'Kadirgamar transcended the ethnic divide'

by Amit Baruah

In the world of Diplomacy, Lakshman Kadirgamar almost single-handedly took the battle to the LTTE.

"Shopping IS for sissies," said the late Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar at a press conference in Colombo in 1996. A statement by Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne that he could be the victim of a drive-in bombing while shopping in Colombo drew a stinging response from Kadirgamar.

Citing security fears, the Australian cricket team (and the West Indians) chose not to go to Sri Lanka to play their 1996 World Cup games in Colombo. Instead, a joint India-Pakistan team came and played a friendly one-dayer with the Sri Lankans.

The press conference saw Kadirgamar at his best. He was telling the Australians off. At his combative best, the late Minister, felled by a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) assassin on August 12, was defending his country at a time of great adversity.

At a time when the Tigers had unleashed a brutal war in Sri Lanka, Kadirgamar was trying to make the best of a bad situation. He was trying to tell the rest of the world that the situation was not as bad as it was being painted; and the Government had a grip on things. It was an important message.

Kadirgamar's language was always colourful, he always had something to say.

As correspondent of 'The Hindu' in Colombo from 1995 to 1997, in Pakistan between 1997 and 2000, and, later in New Delhi from 2002 onwards, this writer had many an occasion to interact with Kadirgamar.

The Oxford-educated lawyer and cricketer never wavered in his perception of the LTTE as a monstrous, fascist force that was not interested in any settlement of Sri Lanka's political crisis.

In the world of diplomacy, Kadirgamar almost single-handedly took the battle to the LTTE.

In the mid-1990s, the message he conveyed in Western, especially European capitals, was simple: the LTTE is a terrorist organisation and you can't allow it to have offices.

Those familiar with Sri Lankan affairs would know that London, for instance, was a major base for the Tigers. All its media operations and the daily faxes to journalists in Colombo about LTTE operations and opinions came from the British capital.

Kadirgamar exposed the double standards of many European Governments, some of which continue to hold a brief for the LTTE. And, soon the results began to come in; the squeeze was put on the Tigers.

In time, many of their offices were closed and the Tigers forced to go underground.

The late Minister, backed strongly by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, had, for the first time, begun to meet with diplomatic success in the propaganda war against the LTTE.

Kadirgamar was killed not because of something he did yesterday.

He was assassinated for all his "cumulative sins" against the LTTE. He was assassinated for his effectiveness in the diplomatic arena against the Tigers. It is for the same reason that assassination attempts were made against President Chandrika Kumaratunga; it is for the same reason that there have been a number of attempts on the life of Eelam People's Democratic Party leader Douglas Devananda.

Kadirgamar was one of those few politicians who transcended the ethnic divide in Sri Lanka. A nationalist to the core, he displayed in ample measure the qualities needed to bridge the gap between Tamil and Sinhala in Sri Lanka.

The late Minister hurt the cause of the LTTE and its chief, Velupillai Prabakaran, more because he was a Tamil. Kadirgamar's presence in government constantly challenged Prabakaran's contention that he was the sole spokesman of the Tamil people.

The 73-year-old Minister could have fitted easily into any international organisation; he could have held any top job. During a recent speech on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in New Delhi, Kadirgamar pointed out that whatever SAARC might or might not have done, it almost always provided an opportunity for Indian and Pakistani leaders to meet.

Lakshman Kadirgamar's sane counsel and clinical analysis of Sri Lankan politics and the LTTE's motives and strategy will be missed in New Delhi. He leaves behind many friends and admirers.

(Courtesy-The Hindu)