Whither peace package

The Action Group of Tamils in Colombo (AGOTIC) considered at length Mr Percy Wickremesekera's article, titled "Who are the peace-makers? - A reply" (Sunday Observer, 7 May 1995). It is a response to the statement by AGOTIC, "Who are the peace-makers?" (Sunday Observer, 30 April 1995).

The contents of Mr Wickremesekera's article is the now fairly predictable reaction in the South to critical Tamil opinion. He failed to meet the arguments advanced in our statement. Instead he side-stepped them to make wild and unsubstantiated claims about the motives behind the arguments. He alleged that AGOTIC has sought to "clear the LTTE" of blame for withdrawing from the cessation of hostilities; that we are seeking to "justify the actions of the LTTE"; that the statement has a "communal tone".

He noticed a congruence between AGOTIC's conceptualization of the current stage of the peace process and the approach of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to the same. And here, too, he is tiresomely predictable; he alleged: "if this action group is not a branch of the LTTE in Colombo, at least it certainly attempts to speak for the LTTE in Colombo".

These political witch hunts have become the standard responses in the South to Tamil opinions which contradict Sinhala perceptions. For instance, Tamils (including AGOTIC) who expressed views not opposed to the political positions of LTTE are viewed as pawns or mouthpieces of the LTTE. In other words, it is assumed that critical Tamils and AGOTIC in particular cannot have minds of their own. The intolerance of Sinhala attitudes towards Tamil views which are seen to converge towards LTTE positions was expressed bluntly by Mr Wickremesekera. He arrogantly declared that such Tamil opinions are "unacceptable to us". Cannot Tamils express views which are unacceptable to "them"?

Here Mr Wickremesekera shares the problem fundamental to the political mind-set in the South. His response is a typical example of the hostile reaction in the South to those individuals who courageously voiced Tamil aspirations. Tamils who articulated genuine Tamil aspirations are invariably treated as members or supporters of the LTTE. In this way a constructive dialogue around concrete issues is deliberately sabotaged; and a military solution to the Tamil Question is cynically justified.

There is a sinister aspect in equating Tamil opinion unpalatable in the South to LTTE propaganda. The usual tactic is to imply a security threat to the South and thereby intimidate critical Tamils into silence. In fact the majority of Tamils in the South today are forced to exercise self-censorship in order to escape being branded as "Tiger-lovers". Mr Wickremesekera's comparison, for example, between the AGOTIC statement and the LTTE's statement from London sought to perpetuate precisely the same situation. This reveals a viciously undemocratic attitude and it is an ultimately futile exercise.

AGOTIC agrees fully with Mr Wickremesekera on the problem central to the peace process: that is, the delay in publication of the Government's peace package. In fact AGOTIC has repeatedly called upon Government to commit itself to a peace package as the indispensable first step to a negotiated settlement of the Tamil Question.

(a) More than one year ago, in our 3 May 1994 statement "A message from the Tamils of Colombo" we urged the United National Party (UNP) Government to place its peace package before the people (Island, 8 May 1994).

(b) In our 5 November 1994 "Press Release" we regretted that Mrs Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge, as presidential candidate, neglected to put forward a peace package (Virakesari, 7 November 1994).

(c) In our 21 December 1994 statement "Action Group of Tamils urges a genuine peace package", we again demanded that the President must "immediately put forward a genuine peace package" (Sunday Observer, 1 January 1995).

(d) In our 13 March 1995 statement "Conflict Resolution or Counter Insurgency", we once again urged President Kumaratunge to announce her peace package (Sunday Observer, 19 March 1995).

(e) In our 24 April 1995 statement "Who Are the Peace Makers?" we again invited President Kumaratunge to put forward her peace package (Sunday Observer, 30 April 1995).

We have insisted on the publication of the Government's peace package for obvious reasons. Over the past four decades successive Sinhala-dominated governments have stubbornly refused to consider a devolution of power. Moreover, during this period these governments have presided over gruesome pogroms unleashed against Tamils. Clearly the onus is overwhelmingly upon the PA Government to demonstrate, in the words of Mr Wickremesekera, "that it is going to be different from all governments of the past in respect of its attitude to the minority question or the Tamil problem".

In our 5 November 1994 "Press Release" we also cautioned Mrs Kumaratunge's Government against inviting foreign military intervention to achieve a military solution to the Tamil Question. We stated as follows: "In the event that Mrs Kumaratunge's Government decides to seek a military solution, the effect will be profound. The Sri Lankan armed forces lack the capacity to achieve a military solution. Then what is the way out for the Government? It must not be forgotten that even a foreign military intervention in the North-East could not bring the desired results". In our 21 December 1994 statement we again cautioned the PA Government against turning the conflict resolution approach into a counter-insurgency tactic. We explored this tendency in our 3 March 1995 statement.

Today the prospects for a foreign military intervention appear very real. If it does materialise it will be an unmitigated political disaster for Sri Lanka. Nevertheless AGOTIC is confident that a devolution package along lines suggested by Mr Wickremesekera (Sunday Observer, 30 April 1995) is within our reach. We would request him and others to stop this witch hunt and join us in inducing the Government to desist from seeking help from foreign mercenaries and armies and instead to announce its peace package and begin negotiations with the LTTE immediately.

Dr S Sathananthan Ph D
Secretary
11 May 1995