Editorial

Next week in the North, mainstream politicians whose elders were sidelined for years by the AK-47-toting LTTE cadres taking on the role of ‘sole representatives of the Tamils’ will be commemorating those who were taken to their deaths by the fascist terrorist organisation not so long ago. In doing so, they will be castigating the very armed forces that paved the way for these politicians to return to public life with the restoration of democracy.

Historically, there is a lot in common between the governing party, viz., the JVP, and the terror groups of yesteryear in the north. Both claimed they were the downtrodden youth (of the south and the north) for whom the parliamentary system was out of reach essentially due to the social issues linked to electoral politics. They took up arms against this ‘system’ and took the extra-parliamentary route to power. They were backed by foreign governments for a time, and both got decimated by the armed forces. Today, they have both created a diaspora active in Sri Lankan politics.

The difference was that the JVP continued as a political entity, biding its time for the state to rot from within; it stayed long enough for the people to forget and for a new generation unfamiliar with its violent past to emerge, in order to ride to power and place.

From the time it came into office, it has distanced itself from the armed forces and their heroism. This came to light when the President, being the Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, almost kept away from last November’s Remembrance Day event to mark all fallen or wounded war veterans. Their members have studiously avoided using the popular word ‘ranaviruwan’ (war heroes) for Sri Lankan government troops and have, instead, started to refer to their own fallen cadres as (heroes), equating those otherwise classified as terrorists to the rank of ‘heroes’. Will fallen LTTE cadres get the same respect of?

It would, no doubt, look duplicitous for the JVP-led Government to commemorate the death of the party’s founder, who unleashed two waves of bloody terror in the country, sacrificing thousands of youth, and disallow commemorating the birth of another leader who did the same next Thursday (Nov. 27) on their ‘Maaveerar Naal‘ (Heroes Day).

On the other hand, seeking public endorsement of the revisionist narrative of the JVP’s own past does a favour to the pro-LTTE narrative in parallel by blurring its delineation as a ‘terrorist’ organisation. It has set the JVP Government on a cosy path with the pro-Eelam diaspora. Their political leadership may see this as part of a reconciliation process, but it has implications beyond the country, where the LTTE remains a banned terrorist organisation following a demanding diplomatic drive yesteryear by Sri Lanka.

If commemorations of LTTE cadres who died fighting for a separate state are allowed in Sri Lanka, it will be difficult to take action against planned LTTE commemorations in Western capitals next week. Unless the Government wishes it that way ‘in the greater scheme of things’ it has in mind.

Climate Change: Another summit of ‘hot air’

COP30 (Conference of Parties), the 30th UN Climate Change Conference concluded yesterday. It was the second-largest COP in history with 56,118 registered delegates, behind COP28 in Dubai. Of these, 1600 participants were fossil fuel lobbyists, their numbers exceeding every delegation save the host Brazilian one.

Standoffs over the inclusion of fossil fuel phase-outs continued into the final hours of even yesterday, 24 hours beyond the scheduled close, yet another COP that failed to reach total agreement. The financial package to poor countries impacted by climate change was thoroughly watered down with only a pledge to “at least triple” finance by 2035. The slow-moving negotiations were also halted several times as floods, blazing fires and security breaches at the venue kept the COP Presidency on its toes, a situation rife with irony. (More details appear on page 10)

Activists and indigenous community members stormed the premises in an unprecedented breach that led to heightened security for the summit, so much so that even some delegates struggled to get in. The protesters only made it past the first line of security, but it was an aggressive show that hadn’t happened in a COP before. The indigenous tribes want the host government to stop encroaching on their lands in the Amazon.

Which leads to the next irony – parts of the Amazon were cut down to make way for a road to the COP venue in the city of Belem. The lungs of the planet had to suffer damage so people could meet and discuss how to save it. This illustrates the ‘nature’ of this mega summit on climate change aimed at saving the world from self-destruction.

Even the Belem Political Package which Brazilian President Lula da Silva himself endorsed and appealed to parties to agree on, failed, and the COP30 ended with just cover decisions.

And to cap it all, the US Trump administration did not send an official delegation – the first time a COP has taken place without U.S. federal representation. However, a significant number of state and local officials, a coalition of 100 governors, city mayors and state officials along with U.S.-based environmental nonprofits attended the summit.

On a positive side, India – one of the world’s biggest polluters has hit its renewable target five years ahead of time (probably because the private Adani and Ambani conglomerates are capitalising on it and driving it). India has also been turning up the pressure on rich countries to realise that the path to 1.5 degree Celcius limit for long-term global temperature averages requires the Global North to reach net zero far earlier than current target dates and also deliver on the trillions of finance owed under Article 9.1 of the legally-binding Paris Agreement. China, another mega polluter, is separately going ahead at top speed with green technology.

Close to 100 countries also submitted their NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions – national plan to combat climate change) which may help cut emissions by 12 p.c. in the next decade. Sri Lanka also submitted its NDC 3.0, despite missing the initial deadline, following numerous rounds of consultations and even the GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion) clauses. It was relatively more open than previous revisions, but implementation is where the snag is, so one waits and watches.

Sri Lanka however lost out at COP30 by its non-participation at high-level. While a delegation did represent Sri Lanka at side events as ‘experts’, the Government’s continuing absence of late at various multilaterals remains a mystery. It seems it is only interested if some financial windfalls from multiple pledged funds drop on its lap due to the efforts of other nations in the Global South giving leadership at numerous world events, with no contributions of its own.