By S. Akurugoda
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who made several controversial statements, is now calling the Sri Lankan Government to reciprocate to the unilateral ceasefire announced by the vanishing LTTE. Call for ‘ceasefire’ at this stage is a mere joke, since LTTE is not fighting but running away, as Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa pointed out.
As per the latest media reports, the British PM has still not given up his dream of sending his pro-LTTE special envoy to Sri Lanka, despite the rejection of such actions by the government of Sri Lanka. The former colonial masters still prefer to listen to their former ‘favorites’, LTTE Tamil Diaspora, rather than the democratically elected President.
Now that the chances of dividing Sri Lanka on ethnic lines by military means are no more, the next question, often raised by these interested parties is “when is the political solution”? As the President has quite rightly reminded to the British PM, when asked about a ‘political solution’, what is needed by the IDPs is their basic needs such as shelter, food, clothing, medicine etc and not a ‘political solution’.
On the other hand, the US State Department's spokesperson Robert Wood has called on LTTE rebels surrender to a third party. "We remain extremely concerned for the safety of the remaining civilians in the no-fire zone," and called on the Sri Lanka government and Tamil Tigers to end hostilities. He also asked the Sri Lanka government to allow a UN humanitarian team into the no-fire zone.
Apart from these salmon-eating international spokespersons, the entire world is now fully aware that the military operations against Terrorism in Sri Lanka is a success, unlike the war against terrorism launched by superpowers, and more than 120,000 civilians have already been rescued by the Sri Lankan Security Forces within three days of its humanitarian mission without any external assistance. Indications are that the entire operations will be over within the next couple of days and there is no question of surrender to a third party at this stage, unless a third party is ‘extremely concern’ for the safety of the remaining terrorist cadres and their leaders trapped in the last few kilometers of their ‘strong hold’ .
As the Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona stressed, there was no need for special missions from other countries to evacuate the IDPs (internally displaced persons) from the safe zone and the situation may not arise as over 120,000 civilians have moved to the cleared areas. On the other hand, if the life out of the NFZ is not safe for the IDPs , as these westerners imagined, there is no reason why tens of thousands of civilians including two LTTE leaders have fled NFZ and moved towards the security forces. Since LTTE had forcibly kept the UN missions which visited the Tigers in the past the obvious question is how such missions could visit the NFZ given the present conditions
There is no reason for the Sri Lanka government to stop its operation since they have proved their capability of chasing the enemy while freeing the civilians in tens of thousands. Few weeks ago prior to the commencement of humanitarian mission of the Security Forces, the very same people imagined that there will be a blood bath if such an attempt is made and, now, it has been proved beyond doubt that it is not so. The two UN officials who visited Sri Lanka called for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate a meeting between UN representatives and Prabhakaran in the civilian safety zone.
As reported in media, there was every indication that the UN officials had been influenced by ‘a western diplomat’ based in Colombo to make this request for a meeting between the UN and the LTTE leader.
Statements issued by various foreign diplomats in Colombo, notably those of US ambassador Blake, concerning the internal affairs of our country, and reported visits and secret visits said to have been made to meet the opponents of the democratically elected government, including the pro LTTE Tamil Diaspora, to discuss ‘undisclosed’ matters related to internal matters of the host country are typical examples of their failure of self-controlling, what appears as, ‘superiority complex’ when serving in tiny nations.
These diplomats, who are representatives of the superpower, are gradually becoming part and parcel of our local political system and we see no significant difference between their day-to-day tasks in Colombo and those of LTTE proxy TNA.
The secret behind the ‘grave concerns of human lives’ of these superpowers are very clear. World politics and arms trade are closely linked. Arms manufacture and dealing is a highly profitable global business. It is estimated that yearly, over 1 trillion dollars are spent on military expenditures worldwide. The United States is the top supplier of weapons to the developing world, accounting for around 36% of worldwide weapons sales, followed by Britain and Germany. Western Arms Manufacturers needs battlefields to sell their Arms. An estimated 500,000 individuals die in small arms-conflicts every year, approximately one death per minute. Are these people concerned for the loss of innocent lives or their loss of business?
The Washington Times Editorial [External Link ] (Sunday, 26 April 2009) should be an eye-opener to those masters who still believe that there is something extraordinary under their blue-eyes and white skin.
All your articles talk about how the rest of the world can talk about LTTE while they condemn Taliban,this is clearly not about LTTE, its about the civilians, the stake is so high, if there is few hundred worth figthing but tens of thousand people life at stake, do you still approve this,most of the world condemn when israilis did this to palestines, Hamaz was a terrorist gruop but still all said to stop it,here your own people at stake and you have no sympathy.All matters is killing LTTE, whats if this war is atking place in south, would you encourage this ????
Antonia, you appear to be taking a very high moral ground like all the other enlightened Westeners. Just tell me one thing....where were you when the US led 'Coalition of the Willing' (remember, it included the saintly British) went and massacred the Afgans and Iraqis? Tell me exactly, how many civilians were killed in the pursuit of Binh Laden and Saddam? And take it from the Sri Lanka Armed forces, Sri Lanka has done remarkably well compared to you angels in keeping the collateral damage to a minimum and at the same time rounding up the criminals - something the West could not even dream of. Put the humanitarian issue in proper context Antonia and I can tell you that the people in South are responding faster than any of the rich countries in extending a helping hand to the trapped civilians while the West is wasting tax payers money on shuttle diplomacy. Wouldn't it be better for the West to send some aid for the displaced people instead? Get a life, guys.
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