On my watch Lucien Rajakarunanayake:
The Lahore files:
Axis of South Asian terror
“Terrorism anywhere is terrorism and there are no good terrorists or
bad terrorists.”
This clear and succinct observation on terrorism was made by
President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the 15 Summit of SAARC in Colombo
in August last year. On previous occasions the President has described
this in more detail, saying that whether the attacks take place in New
York, London, Madrid or Colombo, terrorism remains the same.
In the aftermath of the Lahore chaos |
This week’s attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket Team in Lahore,
Pakistan, follows Mumbai last November, and adds to the tally of
Lahore’s count of terrorist attacks. It reminds us of the ubiquitous
presence of terrorism today, in case one believes that terrorism comes
from Al Qaeda only or is planned by Osama bin Laden alone.
Whether it is Stephen Sackur in HARDtalk on BBC or commentators on
the Sri Lankan situation, whether from Amnesty International or Human
Rights Watch, or the touchdown and speed-off journalists of most
international media, they are trying hard to pressure Sri Lanka into
agreeing to a ceasefire the Government is clearly not agreeable to.
This is not because it does not care for international opinion, or is
unconcerned about the suffering of the Tamil people trapped by the LTTE
in the North.
It is because the Government understands well the nature of the enemy
it is dealing with, having all too often experienced how contemptuous it
is of international opinion and the basic norms of humanitarian
practice.
Although the attack took place in Pakistan, possibly by different
exponents of terror, and maybe for a different cause or goal, the trauma
that Sri Lanka underwent in those hours of fear for the lives of its
players - the idols of the vast cricket loving population here - was a
grim reminder of the reality of terrorism.
It is not strange that we have not had one word of condemnation from
either AI or HRW of the attack on a team of sportsmen, on a mission of
goodwill to a friendly country, by a pack of all too well armed
terrorists. Sport is not important to these ‘humanitarian’ pleaders for
the LTTE.
One recalls the efforts of AI to smear Sri Lanka through its antics
at the last Cricket World Cup Tournament in the West Indies. With the
intrusion with venom against Sri Lanka, bringing their own brand of
politics into cricket, AI and others like it, may well have paved the
way for the terrorists in their attack on the Sri Lanka cricketers and
cricket in Pakistan.
Rights of governance
In the cacophony of calls for a ceasefire with the LTTE, supposedly
to ensure the release of the civilians it holds, and not give a respite
to its fighters for ‘Rest & Recuperation’, one is reminded of what
President Rajapaksa told the UN General Assembly last September. “What
the Government would not, and could not do is to let an illegal and
armed terrorist group, the LTTE, to hold a fraction of our population, a
part of the Tamil community, hostage to such terror in the northern part
of Sri Lanka and deny those people their democratic rights of dissent
and free elections.
“Our Government would only be ready to talk to this illegal armed
group when it is ready to commit itself to decommissioning of its
illicit weapons and dismantling of its military capability, and return
to the democratic fold. The Government has also made it clear that the
elected Government cannot and will not permit undermining of the
territorial integrity of the sovereign UN Member State of Sri Lanka and
the division of its territory. We are clear in this message.”
Whatever the proxies, advocates, pleaders and many other sorts of the
LTTE may say, wearing a mask of humanitarianism, in calling a ceasefire
with the world’s most brutal terrorist organisation, the Government’s
refusal to give in to this is fully in keeping with its rights as a
sovereign member state of the United Nations.
Which means it cannot permit undermining of the territorial integrity
of the sovereign UN Member State of Sri Lanka and the division of its
territory, nor cannot it allow its own citizens to be held hostage by
the forces of terror. The liberty of these people is the greater
humanitarian cause.
The LeT - LTTE axis
The intelligence organisations and defence think-tanks in key South
Asian capitals are studying considerable leading uncover those behind
the attack on the Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore, Pakistan, two days
ago, and their motives.
Their focus is not limited to a single group. They see in the attack,
through a link of terrorist forces, the possibility of creating a major
diplomatic crisis in the entire region bringing Sri Lanka into a crisis
with two of its close regional friends, India and Pakistan.
Of considerable interest is that the current suspicions on
Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), the group blamed by India for the attacks on
Mumbai, being responsible for this attack, have led to serious
considerations on the possibility of an LTTE link in the attack on the
Sri Lanka cricketers, in view of the known connections the LTTE has with
this group, dating back to 1992.
That was when Kittu, a key figure of the LTTE at the time, was known
to have been negotiating arms purchases for the LTTE in Peshawar.
Subsequently, in 1993, Indian intelligence is known to have destroyed at
sea the vessel carrying arms for the LTTE, killing Kittu, too.
There had also been considerable speculation that the Tigers may have
had external help in firing the shoulder held missiles that brought down
two Avro aircraft near Palali airbase in April 1995. It was believed at
the time that the Tigers may have used mercenaries with links to
Peshawar or Afghanistan, to fire the missiles which hit the aircraft.
The LTTE’s links with the LeT continued and there are many
substantiated reports by the intelligence community in South Asia,
particularly India, of the LTTE and LeT exchanging terrorist expertise,
the former being a conduit for arms to the LTTE, and both carrying out
joint training.
Intelligence sources
The information that the attackers had planned to take the Sri Lankan
players hostage, is also being viewed by intelligence sources in South
Asian capitals, in the context of the LTTE’s current position of near
defeat, and the search for a bargaining tool for its call for a
ceasefire.
Some Indian analysts are of the view that had the attackers been
successful and taken all or any of the Sri Lankan players hostage, they
could have been used for bargaining with Sri Lanka, or either India or
Pakistan or both, which would have led to a major diplomatic crisis in
the region.
There is also good cause for suspicion that the LTTE may have been
trying to seek revenge for the strong support Pakistan has given to Sri
Lanka in its fight against terror, especially from 1999; support that
has done much to bring the LTTE to its present situation of near defeat. |