Can Anyone Trust the Sri Lankan Government?

A. Sivapatham

TAMIL TRIBUNE, November 2000 (ID.2000-11-02)

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Abbreviations:

LTTE - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

A few years ago TAMIL TRIBUNE published an article " President Chandrika Kumaratunga: Words and Deeds" exposing Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's duplicity. Some recent events further support the views expressed in that article. Let us look at the recent events.

With all fanfare Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga presented a watered-down version of a devolution package to the Sri Lankan parliament in August 2000. She could not muster enough support to pass it. There was also widespread opposition outside the parliament from Buddhist monks and Sinhalese hard-liners. So she withdrew the devolution package.

Soon parliamentary elections came. Many who voted for her and her party in past elections abandoned her. So she allied with a hard-line Sinhalese party, Mahajana Eksath Perumena (MEP), which was at the forefront of opposing and continued to oppose Kumaratunga's devolution package. Strange bed fellows, indeed! She also appointed a hard-liner as her Prime Minister, one Mr. Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. He had good relations with Sinhalese hard-liners and Buddhist monks. To appease the monks and other hard-liners, in early October 2000, just a week before the parliamentary election, her hand-picked Prime Minister stated publicly that the Sri Lankan Government was no longer interested in peace talks with the LTTE and its goal was to defeat LTTE militarily. Referring to Norway, which was trying to arrange the peace talks for the past several months with endorsement from both the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE as well as the blessing of many western nations, the Prime Minister said, ""Let the Norwegians do what they want, all that is in the past". A slap to the Norwegian government and diplomats who had held several talks with the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE trying hard to set peace talks in motion.

Elections came. No party got a majority in the parliament. President Kumaratunga's party was able to form coalition government with a thin majority. Soon after the election she said that she was now ready for peace talks with the LTTE with Norway's assistance. A complete turnabout in just about two weeks! Elections are over and she need not have to woo Buddhist monks and other Sinhalese hard-liners until the next election, years away. Her government's turnabout and willingness for peace talks is aimed at foreign governments and donor nations so as to get financial help and military assistance to continue fighting the LTTE.

President Kumaratunga takes positions to suit her needs. Two weeks ago, before the elections, she needed Sinhalese votes and took a war-like stance and said "no" to peace talks. Two weeks later, with elections over, she needs foreign financial and military assistance to continue her war with the LTTE. So she takes a peace stance and says "yes" to peace talks. Can anyone trust her? Are her words worth anything?

If the Tamil people reach an agreement with her government and lay down their arms, can we count on her to honor it a few years from now when she has to face another election and go looking for Sinhalese votes? If she takes a turnabout again and reneges on the peace agreement to please the Buddhist monks and Sinhalese hard-liners, then what? Unarmed, what can the Tamil people do against a well-armed Sri Lankan army? TAMIL TRIBUNE article "Is this One Way to End the Ethnic War in Sri Lanka?" suggests a solution that any peace settlement should include a Tamil Defense Force capable of defending the terms of the peace settlement and Tamil rights if the Sri Lankan Government reneges on the settlement and sends the army to suppress the Tamil people again. I think an independent Tamil Eelam is the only safe solution but if we have to settle for something less, the solution outlined in that article should be the minimum requirement. Anything short of that would be suicidal for the Tamil people.

RELATED ARTICLES

President Chandrika Kumaratunga: Words and Deeds (by Thanjai Nalankilli), TAMIL TRIBUNE, October 1997 (20 KB)

Is this One Way to End the Ethnic War in Sri Lanka? (by Thanjai Nalankilli), TAMIL TRIBUNE, February 2000 (18 KB)

BOOK ON SRI LANKA:

Scarred Minds : The Psychological Impact of War on Sri Lankan Tamils

----    2000-a1d

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