Bloodless independence struggle celebrated amidst bloodshed

Sri Lankans marked the country’s Golden Jubilee of Independence on Monday. In the run up to the anniversary and afterwards, the LTTE took on soft targets making a mockery of government claims that it was defeating terrorism.

On Saturday at Dambulla, the LTTE exploded an Anuradhapura-bound bus, killing 19 civilians and injuring another 62. On Sunday, a suicide bomber exploded herself at the Fort Railway Station killing 11 civilians and injuring another 92.

On Monday, the LTTE set off a claymore mine targeting a bus heading for Janakapura from Anuradhapura at Ethawatunuwewa, killing 13 civilians and injuring 16 more.

Forty three civilians were killed and 170 civilians were injured in these three incidents on three consecutive days. The minor incidents at Colombo suburbs Dehiwela, Mount Lavinia and Katubedda have resulted lesser casualties, but have caused a fear psychosis that is crippling the Capital city at present.

No doubt these acts of terrorism must be condemned by one and all for the brutality and cowardice of targeting innocent and unarmed civilians, including women and children.

What about the brutal attack on civilians in Buttala and Thanamalwila in Moneragala, where the people are still trying to recover from the LTTE’s wave of violence since mid-January?

In all probability, military planners did not anticipate the wanton acts of terrorism the LTTE would perpetrate when the government decided to abrogate the Ceasefire Agreement and began intensifying its operations in the battlefields up north.

This is the LTTE’s reply, no doubt a cowardly one.

The LTTE tries to justify its actions by claiming the military is intensifying the war and taking on civilians in the north.

The United States made the same blunder when it took the war on terrorism to Iraqi soil. More than a million Iraqis have been killed since, making the whole military exercise a futile one, long after the execution of Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein.

The US ensured elections were held and hoped the democratically elected government would successfully run the affairs of the Iraqis. But, the reality is far from the expected. There is more violence, more chaos and more pain and shame.

With the same hope, the Sri Lankan Government plans to conduct the March 10 local council polls in the east and follow it up with provincial council elections. The authorities must be reminded that the LTTE targeted the North East Provincial Councillors and decimated the Tamil National Army that backed the then EPRLF run council.

The LTTE would do likewise once the administration is set up. For the moment it would lie low, given the formidable presence of the security forces in the area.

In an insurgency there are several phases including terrorism, guerrilla warfare and conventional fighting. The LTTE which has passed all these stages would not hesitate to use the best phase at the best time. Right now, it has shifted to stark terrorism and would continue to do so irrespective of the fallout.

The government must factor in all the possibilities and not act with complacence. We are not suggesting that the government, in the face of these acts of terrorism, should offer a weak-kneed response.

No doubt, the state has a duty to defeat separatism. But, the state also has a duty to address the political issues that have led to this demand for a separate state.

As a recent survey published in a weekend newspaper indicated, 81% of people of all ages believe that all ethnic groups could live in real harmony and 86% believed that real peace can be achieved in Sri Lanka.

So, while the military continues its course of action, let the government come up with a just and practical political solution to keep the country together.