Sri Lankan government's attitude was exceedingly strange !!!

GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO DEMONSTRATE FLEXIBILITY WITH CIVILIANS
----------------------------------JEHAN PETERA
The best efforts of the international community to bring the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka to an end through its diplomatic interventions seem to have come to naught. The joint visit of the British Foreign Minister David Miliband and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner was full of controversy but seems to have yielded little other than just that. Vocal sections of the government, media and the general public saw bad faith in these European moves, and had no hesitation to make their views known. This perception also seems to have induced the government to deny a visa to Swedish Foreign Minster Carl Bildt, prompting him to say that the Sri Lankan government's attitude was exceedingly strange and to reject an invitation to visit Sri Lanka at a later date. For the past 50 years, Sweden was one of the most generous development supporters of Sri Lanka, but from next year this partnership is to end, and the recent mishap will do little to facilitate a positive review of this situation.
Those who oppose international intervention in the humanitarian crisis in the country believe that their motive is to force a ceasefire upon the government in order to extend the life of the LTTE. A week ago, under heavy Indian pressure, including a fast by the aged Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunandhi and members of his political party, the government declared an end to combat operations and to the use of heavy weapons and air power. But barely had the statement been issued, and the fast in Tamil Nadu ended, that evidence began to be provided that the fighting on the ground was continuing as before, with air strikes included. With both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE holding determinedly to their positions, the war is set to reach its inevitable conclusion.

During their visit to Sri Lanka, the two foreign ministers stressed, albeit without much success, that their sole concern was that of the civilian population trapped in the battle zone and not any petty political advantage to themselves with their domestic electorates. They also denied that they had any ulterior motive in trying to give the LTTE a breathing space so they could revive but were only seeking a way out for the civilians. The desirability of a negotiated end to the war that would save civilian lives is not only an European position. Even activists from the Third World with an anti imperialist orientation hold to the same view. A view of the current situation from the distance that foreign countries have is that the war is ended, and there is no more need for killing or trapping people. The LTTE is hardly in a position to revive its fortunes when its territorial control which once extended to 15,000 square kilometers has now whittled down to less than 6 square kilometers.

Differing perceptions

However, the perceptions of the Sri Lankan parties to the conflict are different, and this is what finally matters in determining what happens on the ground. There is a worry in one section of the population, and a hope in another, that the LTTE under its leader Velupillai Pirapaharan is capable of repeating the past so long as he remains alive and in combat mode. The past experience has been of the LTTE fighting its way back to a position of strength from a position of weakness. Once was when the Indian Peace Keeping Force battled them into the jungles in the period 1987-90, and again when the Sri Lankan army recaptured most of the north in 1995-97. On both those occasions, the LTTE withdrew into the jungles and reemerged to take back the control over the territory that they had lost. The role played by the LTTE leadership in any revival in the near or distant future is what is in question today. The other insight into the Sri Lankan belief as to what really works, comes from the experience of the two JVP insurrections. At the conclusion of the first insurrection in 1971, the lives of nearly all of the top leaders were spared. They were captured, charged in courts of law, imprisoned, rehabilitated and pardoned. This all happened in text book fashion, at least in process and the sequence of events. But the outcome was not a change of heart. A decade and a half later they plotted, were provoked, planned and launched a second and bloodier insurrection and exacted a much heavier price from Sri Lankan society. At the conclusion of this second insurrection, virtually the whole of the JVP leadership were eliminated. Two decades later with their militant leadership decimated there is no sign of another militant revival by the JVP.

Today, it is this double experience from Sri Lanka's past that seems to be shaping the government's thinking and with it that of the majority of people who are behind the government in its military mode of conflict resolution. There is no doubt that the government leadership, which is in close touch with the international community, is aware of the frustration and disfavour with which its military solution is being viewed in much of the world. But it is still going ahead, because of its conviction that there is no other way. The tragedy is that by its conduct in keeping the civilians hostage, and by its refusal to accept its defeat on the battlefield, the LTTE is adding to the conviction of the government and the majority of Sri Lankan people that there is indeed no other way to end the war. Now the die appears to have been cast to the military option.

Civilian welfare

In these circumstances, the best that can be done is to secure the lives of the civilian population who have already crossed over into the government-controlled areas. The total number of newly displaced persons from the north who are in government welfare centres is close to 200,000 putting a massive strain on the government’s welfare and administrative systems. These displaced people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The civilians who crossed over from LTTE control were people who were denied their freedom to move and to interact with their fellow citizens in other parts of the country by the LTTE’s regime. They have suffered acute trauma with about 20,000 of them being killed and injured in fighting over the past four months, of which about a third have been reported killed. Concern for them is the need of the hour, and it needs to be openly demonstrated by civil society and the government alike. The international community which is critical of the government's military mode of conflict resolution is nevertheless providing much needed humanitarian assistance to these people, and is prepared to provide even more. Japan's one time peace envoy, Yasushi Akashi was the latest international dignitary to visit the government's welfare camps for the displaced in the north, and to pledge Japanese assistance. Unfortunately, here too, the government has been adopting a restrictive policy towards the international community, and also in limiting their access to those areas. The government's concern appears to be that having too many international observers would generate more international pressure to resettle the displaced people in their villages before the government is ready to do so, having the need to weed out LTTE infiltrators both within the welfare camps and in the now abandoned villages of the north. However, there is also much goodwill and desire to help that needs to be accommodated in the best interest of the victim population and in keeping with the values of democracy.

There needs to be a balance between closure and openness. The government needs to open up the welfare centres to local and international humanitarian organizations who also need to be mindful of the government's concerns. There have been spontaneous expressions of humanitarian concern by civil society groups in various parts of the country. They have been collecting relief materials including food, medicine and clothing, and sending it to be distributed amongst the displaced persons in the welfare centres. These acts of solidarity and people's participation in relief efforts are indicators of the spirit of goodwill and reconciliation that can become the foundation for a just and lasting political solution based on equal rights for all in the coming period. They can also supplement the efforts of the All Party Representatives Committee that the government is relying upon to present a viable political proposal that could address the roots of the ethnic conflict.
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