Perhaps the Tamil Tigers are showing their cuddly face (thanks, Abhi):
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was shot in the head Friday night just outside his private residence in Colombo and died an hour later after emergency surgery… The assassination is bound to further strain the shaky cease-fire agreement between Sri Lanka’s government and the Tamil Tiger rebels. The truce, in place since February 2002, has been threatened by recent violence and the suspension of talks in 2003. [Link]
Earlier this month, two LTTE members were arrested outside Kadirgamar’s official residence — about a kilometer away from where he was shot — after conducting surveillance and videotaping the area. Kadirgamar had just returned to his private residence late Friday for a swim, after attending a function for the release of his new book, police said. As he walked toward the house from the pool, a sniper fired three shots, striking him in the head and chest. [Link]
… Kadirgamar, 73, who is from the ethnic Tamil minority and a close aide of President Chandrika Kumaratunga, was taken to the National Hospital for emergency surgery after being shot in the head… Kadirgamar, a Tamil Christian, led an international campaign to ban the Tigers as a terrorist organization. [Link]
Kadirgamar’s background:
He was educated at Trinity College, Kandy, and obtained a Bachelor of Laws… from the University of Ceylon… He also has a B.Lit. from Oxford University. He practiced law at the Ceylon Bar and in London until 1974, when he became a consultant to the International Labour Organization in Geneva.Kadirgamar is a long-time supporter of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)… Despite being himself a Tamil, he strongly supported the Bandaranaike government’s policy of not negotiating with the Tamil Tigers insurgents in northern Sri Lanka. [Link]
Update: Sri Lankan cops are looking for some chubby, dilettante snipers:
Police officer Nimal Lewke said two of the snipers had hidden in a building near Kadirgamar’s heavily guarded home in Colombo’s diplomatic district and fired through a ventilation hole in an upper floor. Police found cheese and chocolates they ate while they waited for their target, along with a grenade launcher intended as a backup weapon.
India’s policy toward Sri Lanka is about as consistent as usual:
India called the assassination a ”terrorist crime” and reiterated its support to the island nation’s fight against forces seeking to undermine its unity. [Link]
Back in the day, some people sadly felt the need to call Sammy Davis Jr. an Uncle Tom. If this is the resemblance you refer to, consider yourself dissed.
I think this is the resemblance Theo is referring to.
Since there clearly isn’t a physical resemblance, I shall still assume that something else was intended. My mom didn’t raise me to be suspicious and paranoid for nothing, you know 🙂
Cicatrix, suspend your hatred for the LTTE for 5 seconds and read that quote from Thamilchelvan again. Do you not see any merit to the argument that this might have been carried out by Sinhala groups who wish for a return to war? WHY would the tigers kill him NOW?
And that quote by Athas is shoddy journalism. It claims nothing but implies everything.
I’m not being an LTTE apologist, but try to keep an open mind. As it is, this has turned into another LTTE condemnation thread.
Anathan, consider for 5 seconds that there are reasons why the LTTE is so unambiguously comdemned by impartial observers.
I don’t see the merit in the argument that Sinhala groups did this in order to restart the war because, as stated in the AP article I linked to above:
Kadirgama has been on a LTTE hit list for quite a while, and now they finally got him. They’ve tried before, so they got lucky/planned better this time. The JVP, frankly, can’t see beyond the immediate gratification of its thuggish demands, at least enough to carry out the plan you suggest.
I’m really grateful to hear some good news in the middle of all this. From the first link in my last post:
I think they mean “horse.” God, I hope this true!
Bourse = stock exchange.
I’ve been skooled!
🙂
this is the point i was making earlier (#43). the stock market performance is not “good news in the middle of all this” — it’s part and parcel of the situation. it simply confirms that there are plenty of people/interests that are benefiting from the current state of sri lankan politics. it would be interesting to analyze which are the best perfoming stocks; what is the ownership structure of the firms; and what is the quality and quantity of the ties between the domestic capital-market elite and the GoSL political or for that matter military elite. (ahem)
these are patterns that have been observed in plenty of other similar cases.
asingamaawanar’s analysis (#45) gets to the same point. why are the moderates on either side being killed, marginalized, silenced or outflanked? because a comprehensive political solution would necessarily shake up the economic order that has settled into being over all these years. and i mean the total economic order — not just what you see in statistics but the informal, improvised and corrupt stuff too.
what makes negotiated settlements so hard to achieve in this sort of conflict isn’t so much that “the people” on either side are so far apart, but that those who have the authority to negotiate on their behalf have little incentive to do much more than grandstand and pantomime their way through a simulacrum of negotiation, to keep a fatigued populace on side and the international community off their backs.
that’s the standard pattern. i am sure that in sri lanka there are various locally specific exacerbating factors. the question is, what are the locally specific factors that could help break through the impasse, rather than worsen it?
that’s my question to you cicatrix, ananthan, asingamaanawar, whoa tiger, parthi and co.
peace
Siddhartha M,
I’m sorry, I didn’t meant to ignore your question. It’s just that it’s really obvious and really difficult at the same time. Yes, the parties involved have much to gain by keeping this simmering along. It is rumored that Premedasa actually slipped arms to the LTTE at one point. Yes, wealth-gains reek of war-profiteering. I’ve said so, many times on this site. All of this. I’m jsut tired of hearing myself repeat it. I’m happy about the stock market though, because a statement like that will still encourage foreign inevestment. Hopefully that money won’t go entirely into the pockets on the already-rich-and-corrupt. If given the options of a job, food, education, or more of this same fighting, I think people will choose the former. But an entire generation has grown up thinking there is no hope for them, no future, so they battle on. Getting the country’s economy going, and spreading that around will do more than rational arguements, I think.
As for discussing the subtleties of “locally specific exacerbating factors” – rather hard to do on a message board when every simple statement I make is lambasted as GoSL propaganda and my attention is diverted by searing personal criticisms.
If we can’t break through this impasse, on a goddamn internet board, you can guess how likely it will be to do so on the ground in Sri Lanka. The moderates are silenced permanently, or cowed into silence. The problem is that every fact, every new bit of information about anyone or anything is twisted, or assume to be. Just look at the various theories concerning this killing! Ananthan is still convinced that this is some Sinhala plot.
On exacerbating factor is that the “elites’ really don’t have much to do with this conflict anymore. After Independance, they held the reins, but in the 70s the current president’s father saw that he could sweep them aside by harnessing populist Sri Lanka -for- the-Sinhalese! themes. He did, Tamils found themselves cut off, and the roots of all this started. Sinhala elites (in the cosmopolican, rounded, educated sense) haven’t flocked to politics much since then. There are some really intelligent moderates, but they find themselves ham-strung and shouted down quite often.
On the Tamil side, the Tamil elites banded to form the TULF to gain the rights lost under Bandaranayake. They supported an opposition cadidate who won, and reinstated most of those rights, but was slippery enough to placate the rabid fringe by retaining others. Well-educated, elite young tamils got sick of all this and splintered off to form the LTTE, which is now run by ruthless men who, as Parthi ever-so-kindly pointed out, are of the lower castes within Jaffna Tamil Hindu hierarchy.
So really, the elites done up and gone. It’s jsut a shouting match now. Much bickering on the GoSL side, and Chandrika made some concessions to the JVP which she now (idiot) regrets, but can’t seem to do much about.. on the LTTE side, Asingamaanawar said it best – The Tigers brook no dissent and have initiated a deafening, political monologue through multiple mouthpieces — whether the voice is that of Balasingam, Tamilnet or the TNA, it’s basically one, unified political yell. But, just because it’s deafening, it doesn’t mean it’s beloved or even popular.
Actually, I simply meant that I see a strong physical resemblance. Same nose, cheekbones and eyes. But since nobody else does, I’ll stop asking.
No, nothing else implied. Really. I’m not trying to call the FM “Candyman” for example.
I’m behind in the conversation, sorry.
Siddhartha M. asked a good question about local factors that can be modified to break through the impasse and Cicatrix, you didn’t answer because you feel that you’re being attacked for your pro-government views. However, since there are enough people in support of your position (and really only one person, who has since departed, that was on an offensive offensive), I think you should lay out an answer to the question.
As Ananthan says, this is an LTTE-bash and that’s unfortunate because if anyone’s really reading what I’m/we’re saying, you’ll/they’ll know this is not a pro-LTTE rally. Rather, it’s an attempt to get everyone whose stock response to everything is “LTTE sucks!” to answer the very direct yet complicated question: what do you do in the absence of LTTE?
Everyone makes strong points about how terrible the LTTE is, no one seems interested in addressing any of the grievances by Tamils in the north. All say “Ban the LTTE” and none offer a plan for what’s to take place afterwards. The whole world says the LTTE’s making it worse and you’re saying get rid of the LTTE, but that’s all you’re saying: No Eelam, no autonomy, no bombs, no war, no Tigers. Sounds really simple and, similar to what someone mentioned about Eelam-supporters, naive.
Say what you want about the Tigers but then realize that they are there, so deal with it. Say what you want about Tamils, but also realize that haven’t got a clue in the world as to what’s going to happen next and the blame for that rests on the Tigers and the government. Talk about an idealized vision of SL but then acknowledge that that vision doesn’t match a reality where the Tamils in Colombo have nothing to do with the ones in Jaffna, the government is fighting the Tigers and the JVP, and one of the most highly-guarded politicians in the country was just killed in front of his own house by possibly one of two Tiger armies who are waging three different wars against three different enemies.
The listing of depressing facts and troubled historical evolutions of the LTTE is impressive, but LTTE-bashing aside, is anyone interested in really discussing how to make things work or is it just easier to throw stones at an obvious target.
One could also say it’s easier to stay mad and just blow people up.
We’ve seen this script before in Northern Ireland, to pick just one example.
Boost investment in education for all to reduce envy of market-dominant minorities
Disarm the Tigers
Yes, it is and to answer your embeded questions, it would be easier if you refrained from caustic comments yourself.
Where, where, do I say anything that’s uniquivically pro-government?! I’m so sick of trying to have a conversation about this only have even the more rational interlocutors read my comments selectively, and then reshape my perspective into something easily mocked. In the interest of a worthwhile discourse, I’ve let people insult me, replying without exacerbating the argument.
I answered the question Whoa, Tiger. You just didn’t care for it. Siddhartha M directed the question to you as well. So why, exactly are you eager to assume, critcize an lash out at me for not answering the question when I have already done so?!
Where are the “ban LTTE” “LTTE sucks” forces, exactly, on this thread? How are they more vociferous that Parthi or 43 seconds? Who, besides you, tried to discuss this rationally?
And now to my great disappointment, you’ve wasted a whole comment on my percieved faults and failures, and the supposedly Tamil bashing that’s going on. How many times can I say that being against the LTTE does NOT mean being against TAMILS?
Have you answered it? Haven’t I jsut wasted space here defending myself against your presumptious and antagonizing statement that I didn’t answer because I feel attacked for my pro-goverment views!!
Is being against Eelam pro-goverment? Are you saying that this is what every single Tamil person IN SRI LANKA really wants? Instead of rebutting the criticism of the LTTE, why do you immediately impugn the motives of the critic? Isn’t that just a cheaper and shoddier tactic that what Ananthan claims for Iqbal Athas?
Why don’t you tell me then, how life for Tamils in Sri Lanka will be once the LTTE are granted their every last wish, the country is ripped apart, and Eelam is a state. Will all the governments that condemn the LTTE as a terrorist organization rush to recognize it as an independant democratic goverment? Who will invest? With all these children raised to shoot and kill the ‘enemy’ what kind of civil society can exist in Eelam? Maybe I’m wrong.. I hear the LTTE were effective at rebuilding some parts of the coast that were badly damaged by the tsunami… but given the Muslim “cleansings” that were undertaken by the LTTE, I really don’t think they’re going to care much about the rights of minorities within Eelam. Which will be the greatest irony of all.
From the link above:
Which, by the way, is from Refugees International so please save me hassle of more “cicatrix u and ur propaganda” comments. When the AP and Reuters are also accused of being GoSL mouthpieces by the expat LTTE experts, heaven knows it’s hard to what will actually be acceptable. Besides TamilNet.
We’ve seen this script before in Northern Ireland, to pick just one example.
I think we agree that the U.K. is not Sri Lanka and, despite it’s failures, such a plan is at least a better direction to take than the current one; being cynical isn’t any better than being militant, why take such a position?
Yes, it is and to answer your embeded questions, it would be easier if you refrained from caustic comments yourself.
Well, I suppose we could do this as a back-&-forth and accuse one another of being glib, caustic, combative, abrasive and as one person put it, “repulsive,” but then it’s a shouting match with no purpose, much like the war itself.
Where, where, do I say anything that’s uniquivically pro-government?
Well, you don’t, at least not any more than I say anything that is wholeheartedly LTTE. However, you do mention that in regard to fully answering Siddhartha’s question, it’s rather hard to do on a message board when every simple statement I make is lambasted as GoSL propaganda and I was simply responding to that; I should have placed quotes around “pro-government,” as I was paraphrasing, sorry.
Where are the “ban LTTE” “LTTE sucks” forces
There is or at least, was, an official ban on the Tigers that has been a refrain in the LTTE-argument for some time now; In this specific discussion, a number of people, including yourself, have highlighted examples that demonstrate the LTTE’s adverse effect on everyone. I haven’t disupted much of anything, I don’t think these examples are anyone’s way of complimenting the Tigers for a “job well done” and I don’t think I’m missing the point.
Have you answered it? Haven’t I jsut wasted space here defending myself against your presumptious and antagonizing statement that I didn’t answer because I feel attacked for my pro-goverment views!!
Hey, look, that wasn’t a “Go fck yourself!”-comment, rather, I was telling you to explain your position and fck the criticism of you as a “GoSL propagandist.” I didn’t put an emoticon in there because I’m not sure how to do that here (and because that’s not my thing), but I read your response to Siddhartha M., didn’t see a direct answer to the question and assumed you were being serious about not speaking your mind. Okay? Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not here just to fight and as you say, would rather not spend a paragraph talking about how this debate-cum-argument is turning into insults-cum-abuse and subsequently ending in a war.
Is being against Eelam pro-goverment?
No, but similar to how you mention that the LTTE has co-opted the Tamil cause as their own… It’s hard to disassociate being against Eelam and the government, in part because that is their official position. I realize that doesn’t make you automatically “pro-government,” but since our individual positions are supported, cemented and destroyed by the LTTE and government, there’s very little room to squeeze out from the title.
Instead of rebutting the criticism of the LTTE, why do you immediately impugn the motives of the critic?
Because I’m not here to defend the LTTE, I’ve been saying that for many paragraphs now. I’ve also got your lack of support for Eelam in my head and although I don’t necessarily believe splitting the country is a good idea, it sounds as though your position relies on a vision for SL that doesn’t address the reasons for Eelam, the issues of economy, education, employment and health, the discrimination and lack of involvement in national government…
All those things are about the people and they exist with or without the Tigers and that’s what I care about. Maybe all of that’s in your comments, that this isn’t about the LTTE but about people in both the North and the South, but I’m having hard time seeing it, that you believe even without the LTTE the north is in a state of crisis.
Why don’t you tell me then, how life for Tamils in Sri Lanka will be once the LTTE are granted their every last wish, the country is ripped apart, and Eelam is a state.
A representative government made of just one form of representation means nothing, I think that’s obvious. Do I think they LTTE should be granted all their wishes? No, but by the same token, people can’t pretend they don’t exist and can’t expect that the LTTE will simply dissolve into the hemisphere following a cease-fire or seats in government. In other words, because the problem will have to be dealt with and they’ll need to be either incorporated into the government or given provincial authority, some concessions have to be made. As for the rest, Manish has laid out what he seems to think is an all-too-common-plan-for-failure…
My point stays consistent on this: you have to involve LTTE in any post-ceasefire government, it’s not really a choice unless a war is what everyone wants.
And my question remains: without any kind of representative bargaining by the LTTE, however flawed, who will be representing the Tamils? Oxford-educated Tamil Christians in Colombo? Jaffna et al Tamils don’t have anyone and whether that’s because the LTTE killed them all is irrelevant when it comes down to questions of how to get shipping routes and government funding for roads-projects, engineers to reactivate water-processing and sanitation, foreign aid… If the LTTE dissolves, in the vacuum of their absence comes a return to shoddy status-quo without any visible leaders and given the unsympathetic position of the government since before the war, that’s dangerous. It’s safer to work the LTTE into the government and then out of it than to simply hope it disappears.
When the AP and Reuters are also accused of being GoSL mouthpieces by the expat LTTE experts
Sarcastic props aside, I’d like to once again mention that I have never said the LTTE are little girls and boys with feather-dusters just tickling the pants off people. They’re paramilitary, they’re fighting a war and they’re brutal. I respect their origins but not their current incarnation, however, embedded in what they’re doing now is a certain truth regarding reasons they went to war, which were equally brutal and set the stage for a people to destroy themselves.
I don’t read Tamilnet, Reuters is fine and despite what you may have heard, my credentials in this discussion aren’t as thin as you might think. I’ll give you your due respect, in equal share, and if you want we’ll keep talking along with everyone and anyone else.
what makes negotiated settlements so hard to achieve in this sort of conflict isn’t so much that “the people” on either side are so far apart, but that those who have the authority to negotiate on their behalf have little incentive to do much more than grandstand and pantomime their way through a simulacrum of negotiation, to keep a fatigued populace on side and the international community off their backs.
that’s the standard pattern. i am sure that in sri lanka there are various locally specific exacerbating factors. the question is, what are the locally specific factors that could help break through the impasse, rather than worsen it?
Siddhartha M.,
To be honest, and I know this will raise hackles with just about everyone, I think giving the LTTE official, but temporary, control over the Jaffna port to allow for open trade and supply with India, and allowing Tamils official access to Batticaloa’s port to participate in trade with Southeast Asia, will be a good step toward confidence-building and making the economy once again dependent on trade and not external funding.
The LTTE already controls the port, but if the government gives a greenlight for them to handle it with technical and engineering support from Colombo, it will be a first step toward having a factor other than war controlling the region and also, the first legitimate exchange of resources between the two sides in many years. In addition, it will also give the north a large chunk of revenue and in the overall, bolster the national economy.
It would take a lot to do it, a severe and almost brutal commitment, but it would be quite a bit easier than trying to broker cease-fires, government positions and lobbies, etc.. Of course, the whole thing is unequivocally sealed with a cease-fire and guarantee from the LTTE that they establish a civilian police force…
Another thing to do is allow for foreign contractors to rebuild certain areas and reestablish basics, such as electricity, sanitation and other “amenities” that cannot be construed as ambiguous from a military/political intelligence standpoint; Iraq has shown that a number of people are willing to enter war-zones and since the government will not allow Eelam, they’ll have to address these things regardless.
Disappointment regarding rebuilding and reparation was a major factor in the break of a ceasefire not long ago, reapproaching that “conflict” more aggressively shows faith on the part of the government to engage current Tamil-grievances… Again, holding the agreement together is a ceasefire and commitment by the LTTE to establish basic municipal governing structure and guarantee security (both of which were things that existed in the ’90s).
Those are just two ideas, neither of which hand too much power to either side and both of which are possible via external negotiations. In the end, as someone will most likely point out, “this” and “that” could go wrong, but since everything’s wrong right now anyway, might as well try.
whoa, tiger
I get random, scattershot flames directed at me quite often, in addition to people who send their hatemail privately…Please try to see that Parthi’s (for example) comments can only be taken for so long before one starts seeing angry rants everywhere. Your comments were unclear, I misread… anyway, back on track:
Here’s where I think we disagree.
I think your point is this: 1.you have to include LTTE in any post-ceasefire government because,
without any kind of representative bargaining by the LTTE, however flawed, who will be representing the Tamils?
If the LTTE dissolves, in the vacuum of their absence comes a return to shoddy status-quo
4.and given the unsympathetic position of the government since before the war, that’s dangerous.
All the statements are yours, emphasis in point 5 is mine.
Ok, so working with this, here’s what I think
2.The LTTE refused to let anyone else represent the Tamils. They’ve followed PLO tactics and consolidated power. That’s why there will be a power vacuume if they’re gone – they’ve picked off every other Tamil with leadership potential. You said Jaffna et al Tamils don’t have anyone and whether that’s because the LTTE killed them all is irrelevant . I beg to differ. That’s hardly irrelevant. That’s exactly why so many people hate them, why it’s hard to respect them as a legitimate representative voice of the Tamil people.
After all this, do you really think it could return to status quo? Don’t you think that someone Tamil will step in to lead? Do you really believe that only the LTTE has what it takes? Other Jaffna Tamils may be cowed now, but without the LTTE, do you not think someone will step up? Do you really think that the Colombo Tamils don’t care? The only reason the LTTE even has this much power and authority is because they have military might. Take that, and them, away…and see what the Tamil people have to say, freely.
The unsympathetic positions of the government towards whome? The LTTE or the Tamils? I will not defend the fact that various govt administrations passed laws that disenfranchised the Tamils. Others reinstated some, but the fact remains the GoSL changed hands many times and the Tamils were bounced around depending on whether that administration felt like pandering to the pro-Sinhala fringe lunatics or not. As someone who would have been quite discriminated against educationally in SL, I still say that this sort of pandering and political-wrangling is not the exclusive evil domain of the GoSL. Right now the govt is actually ready to throw the Tamil people to the LTTE and concede most things short of Eelam. As I said in pt3, I don’t think anything can return to the way it was after this, and I also don’t think the Tamils will fare any better in the arms of the LTTE. At this point it really depends on who you see as the greater evil : GoSL or the LTTE. I will take the elected body every time.
I added a bold emphasis because it seemed really really optimistic to say that It’s safer to work the LTTE into the government and then out of it than to simply hope it disappears. ….”And then out of it”?… Can you see the LTTE functioning smoothly in the govt in the first place? Can you see them ever voluntarily reliquishing power? Of course they won’t disappear…they’ve been ruthless and tenacious for decades now..hoping won’t make it so. But how do you propose to work them out of the govt? Even if they agree to participate in govt that is, without Eelam.
Of course the north is in a state of crisis!! I’ve been talking about government air raids, people getting miamed, tsunami effects in addition the screws being placed on Tamil people by the LTTE. I feel really impatient with lines of questioning such as this.
As for my “vision,” the simple fact is that I’m not an expert. So as “naive”, and “idealized” as I may sound, please keep in mind that I’m not shaking my love-beads and passing these on as policy suggestions. I’m just sharing my own experiences and memories of a country. A place where suspiciously few of the commentors on this thread seem to have actually lived.
The key point is language. I don’t know what the latest decree is, but it used to be that Sinhalese was the first official language and Tamil the second. However, all schools had a “Tamil medium” where if you wanted, you could take all your subjects in Tamil. Notice I say “if you wanted.” No one prevented tamils kids from learning Sinhalese or vice versa. But although most regular forms etc of daily civil life were translated into both languages, there were bound to be problems with courts, medical schools, univeristies, etc. The religion aspect weighed heavily in the Sinhala language classes is most texts were old Buddhist teachings.
How to encourage Tamil language in civic discourse, creating partiy between the languages, without creating a confused babble remains to be seen. Presently some Buddhist preists are running amock screaming that Sri Lanka is buddhist country and should remain so. I am not buddhist, and I think they’re nuts, but I do believe that as a 70% Buddhist country, it has the right to consider itself so. (without discriminating against other religions, of course)
As it was, Sri Lanka celebrated Hindu, Muslim, and Christian holidays as well as the Buddhist. I don’t know how anything got done with all the days off.
Now, I’d like to know how you have faith in the LTTE…that it does speak for the Tamil people, that it will lay its weapons down and assimilate into goverment, that it will step aside when Tamil’s rights are whatever they wish it to be….when you haven’t addressed what the LTTE did to 72,000 Mulims. You lose all credibility in, imo, if you claim to represent an oppressed minority, and then cast out an even smaller minority. Forbidding Tamils to help the Muslims, no less.
Hey, Cicatrix, sorry for the lag in response, I know this is a dead conversation for everyone except us… You’ve said a number of things and broken my argument down and before I answer points 1-5, I’m just going to clarify something:
Tamils have a number of people that can represent them, however, right now the only “political body” that is recognized at the bargaining table, by both sides, is the LTTE. It’s a fact and whatever the reasons are, there is no way around that. They are in control.
It is relevant who killed whom, but when you’re at a stalemate, people are dying and everyone’s trying to find a way to work things out, to point the finger at the only person sitting in front of you doesn’t help. The discussion on the table is how to move forward, correct wrongs and blaming the LTTE or the government for a thousand wrongs in the past isn’t going to make ports open, roads appear, hospitals materialize, etc.. That holds true for both sides and the grievances I mention now are not “Will the government admit to genocide policies?” or “Will Kumaratanga apologize for saying Tamils don’t belong in Sri Lanka?” but, “Can we open the port and bolster the economy?” “Can we start a vaccination program again?” and “Can we get a representative body of Tamils in Colombo that is not the TNA?” In regard to answering those last three questions, it is irrelevant to ask how many people are dead because we’re talking about how to save the ones that are living and stop the others from killing.
As for whether or not someone can step into an elected position and not be LTTE, I don’t see that as a possibility unless Tamils are granted Eelam. LTTE is fighting for a homeland and once they get it, it would be easier to hold elections and have others take the reins. But if there is no Eelam, the LTTE is not going to easily step aside unless they’re worked into the provincial government first. It’s not an unknown or unusual solution, the same thing has just happened in Indonesia…
After all this, do you really think it could return to status quo? Don’t you think that someone Tamil will step in to lead? Do you really believe that only the LTTE has what it takes? Other Jaffna Tamils may be cowed now, but without the LTTE, do you not think someone will step up? Do you really think that the Colombo Tamils don’t care? The only reason the LTTE even has this much power and authority is because they have military might. Take that, and them, away…and see what the Tamil people have to say, freely.
Well, you know, okay, I understand that, I accept that, ask me if I’d like to see the LTTE not have so much power and I’d say “yes.” But how do you propose taking power away without getting them to first disarm, which won’t occur without governing-incentives? I don’t have a problem with this point, its what everyone hopes for, but I just don’t see how it fits with the reality of the situation.
I will not defend the fact that various govt administrations passed laws that disenfranchised the Tamils… As I said in pt3, I don’t think anything can return to the way it was after this.
Unfortunately, for as much people would rather not have the LTTE in power, most don’t believe the government will do anything more than what was before and since that includes policy that disenfranchised Tamils… I think GoSL also admits that on the heels of their forty-year absence from economy-building in Jaffna, they have no economic reconstruction plan for the North following this war and thus, there is no future for people to aspire towards. So, when I say “shoddy status-quo,” this is what I’m referring to.
The LTTE has no plan either but the only difference is that they are wholly focused on regional governance. Yes, they’re brutal and not a good force to have in office, but, yes, there is a guarantee that they will push for localized government and recognition in Colombo. I think this is important not because I feel the LTTE deserves much of anything, but because after such a long and devastating war, there should be a resolution that guarantees nothing like this can or will happen again. There needs to be some result to all this, some formal change, constitutionally, that can ease the political scar of the war.
At this point it really depends on who you see as the greater evil : GoSL or the LTTE. I will take the elected body every time.
The elected body was elected by whom and to govern what? 2001 elections barred quite a few Tamils (70-80K, I believe), 2004 gave less than 10% of the seats in Parliament to the TNA (who not so coincidentally represent 100% of LTTE-controlled territory by force and consent). I don’t know that in this case that the elected government knows how to govern the region fairly or efficiently. I can’t say that the LTTE can do it either and so, since I see a huge war erupting if the LTTE doesn’t get to govern, I’d let them have it…
I don’t know who is the greater evil but for the last 20+ years, the GoSL has been a yo-yo and the LTTE has been a switchblade. Both know only how to do one thing and since the former’s had a shot, give it to the latter and let them build a party, economy and system of governance that is both tied to the national-outlook and also semi-autonomous. Set it up and see if it falls or flies–if and when the former occurs, my guess is there’ll be enough of a strong opposition party to take their place.
How to encourage Tamil language in civic discourse, creating partiy between the languages, without creating a confused babble remains to be seen.
That remains to seen in both India and Sri Lanka… Language is always going to be the big hammer that Tamils use to stick a nail in your head. The reasons make sense, but I think even if some kind of peaceful settlement is reached between the government and the LTTE, this will remain an issue. It happens in Malaysia also and if anyone really wants to ease the tension, the easiest solution comes in the form of English, unfortunately. Aside from that, I’d say get the new governments going in the north (and the south after this years election) and then put it to the people.
Now, I’d like to know how you have faith in the LTTE…
Because, what are the other options? The government doesn’t have resources to undertake a full-scale occupation of the north (nor are they willing to do so) and they’re not doing much more than the LTTE. Yes, the LTTE has done wrong and so has the government, I don’t think either of them has any moral authority left and all that can be done now is to either call it even and start again, or just glare at each other until one side blinks… The government and Prabhakaran’s LTTE have reiterated their commitment to the cease-fire, I think that says something about the interest in reconciliation. And, despite everyone balking at the “tsunami-accord” signed in June, it’s a good sign. Nothing’s impossible, but everyone has to let some of the stuff pass.
(I mentioned “Prabhakarans LTTE” because this recent assassination seems more like the Karuna LTTE stepping up to present themselves as a force of reckoning, rather than an LTTE political hit. Really, the man has been on a list for years and suddenly, now, when he has three times the protection he had in years before, the LTTE comes in for a kill? Seems odd and lacking the cold-intelligence standard in LTTE planning)
A place where suspiciously few of the commentors on this thread seem to have actually lived.
Second or third(?) time you’ve mentioned something like this–are you asking a question, making an accusation or just talking? If you want me to say something about this, I can give you a discreet explanation, but privately (our mutual friend in Brooklyn can give you my email).
No, this is an interesting and enlightening conversation and i’m glad it’s taking place.
I’ll preface this comment with this: I’m unable to answer Siddhartha’s question because I couldn’t even begin to offer concrete suggestions about specific actions that can be undertaken to move things forward.
My perspective is like a lot of others; we were born there but fled the war as kids and were raised in the west. My information about the conflict comes mostly from following media coverage (majority non-tamil) and listening to relatives and others. Cicatrix has sort of dismissed the views of people like me as uninformed and biased, but I try to read and understand the issues from both sides and would rather have compromise than anything else. I don’t consider myself allied with any faction or group.
Cicatrix, I don’t consider you a GoSL mouthpiece but, as whoa, tiger has said, condemnation of the LTTE is a non-starter. You can criticize and condemn the LTTE to the end of time – there is plenty of fodder to keep you occupied – but this isn’t proactive and will not bring a resolution any closer.
Your vision of an equal and inclusive society ignores the significant level of distrust that I have seen in tamils for the government. The government is guilty of committing atrocities equally horrible to what you claim of the LTTE. Acknowledging this, why would the tamil people trust the government any more than the tigers? Because they’re democratically elected by the majority Sinhalese population?
This conflict arose out of the actions of that same democratically elected government. To ask the tamil people to put their faith in it once again seems a little bit far fetched doesnt it? The actors might have changed but the institution is the same one that created this mess. Have they done anything to deserve the faith or trust of tamils? It’s a rock and a hard place and both are around to stay… i’m not a pessimist by nature but the whole situation doesnt leave room for much else.
And no, im not saying that the LTTE didn’t kill this man, but I am not willing to say they did this without a shadow of a doubt. There are too many other interested factions and questions for any reflexive condemnation. There’s a discussion on that here. There are plenty of links to reactions from others (mostly living in SL) and i’m glad to see that my skepticism isn’t simply a product of my biased, foreign view.
I’ve been following this thread since it started too… Please do keep the discussion flowing…
i too really appreciate this discussion and the effort you (cica, whoa, ananthan) are putting into it.
i’m rushing to hit the road and will be away from the computer much of the next few days but i’ll be checking in and will share some thoughts that your comments are provoking.
peace
siddhartha
This is an interesting development, peace talks are starting up again. I expected things to get worse after the killing, not better.
I had to focus on work for the past few days, so I’m afraid I haven’t been around to continue this discussion.
Frankly, I think there is a stalemate. I’m sorry for it, but this detached, academic, clinical analysis is not possible for me. I’m not a policy wonk, and never claimed to be. I ask if commenters have lived in Sri Lanka because it’s a very different reality when you live there. Sometimes the rumors and whispers had more truth than anything published…as proved by the many times vendors and neighbours would exchange info like, “don’t go to Pettah market today.” And that afternoon a carbomb would explode there.
Outside observers are often loathe to criticize one group more than the other for fear of losing ‘impartial’ status, so it speaks volumes that the LTTE have been condemend outright by Amnesty International, Refugees Internations, Human Rights Watch, among others.
Accepting the LTTE as the de facto representative of the Tamil people, whoa Tiger, and moving to cement their status as the de jure representative body in order to break this state of war, open ports, build infrastructure etc (as you mentioned) appears to be a pragmatic solution. In theory. But if also doesn’t take into account the LTTE history of squeezing the Tamil people for its own ends.
Please understand, I appreciate your focus on moving forward. My point is that taking a good hard look at the LTTE isn’t just about toting up past crimes and misdemeanors.
Your suggestions up the ante quite a bit. Recognizing and legalizing the LTTE would mean giving them legitimate power. And once that happens it will be even harder to unseat them, should they not live up to the hopes and assumptions you’ve outlined above.
Here are extracts from a report by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) – a group of present and former university teachers at the Jaffna university who speak out against the LTTE, documenting human rights abuses.
I find the questions of Muslim evictions in 1990 of interest since the LTTE say they represent a minorty group oppressed by a majority goverment. They they turn right around and expell 72,000 people, prohibiting them from even taking their belongings with them. Such strong-arm exclusionary tactics don’t bode well for the economic redevelopment you envision. If the LTTE gain Eelam, or are a recognized form of representational goverment, Sri Lanka will have the equivelent of a legalized Mafia.
I don’t understand really, how you can have so much faith in the LTTE doing better in the future, while being rather callous about the Tamil people’s future if the LTTE doesn’t do better:
(bold emphasis mine)
So giving the LTTE the thumbs up to “build a party, economy and system of governance that is both tied to the national-outlook and also semi-autonomous” will loosen their strangehold on Tamil representation how, exactly? if their isn’t a strong opposition party now, how will one spring out of nowhere once the LTTE are given legitimate power in addition to its military might?
from the university teacher’s report on the “Gold Tax”, linked above:
This is the LTTE past and present again the very people they will be representing if given recognition and autonomy. It is not “irrelevant to ask how many people are dead” when the living will be served up to exactly the same people who did the killing. If the GoSL was “genocidal” (a claim that is rather dubious, frankly. Guilty of discriminatory laws and practices, yes. But that’s not genocidal) then how would you describe it when Tamils are being killed by the LTTE?