Sustaining domestic normalcy and stability

That the enemies of Sri Lanka could not prevail against her at the recent UN Human Rights Council sessions and at the CHOGM in Perth, Australia, is now all too clear and there is no doubt that the laudatory comments directed at President Mahinda Rajapaksa and other members of his administration, such as, External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and Plantation Industries Minister and Special Envoy on Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe and their respective teams, have been very well earned.

Thanks to their untiring and deft diplomatic efforts, the criticisms directed at this country in some external quarters have been resoundingly answered and blunted into ineffectiveness.

Expanding further on this theme, Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga, went on record on the pivotal role President Rajapaksa played in bringing about these memorable diplomatic triumphs. For instance, he underscored the catalytic function played by the 'mature leadership, personality stature and diplomatic skills' of the President in bringing about this favourable state of affairs for Sri Lanka, and one could only wholeheartedly agree with him, considering the cogency with which the President advocated the interests of this country on the international plane. The very fact that the CHOGM will go ahead as scheduled in Sri Lanka in 2013, is ample evidence that there is substantial confidence in this country on the part of the international community. Sri Lanka, then, has won the day and for this accolades are due to the President and the government he directs.

But there is no question of the state resting on its laurels. As is very evident, the LTTE rump and its supporters are very active in those parts of the world which matter and the process of taking the fight back to these enemy camps must continue vibrantly. From what could be gathered, some sections of the West are yet to awaken to the dangers of molly-coddling the LTTE rump and its supporters and of turning a blind eye to the presence of these subversives within their national boundaries. For instance, the LTTE rump was vociferously active during the recent CHOGM in Perth. In fact, a notorious top Tigress was among the most voluble of the President's critics in Australia. There were also futile attempts at legally restraining the President in the US and Australia.

There is no denying, therefore, that the enemies of Sri Lanka are still very much alive and kicking wildly. Evidently, not enough is being done to dislodge these venomously vocal centres of opposition to the Lankan state abroad. A comprehensive and energetic diplomatic drive needs to be launched to convince Western governments of the advisability of neutralizing and putting out of action these anti-Lanka propaganda mills and like formations in their midst. It should be pointed out that Western states would be also acting in their own interests by doing so. After all, they are conscience-bound to cripple the Tigers, because many of them have outlawed the LTTE and are major democracies.

Besides, these Tiger bases abroad pose very serious law and order problems for the West and the latter would be only ensuring their well being by neutralizing these hot spots of terror. When we say this, we not only have in mind so-called transitional governments and gang warfare, which more than occasionally erupts among those still espousing the separatist cause. We also have in mind LTTE-engineered mounting white collar crime in world metropolises, which is increasingly blighting the lives of Western citizens.

However, equally crucial tasks await us here in Sri Lanka. The state has done well to militarily neutralize the LTTE, but it needs to also forge ahead with greater speed on the reconciliation front. There is no better way to do this than by resolving the grievances of our communities on an urgent basis. No doubt, the state has gone some distance in resettlement and reconstruction, but permanent normalcy would come our way only when the national integration process is taken to its logical conclusion and people, without exception in this country, identify completely and unreservedly with Mother Lanka. This is nation-building in its truest essence and this is the foundation of permanent domestic stability and normalcy.