Balasingham proves his worth again as LTTE
Trouble Shooter
By D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Anton Stanislaus Balasingham alias Bala Annai the "arasiyal mathiyuraingar"
(Political adviser) of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has done it again!
The man whose lot in practical terms has often been that of engaging in damage
control and cleaning up the "militaristic" mess caused by the tigers has once again
rendered what can only be termed quaintly as "yeoman service".
In a deft manouvre facilitated to a great extent by the latter - day Kautilyas of Oslo
Balasingham has managed to diffuse and deflect much of the pressure mounting
against the LTTE in the aftermath of Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar being assassinated.
By doing so Balasingham has not only helped stave pressure against the LTTE
but also against himself in Britain.
The LTTE's greatest asset in this exercise has been the spineless and predictable
approach adopted by the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga regime or
whatever is left of it.
The assassination of a Government's Foreign minister by agents of a negotiating
partner engaged in a peace process with it led to an outcry. Cabinet
spokesperson in the initial stages gave voice to this resentment by saying that
LTTE denials were not credible in the face of overwhelming evidence to the
contrary.Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse asked the international community to
exert pressure on the LTTE to desist from such killings and honour the ceasefire.
Sri Lankan Ambassador to the UN Bernard Goonetilleke also appealed to the
International community in this regard.
More importantly President Kumaratunga too was critical of the LTTE on the
matter. " Initial indications of the investigations seem to reveal the responsibility of
the LTTE in his brutal murder. It is unacceptable that a group that talks endlessly
about being committed to a ceasefire would so blatantly violate it. This violation of
the ceasefire is the latest in a continuous series of violations by the LTTE. The
LTTE has denied involvement in the murder. Their denial contradicts the facts
and our knowledge of their long held desire and repeated attempts to murder
both my Tamil Cabinet Colleagues" she said
"Terrorism has become today, the single most dominant global phenomenon.
From New York to London, the western world has begun to experience the
terrorism which we have for long suffered in Sri
Lanka..........................................We know that the international community will
be strengthened in their resolve to stand with me and my freely elected,
democratic Government against the terror and violence of the LTTE
..........................................We shall never bow down to terror, nor allow it to
succeed neither will we compromise the security of our peoples." Kumaratunga
further said.
It appeared that Colombo was going to take the moral high ground after the
assassination and spearhead a massive campaign to draw attention to this great
betrayal and pressurise the LTTE internationally. This would have been the ideal
tribute by Kumaratunga and her cabinet to a colleague who transcended ethnicity
in campaigning courageously against the LTTE in international fora and paying
the supreme price for it.
Kadirgamar's mindset on the LTTE was revealed clearly in his address on the
60th Birth Day of President Kumaratunga , titled "The Courage for Peace" and
was carried in the Daily News on 29 June 2005. After praising her on formalising
the P - TOMS agreement with the LTTE he went on to state -
" The conclusion of the agreement may be the end of one chapter, but it is the
beginning of another in which the President still has a vital role to play. That
chapter involves addressing as vigorously as she has addressed the cause of
promoting engagement with the LTTE, the task of making it clear to the LTTE, and
to the Government of Norway, that the restoration of democracy, including the
creation of space for dissent and the promotion of human rights in areas presently
controlled by the LTTE, is a
priority of the highest order.
The more than 50 signatories to the Tokyo Declaration should not be allowed any
longer to mollycoddle the LTTE which was required, inter alia, by paragraph 18 of
the Declaration to comply with benchmarks relating to adequate Muslim
representation, respect for human rights and phased disarmament.
It is axiomatic that the conflict in Sri Lanka cannot finally be resolved until the
LTTE becomes a fully civilian organisation with no army, navy and air capability.
These issues could provide an opportunity for building a new platform on which
even those parties which have rejected a tsunami mechanism could stand.
Internationally, it could not possibly be argued that the promotion of democracy in
the affected areas of the North and East of Sri Lanka does not deserve the fullest
support of all countries who practise democratic governance.
The movement for democracy in certain districts of the North and East must begin
to roll. If the Government of Norway is unable to plead this cause with the
conviction and determination that it deserves it should stand aside and yield to
other parties who could carry the flag of democracy into areas where darkness
presently prevails".
Kumaratunga wrote directly to Norwegian Prime Minister Kje;; Magna Bondevik
urging that direct talks between The Government and LTTE be arranged to review
and renegotiate the ceasefire. It looked for a moment that the Government was
going to follow Kadirgamar's wisdom in dealing with the LTTE.
The position of Norway in the Sri Lankan peace process had become increasingly
endangered after the assassination. The demand for Oslo to quit its facilitator role
began gathering momentum.
The LTTE was in a state of embarassment. Its puerile attempts to disclaim
responsibility had not succeeded. The tiger Political commissar Thamilselvans
"parrotish" counter charges that Kadirgamar was killed due to "Southern
contradictions" were not believed. The overseas tiger media came out with
mechanical denials and then went on to vilify Kadirgamar cruelly leaving no doubt
about the level of hatred and animosity.
The JVP and some of the Sinhala organizations abroad were organizing
demonstrations condemning the Kadirgamar assassination.
There were signs of heat on the LTTE in some Western capitals. In a low - key
exercise sans publicity glare some of the more more "reasonable" activists of the
LTTE were contacted by foreign ministry officials in respective Countries and
informed that some action will have to be taken on the matter. Norwegian
diplomats were also briefed on the need for urgent remedial action.
The situation was quite dicey in Britain. London had just passed some stringent
anti - terror legislation after the July 7th bombings. There was a demand that
those provisions be invoked against the LTTE. When Kadirgamar got killed some
organizations demanded that action be taken against Balasingham. By what
seemed a coincidence the LTTE front outfit - Tamil Rehabilitation Organization -
was de - listed as a charity.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterssen and his deputy Vidar Helgessen who
may have felt the heat in Colombo while attending Kadirgamars funeral rushed for
an "emergency" meeting with Balasingham in London enroute to Oslo.
Balasingham was quick to announce through LTTE mouthpiece "Tamilnet" that
direct talks were to be held between Colombo and Kilinochchi in Oslo in the next
two weeks. The initial media takes on the announcement created an impression
that peace negotiations were to resume. Subsequently it was clarified that the
agenda would be discussions on ways and means of implementing the current
ceasefire agreement. It also seemed that talks would not occur in two weeks as
Balasingham said.
The important thing however from the LTTE point of view was that it had
succeeded in staving off international pressure.
With some form of Govt - LTTE talks going to resume the negative post -
Kadirgamar fall - out has been effectively diluted. Criticism and resentment has
been deflected.
Chances of the LTTE being pressurised directly or indirectly by the international
community have been reduced to almost zero. The Fovernment too cannot pursue
any campaign to urge international pressure on the tigers. Only the Sinhala
hardliners will continue making such demands and run risk of being condemned
as enemies of peace.
With Norway facilitating talks there is no question of Oslo being asked to quit the
peace process or revising its stance vis a vis the LTTE.
Since Balasingham is playing an active role in the process again all demands that
action be taken against him in Britain will lose steam.He has demobtrated his utility
value to the LTTE again.
Within months of his murder Kadirgamar will be "forgotten" and we will be told that
the greatest tribute to his memory would be to ensure lasting peace with his
killers.. His firm convictions about appeasing as opposed to engaging the LTTE
will be discarded to the "dustbin of history".
Tamils in Colombo will be harassed and ordinary Tamils detained as the "usual
suspects" for Kadirgamars killing while a "high; level" tiger delegation will be
provided state escort for talks in Oslo.
The LTTE would have proved once again that it can get away with anything and
that there is nothing anybody is going to do about it. [MinorMatters-MorningLeader]