The man who tamed the Tigers
Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war between the Government and the LTTE
came to a dramatic end in May with a decisive military victory and the
killing of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tiger leader. President Mahinda
Rajapaksa is the man who tamed the Tigers. President Mahinda Rajapaksa
categorically rejected allegations about the violation of human rights
in civil war between the Government and the LTTE.
“I reject that totally. There was no violation of human rights. There
were no civilian casualties. If I did that, it wouldn’t have taken two
and a half years to finish the war. I would have done it in a few hours.
These are all propaganda, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his
extensive interview with The Time on July 10.
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President
Mahinda Rajapaksa |
The President spoke of his commitment to democracy and said it is not
possible to separate areas on an ethnic basis. With the provinces,
certainly there must be powers, where local matters can be handled by
them, he added.
The following are some excerpts:
Time: Prabhakaran had become practically a mythical figure in Sri
Lanka. What went through your mind when you heard he had been killed?
President: Thank the Lord. That was a gift.
T: How did he die?
President: We know that he was shot - that’s all. I was not
interested in finding out how he was shot, but whoever that was deserved
some credit. The most important thing is that he’s no more. I would have
preferred to bring him here and have a chat with him. I have never seen
this man.
T: What would you have asked him?
President: Why he did all these mad things. (Laughs). What else can I
ask him?
T: You came under fairly intense pressure from the U.S. and European
governments to call a cease-fire during the final offensives against the
Tigers. You resisted that pressure, and yet these are some of your
biggest trading partners. Are you worried about jeopardizing those
relationships?
President: I don’t think they’re so petty-minded. They’re the people
who encouraged us to defeat terrorism. We followed what (George W.) Bush
said. We accomplished what he wanted: eliminate terrorism. They must
give credit to us. We fought their war. We showed that you can defeat
terrorism.
Some foreign policy analysts saw the last stage of the war as a test
case for the idea that the international community has the
responsibility to protect civilians caught in a cross fire.
They are my citizens. I am responsible for them. I have to protect
them and get them out. If I allow some foreign country to come and do
that, they would have killed most of the people. It is my soldiers who
will protect my citizens. They are my people, they are my voters. The
international community must help the government if a government is
elected properly by the people.
T: What if an elected government is acting against its own people?
President: Are you going to punish (all the) citizens for that or the
man who is responsible? Take me. Say that I violated all these human
rights, killed people, right? Do you punish me, Mahinda Rajapaksa, or
the innocent people of this country by sanctions, embargoes, and travel
advisories? There are ways of punishing me if you want. There, now by
saying that, I will get punished. (Laughs)
T: Many people feel that the way you ended the war sets a dangerous
precedent - that the cost in terms of human rights, in terms of civilian
casualties, was too high.
President: I reject that totally. There was no violation of human
rights. There were no civilian casualties. If I did that, it wouldn’t
have taken two and a half years to finish the war. I would have done it
in a few hours. These are all propaganda.
T: The U.N. stands by its number: 7,000 civilian casualties.
President: Seven thousand? No way. In the Eastern Province, zero
casualties. I won’t say there are zero casualties in the North. The LTTE
shot some of them when they tried to escape.
T: There is so much that is not known. Would you be willing to have a
Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
President: We must find out what has happened. The thing is, if you
start something, I don’t want to dig into the past.
Many people feel that’s exactly what Sri Lanka needs, to talk about
what happened in the past.
There must be a way, that it must not be felt that they will be
punished again. Then you will have the North and the South fighting each
other again; you can’t have that again. I don’t want to dig into the
past and open up this wound.
Sometimes a wound needs airing to heal.
That is where the West is different from the East.
T: What is your priority now?
President: Over 300,000 people are in the IDP centres. The whole area
is mined. We must de-mine the whole area, give basic facilities, water,
electricity, roads, and resettle them.
T: What is your time frame?
President: We have a 180-day program. That is our plan. In 180 days,
we want to settle most of these people.
T: What would you like to accomplish before the next Presidential
Election?
President: At least 50 percent must be released. I would say 60
percent.
T: Is that a promise?
President: It’s not a promise, it’s a target.
There is a sense of relief in the country now that the war is over,
but there is also some anxiety among Tamils over what happens next.
If you ask the IDPs, they’ll say, We want to go back to our villages.
If you ask politicians, they’ll say, We want this and that. But yes, we
need to give a political solution.
T: Do you believe in some kind of self-governance for the Tamils?
President: Don’t say Tamils. In this country, you can’t give separate
areas on an ethnic basis. With the provinces, certainly there must be
powers, where local matters can be handled by them.
T: What if the people in the North want a model of governance that’s
somewhat different from the rest of the country?
President: That I will not allow. The whole country must have a
system. You can’t have one system for the North and one for the East.
There are already signs of development - new roads, new bridges - but
I’ve also heard some concern that the roads, for example, instead of
connecting Tamil-majority areas to one another, are connecting the
Tamil-majority East to the South, making it easier for people from the
South to do businesss there, to move there.
T: Is there some kind of effort to change the demography of the
Tamil-majority areas?
President: No, but it’s happening in Colombo. The Eastern Province
Muslims have come here. The Tamils have come here. You ask them, why are
you coming here? Can I stop them? No. If anybody wants to come and live
in any part of this island, it is the right of a man.
The port project at Hambantota - that’s a massive new Chinese
project. It’s a Sri Lankan project. China helped us. It’s a commercial
loan. Hambantota is my area, and it had been neglected for so many
years. It’s my duty, my obligation to develop that area. We must develop
not only Colombo, but other districts too.
T: What do you think China’s strategic interest is in this port?
President: I asked for it. China didn’t propose it. It was not a
Chinese proposal. The proposal was from us; they gave money. If India
said, Yes, we’ll give you a port, I will gladly accept. If America says,
We will give a fully equipped airport - yes, why not? Unfortunately,
they are not offering to us.
T: Is China becoming more important than India as Sri Lanka’s ally?
President: I don’t see that. We are not thinking like that. India is
our neighbour, our relation, our friend - we have a special
relationship. For a small country like us, for development, you need
money, you need assistance. In this world, who can afford to give us
money? We can go to China. We can go to Russia or Brazil. Very few
countries can afford to give. Japan is helping us a lot. Our biggest
development partner is Japan. India is helping us.
T: The last time I came to Sri Lanka was in January for the funeral
of assassinated journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge. The posthumous
editorial that his newspaper published was a very emotional piece. It
addressed you.
President: He was a good friend of mine. He had informed somebody to
inform me (that he was in danger). But unfortunately, I didn’t get that
message. I would have told him to go to the nearest police station. No
one knows what happened.
T: He was very sure that it was the Government.
President: He wouldn’t have called me if it was a Government thing...
I hope we will know the truth. Otherwise, I am getting blackguarded and
I am getting the blame.
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