Same shit, different day
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that doesn’t support the war. It used to be a reasonable position but now, with all this land. I don’t know. On a pretty fundamental level, I think war is bad. Killing people is bad, no matter what they’ve done. I mean, as a Buddhist that’s pretty much the first precept. I guess you can’t always do that, but I think we might at least feel bad about it. What I don’t get is not the actions, but how desensitized everyone is. Like, I think it’s bad that they check your ID to see if you’re Tamil. I think it’s bad that hundreds of thousands are displaced and NGOs aren’t allowed in to help them. I think it’s bad that Ministers are getting rich off this war. And I do feel bad that so many people are dying. But maybe it’s just me.
Or not. I just read (what I consider) some very sensible posts from a few new bloggers. Here’s an excerpt from Suren Dias on Beyond Kilinochchi:
Time is drawing near when the whole country will come under the lion flag. Army commander is saying that within a time span of one year the remaining areas under the LTTE control will be liberated. After that we hope that we will have peace. But can we really have “peace†when we kill all the remaining tigers and liberate guerilla held areas? This is a question all politicians and public of this country should ask themselves.
And this Danushitha character, rushed English aside, is actually quite lucid on a great many points:
Why people are so confident about wining the war.Answer is simple.To ordinary people,war is a game of numbers of killings and a amount of area captured.In that case war will end when all LTTE carders are killed or destroyed by any means. Is it that much so simple?.Think over.
Who get the benefit from the war?.Otherwise who gain advantage by creating seperate country or territory?.Is it ordinary people? no.Then who?.A small group of people who runs the government whether it is any political party.
War is so disgusting.It is truly inhuman.It cannot be justified by any means.Then why people support war?.The main reason is that they are misled over the years by politicians backed by business persons and supported by religious institutes. The main stream which help in breed myths and rumors about war is the media which in fact belong to those people. Then what are their expectations by doing war
1. gain political advantage
2. large scale corruption
3. limiting people’s rights and libertiesIn Simply, to control people and get people’s perception in furthering their political agendas and to prosper themselves. Is this not the reality what is going on right now?.
I’m not saying these dudes agree with me completely or whatever, but they’re at least thinking about it. Not as a simplistic matter of ‘defeating terrorism’, but as an issue of national importance. As in, how do we live together, how do we care for each other, how do we become better people and a better nation. And that’s heartening, to hear.
I don’t like war either, and I’m sure most people who aren’t arms merchants would much prefer peace. But you’re feeling lonely. Perhaps if you moved beyond pious posturing and shallow truisms, and gave some compelling answers to the tough questions we all face, you might find yourself with a little more company. Here are a few to get you started:
The LTTE’s stated aim – from which they have never really deviated – is the establishment of Tamil Eelam. Do you believe that a partition of Sri Lanka, with all the attendant consequences, is preferable to war?
Do you believe that the GOSL could have reached a negotiated settlement with Prabhakaran? If so, what makes you think this?
Should the campaign of assasination and aggression unleashed by the LTTE in the aftermath of the presidential election have been allowed to continue unchecked?
What, in your opinion, is a possible solution to this conflict? Please be specific – devolution is far too vague an answer to be of any use. What should the unit of devolution be? What powers should be devolved? Should the devolved unit(s) have the right to secede?
If you’re going to take a blanket anti-war position, be responsible about it. Provide some thought, some enlightenment, some way forward. Rather than preening about, playing the martyr. Believe me, a lot of people who have come to support this war have done so with the greatest of sadness. They are just as anguished about the human suffering as you are, just as appalled by the abuses and injustices committed in their name, and yearn for peace as much as you do. They just can’t see an alternative. If you have one, please articulate it.
In short, implement the 13th amendment, actually hold negotiations (which ended long before the cease fire) and use money and power to slowly buy out and splinter the LTTE (aka Karuna).
I don’t think a partition makes sense. Even from the Tamil perspective there are way too many Tamils throughout Sri Lanka (and Muslims in the NorthEast) for that to make sense. I also think the cease-fire more than anything weakened the LTTE. They got conventional holdings (buildings, armies, reputations) which can be attacked conventionally. In short, the peace process gave them something to lose. I don’t know if we could reach a negotiated settlement with Prabhakaran, but economic progress and the lure of power could splinter the LTTE. In short.
Good post. I am with you Indi on this one.
I think the problem has been the SL govt has continually given the perception to the minorities (rightly or wrongly) that it is not serious about offering a settlement that is acceptable to the Tamils. Ranil came pretty close to resolving it with his federal idea. For obvious reasons, LTTE and Sinhalese nationalists (SLFP/JVP) threw him out of power to make sure it doesn’t succeed. Federalism has been sold by our politicians to the south as separatism when it actually acts to the contrary. APRC has been around forever and nothing has really come out of it. In fact there are calls for it to be dissolved by Wimal. 13th amendment is not implemented. You can’t get stuff done in Tamil in any govt places in Sri Lanka though it has been official language for years.
The key to peace is to offer the minorities reasonable devolution (among federal lines) and it has to be equally sold well to the Sinhalese for it to succeed. Take the cause away from LTTE. (we are all clear they are not fighting for it, but they have Tamil sympathy because the cause is there) Otherwise we will have Tamil nationalism feed Sinhalese nationalism and vice versa in circles.
I’m with you on the 13th amendment. As it so happens, there appears to be a general consensus in the South (noisy fringes notwithstanding) that this is the way forward. The LTTE must share at least equal blame with the government for its non-implementation, since they went to war with India to scupper it, and thereafter created a security environment that rendered it all but impossible. If and when the LTTE is marginalized, the government will have no more excuses. So let’s wait and see.
This idea of buying out and splintering the LTTE (a la Petraeus in Iraq?) is an interesting one. But the Tigers are a far more cohesive force than the motley Mesopotamians, and I’m not sure how many more Karunas are available for purchase. But more importantly, even if the government did continue to peacefully shave off chunks of his outfit, how long could they have gone on without Prabhakaran noticing?
As it happens, he did notice. And that is precisely why the LTTE was so hell-bent on getting out of the CFA. Let’s remember the facts. They essentially put Mahinda into power. They murdered hundreds of service personnel. They attempted to assasinate the army commander. And as for negotiations, who walked out of the last attempt in Geneva? No government could have held back indefinitely. Israel has felt compelled to unleash all hell in Gaza under far less provocation.
The LTTE never had the vested interest in peace that you rather naively assume. They would have adhered to the CFA only so long as it was useful. They were never expecting to lose their armies, buildings or reputations by going to war. They were planning for further gains. They anticipated taking on ill-prepared and demoralized SL forces, routing them in Jaffna and/or Trinco, and then foisting Tamil Eelam on the international community as an established fact on the ground.
That it hasn’t turned out their way is largely due to the government’s restraint in responding, at least until the forces were ready. Surely Mahinda, for all his horrendous flaws, deserves some credit for that. But the sad truth is this: the ceasefire was doomed, war was inevitable, regardless of who was in power in Colombo.
Danushitha seems very much in line with the Bush administrations reasons for the Iraq invasion. :I It’s always the same case I suppose…