The re-capture of Kilinochchi and the continuing military gains had placed the Government in an almost unassailable position. It was doubling up its efforts to convert those battlefield successes into electoral gains.
The immediate focus became the upcoming elections to the North Central and Central Provincial Councils. With a package that gave more economic relief than a budget coupled together with military victories became the winning formula. With that over, surfing on the high wave of popularity, plans were afoot to reap larger electoral gains through parliamentary general elections.
This twin track approach continued this week. In that backdrop, the international community was seen launching its own initiatives to urge the Government, now that it had made successes in the war, to move towards a political solution.
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| Shiv Shankar Menon |
During the holiday season, a spokesman at the US State Department in Washington had declared that a political solution and not a military one was the answer to the Sri Lankan crisis. This week, the US Embassy in Colombo clarified it further. A statement said they did not advocate talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since the group was banned. Significant as it may be, that the US was specifically now ruling out talks with the LTTE, yet, the emphasis remained on the need for a political settlement.
Two foreign dignitaries are due in Colombo next week and both are expected to talk to Government leaders about the political process. One is Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. Early this week, Menon made clear during a news conference in New Delhi that India looked to a political settlement. On the other hand, he also made it a point to re-iterate India's position that the LTTE leader, if captured by Sri Lankan authorities, would have to be handed over to New Delhi to face trial for the murder of one time Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Earlier, it was Indian Foreign Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who was billed to visit Colombo expressly to urge a ceasefire and return to talks. This was at the request made to Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, by a delegation of political parties from Tamil Nadu led by Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
Though Mukherjee was to visit Sri Lanka last month, Indian officials deemed that conditions were then "not conducive." This visit is now likely to take place in February, according to Indian diplomats in Colombo.
Significantly, Menon's visit next week will come in an entirely different backdrop. Last Wednesday the Government imposed a ban on the LTTE, thus effectively shutting the door from having a dialogue with them. The official position now is that the Government does not talk to a "terrorist organisation" that has been officially proscribed. Not until the guerrillas comply with another requirement - lay down arms before any dialogue could begin, said Minister Maithripala Sirisena. That India was not in favour of such a ban was known in diplomatic circles. However, protagonists of the Government argue that what is good for India is good for Sri Lanka too. That is to say that a ban on the LTTE exists in India and therefore why not in Sri Lanka?
The ban, interesting enough, will affect all others more than the LTTE itself. Even without a ban, the ongoing Emergency Regulations together with other laws have made the guerrillas an illegal entity. The official reason for the ban, a proclamation issued by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, said was because the LTTE had ignored repeated requests "to permit civilians trapped or confined in areas unlawfully controlled by the LTTE to leave such areas and move into areas under the control of the security forces." The implications of the ban are serious for Sri Lankans, particularly the media.
Another aspect is the role of humanitarian organisations engaged in relief work in the besieged Mullaitivu district, the remaining bastion of Tiger guerrillas. Concerns of the international community have been heightened over repercussions to organisations engaged in relief work. Inevitably they would have to deal with the LTTE, now a proscribed organisation, and are not sure whether this would be a transgression of the law. Making matters worse is the lack of clarity with regard to do's and don'ts in the Presidential proclamation.
Diplomatic sources in Colombo say Menon's visit, the first official dialogue with a visiting Indian dignitary since the re-capture of Kilinochchi and the proscription of the LTTE was still significant. They say he is to articulate the position of the Government of India with regard to recent developments. India has been keen to ensure political proposals are formulated now though the time frames given to New Delhi have gone long past.
The other visitor to Colombo is Yasushi Akashi, Japan's Special Envoy to the Sri Lankan peace process. Particularly after he was snubbed by the Tiger guerrillas on a number of occasions in the past years, Japan has staunchly backed the Rajapaksa administration. They have, at various international fora, endorsed the measures the Sri Lanka Government was taking to resolve the ethnic conflict and the need to give them more time. The Government is also keen on laying out a programme for Akashi to visit the East. The idea is to show him the development programmes that are being undertaken so more commitments of assistance for development activity in the north would be forthcoming. The political process for a settlement to the conflict in Sri Lanka was to form the theme of a discussion of Colombo-based envoys of the Donor Co-Chairs last Thursday. As they sat down for the meeting, news arrived that the Editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunge had been shot. He died later at the Kalubowila Hospital. The discussion had shifted to the media scene in Colombo.
It has been a devastating week for the Sri Lankan media. Last Tuesday, an armed gang broke into Maharaja Television studios. The group armed with pistols, assault rifles and grenades. They wreaked havoc at the Main Control Room causing colossal damage to equipment said to be worth over US $ 1.7 million (more than Rs 184 million). Only days earlier, an unknown group had hurled petrol bombs at the MTV premises. The TV station has remained without any Police protection despite being a target.
Two days later, on January 8, Editor Wickrematunge was on his way to The Sunday Leader office when armed men on motorcycles followed him. On Wednesday night, Wickrematunge had complained to friends that persons in motorcycles were loitering outside his house at Kandewatte in Nugegoda. On that fateful Thursday morning when he neared his office at Ratmalana, men wearing masks had stopped his car. They smashed the window and fired at him at point blank range using a pistol fixed with a silencer. He was rushed to the Kalubowila Hospital where doctors fought for more than three and half hours, unsuccessfully, to save his life.
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| Yasushi Akashi |
Amidst reports of battlefield victories in the north, the news of the attack on MTV and the brutal murder of Wickrematunge was to cause outrage both in Sri Lanka and abroad. That it came in the background of a string of violent attacks on the media, harassment and intimidation was not lost. The United States, Britain and the European Union were to condemn the incidents and urge the Government to bring the perpetrators to book.
The US statement came after a meeting Ambassador Blake had with President Rajapaksa. Blake who was chief guest at a diploma awarding ceremony of the Sri Lanka College of Journalism only the day before Wickrematunge was shot, was critical of the manner in which the free press in Sri Lanka was being handled. He also made some specific requests. Rajapaksa had alluded to the conspiracy theories that were trying to discredit his administration.
Rajapaksa was to highlight the military gains made by the Government in the ongoing military campaign against the guerrillas. Blake left the meeting after conveying the US Government's concerns in the strongest possible terms.
Even India, which has usually stayed clear of media issues in Sri Lanka, was to issue a statement delivering a strong message. It said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the demise of the well-regarded Editor of the Leader Group of publications, Lasantha Wickrematunge, following an armed attack in Colombo. This deplorable incident comes in the wake of the series of attacks on and intimidation of media organisations and personalities in Sri Lanka including the recent bombing of the studios of Maharaja TV. We hold media freedom as an essential element of any democracy and such attacks are detrimental to the idea of democratic freedom in Sri Lanka. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to investigate these attacks fully and bring the perpetrators of these reprehensible attacks to justice."
This is not the first time the media have been compelled to face brutal attacks. Last year, Keith Noyahr, the Deputy Editor of The Nation was abducted, mercilessly assaulted and released later. Then came the incident where Namal Perera of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and Mahendra Ratnaweera, a local staffer at the British High Commission were waylaid and brutally beaten up. Like the incidents this week, there were public protests and demonstrations over those incidents of the past. On their part, the Government piously vowed that the culprits would be brought to book. However, on no single occasion have those who were responsible for the attacks on the media been apprehended.
If that is bad enough, what is worse are the pronouncements of some responsible authorities who sit in judgement within seconds after an incident occurs. They are quick to provide reasons. In the case of the MTV, some said it was an act carried out by their own management to make fat insurance claims. But that frivolous charge had serious connotations. Where would the management rent out people with assault rifles, pistols, grenades and even a claymore mine? If the assumption is that it came from the underworld, does that mean a new terrorist threat, like that of Tiger guerrillas which the Government is now countering, is looming large?
In the case of Wickrematunge, the same authorities argued that he had many enemies. That is not untrue. But how could armed men with face masks, with pistols fixed with silencers, ride so brazenly in broad daylight in motorcycles in a busy city highway? The area where the incident occurred, like all parts of the city of Colombo and suburbs, is saturated with troops, policemen and civil defence force cadres. So much so, it is widely believed that no Tiger guerrilla could enjoy any freedom of movement in these areas.
Despite the latest attacks on the media, the Government had good news too. President Rajapaksa was told on Friday that troops had completed the re-capture of Elephant Pass. That is when the Army's 58 Division (earlier Task Force 1) advanced from Paranthan met up with two other divisions (53 and 55) advancing southwards (from the Jaffna end) along the A-9 Kandy - Jaffna highway. Like the re-capture of Kilinochchi, it was indeed a significant achievement.
This means, the Government need not double up efforts to construct a parallel highway west of the A-9. The re-capture of the entirety of A-9 would enable the movement of troops and supplies along the A-9 not only to Wanni but also to the Jaffna peninsula. That will obviate the need to use air or sea transport as is the practice now. Of course, troops will have to secure the entirety of the highway - a task they are now carrying out on a high priority basis.
This is because the Government plans to have the February 4 Independence Day celebrations in Kilinochchi too.
President Rajapaksa immediately summoned a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday afternoon. Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka briefed him on how troops re-captured Elephant Pass. After the meeting, members of the Council were treated to a tea party - now a standard practice after military victories. Later, addressing the nation on the re-capture of Elephant Pass, President Rajapaksa claimed that "there are efforts to belittle these victories, to divert the attention of the people in other directions. There is a conspiracy with certain international forces to achieve this sinister objective."
Rajapaksa added: "You would have already realized that the aim of these conspirators is to level unfounded charges against the Army Commander who works with the greatest dedication to achieve these victories, and by this to destroy the morale of our troops, destabilise the country, tarnish the image of the country internationally, and make room for various international forces to interfere to grab our gains away from us.
Rajapaksa made the point that "such conspiracies arise when a country moves ahead without giving into international pressures."
Earlier on Friday, Opposition and United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament "if the Cabinet cannot run a part of the Governmen, our powers are reduced. Setting fire to the Sirasa institution followed by the assassination of Mr. Lasantha Wickrematunge shows that there is a section that cannot be controlled by the Government."
Wickremasinghe named defence and security officials allegedly responsible for the incidents and called for "an international investigation on the assassination of Wickrematunge", something the Government has already rejected. |
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