed. Prabakaran has all along fought not for a federal state but a separate independent Tamil state under his jackboot.
The six rounds of negotiations watched by the world produced a solution which he did not like. He was furious, as his one time Commander of the Eastern Province, Karuna revealed after he broke off from the Prabakaran faction. He called off negotiations claiming’ nothing had been achieved’ although his mouthpiece Balasingham, has been claiming success after each round of negotiations.
To get out of this peace trap, he got his constitutional experts to formulate the ISGA proposals, which is a blueprint for a separate state. As the eminent lawyer H.L. De Silva said this week, it would be impossible for any government agree to these proposals because it constitutes a virtual epitaph for the Sri lankan state. Besides, the LTTE insists those proposals are non- negotiable!
It is quite obvious that this ISGA proposal is to stall the Oslo Declaration that calls for a federal solution. Prabakaran wants no such federal solution. You don’t have fanatical messiahs getting their equally fanatical brain washed followers to swallow cyanide capsules and women to hide bombs in their breasts and blow themselves up for a federal state whose powers will be limited by a central government! Such fanaticism is inspired by the dream of the creation of a new racist state. The ISGA, it appears is Prabakaran’s move to stall a democratic federal state from emerging. Meanwhile he keeps killing all his opponents that come in his way.
The Southern politicians are so desperate in their scramble for power that now the UNP is willing to negotiate on the ISGA proposals while the SLFP is hemming and hawing. If the ISGA proposals go through Prabakaran has virtually achieved his separate state without firing a shot. If not he would be having other plans to further his dream.
In retrospect it is clear that Prabakaran has been sitting pretty and rejecting all labyrinthine political and legal proposals forwarded by Southern politicians because he is simply not interested in devolution power and a federal solution. He wants a separate Tamil state under him and peace is of no immediate concern.
It is time that Sri Lankan politicians and foreign nations interested in the welfare of our people come to terms with hard realities and not entertain dreams such as that of a leading prelate who declared : Prabakran is humane.
