Peace: the forgotten Muslim factor

The arrival of LTTE political strategist Anton Balasingham on Monday in the Wanni turned a new page in the peace initiative.

Some say Dr. Balasingham's return to the country after three years of self-exile in London is an indication that the LTTE is committed to the peace process. But others doubt this claim.

Dr. Balasingham, who is believed to have persuaded the LTTE's Wanni leadership to give peace a chance, had several rounds of talks with the Norwegian mediators before he arrived in Sri Lanka.

The 20-year separatist war has brought untold misery to the lives of many Sri Lankans. Their cry for peace is so loud and clear that since 1994 they have been electing to office those parties which campaigned on a platform of peace.

The UNF-led by Ranil Wickremesinghe also vowed to restore peace and normalcy during the December 2001 campaign. In keeping with that promise, the premier and his team have been working relentlessly towards achieving their goal.

With Prime Minister Wickremesinghe taking bold steps, the international community also exerted pressure on the LTTE forcing the rebel group to enter into negotiations.

In the midst of all this, the United States, which is waging an aggressive war against global terror, warned the LTTE to strictly observe the ceasefire agreement, drawing its attention to alleged LTTE excesses in the east.

However, the statement was not taken kindly by either the LTTE nor the Tamil National Alliance, which is known to be airing the LTTE view.

Opening of the A-9 route linking Jaffna with the rest of the country is a single major achievement by the Wickremesinghe government in its pursuit of peace. However, a small stretch within the LTTE controlled area is yet to be demined fully before the road can be used. It is now believed the road will be fully functional within two weeks.

Controlling the A-9 highway was the aim of a series of battles the security forces launched during the PA regime. But the UNF government achieved it without any loss of life.

The opening of the A-9 will definitely give relief to the war-hit people in the peninsula, ushering in not only economic boom but also social interaction between the north and the south. Prices of essential commodities are expected to come down, new jobs will be created and food scarcity will disappear when the A-9 highway is opened fully. It is a sure way of winning the northern people's support for the Premier's peace initiative.

But it will not be easy for the premier to trek the path of peace with the JVP and the Sihala Urumaya stepping up resistance to it.

The People's Alliance's position is vague. It is believed that while one section of the party backs the peace move, others take cover behind the JVP to scuttle the peace process.

Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapakse, however, says that the PA would not stand in the way of any acceptable and durable solution to the ethnic crisis while former Premier Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said that any solution should be achieved within a unitary framework. He also rejects the homeland theory of the LTTE.

According to latest indications, direct talks between the government and the LTTE are scheduled to begin somewhere in May probably in the Thai capital of Bangkok. The LTTE appears to be in favour of this venue, because it has an operational base in Thailand, some analysts claim. Others say that the LTTE preferred Bangkok because it has the medical facilities required for its ailing chief negotiator, Dr. Balasingham, who recently underwent surgery for kidney transplant.

At present, things are moving at a desirable pace though the situation in the east vis-a-vis the Muslims is said to be tense.

Observers believe difficult parts of the peace process are yet to come. They say the homeland question is likely to be a contentious issue with both sides holding diametrically opposing views.

Some doves hold the view that there is no harm in accepting the Tamil homeland theory which they say is largely a set of words. "Anybody could play around with words," a former parliamentarian told this column.

"Earlier the South did not want to recognise two languages and one country. As a result the problem grew out of proportion. Today the south is opposing the two-nations-one-country theory. If the country is to achieve peace, we have to make sacrifices," he said.

What worries the people in the South is that the LTTE has not budged an inch from its position of holding onto a homeland while the government gives in to many of the rebel group's demands in the hope of achieving peace, which the government believes is an essential factor for development.

In any event, it is back to the Thimpu principles which are based on the claim that the north and east is the traditional homeland of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Before thrashing out such contentious issues, the stage should be set for the peace talks. For that, the LTTE is demanding that the proscription on it should be lifted.

The month beginning tomorrow is going to be crucial for these reasons.

Of late, the LTTE has come to realise that unless it gives up its military approach for a peaceful one, it will be difficult for it to achieve its goal. Tamil politicians believe that the LTTE has already shown its military prowess and it was time it sat on the negotiating table from a position of strength. They also believe that continuing with the military approach will only deepen the crisis and bring misery to the people.

It is believed that the government would set up an interim council in the north and east after modalities of it are discussed during the May talks.

The strategy of the UNF government appears to be that the LTTE should be pushed into a position from which it would find difficult to turn back to its military option.

But the Tamil homeland concept would really be a stumbling block at the talks. The LTTE is also going to demand an assurance that there would be no state-sponsored colonisation in the North and East.

Besides the LTTE demands, the government will have to take serious note of grievances of the Muslims who make up a major part of the eastern population..

Addressing the concerns of the Muslims in the North and the East would be a vital factor at the talks.

The Muslims allege that the LTTE has usurped more than 2,000 acres of land belonging to Muslims to resettle wounded LTTE cadres. Land grabbing, extortion and other acts of terrorism forced Muslims in the east to stage a series of demonstrations in Muttur and other areas. The protests of the Muslims in the East are spilling over to Colombo, making things difficult for their high profile leader Rauff Hakeem whose SLMC derives its strength from the east.

Mr. Hakeem was of the view that things were not that bad but he got into action when disturbing reports began to reach Colombo. He rushed to the east over the weekend, reports said.

What was disturbing to the Muslim community in the east were the utterances made by LTTE eastern leader Karikalan. He is reported to have justified the ethnic cleansing of the Muslims in the north by the LTTE.

The SLMC now expects the ceasefire monitoring committees headed by the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission to take adequate steps to stem the problem.

Minister Hakeem complains that the monitoring committees have not addressed the situation realistically.

"It all depends on how effective they are in the districts in question. Their visible presence has to be established effectively, It is vital that the police and the armed forces make their presence in the region to arrest the situation and co-operate with the authorities to maintain peace. It is their responsibility to guarantee the security of the civilian population," Mr. Hakeem said.

The situation in the east is becoming worse probably because orders from the LTTE hierarchy do not trickle down to the cadres on ground or these orders are being deliberately flouted by lowrungers who are either not happy with the peace approach of the leadership or want to make a fast buck before things settle.

As we reported in this column before, the situation in the east is so volatile that it could get out of hand anytime. One of the factors that has led to the situation is that unlike in the north, there are no proper demarcation lines in the east separating areas held by the Govt and the LTTE.

Thus it is strongly felt that the government needs to take up the matter with Norwegian monitors and the LTTE to douse an otherwise inflammable situation in the East.

A number of Muslim civic groups in the meantime have appealed to the Organisation of Islamic Conference for help. Some of them are also speaking of alternate leadership for the Muslims emerging from the East.

A section of the Muslim activists think that the SLMC leadership had shifted from the East to elsewhere in the country where there is not much Muslim concentration. They are of the view that the present leadership is not taking adequate measures and putting pressure on the government to take appropriate steps to protect the Muslim community in the East.

An alarmed Mr. Hakeem had discussed the matter with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. It is said the Prime Minister has agreed to visit the east and address the SLMC supporters there in an effort to calm the situation. Mr. Hakeem is due to prepare the groundwork for the premier's visit after his visit to the east.

The SLMC is also moving slowly but steadily to stake its claims for an autonomous region within the Eastern province. The first in a series of steps is to set up Peace Information Centres throughout the province to monitor the progress of the ceasefire.

By mid April the SLMC will go at full steam to establish its legitimate claim to the East. As a precursor to this, the party is planning a convention with prayers and declarations to bring pressure on both the government and the LTTE. The SLMC wants the parties concerned to formulate a common programme for the well being of all the communities in the East.

Minister Hakeem was particularly disturbed over a news item appearing in the Veerakesari that he had written to the Prime Minister giving warning signals on the situation in the East. Mr. Hakeem denied it totally and read out a translation of the report during the meeting with the Prime Minister at the Cabinet room.

"It is important to find out who is planting this kind of stories in newspaper," Mr. Hakeem said. The Prime Minister kept his cool and did not take the news report seriously. He told Mr. Hakeem that some of the journalists have already inquired about the matter in question.

Besides these, the government's initiative to re-introduce the committee system — a feature in the Donoughmore Constitution — is commendable. This will enable a greater participation of the whole Parliament in the administration of the country.

The proposal envisages a system whereby all members of parliament will sit in several committees and the head of the committee would be a member of the cabinet. This is an alternative to a national government which would come into effect through a constitutional amendment.

There was lot of enthusiasm on the part of opposition members when Minister G. L. Peiris outlined the proposal to change the political culture in the country.

The new amendment will be introduced shortly along with the establishment of an Economic and Social Council much in line with that of the French Economic and Social Council.

The idea behind the proposal is to get the civil society actively involved in the peace process and other governmental affairs.

In France this is the link between the government and the civil society and a modified version of this will come into effect in Sri Lanka shortly, Minister Peiris told this column.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has given his approval to this piece of legislation after realizing that it would be rather difficult to get all the parties on a common platform to address the current problems.

Be that as it may. There had been some interesting events in the Cabinet last week. All that came to light when Minister Ravi Karunanayake sought permission to have liquor outlets in every CWE supermarket. The Prime Minister was a bit wary about the proposal.

He said that as a matter of principle he would not be able to give permission to such a proposal. "Our policy is not to grant liquor licences to anybody" the Prime Minister said.

But in the ensuing discussion Minister Karunanayake said it would help promote CWE supermarkets.

The Prime Minister said that it would be better if the CWE were to develop their supermarkets without liquor outlets which is a sore point as far as the religious sensitivities are concerned.

All of a sudden all the members of the Cabinet including the President, Prime Minister and Minister Karunanayake himself roared in laughter when a huge dog presumably the President's pet made its appearance in the Cabinet room and started barking looking at the strange faces.

The matter relating to liquor outlets came to an end with the dog bark.

The President then expressed concern over the civilian flights to Jaffna and urged the UNF administration to take necessary security steps before issuing licences to private flight operators.

The undertone of the Presidents concern was that the LTTE could exploit the situation.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Defence Minister Tilak Marapana took great pains to explain the hardship the Jaffna people are undergoing due to lack of proper transport facilities. The President then suggested that such operators should be put under the care of an officer of the rank of an Air Marshal to properly assess the security threats posed by various elements.