|
Gota:
A man of honour and diginity?
By
Noor Nizam
When India’s National Security Advisor M.K.
Narayanan commented Tuesday to the (The Straits Times of India)
that even if Sri Lanka won the battle against the LTTE it
would not win the war because “they haven’t got
the Tamil population on their side,” Gotabaya Rajapaksa,
the Defence Secretary of the Government of Sri Lanka, which
is in confrontation with a political militant group turned
the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit, does not
lament, but simply tells the world media (INAS) that:“There
is nothing negative to what Narayanan has said.”
The humble former army officer, younger brother of the elected
President of Sri Lanka turned Secretary of Defence is quoted
to have further said –
“The only area where we have failed is to show our genuineness,
to convince the outsiders, about our sincerity in resolving
the problem. In action, we have proved it. Unfortunately,
we are not good at propaganda. If Tamils indeed are not with
us, then it is our weakness.”
Notwithstanding the fact that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is not a
politician, but a Civil Servant and a common citizen of Sri
Lanka, the magnanimity of this man to face the reality of
the criticism of India’s National Security Advisor, with
such humble and realistic response without mixing words normally
done as ‘jargon’ by so-called elected politicians
and ‘chit’ MP’s, tells more about what indeed
this son of Sri Lanka is. It is a matter of fact that, the
Secretary of Defence has opened the curtains of the political
stage of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, to expose a ‘3
dimension’ reality of the ‘REAL’ issues of
the Tamil people who, indeed, have the same right as the Defence
Secretary has – as a citizen of Sri Lanka.
Has not the government failed to convince the world about
its sincerity to resolve the ethnic conflict? Then, let’s
face facts –
“On the whole it is the inability of the president and
the government to show the sincerity to the Tamils and to
the outside world. We have to improve that... It will take
time...”said the Defence Secretary to IANS as part of
his response to the criticism of M.K. Narayanan, who during
his recent visit to Colombo to attend the 15th SAARC summit
had, by destiny, to travel from the venue of the summit to
his hotel in a taxi, as safe as an ordinary citizen of Sri
Lanka, living in Colombo. Did this real life experience influence
and assure India’s National Defence Advisor to conclude
that it is time that the Sri Lankan Government and the majority
Sinhalese have to ‘get the Tamil population on their
side’ if this ethnic war has to be won. Or, was it rather
that Mr. Narayanan felt that the Tamils will be safe if a
peaceful political settlement with honour can be discussed
and deliberated to a conclusive consensus by all parties concerned
along with “getting the Tamil population on their side.”
When it is quoted that Narayanan says:
“India can give this advice better than the Norwegians
or any other country.”…… “These are people
(‘pediyangals’ the Sri Lankan Tamil boys) that we
know, we understand. Do they want a situation like many countries
have faced?”
India is most sincere to advise Sri Lanka accordingly, as
expressed by India’s National Security Advisor in his
interview with The Straits Times of India.
As a Sri Lankan Peace Activist and a freelance journalist,
having been a NORAD-Fellow and lived in Norway for many years,
I have a very deep insight and knowledge in to the unscrupulous
manipulative engagements of certain influential Norwegian
political VIPS and groups, whose treachery I have constantly
challenged and warned about in many of the articles and Op-Eds
since the signing of the so-called ‘Truce Accord on February
23rd, 2002.’ The then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe
was used as a political pawn by the Norwegian politicians
of the like of Ambassador Jon Westborg, Norway’s then
Foreign Minister, Jan Petersen, then Norwegian Prime Minister
Kjell Magne Bondevik and the never heard of Norwegian politician
in Norway - Erik Solhiem, who the international media
crowned as the ‘Sri Lanka Peace negotiator,’ when
indeed he was not. I have also real life experience to account
for how the Norwegians deceived the Muslim politicians who
supported and initiated pioneering the Norwegian involvement
in the so-called Peace process from 1977 to 2002.
The outcome of the conspiracy was the success of using Hon.
Ranil Wickremasinghe to politically back stab the then President
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who had to carry the burden
of the Norwegian oppression in Sri Lanka till 2005. It has
been recently (now) proved beyond doubt, that the Norwegians
using their presence in Sri Lankan, under the peace accord,
the presence of the SLMM and their engagement in humanitarian
relief work and aid assistance, have been the culprits who
have been fanning the continued military involvements of the
‘boys – pediyangals’ against the military and
security forces of Sri Lanka, both sons of the soil of our
land. What was the price the nation has paid for this Norwegian
deception – lives of nearly 45,000 youth of the country,
both Tamils and Sinhalese and around 15,000 civilians of the
Tamil, Sinhalese and Muslim communities and not forgetting
the billions of rupees worth of infrastructure and materials.
To assist the Norwegians, there have been many selfish Sinhalese
politicians. They are both formerly of the UNP, under Ranil
Wickremasinghe and the SLFP under Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga,
and senior civil servants who helped the Norwegians to do
what they had been involved with, till the so-called Peace
Accord was abrogated on January 3rd, 2008. These opportunists,
were well taken care of by the Norwegian interests, in many
ways. Some of the comrades of the JVP, are also guilty of
this accusation. It is sad to see that these opportunist politicians
are even today in the cabinet of the Mahinda Rajapaksa’s
government wielding political power at the cost of the poor
citizen’s votes and the senior civil servants are still
hanging around the present government expecting foreign diplomatic
assignments or high profile government statutory postings.
In some of my earlier articles, I have warned the President
to be cautious about such elements surrounding him and trying
to wield their powers by giving the President wrong advice.
The expressions made by Narayanan and Gothabaya Rajapaksa
are extraordinary.
Mahinda Rajakapsa should be very alert to the advice given
(comments) made by India’s Senior Defence Advisor M.
K. Narayanan and not sideline the comments as a “cry
in the wilderness” by a Foreign Senior Civil Servant.
In his humble younger brother – Secretary of Defence
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President, should see the sincerity
of what the Defence Secretary has said – “If Tamils
indeed are not with us, then it is our weakness.”
The two Civil Servants (Narayanan from IAS and Gothabaya Rajapaksa
– Sri Lanka Administrative Service (formerly Civil Service)
have attempted to fulfill - by one giving the most sincere
and truthful advice and - the other accepting the reality
of the situation and owning the folly – (a magnanimity
that needs untold praise humanly), to move forward in the
right direction of resolution.
The Defence Secretary has attempted to interpret the advice
of Narayanan as follows:
“In my opinion, he has only put in different words what
our President has been saying, that we need to defeat terrorism
but the (ethnic) problem needs to be resolved” (politically).
What then is the conclusion of the interaction of both the
civil servants as seen by Civil Society?
It has been quoted that Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu of the
Centre for Policy Alternatives says:
“On the face of it, the Government has made great strides:
they [the Tigers] are really hemmed in this time.”I’m
just not sure the military progress can be translated into
political progress.”
The humble Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has clearly
demonstrated the need to translate the military progress into
political progress. Will the President Mahinda Rajapaksa listen
to what both the Civil Servants of India and Sri Lanka have
told (messaged) the President? In an interview given to the
International Herald Tribune (Global Edition of the New York
Times) datelined Thursday May 11th, 2006, President Mahinda
Rajapaksa said:
“I’m not a warmonger.” “I am ready for
talks, I’m ready for peace. But we will also be ready
to defend our country. This is not a weakness. Our patience
is not weakness.”
Will the President then start work on the agenda to ‘get
the Tamil population on their side?’ Will the President
also give an opportunity to get the LTTE to understand the
reality and give the LTTE a chance to join the Tamil population
on their side? The President should also give thought to and
respect the Muslim Factor in this scenario.
(The writer is a Sri Lanka peace activist based in Canada)
|
