AN URGENT POLITICAL SETTLEMENT!!!

NOTEBOOK OF A NOBODY
Rhetoric and Reality.........by Shanie

This past week has been one of significant happenings and the week to come is also poised for momentous changes. In our own country, recent events have made us aware that there is a huge gap between rhetoric and reality. The state propagandists have been feeding us with sunshine stories of an East liberated from terrorism and of a North that was on the verge of the same liberation. The people had no reason to doubt the correctness of these stories, even though the more discerning were sceptical in the absence of independent verification. There is no doubt that that the security forces have made significant gains in regaining territory that was under the control of the LTTE. There is also no doubt that the security forces will be able to reclaim further territory as the war continues. But the country is coming to realise that liberation is not regaining territory but real freedom in all its aspects.

Kilinochchi lies on the main Jaffna-Kandy (A9) road. During the IPKF operations, the LTTE was driven out of the entire stretch of this road. Traffic moved freely. With the withdrawal of the IPKF, the road became a no-go area until the security forces during the Presidency of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge established control over the whole of the North. Then, the Elephant Pass debacle brought back the LTTE who have remained in control. Even during the period of "peace" when the Ranil Wickremsinghe initiated MoU prevailed, though traffic moved relatively freely on this road, the Omanthai-Muhamalai stretch was under the control of the LTTE. The stories planted by the state propagandists created a feeling among the people that regaining Kilinochchi was only days away. But the days have now become weeks and the people have no idea what the reality is. If the offensive continues, there is no doubt that the security forces will regain both Kilinochchi and the entire Jaffna-Kandy Road. But that is not going to be a cake-walk as we have been led to believe. It is also going to mean large losses of lives on both sides. The question however is whether such sacrifices are necessary and unavoidable. Is there not an alternate way to regain territory and re-establish the state’s sovereignty over the whole of Sri Lanka.


A Negotiated Political Settlement

It was good to hear from President Rajapaksa during the past week that he does not believe that the National Question can be settled by military means and that a political solution was required. But there is no reason that the offer of a political solution has to await the defeat of the LTTE. As widely recognized even by the security forces, territory can be re-taken from the LTTE but they will continue to operate from the underground as a guerilla force. If the President wants to await the defeat of the LTTE, he will only be postponing the offer of a political solution for the foreseeable future. This is what the Sinhala supremacists seek and President Rajapaksa needs to change that mindset.

Let us also recognize that the whole APC and APRC process has been a waste of time and resources. Despite all the good intentions of its Chairperson Tissa Vitarana, it is clear that these are not going to achieve anything. If President Rajapaksa is serious about wanting to settle the National Question under his Presidency, he needs to adopt another way. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge held consultations with all the stakeholders and came up with a package that, by and large, was acceptable to all communities. She also kept the LTTE out but had a dialogue with the leaders of Tamil political parties and civil society. That package was perhaps the best opportunity for the National Question to be settled with justice for all parties. The extremists on both sides, the LTTE and the JVP/JHU elements, understandably rejected it. The majoritarian and minoritarian supremacists will not find any kind of settlement acceptable, except on their own supremacist terms. Unfortunately, for purely partisan political reasons, the UNP scuttled the CBK package to which they had earlier agreed. The shameful and opportunistic role of a then UNP minister, now a Government minister, in this is well-known.

As this column has been repeatedly urging, what is required is statespersonship on the part of both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. They need to put country before self or party and agree on a political package (modelled on the 2000 CBK proposals) that will be fair and just by all communities who are part of this country. Extremists on both sides of the ethnic divide will no doubt protest but history has shown that such proposals acceptable to the UNP and SLFP will have the support of the vast majority of our people at a referendum. Of course, the concerns of all major communities, Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim, needs to be addressed. CBK had the will to do that and come up with fair and just proposals – there is no reason to think that MR and RW do not have the same will to show the world that they too are statespersons who can raise above petty party politics.


The Role of India

India has over the years been a part of the political and social scene in our country. Ethnically, socially and culturally, India has had a major influence on our lives. The overwhelming majority of those who inhabit our country are descendants of settlers from India, the two major religions owe their origins to India and many of our rulers before colonial rule were from India, often invited to rule by the political leadership here. The political and cultural developments in India have had a profound influence on the thinking of our own people and on developments in our country – before, during and after colonial rule. Developments in our country also have repercussions in India, which is only separated by a narrow stretch of waterway/ It is in this light that we must view Indian concerns over events here.

Unlike some of the others in his own Government, President Rajapaksa has not engaged in any kind of xenophobia or anti-Indian rhetoric. Professional diplomacy has prevailed over ‘megaphone diplomacy’ – if the latter can at all be called diplomacy. As this column commented last week, High Commissioner Romesh Jayasinghe referring to Indian concerns, stated that in the light of good Indian-Sri Lankan relations, anything stated by Indian leaders would be listened to with respect and their comments taken seriously by Sri Lanka. It is encouraging to note that President Rajapaksa has also taken this line. It is also significant that the political leadership in New Delhi has also with professional skill defused the agitation in Tamilnadu.


The US Presidential Election

The momentous change poised for next week as we stated in our opening paragraph is the US Presidential Election, the results of which will be known by mid next week. Barring a miracle, the indications are that the person to succeed George W Bush will be Barrack Obama. There are two significant factors that will emerge in such an event. First, the Democratic Party will then be in control of the White House and also both Houses of Parliament – the House of Representatives and the Senate. The second will be that for the first time the people of the USA would have elected a non-White to be their President. This will send a powerful message across the world – that the people of the USA are prepared to shed differences in colour (and by implication, creed and ethnicity) in choosing a person to lead them.

White supremacists in the US will not take kindly to this. Indeed there are fears that Obama may be the target of white supremacists before and after the Election. They are a tiny minority, like supremacists anywhere, but wield the power of the gun. They are the people who can never hope to capture power through the ballot but remain spoilers through violence and creating mayhem. Such elements need to be exposed and denied the undue influence they pedal. Can we take the example of US and pledge ourselves to creating a plural and equal society believing the country belongs to all her citizens. Obama is a comparatively recent immigrant, yet the people of the US seem willing to hand him a landslide victory.

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