Military victory followed by forgiveness and peacemaking.


http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/09/22/fea03.asp

The visit by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Sanchi this week to inaugurate, with the Prime Minister of Bhutan, the ‘Sanchi University of Buddhist and Indic Studies’ and for talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, has been the focus of much attention in the Indian media. This is mainly due to angry protests in Tamil Nadu, where the AIADMK and other parties avowedly supportive of the LTTE and Tamil separatism in Sri Lanka, are making use of this to benefit their internal political agenda of opposing the UPA government in New Delhi, and asserting more power for the states and regions in India.

The situation has been confused by the ill-thought out policies of AIADMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha. The Deccan Herald (DC) commented that “while the recent unfortunate attack on ethnic Lankan Tamil pilgrims to the Velankani shrine was a misfire of sorts, with protesters not realizing that the Sri Lankans they had attacked were not Sinhalas but Tamil Christians, more orchestrated attacks can be expected this week in the run-up to the visit, upping the embarrassment quotient.”

One sign of this was the first self-immolation in Salem on Monday, and rabidly anti-Lankan Opposition politician Vaiko’s Marumalarchi DMK’s threat of black-flag demonstrations when the Sri Lankan President arrives in Madhya Pradesh, for the Sanchi event.

The DC also stated that: “this recent move against the Sri Lankan government by the AIADMK-run state government, the Opposition DMK and Vaiko’s group, with each party attempting to outdo the other in trying to be more anti-Sri Lankan than the other is in keeping with a worrying trend India-wide that sees the politics of state and region impinging on, and in many ways, overwriting and influencing India’s foreign policy.”

While the manipulation and orchestration of anti-Sri Lankan activity, focusing on the visit of President Rajapaksa to New Delhi and Sanchi, is gaining increased news coverage, political commentators are looking at how far India will be willing to push the issue of the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils, as demanded by parties seeking to gain electoral benefit through it, and how much the Congress Party that feels its hands are tied on this issue will be ready to give the impression that it is “abandoning the Sri Lankan Tamils”, which message will “be as good as handing over a loaded electoral weapon to domestic political opponents,” as the DC states.

Resettlement and reconciliation

On the visit of President Rajapaksa to India this week, both the Union Government and the Madhya Pradesh state government have made it clear they are not ready to give in to the threats of the anti-Rajapaksa lobbies in the country, particularly in Tamil Nadu. President Rajapaksa’s meetings with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have already taken place as scheduled in a spirit of warmth and cordiality. The Madhya Pradesh government has stopped the Vaiko-led demonstrators who sought to carry out protests in that State, at the border between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Sanchi Stupa

While critical of the rash and counterproductive policies of Jayalalithaa and others of the pro-LTTE bandwagon, sections of the Indian media are also helping to stoke the anti-Sri Lanka feelings, in the highly emotive issue of the Sri Lanka Tamils, especially in Tamil Nadu. They use now worn out allegations of the Tamil Nadu fishermen being regularly attacked by the ‘trigger happy’ Sri Lankan Navy, despite the Indian Coast Guard and other authorities having contradicted such propaganda fabrications in the Courts. There is also much concern being raised about the ‘continued’ presence of the military in the North of Sri Lanka, presented as a threat to the Tamils there, and allegedly hampering efforts at resettlement and reconciliation. These media critics are not very different from the pro-LTTE elements in the UK, carrying out baseless allegations of Tamil asylum seekers deported from there, having failed in their bid for asylum.

In the light of such tendentious and misleading comments that keep alive the anti-Sri Lanka feelings both in parts of India and elsewhere, it was interesting to read a well researched report in ‘nationalinterest.org’ on what Sri Lanka, has achieved after the defeat of the LTTE, by two senior researchers at the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism in the USA. They are Arie Kruglanskis a distinguished university professor and Michele Gelfand a distinguished scholar and teacher at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In a piece titled ‘Learning from Sri Lanka’ they state that since the defeat of the LTTE, “the ruling authorities have done a remarkable job forging reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation with the Tamil minority. This is truly an example of how military victory needs to be followed up by forgiveness and peacemaking.”

Contrary to the emotion laden falsehoods being spread by Jayalalitha, and other pro-LTTE groups in Tamil Nadu in their use of Sri Lanka against New Delhi, and the West based pro-LTTE groups who continue their barrage against Sri Lanka, to ensure their asylum and refugees status, Kruglanskis and Gelfand state that, “The Sri Lankan government proceeded to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure in the LTTE controlled areas of the island. It constructed a network of new roads, bridges, schools and hospitals and provided economic and vocational assistance to the returning IDPs resulting in over 20 percent annual growth in the Northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.”

Here is the text of their piece ‘Learning from Sri Lanka’, published on September 19, 2012.

“The world has a lot to learn from Sri Lanka. This island nation, South of India, was torn by a vicious civil war for 26 years, which ended in 2009 with a clear victory for Government Forces over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Since then, the ruling authorities have done a remarkable job forging reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation with the Tamil minority. This is truly an example of how military victory needs to be followed up by forgiveness and peacemaking.

Without a doubt, the LTTE has been one of the most vicious and dangerous terrorist organizations ever. It was formidable militarily, complete with a navy (the Sea Tigers), air force (the Air Tigers) and a highly developed intelligence capability. The last push against it was relentless and bloody, claiming significant casualties on both sides. When the war ended, nearly three hundred thousand displaced Tamil civilians were left in the government’s care. These were persons who the LTTE dislocated from their villages and whose land was strewn with hundreds of thousands of mines (across five thousand square kilometres of land), making their resettlement impossible. An immense demining effort took place; now, three years later, only 5,424 internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain in a temporary welfare village awaiting their return home on completion of the demining process.

International community

The Sri Lankan government proceeded to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure in the LTTE controlled areas of the island. It constructed a network of new roads, bridges, schools and hospitals and provided economic and vocational assistance to the returning IDP resulting in over 20 percent annual growth in the Northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.

Particularly impressive was the government’s treatment of the nearly twelve thousand LTTE fighters who surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army. Given the bloodiness of the protracted fight, the heavy casualties suffered by the military and the murderous track record of the LTTE, the surrendees feared the worst (our interviews indicate). They were in for a shocking surprise. President Rajapaksa publicly instructed the army “to treat them as your children.” Rather than being imprisoned or punished, a vast majority of the LTTE cadres were put in rehabilitation centres where they were offered vocational education, artistic activities, psychological and spiritual counselling. The 549 LTTE child soldiers were put in a special programme cosponsored with UNICEF and received psychological counselling and catch-up education.

Systematic empirical research we have carried out with thousands of detained LTTE fighters yielded encouraging results. Over time, Tamil attitudes toward the Sinhalese have significantly improved; this seems attributable to the rehabilitation programmes rather than the mere time away from the ‘killing fields.’ Of the twelve thousand initial inmates of the rehab centres, over ten thousand have been released to their villages, and efforts are being made to reintegrate them into their communities.

To be sure, the process wasn’t perfect. Unfortunately, as often happens, numerous civilians (used by the LTTE as human shields) perished in the final fight. At present, members of the international community, including the United States, are questioning the intensity of the army’s onslaught and accuse the Sri Lankan government of Human Rights abuses. The Sri Lankans, for their part, feel disappointed by what they see as hypocrisy and betrayal by nations they had considered allies in the global war on terror.

Tamil Nadu politicians

As academics, we are unwilling to take sides in that debate. We would like to bear witness, however, to the remarkable reconciliation efforts by the Sri Lankan government that we saw on several recent visits to this country in our capacity as terrorism researchers. We held informal conversations with Tamils and Sinhalese, including members of the Tamil Diaspora and of the Tamil Nadu community in Southern India. We interviewed commanders of the Sri Lankan Army and ministers in the Sri Lankan government. We talked with members of an international NGO assisting in the reconstruction efforts. Most importantly, we carried out empirical research with over nine thousand former LTTE members, visited their rehabilitation centres and interviewed senior former LTTE fighters released into their villages. All these studies add up to an impression that what has been happening in the post-2009 years in Sri Lanka is truly unique.

A great deal remains to be done, hopefully with the full participation of the international community. The tasks ahead are challenging, yet there are reasons for optimism. To quote Winston Churchill: “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

The world would do well to pay attention to the case of the Tamils and the Sinhalese. The United States urges the Pakistani and Afghan armies to crack down harder on Taliban and other extremists, but does anyone have a plan for what to do after the war on terror is won? Sri Lanka does.”

There is no surprise in Tamil Nadu politicians, jockeying for strength in possible early elections, by using the Sri Lankan Tamil card. But sections of the Indian media who seem as out of touch with reality as these opportunist politicians, would benefit by doing their own empirical research, to be better informed of the Tamil situation in Sri Lanka, instead of repeating what are fast becoming hackneyed allegations on a template of misinformation. They have much to learn from Sri Lanka today.