Sri Lanka is still under threat - warns Defence Secretary

Continuation from yesterday, of the text of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's public lecture at the SLFI recently titled 'Future Challenges to National Security in Sri Lanka'

The real reason for the claim about militarisation is that it is yet another ploy in the campaign to portray what is happening in Sri Lanka in the most negative of lights. It is a ploy aligned with the strategy of the LTTE-linked organizations to portray Sri Lanka as a nation using military might to persecute innocent Tamil people. This is a manufactured claim that is vastly at odds with Sri Lankan reality. However, it is a useful tool for the LTTE-linked organizations and the pro-separatist movement because it helps them construct an alternate reality in the eyes of foreign powers about what is happening in Sri Lanka. It is purely a political tool, and it is being deployed because the agenda of these parties has not changed.

Closely linked to the false, negative picture the LTTE-linked organizations try to project about Sri Lanka's present is their attempt to tarnish the success of the Humanitarian Operation. Bringing Sri Lanka before the Human Rights Council of the United Nations and even to the International Criminal Court in Geneva is one of the goals of the rump of the LTTE. Having been defeated militarily, they seek to generate claims about war crimes and even try to use the term genocide in describing what happened in Sri Lanka. This is part of the strategy they employed throughout the conflict period. During the Humanitarian Operation too, it used the exact same terminology to build international pressure against Sri Lanka. It used all the influence it had cultivated over the years with foreign politicians, international organizations and media groups to try and prevent the defeat of its military organization and save Prabhakaran and the rest of the LTTE's leadership.

War crimes

In reality, it was the LTTE that ruthlessly and frequently violated human rights and committed war crimes Aerial footage captured during the Humanitarian Operation showed to the world how LTTE cadres fired at the civilians trying to escape its clutches. Now there is more evidence coming to light about the brutal tactics it used to maintain power within its fast diminishing territory during the final stages. The LTTE tried to forcefully abduct some 600 children from families who had sought shelter in a church. When the church authorities resisted this attempt, it mercilessly shelled the church that same night. It piled up sick and wounded cadres and civilians onto a group of buses and then exploded them while they lay trapped helplessly within. During the very last days, the LTTE even exploded its ammunition dumps near civilian encampments as it realised that military defeat was inevitable.

There is little doubt that in the months and years to come, the rump of the LTTE organization will only step up its efforts to damage Sri Lanka's reputation in the international arena and drag this country before international bodies on war crimes charges. It represents nothing less than an effort by those keen to keep terrorism alive to disgrace the reputation of our brave professional servicemen who had the strength and courage to comprehensively eliminate terrorism from this country.

Humanitarian operation

The primary issue being spoken about by the LTTE-linked organizations and their sympathisers is accountability for civilian casualties that took place during the Humanitarian Operation. In this context, there are several issues to note. First, it needs to be understood that in any conflict, a certain number of civilian casualties are bound to occur. This is particularly true in conflicts where civilians are used as a humanshield by one of the warring factions, as the LTTE did. While the government established a very clear zero casualty policy at the start of the Humanitarian Operation, this was mainly to emphasise safeguarding civilian lives as the foremost priority of the military. By maintaining this priority very clearly from the first day of operations to the last, it was possible to keep civilian casualties at a minimal level. Utmost care was always taken to minimise collateral damage during military operations. Nevertheless, as with all conflicts in all parts of the world, some civilian casualties would have taken place. Ascertaining the extent of these casualties has been the government's intention for some time.

The approach the government has taken in this regard has been professional. The Department of Census and Statistics, which is the official Government Department for such matters, was asked to conduct a complete census of the area in question. In the questionnaire that was used, the issue of those who died or went missing during the Humanitarian Operation was directly addressed.

With the completion of the census, it should be possible to identify by name all or most of such persons. The census is complete, and the report is being prepared. It will be released in the near future. What can be stated beyond doubt is that the overall number of actual deaths is nowhere near the amount claimed by various parties with various agendas. The number is certainly far too small to give any credence to the absurd accusation of genocide often made by the LTTE-linked organizations.

Second, it is also important to realise that the total number of dead and missing will include people in the several categories:

To be Continued