Raising LTTE bogey creates diplomatic row

Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratna may not have realized he was stirring a hornet’s nest by making an unsubstantiated claim last Wednesday in Parliament while opening the debate on the extension of the emergency.

He claimed that intelligence authorities have received information to the effect that LTTE terrorists were training at three secret locations in Tamil Nadu with the objective of assassinating Indian political leaders and re-establishing the group’s bases in Sri Lanka.

While the claim made for sensational news, the first inkling the claim was without any basis was when the Prime Minister chose to remain silent on being prodded on by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to inform the House as to whether the Government had taken up this issue with the Indian Government.

“We know the Government has taken up the issue of Indian fishermen straying into Sri Lankan waters but now the Prime Minister is saying the LTTE has training camps in Tamil Nadu. Please inform the House as what measures you have taken to raise the issue with Indian officials,” Mr.Wickremesinghe queried.

What followed the next day were categorical denials by the Indian Government about the existence of any such camps in Tamil Nadu. From the Government’s attempts to cover up the embarrassment caused by the Prime Minister’s statement, it seems that the attempt to invent a bogeyman to justify the continuation of the emergency regulations by the Government has badly misfired.

It’s not surprising that the Government needs to come up with all kinds of reasons to continue with the emergency nearly two years after the end of the war. Month after month, the Prime Minister who customarily opens the debate on behalf of the Government has been warning of the international network of the LTTE re-grouping and again planning to destabilize Sri Lanka. All such claims have never been backed up with proper evidence but have been either sourced to media reports or to intelligence reports with no mention of what the media organizations are or what intelligence organizations have given out such information. This month too the Prime Minister followed the same pattern but unwittingly has caused a diplomatic row with India.

There was a surprising turn of events this time at the Democratic National Alliance (DNA). The party named Jayantha Ketagoda to take his oaths as a Member of Parliament (MP) to fill the vacancy created by the expulsion from Parliament of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka. That was after the person previously named by the Elections Commissioner to fill the vacancy - former JVP MP Lakshman Nipunaarachchi - not being named to fill the vacancy till three months lapsed following which Ketagoda was named. The DNA has earlier maintained that only Fonseka would be allowed to occupy the seat and no one else. As to what caused the change of mind is not clear but Ketagoda who spoke during the emergency debate said he was ready to vacate the seat at any time that Fonseka can return to Parliament after the legal hurdles preventing it are removed.

By way of surprises there was more to come to take away from the usually dull and monotonous rut to which the emergency debates have fallen. Teledrama star turned politician MP Upeksha Swarnamali who has been at the centre of a controversy in recent weeks after suffering physical abuse at the hands of her husband used the floor of the House to raise the issue of domestic violence.

“Today while Sri Lankan women make up a majority in higher education institutions and contribute substantiality to the work force, the incidents of domestic violence against them are unacceptably high. I urge all 225 legislators to join hands to work towards drawing attention to this issue,” she urged.

It is heartening to see that attention has been drawn to the issue by a female legislator even if it has came about as a result of her personally suffering such a fate.