Reverse reaction

When this column appears President Chandrika Kumaratunga will be in Paris. She, of course, is not the only one who would love to be in Paris at this time of the year- or at any time of the year for that matter.

Since she left London for Paris last Tuesday, she probably has had a little time to take a nostalgic journey to the Sorbonne and other places on the Left Bank that would have interested a Left-inclined student of yesteryear.

If she hasn't had the time to do so between meeting French businessmen and the beginning of the Aid Group meeting tomorrow, she would perhaps make that journey into the past whence she could gather her thoughts on matters of State.

But at least the president had time enough during those 10 days or so she spent in London to do some serious thinking. For between Foreign Secretary Robin Cook's courtesy call on the President and Prince Charles on whom she called, there was sufficient time to rue a thing or two and offer silent prayers for others.

One wonders what Prime Minister Tony Blair would have offered in the way of explanation for some media exposures in the last week or more, if he had not been particularly engaged trying to trip up President Chirac in Nice and trying to have some of the Bill Clinton charm, leave a residual mark on him during the visit to Northern Ireland.

One can only speculate. So must one on Chandrika Kumara-tunga's immediate reactions to the speech by the LTTE's Anton Balasingham at the London Arena two Saturdays ago at the Eelam Heroes' Day commemoration meeting.

As this column mentioned last week, Britain's Terrorism Act 2000 comes into operation next February when the British Government is expected to announce a list of organisations proscribed as terrorist groups. Sri Lanka is hoping the LTTE would be on the list.

Anton Balasingham, the LTTE's head honcho here right now, apparently struck a note of bravado at the meeting and challenged the British Government to do its worst, saying the Tigers would in fact welcome it.

Now I do not know whether this is true or not. I did not attend the meeting because I don't understand Tamil. In the old days when the Tigers ran an efficient media campaign, we used to be provided with all the material in English. I remember I used to receive material in Colombo sometimes all the way from Paris, not to mention a new year greetings card from the leader himself.

But for some reason the media machinery appears to have broken.

The other day I received a call from a person who said he was a friend of an acquaintance of mine and could he meet me. We met at a pub. He brought along another. One asked me whether I had heard Anton Balasingham's speech or knew of its contents. I said no to both. He then produced what he purported was an English translation of the speech which some friends had recorded.

He drew particular attention to some paragraphs which were sidelined. He said he was doing so because Balasingham had tainted all of them and being professionals he and his friends were angered by what had been said.

I quote some of those sections as translated and given to me. I cannot and don't vouch for their accuracy.

"We have also told the British Government that if you lay a hand on us we will not come for peace talks. Whether it is peace initiatives by European countries or any one else attempts at bringing peace, we will close the door to peace. Thereafter we will really become terrorists (at that point there was applause). The intention of this is to curb the financial assistance that we are receiving from our people here. It is the same in America. The ban imposed on the Tigers in America was also to prevent funds from going to them. But what is happening there is, unlike earlier, we are collecting more funds (more applause). The Tamils who were sleeping have woken up with patriotism and are working very hard and we are getting more money. Therefore we welcome such bans, bring it here and our people will give more money. We know how to........ after all, you will prevent us from putting money in banks. We know in what ways we can circumvent it. Jil mal (applause)"

"We have reasonable number of lawyers here- crooked (kalla) lawyers. There are accountants. We know how to get around them and circumvent this situation. Sir, so you can impose the ban. But later you cannot come and knock on the doors of Balasingham for negotiations".

What is worrying them is the reference to crooked lawyers and doubtful accountants. They claimed that such statements by Balasingham were not only insulting but painted all Tamil lawyers and accountants here with the same tar brush.

There could be black sheep among them, they admitted, who probably had no respect for their profession. But their worry was that they too will be judged by others, Tamils, and later even by those who become aware of these statements, as crooked professionals who could be twisted and used to serve nefarious ends.

Well they are matters that need to be thrashed out by Anton Balasingham if he has said so.

But what matters from the larger perspective is whether President Kumaratunga and the British Government are aware that the gauntlet has been thrown at them. It basically amounts to this. Sri Lanka has to lift the ban if there are to be talks. The British Government must refrain from proscribing the LTTE, for if it does, not only will there be no talks, there will be real terrorism. I don't know exactly what is meant here by real terrorism, unless the LTTE is planning to unleash some of their pyrotechnics in London.

Whatever it is, all this does sound to me like pre-conditions for talks. And here we were thinking that this time round there will be no preconditions.

And in their naivete many Sri Lankans here thought that the British will be more concerned with trying to get their own peace process going without dabbling in issues far away.

But I suppose thoughts of empire die hard. The British can't keep their hands off the thottam.

The British gave Balasingham citizenship and see what a thorn he has turned out to be. Had they paid him better when he worked for the British High Commission in Colombo in those memorable days, the Brits would have been saved all this fuss and bother.

More Plus

Return to Plus Contents