Banning is just what the LTTE wants

You want to concede to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam? Then get our government to do just one thing: Ban the LTTE.

The LTTE’s focus is to overcome its isolation among the global community. It is only an intensely committed Diaspora that makes the LTTE live and prosper today. This is a far cry from the past when global powers listened to the Tigers with sympathy. Banning the LTTE will, surely, pave the way for a reversal of this global response.

Let’s be clear: Indo-global leaders do not view our national problem as a pure terrorist problem.

We have both a terrorist problem and a Tamil - grievance problem. The Tamil grievance problem is the one that provides the driving fuel for the terrorist problem. As far as global powers are, they are concerned that we offer something substantial by way of participatory self-rule for the Tamil community in their traditional areas of living. India has made that very clear and will not deter from that stance in view of the potential for trouble in Tamilnadu. The extent of devolution and the territory are issues that need negotiation.

Political negotiation is crucial to this whole business. Banning the LTTE will make nonsense of the idea of discussion and political negotiation with them.

On the other hand, the fact that the other party is unwilling to negotiate is no reason not to keep pushing that strategy on with global support. The objective of this endeavour would be to force the LTTE to get to the table and accept a globally respected settlement. Such a settlement would accompany a considerable package of foreign economic aid thus appeasing the ordinary people bringing tangible benefits to their lives. This would reinforce the new order. More importantly, the new open society environment would encourage the natural flow of democratic processes within the Tamil political system of the north and east. It is this kind of open society that the LTTE dreads.

The Karuna phenomenon is a fall-out of the openness that had resulted during the first two years of the Peace Accord. The reason is that an open society induces internal fissures to emerge and develop.

The realisation of such an outcome would depend on the offer of something substantial and genuine to the Tamil community. Such a state of affairs would help to defuse Tamil-grievance intensity and eventually lead to the thinning of financial support to the LTTE from the Diaspora.

Unfortunately, political developments have precluded this kind of development in Sri Lanka. The entire first year of our new President went by without bringing forth a proposal and this has given ample fodder for the Tigers who keep telling the world and their local and globally diffused community that “the Sinhalese government will never yield anything; Eelam is the only solution”.

Time is running out for Sri Lanka and for President Rajapaksa. The Sri Lanka government has got to take the plunge and end this period of prevarication and ambivalence. Our President took the right steps in setting up an All-Party Conference (APC) and in securing the support of the main opposition party. That was statesmanlike and even ‘foxy’ in approach and it displayed a lot of political maturity. The President must now go beyond that and not go back wilting under extremist pressure.

The majority report of the APC offers a workable model on which to develop an offer of power-sharing. Sri Lanka can function as one entity only on the basis of a power-sharing model of democracy. India, our huge neighbour, is a good example of this. India would have gone to pieces after Independence had it not built a power-sharing federal constitution that accommodates all its pluralities despite an 85 per cent Hindu majority.

In the circumstances, one cannot see the sense in the demand for the cancelling of the ceasefire and banning the LTTE. The President has reinvoked the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). This step in effect undermines the Peace Accord and in fact effectively bans the LTTE without spelling it out in such terms. The LTTE has been cunning enough to abrogate the Peace Accord long ago denying it is doing so. Can’t we take a cue from the latter and act with similar smartness instead of playing into their hands by announcing to the whole world that the government of Sri Lanka has abrogated the Accord and banned the LTTE?
Prevailing laws plus a few rules brought into force under the Emergency are adequate to deal with the Tiger terrorists.

As a matter of fact, with the invocation of the PTA, dictatorial powers have been brought into force that are available for use. The danger is that they are also available for abuse. Going further than all this and banning the LTTE is foolish. One cannot, therefore, understand the PNM, JVP and JHU trying to make a huge issue about banning. That is an approach that disregards practical considerations and overlooks the need to act with smartness, spin, and tact having regard to backlash consequences.
Sri Lanka must put the past behind it and move forward into the twenty first century. We are being left behind by all our neighbouring countries including the Maldives, which is reported to be going ahead of Sri Lanka.This cursed war has blocked all growth and development and caused multiple crises in the island. All patriotic leaders should bear this in mind and put their weight behind the task of ending the war.

By Shyamon Jayasinghe, Melbourne