Could Peace fuel a war?

The title of the book I have authored on the 34 year conflict in Sri Lanka, is "Sri Lanka-The war fuelled by 'Peace". Intriguing as it may, the title appears somewhat contradictory when it says that peace fuels war. 'War' and 'Peace' are too words in the English language that connote two opposite meanings. By war we mean a state of lawlessness and violence and by Peace we mean a state of law and order.

Hence under normal circumstances we have a clear perception of what we identify as war and also as peace. The point to note here however is that peace in any community has a symbiotic relationship with the laws that prevail over that society.

This long drawn conflict in Sri Lanka commenced in the form of rustic terrorism by a few adventurisms youth who were constantly droned by ambitious and hubristic Tamil leaders that the Tamils in Sri Lanka were being discriminated against. What they really meant was that the Tamil community in Sri Lanka by virtue of their education and social position deserved a better place than what was offered in the post independence Sri Lanka. However the Tamils youths enamoured by the proximity of Tamil Nadu and the resourceful Tamil Diaspora anticipated that they could overpower the Sri Lankan State to enact laws that are more favourable to the Tamil community.

Basic rights

India for its part misread the situation in Sri Lanka and mistook the Tamil leaders' quest for privileges to be a fight for basic rights. Hence they decided that the best way to ensure peace in Sri Lanka was to help the Tamil community, spearheaded by its separatist leaders and separatist terrorists. Thus India surreptitiously provided the base for the Tamil struggle but that was in the name of peace.

India's unofficial patronage however did not help Sri Lanka to achieve peace and instead it resulted in making the situation worse where the South reacted to terrorism by staging the July '83 riots. Then India decided to officially intervene in the Sri Lankan situation by enacting the Indo Lanka Accord which India underwrote as a guarantor of peace.

The tragedy again was that the Indo-Lanka Accord did not bring peace to Sri Lanka but instead it added a new dimension to the Sri Lankan conflict where the LTTE was elevated to an 'invincible fighter' status.

The LTTE boosted of having defeated the 4th biggest Army in the world. When the Indo Lanka Accord was implemented this conflict had taken only 3,561 lives but since the introduction of the 13th Amendment with the LTTE in a new role the death toll assumed uncontrollable proportions. Thus what was done in the name of peace again paved the way for more violence and mayhem.

Tamil community

Then President Premadasa in his quest for peace with characteristic populism turned out to be the most benevolent promoter of the LTTE handing over the Northern and Eastern province on a platter.

He saved the LTTE from the Indian Army and even fortified them in the name of peace. President Premadasa's peace endeavours also ended in the most tragic manner bringing death to President Premadasa himself.

Now it was the turn of Chandrika Kumaratunge to try her hand in peace. She brought forth the most queer arguments of 'violence being the nemesis of historical grievances'. Thus grievances became the monopoly of the Tamil community and the Sinhalese community that was marginalized by the colonials for 443 years was projected as the cause of all the LTTE violence. Her Government brought a number of legislations and she bent over backwards to please the Tamil community. The more she tried the worse it became and it was during this period the LTTE became the most ferocious threatening to tare the Sri Lankan nation asunder with mayhem and murder.

CFA

Plethora of Western funded NGO's operated in Sri Lanka, 'white washing' the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world and insidiously exacerbating the conflict. For 34 years Sri Lanka bled almost to its death and the West sat in judgment criticizing the Sri Lankan Government for alleged 'human rights' violations, effectively playing into the hands of the worst human rights violator, the world ever knew.

Then in 2002 again the 'International community' brokered a Cease Fire Agreement through Norway, its agent in Sri Lanka. The CFA only gave 'insurance cover' to the LTTE to kill with impunity. The LTTE violated the CFA more than 5,000 times and the West only condemned all that. When the CFA was finally abrogated in 2008 for its pernicious nature, the West criticized the Sri Lankan Government and condemned it as 'anti peace'.

Thus, Sri Lanka as a nation was pushed to the brink where it had to make a choice between, either eliminating terror or be eliminated by terror. Despite the fact that the FBI listed the LTTE as 'the world's most successful and ruthless terror organization' the West admonished Sri Lanka that the only solution to the conflict was 'Peace talks'.

Thus the subtlety of the Sri Lankan war was that what appeared prima facie is not only far removed but the obverse of what it really was.

The contemplative aggressor was made to be the sole representative of an 'aggrieved minority' and the Sinhala majority that was incapacitated for 443 years due to colonialism was projected as the 'discriminator'. In the same vein the worst violator of human rights, Prabhakaran, was made the fighter of the underdog and thus the arbiter of modern day 'human rights' making all that advocacy to uphold basic human rights during the war an exercise in furthering inhuman activity. Therefore in a situation where every expression finally metamorphosed to patronize its obverse, it is possible that peace could fuel a war. [email protected]