Kokavil - new triumph of peace and reconciliation

‘Triumphalism’ was once again the charge of sections of the Western media at Sri Lanka celebrating the second anniversary of the defeat, nay eradication, of terrorism from the country.

News services who saw no triumphalism in the dancing on the streets and the well orchestrated boost for President Barack Obama and the US Navy Seals for the killing of Osama bin Laden, kept to their now wearing out theme of accusing the Sri Lankan government of having an undue show of patriotism in the Galle Face Parade of the Armed Forces, to mark this unparalleled defeat of the world’s most ruthless terrorist organization.

The people relished the display of the forces and weapons that had to be deployed to defeat the LTTE, and military leaders and specialists from many countries around the globe were in Sri Lanka to learn the lessons from the successful military defeat of terrorism.

There was an even greater triumph earlier this week, which showed the real impact of the government’s success in riding the land of the terror that held sway in many parts for nearly three decades.

Kokavil will not have the ring of Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Elephant Pass or the Nandikadal Lagoon in the one time strength and later rout of the LTTE. But, Kokavil was a major target for the LTTE, seen in the determined operation to capture and later bring down the SLRC communication tower there.

Having captured the original tower the LTTE used it to broadcast their clandestine transmissions, before blowing it up in 2009 when Security Forces were approaching. Both its capture and destruction gave more meaning to their effort to divide Sri Lanka.

The control over and destruction of the Kokavil Transmission Tower was a major strategic move by the LTTE that helped in its moves to keep the people from the North and South apart, in the armed campaign to establish its separate state in the North and East - the terrorist dream of Eelam.

The TRCSL did a major operation for reconciliation, reconstruction and a sustainable peace in giving due priority to rebuilding the tower, as a multi-purpose transmission facility, which will now be among the strongest links between the North and South.

What was commissioned earlier this week is Sri Lanka’s first ever multi-channel broadcasting tower, allocated for the providers of services of high speed internet, radio, television and telecommunications transmissions, as well as military communication operations.

It was, therefore fitting that President Mahinda Rajapaksa saw it necessary to be present when the rebuilt tower, with all its new facilities and services, was handed over to the people. It was a triumph of peace that was celebrated at Kokavil last Monday, and the promise of a stronger peace that lies ahead.

He said the destruction of the Kokavil Tower, interrupted the understanding between the people in North and South, and thereafter the terrorists projected a distorted picture about the people in South to the minds of the youth in the North.

There was no means to change that distorted picture. “The people of the North did not have the right to information and speech,” he said.

Recalling last year’s Cabinet meeting held in Kilinochchi, the town that had been shown to the world as the capital of the ‘de facto’ separate state of Eelam, the President said: “It was historic as it was the first Cabinet meeting held in Kilinochchi in Sri Lankan history.”

He stated that the Cabinet meeting was held there to emphasize that all parts of the country had to be developed equally.

“When we come back we see our attempts are fruitful,” President Rajapaksa said. “Infrastructure is being developed and the citizens here should know what happens in the country to strengthen the bonds between the communities. The commissioning of the Kokavil tower contributes immensely to strengthen the bond between people of the North and South, he said.

The President also used this occasion when a new chapter in the history of communication between the North and South was being written, to make an important statement on the need for, and commitment to, a political settlement to meet the aspirations of the people of the North. He made it clear that finding a political solution was a task for the Sri Lanka people, and not any others.

He stated with clarity that a political solution which meets the needs of the people in the North and signifies a common Sri Lankan identity will be granted to them without being driven by foreign influences, and that finding a political solution is a matter within our reach and discussions are on to finalize a political solution.

President Rajapaksa added that a political solution cannot be given forcibly and it should emerge from the hearts of the people both in the North and South, and emphasized that he would not give in to demands of the LTTE that come from certain Northern political elements, but would give what the people in the North want after discussing devolution with the political leadership in both the North and South.

Not by GDP alone

While the lessons from the military success of the LTTE’s defeat were being analyzed and appreciated by a large foreign audience that gathered for the special conference on ‘Defeating Terrorism the Sri Lankan Experience’ organized by the Defence Ministry, the week before, there was also another side to the defeat of terrorism that was presented there that had considerable significance.

It came in the observations by Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, who showed how even before the Humanitarian Operation was over, the Mahinda Chinthana had taken a head start in addressing conflict related issues and post-conflict development.

Explaining how the Mahinda Chinthana had identified that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) alone does not uplift the living standards of the people and that to ensure growing economic prosperity it had envisaged the emergence of five key economic hubs in naval, aviation, commercial, energy and knowledge, Lalith Weeratunga, explained how this thinking had progressed during the battle against terror and after the defeat of the LTTE.

Elaborating on Sri Lanka’s economic situation during the conflict period, he said that the three decades preceding 2009 marked a bleak period in the social and economic history of Sri Lanka, where it was difficult to estimate precisely the reduction in economic growth of the country over the last 30 years.

However, he noted how the Knowledge Sector has matured and progressed further than others. Government is also looking forward to the creation of its US $ one billion IT-BOP industry with an increase of 100,000 to 150,000 in the workforce making it a top gain and explained that government policy is to ensure adequate port infrastructure facilities and services.

Weeratunga said Sri Lanka observed a sharp increase in tourist arrivals and trade volumes in 2010 as a peace dividend. In 2010 Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) handled 34,092 aircraft movements, he added.

Referring to the power and energy sector he said power sector has received one of the highest priorities in the government policies, which remained in place when the battle to defeat the LTTE was on, and has now gained a new impetus under conditions of peace. These are the real dividends of peace that cannot be explained only in terms of GDP growth.

IMF disgrace

The fall of Dominique Strauss-Kahn was a personal fall for him and a great loss to the IMF, which under his leadership was seeking ways of resolving the problems of the world economy, caused mainly by the profligacy of Western nations. But the search for his successor has seen the worst example of Western regionalism, in the efforts to keep the position in European hands (while the World Bank is headed by a US nominee).

The most unacceptable of argument for Europe’s continued hold on the IMF is that because the Euro-Zone and the Euro itself is in major crisis, it is necessary to have European hands to manage the affairs of what is a world body.

The European choice, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has already visited India and China in canvassing for the top job, to keep Europe and the Euro-zone safe from almost inevitable crisis.

It is interesting to quote what the ‘Economist’ has to say about the moves to keep the IMF in European hands. “Staggeringly, some Europeans have tried to argue that only one of their own can understand their continent’s complex politics; imagine the laughter if somebody had made the same argument for Argentina’s Finance Minister in the 1980s or Thailand’s in 1997.

“Given the circumstances of Strauss-Kahn’s departure, the fact that she (Christine Lagarde) is a woman is a bonus. It is not hard to see why even Western finance ministers with a low opinion of Sarkozy have rushed to anoint her.

“But it is still wrong. To begin with, the stitch up, whereby the head of the IMF is a European and the head of the World Bank is an American, is a disgrace. International posts should be filled according to merit. And the growth of emerging economies makes it even less defensible.” (Economist - May 28, 2011).

The post will remain in European hands, demonstrating the petty regionalism of the West, and the interest in keeping the world economy under Western control, even when Europe and the Euro are in crisis.

It is the promoters of such shameful regionalism that demand respect for merit, good governance and accountability from countries of the Third World, and the emerging economies, too. This is the real disgrace of the IMF.