Aiding and abetting

Muthu PADMAKUMARA

Three major stories broke out in the past weeks over funding to Sri Lanka.

Firstly UK said it will soon withdraw all but emergency funds for the camps that hold the Internally Displaced People in the aftermath of the civil conflict in Sri Lanka which ended a few months ago. Shortly after, India offered a further Rs 500 crore in aid to speed up the resettlement of the IDPs. Then the biggest hedge fund

scandal ever charged in the US surfaces with the arrest of a Sri Lankan billionaire also accused of funding the Tigers.

Raj Rajaratnam was born and received his primary education at the St. Thomas’ Preparatory School in Colombo, Sri Lanka moving to UK (Engineering degree from University of Sussex) and then settling in the US (MBA from Ivy League Wharton School in University of Pennsylvania). The investigation into his Inside Trading that generated millions in illicit gains came in the wake of revelations that he either directly or through his company made huge investments in terrorism through the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization branch in the US and investing in the stock market during the height of the Sri Lankan civil conflict. So on one hand Rajaratnam aided in the continuation of the war, and on the other ensured that he would cash in on the post-war markets which would surely be on the rise.

Strangely it would appear the US is less worried about Rajaratnam’s activities within US soil that supported terrorism abroad, and more about Corporate America. The two separate investigations are ‘unrelated’. One could suppose that this is in keeping with Hillary Clinton’s “you shouldn’t lump all the terrorists together” sentiment.

In a surprise turn of events, India, Sri Lanka’s closest and large neighbour which had after many debacles maintained a hands-off approach (in concern for near 60 million Tamils in Tamil Nadu) has offered a further Rs 500 crore in resettlement aid for the IDPs.

The 10-member Indian delegation that visited Sri Lanka recently which finalized this offer, included Kanimozhi (the daughter of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunandihi) who wrote poetry praising LTTE Tigers. Chief Minister Karunandihi who was a vociferous critic of the Sri Lankan Government, the war, and notable supporter of the Tigers who once donated money in carloads to Prabhakaran and subsequently staged strong protests over the situation of the IDPs, upon receipt of the delegation’s report understood the reality on ground and that now the way through is by support - not obstruction.

Mike Foster (UK Development Minister) can take a page from veteran Karunandhi’s book. But UK, former colonial ruler of Sri Lanka (just a matter of 2 centuries of rule, give or take a few years), whose divide and rule policy provoked the different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka to be at loggerheads with each other and did little to repair the lasting damage done to the Sri Lankan identity, still continues with their arm-twisting tactics.

Had President Mahinda Rajapaksa paid heed to UK and other Western nations’ pressure to hold Sri Lanka’s military advance on the LTTE, today we would still be at war. Yet again now UK wishes to change the pace in Sri Lanka’s progress with scant regard for the nation’s security and the people concerned. Sri Lanka is not aiming to remove its peoples, be it Tamil, Sinhalese or otherwise. It dreams of a return to normality, something that is almost forgotten after this three decade war.

For this they must ensure that the people returning to their homes are safe, from landmines amongst other things, and equipped with resources to rebuild their lives.

Secondly it wouldn’t trouble too many nations if the remaining Tigers slip through the general civilians to regroup, re-arm and re-start their terrorist activities. After all it would only take one successful attempt on the part of the Tigers for Sri Lanka’s critics to negate Sri Lanka’s military victory over them and claim that the war in Sri Lanka is not over, to say terrorism is raising its head, and of course slap on travel advisories for their citizens.

Western nations still think Sri Lanka is waging a war and often confuse the LTTE with the Tamil people. Accept the turn of events. The war IS over. Help Sri Lanka rebuild itself. Perhaps by helping in the quicker de-mining of the North-Eastern areas so that displaced people can resettle. Temporary camps may not be ideal in the eyes of some people. Nor are sporadic acts of terror from remaining Tigers. Sri Lanka is trying to secure the hard-earned peace. As this writing was about to be sent to print, a newsflash pops up on the BBC: EU-Sri Lanka trade concession are on hold over human rights concerns. A finishing touch.

That’s right, go ahead and choke the recovering economy in Sri Lanka, a developing nation that is the first in history to triumph over terrorism. Is this the message from the West?

As President Rajapaksa often asks of the international community ‘don’t criticize us, but help us instead.’ Cutting funding will only serve to painfully prolong the resettlement and rebuilding process in Sri Lanka dragging out the suffering of the very people the foreign governments seek to aid.