“If the Fernandopulle assassination and this latest massacre of innocent civilians were forgotten as mere isolated episodes in an endless cycle of violence for which the LTTE and the government share equal blame as those jaundiced critics would have us believe, we as a nation would be unworthy of such a supreme sacrifice by a true patriot, and also guilty of disgracing the memory of those beloved innocent compatriots of ours who died today.”_____________________
by Rohana Wasala
(April 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) We, the ordinary Sri Lankans, knew without an iota of doubt who assassinated Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and why they did so. But a small minority of individuals - certain discredited politicians and biased journalists among them - in the immediate aftermath of the attack which was carried out by a suicide bomber (the suicide bomber is the hallmark of LTTE terror) tried to obfuscate the real state of affairs by diverting public attention elsewhere.
While the majority grieved over the death of Mr Fernandopulle and fourteen others with him in a terrorist suicide bombing at the start of a sports event at Welisara that fateful morning on Sunday 6th April, these malicious people seemed to gloat over the mayhem (with a self-congratulatory sense of being vindicated no doubt). In order to play down the gruesome carnage they depicted it as yet another incident in what they claim to be a pattern of tit for tat violence between the Government and the LTTE; and by refusing to unequivocally blame the terrorist organization for the crime they insinuated that the government could have some complicity in it. Browsing different websites on the Internet only a few hours after the bus bombing at Piliyandala today (25th April) I saw hints of the same sort of response from covert champions of terror shedding crocodile tears.
Such deliberate misrepresentations may be safely ignored within the country as harmless though hurtful. However, unless effectively countered, views articulated based on them could in some measure contribute towards subverting international perceptions about Sri Lanka’s terrorist problem. The reason for this is that however unpatriotic and irrational the Opposition’s current conduct is with regard to the government’s handling of the most critical national problem before us today i.e. LTTE terrorism, however insensitive and impervious certain media persons are to the majority view of the matter , and however clearly these distortions are seen through and however eagerly their rectification desired by the populace, the realities of west-dominated global politics are such that antinational propaganda is given more credence by the international community than any representation of the true situation in the country by those who have nothing but national interest at heart. The result is a misguided international role in the context of our unfortunate internecine conflict.
If the Fernandopulle assassination and this latest massacre of innocent civilians were forgotten as mere isolated episodes in an endless cycle of violence for which the LTTE and the government share equal blame as those jaundiced critics would have us believe, we as a nation would be unworthy of such a supreme sacrifice by a true patriot, and also guilty of disgracing the memory of those beloved innocent compatriots of ours who died today. Minister Fernandopulle and those who were killed with him that day, and dozens killed today, and all the other victims of terrorist violence over the last twenty-five years would have died in vain unless we succeed in turning each of these atrocities which the terrorists consider their gain into their loss. The more violence they resort to, the more difficult we should make the achievement of their terrorist goals, and the more determined we must be in our struggle against terrorism.
Shouting "Negotiations! Negotiations!!" every time the terrorists commit an outrage is tantamount to rewarding their violence. The inevitable international chorus echoed by their local minions orchestrating each act of terror urging the two sides to talk peace has now become a goal and an incentive by itself for the terrorists, especially when they find themselves in dire straits in the face of the Government’s determined military onslaught against them. If our foreign friends have a genuine concern for the maintenance of peace and harmony, rule of law and democracy in Sri Lanka, they must help us to defeat the LTTE, which today represents if at all a small minority among the Tamils. The ordinary Sri Lankans know that there are no insurmountable ethnic, religious, or linguistic divisions in our country. It is only a terrorist problem, not an ethnic issue.
The majority of Sri Lankans represented in Parliament by all the different political parties - both in the Government and the Opposition - are for a negotiated solution. But the LTTE has no genuine commitment to any peaceful resolution of the conflict. Unlike the other parties, whether national or communal, the LTTE is highly personalized and undemocratic. Prabhakaran is the LTTE. Even if his unconscionable demand for a separate state is conceded, even if his Eelam is offered on a platter, Prabhakaran is not likely to accept it: he would rather acquire it through force of arms than receive it as a gift!
However, while Prabhakaran sticks to his separatist guns no Sri Lankan government could agree to any ethnically based division of the country. A compromise exclusive of the potential of subsequent secession is the only way out. But unfortunately, what has been established beyond doubt so far is that while any Sri Lankan government would be amenable to a fair compromise, Prabhakaran will never accept any solution short of a separate state. This is what the history of the many genuine attempts by the successive Sri Lankan governments over the past twenty-five years has made plain to us. Therefore it is simply meaningless and unhelpful for our foreign well-wishers to tell the Government to give up the current military campaign against the terrorists and start negotiations.
Negotiations are not possible until both parties are ready to talk in order to reach a compromise. The ongoing military operations are for the purpose of eliminating the terrorists who stand in the way of talks. That the national political issue must be ultimately resolved through peaceful means is undisputed. The ordinary Sri Lankan masses understand this need better and yearn for its fulfilment more eagerly than any persons in the international community. Fortunately, they enjoy the democratic prerogative of electing their rulers according to their independent will. At the present time they have given their mandate to the multiparty alliance in power to eliminate the terrorist menace. They patiently endure all the difficulties they are temporarily experiencing - some of these hardships being due to the current global economic recession, and others resulting from the inefficiency and corruption of the government itself, something the Sri Lankans are not unaware of - because they believe that the army is making steady progress against the terrorists under the present administration. It is a national tragedy, however, that this degree of patriotism is not found among certain politicians.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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