Giving-up the ‘bush’ for the political platform

Dwelling at length on the reintegration of one time LTTE combatants to mainstream local society, Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the Defence Seminar 2012 on Wednesday that it was a highly welcome development that scores of one time LTTE armed cadres are today not only leading perfectly normal lives but are actively involved in politics.

That is, the ex-militants have broken with the bush or jungle and have taken to the political platform in a major way. Persuasive oratory and other people-friendly, non-lethal skills of the politician have taken the place of guns and bombs, which proved handy for the militant in the bush.

Indeed, there is at least one former LTTE militant who is today the Chief Minister of a province. Besides, others who at one time had taken up arms against the state in the North-East and were in guerrilla fatigues are today donning the official attire of ministers and deputy ministers, besides that of other functionaries.

These are some of the wonders of the democratic process and it would be no exaggeration to state that we have evidence here of the robustness of Lankan democracy.

Besides, there is the accommodative nature of the Lankan state that needs to be taken into consideration. Where the hardcore LTTE leadership went wrong is that they disdainfully rejected out of hand the offer by President Rajapaksa to resolve their issues at the negotiating table.

They were given ample opportunities to down arms and take to talks but they chose to do otherwise and invited on themselves the military option, which was reserved only as an alternative means by the state of resolving the conflict.

If the hardcore of the LTTE had given talks a chance, perhaps, the course of events in the North would have taken a different turn.

But it reflects very well on the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration to be now paving the way for remaining former LTTE cadres to return to normal civilian life.

As could be seen, the reintegration programme for these cadres is proving highly beneficial and scores of these ex-militants are acquiring the necessary job and vocational skills and are leading useful and productive lives in civil society.

The message that is being sent forth by the state through this policy of giving these former combatants a second chance is that the state and the larger society care for them, since they have now shunned the path of armed militancy and have opted for the democratic way of life.

These opportunities to enter mainstream life and to lead a productive existence should remain open to the one-time militants of the North-East because therein lies the answer to their disaffection. Indeed, these conditions should exist countrywide if social stability is to be ensured.

Whether the bloody youth rebellions were in the North-East or South, it was the lack of opportunity and the deprivation of equity that essentially led them to take up arms against the state. One could be glad that these realities are being countenanced by the state and other responsible quarters.

What the foregoing also establishes is that the democratic process should remain open to receive all those who have a grouse against the state and the prevailing social order. The democratic system must not only remain open but prove beyond doubt that the just demands of the disaffected and the unhappy could be resolved as a result of the discontented entering it and seeking to meet their legitimate needs through it. That is, the existing political order must be vibrant enough to serve the just needs of all.

It needs to be also understood that nobody is born a ‘terrorist’. No person or group is naturally inclined to do evil. It is prevailing injustices that incline persons to be militant and violent. Accordingly, social justice must prevail if we are to have durable peace and security.