A wake up call for democracy

The ambivalence of the international community on the subject of terrorism is best seen in the response to the situation in Sri Lanka. Countries that are part of the “War on Terror” launched with the US attacks on Afghanistan and followed by the US-UK led invasion of Iraq, and still being continued in both countries, have a much different attitude about dealing with the terror of the LTTE.

It took many years of Sri Lanka’s lone fight against terror for most of the western countries that are, conveniently and misleadingly, lumped as the international community, to ban the LTTE in their countries. Having done so, many of them, demonstrate a sense of trepidation about confronting the terror of the LTTE with the armed response that is called for.

Sri Lanka has been at the receiving end of this ambivalence in the face of this terror for a long time. Diplomats from countries that have a policy of having no discussions with those named by them as terrorists are quite at ease in urging the Sri Lankan Government to negotiate with the LTTE.

This attitude is seen in many foreign organisations too, many of which have today arrogated to them the right of being the arbiters of what is right and wrong, the conduct of affairs by Third World countries.

They come with many a name and mandate, but converge on the issue of soft-pedaling the terror of the LTTE, projecting Sri Lanka to the world, and no doubt to those who fund them, as being an uncaring state that has the least respect for Human Rights.

Sri Lanka has been carrying a long and hard battle on the diplomatic front against this ambivalence of the “international community”. It has not been an easy task given the influence, especially the economic clout, of those that are ranged against the country on this issue. This was the task that President Mahinda Rajapaksa took head on when he addressed the Oxford Union last Tuesday.

He minced no words in stating the exact situation in the country; in its own fight against terror, and how any setbacks in that battle will affect the cherished value of the countries that make a great show of their commitment to democracy, even to the extent of considering it an export commodity.

What the President did as to give a wake up call to the world, especially to those who make much noise about their commitment to democracy and human rights, but are willing to be in a slumber regarding the terror that has engulfed Sri Lanka for so long, and continues to be fight single handed by Sri Lanka.

In what was reportedly an eloquent and impassioned statement he showed that Sri Lanka was denied global support in its war against the LTTE, the world have failed in its fight against terrorism.

The President showed both the fallacy and the dangers of on the one hand naming the LTTE as the most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world, and on the other not taking the concerted action necessary to defeat this threat peace and democracy and all human values, in Sri Lanka, the South Asian Region and the world at large.

Background

The key aspects in the battle against terror emphasised by the President were: the need for global support for Sri Lanka’s fight against terror; the need for the world to act to make suicide killing unacceptable in the civilized world as a form of political expression; the recognition of Sri Lanka as a caring society that has the highest regard for Human Rights and democracy; and that democracy would be the victim if Sri Lanka fails in its fight against terror, and the recognition of Sri Lanka’s readiness to talk with the LTTE provided it shows genuine interest in a negotiated solution and a willingness to lay down arms.

President Rajapaksa’s call to the world to seriously join in Sri Lanka’s battle against terror was made with a careful statement of the background in which the country carries on its fight against the terror of the LTTE.

In an address that was to deal with the Government’s development strategy towards empowering the rural economy of the country, he explained how the development process was being pursued, despite the many obstacles caused by the LTTE’s terror.

He also explained an interesting detail how Sri Lanka has been and remains a caring society, that has not veered away from the traditions of caring that are built into society through the millennia.

Speaking as the first Sri Lankan Head of State to address the Oxford Union, the President explained to the keen audience the advances that Sri Lanka had made in universal education and healthcare, the important position that Sri Lanka held in Asia on gender equality, that Sri Lanka has achieved a very high standard in the United Nations Human Development Index, and have already, to a large extent, achieved the Millennium Development Goals.

Only last month a UN Report commended Sri Lanka for being well on its way to eliminating malaria, and the country has a very low rate of HIV / AIDS infection.

President Rajapaksa said: “I point these things out to you only because of the intense campaign that is being conducted internationally, to describe my country as one that does not care about our fellow human beings and human needs. Facts demonstrate that this is far from the truth.

“There are no signs of obvious starvation in any part of the country. In fact for over 25 years, since the beginning of the LTTE’s violent challenge to our very existence, to our sovereignty, the government has been sending food, medicine and educational material to the two districts dominated by the LTTE.

Every single teacher, nurse, doctor, hospital and government official in the LTTE controlled areas is appointed and paid by the Government in Colombo. Very few countries grappling with terrorism have been so accommodating. This itself illustrates the caring nature of our society.”

Laying down the policies that governed the programme of rural empowerment, the President said: “The essence of our rural empowerment programme is to ensure that rural infrastructure development takes place at a rapid rate.

So far neglected rural roads are being paved today with concrete to make them last the monsoon rains that are common in our part of the world. Rural electricity programmes, community water supply schemes, minor irrigation projects, housing and market facilities are included in our rural infrastructure development drive.

In essence our strategy is to level the playing field between the ‘urban, organised minority’ and the ‘rural, unorganised majority’, in the national development process.

I am encouraged that our development strategy - Mahinda Chinthana - Vision Towards a New Sri Lanka, sustained a near 7 per cent economic growth during the last three years, and reached US dollars 1,600 per capita income in 2007. Except in one district, people below the poverty line have declined drastically in 2007.”

Strategies

Thus explaining the development strategies of the government, with particular attention to the rural sector, President Rajapaksa moved on to describing the extent and brutality of the LTTE’s terror: “Unfortunately we are being challenged by ‘the most brutal terrorist group in the world’ as the LTTE has been described by the FBI.

Suicide killings using even women and children have become their hallmark. It is this terror group that invented the deadly suicide vest for the suicide killer. Having pioneered the suicide vest, they have freely given this technology to other terror groups in the world. This has now become a global menace.

“There have been hundreds of innocents, civilians returning home after work, children going to school and young mothers going to their weekly clinics, being maimed or killed by indiscriminately exploded bombs in crowded centres or being targeted by brain-washed suicide bombers.

You need to see the carnage caused by shattered limbs and burning human flesh, to understand the sheer brutality that motivates this group of terrorists.

They killed Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, and Ranasinghe Premadasa, the former President of Sri Lanka. Most recently, a senior Minister of my government, a Tamil speaking Catholic, was brutally murdered by a suicide killer, along with a former Olympic athlete among many others participating in a sporting event.

“They also killed our former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, a scholar of distinction, and legal luminary, who once occupied this seat as the President of the Oxford Union with distinction.

Having this prefaced his call for international action to defeat the LTTE, the President said: “it has become incumbent upon us to confront this group to the extent of our ability, deploying all the resources of the State, to protect the people of Sri Lanka and their democratic way of life. I must add that what I am doing is in no way different to what other democracies have done before, and continue to do, in the face of terrorism.

However, I must state that the LTTE is the most brutal terror outfit the world has ever seen, and defeating them requires global support. What Sri Lanka is doing, in my opinion, is fighting this terror outfit single handed to ensure that democracy and respect for human life prevail in the world. If we fail in our war against the LTTE, the world will fail in its fight against terrorism, and democracy will be the victim. This is the plain truth.

Suicide killers

He then emphasised on the need for concerted action by all nations against suicide killings, the hallmark of the LTTE that has been copied by every other terrorist organization in the world.

He said: “It is time that the world, raising its united voice, expressed its utter revulsion of the barbaric practice of suicide bombings. It must be made absolutely clear that this form of political expression, if it could be described as such, is utterly unacceptable in the civilised world.”

Aware of the efforts that are being made to discredit the Security Forces of Sri Lanka, by those who claim to be against terror, but in practice seem to be more aligned with the same forces when found under the label of the LTTE, President Rajapaksa said: “There is a considerable challenge to the Security Forces of my country, whose goal is simply to protect the innocents and their simple way of life. We need to understand that our Security Forces do not go out of their way to harass innocents, or to discriminate against a minority. They take great personal risks constantly.

The fear psychosis created by the LTTE terror, may cause some lapses in judgment, but by and large, independent observers have always commended the efficiency, politeness and courtesy of the men in uniform.” It was both an important defence, as well as a much needed encomium to our Security Forces that was conveyed to the entire world.

Making a case of a proper understanding of Sri Lanka’s case in the fight against terror, as well as Human Rights and the defence of democracy, the President stressed Government’s obligation to safeguard the lives and limbs of the people, which role is considered paramount in any democracy, but seems to be questioned when it comes to Sri Lanka.

He said: “We must remember that there are no methods or solutions which are universally applicable to situations of this nature. It is the principal duty of a government to assure the public of security of life and limb. It is the terrorist group that decides when to strike: They decide the time, the place and the opportunity. They are in no way constrained by the values and procedures which rightly control the responses of democratic governments. These realities must be taken into account as the basis of a fair and objective assessment of Sri Lanka’s situation.”

He then explained the success that Sri Lanka had achieved against the LTTE, particularly in the liberation of the East, and the progress made towards the re-establishment of democracy with the successful elections in the Eastern Province. “Although many have said that the LTTE is invincible, we have freed our Eastern Province of their terror. Within one year we have restored democracy there after nearly two decades. Only last week we conducted free and fair elections to the first ever Eastern Provincial Council, contested by several political parties.

As our forces seek to defeat and disarm the LTTE, we are firm in our resolve to have a negotiated solution to the crisis in Sri Lanka. I do not believe in a military solution. We have attempted talks with the LTTE on several occasions - thrice since my election as the President - but they have not reciprocated. They have always left the talks with lame excuses. We are still ready to talk, once we are certain of their genuine intent for a political solution... and their readiness to give up arms.”