by Tamil Guardian editorial, August 24, 2005
The
welcome
decision
last
week
by
the
Liberation
Tigers
and
the
Sri
Lankan
government
to
hold
direct
talks
on
the
implementation
of
the
February
2002
ceasefire
has
given
a
desperately
needed
boost
to
the
Norwegian
peace
process.
The
talks
are
to
centre
on
the
implementation
of
the
truce.
There
is
much
to
address.
The
increasingly
widespread
killings
that
have
produced
a
climate
of
acute
insecurity
in
many
parts
of
the
island,
particularly
in
the
east,
would
undoubtedly
be
high
on
the
agenda.
The
talks
will
bring
welcome
scrutiny
on
the
details
of
the
ceasefire,
both
breaches
and
failures
of
implementation.
No
doubt
the
negotiations
will
be
acrimonious
and
fraught
with
risk
of
impasse.
But
that
they
are
taking
place
at
all
will
calm
rising
anxieties
for
peace
that
have
become
overwhelming
in
the
wake
of
the
assassination
of
Sri
Lankan
Foreign
Minister
Lakshman
Kadirgamar.
His
killing
Friday
before
last
came
as
a
shock
to
most,
irrespective
of
their
sentiments
towards
Sri
Lanka’s
most
controversial
political
personality.
The
Liberation
Tigers
have
been
blamed
for
the
assassination,
and
although
the
LTTE
has
denied
it,
the
Sri
Lankan
government
has
refused
to
countenance
otherwise.
Given
the
distinctive
role
Mr.
Kadirgamar
has
played
in
undermining
the
LTTE
and
the
Tamil
struggle,
scepticism
of
the
LTTE’s
denial
is
not
unexpected.
But
the
LTTE’s
allusion
to
disgruntled
hardline
elements
within
the
Sri
Lankan
establishment
does
provide
an
answer,
albeit
an
unpalatable
one,
to
the
question
why
now?
The
ceasefire
was
being
held
together
by
a
thread
when
Mr.
Kadirgamar’s
assassins
took
aim.
The
LTTE
argues
the
extremists
had
hoped
to
destroy
the
truce
once
and
for
all
by
triggering
a
tidal
wave
of
outrage
and
political
turmoil.
The
international
community’s
emphatic
calls,
led
by
the
United
States,
for
the
ceasefire
to
be
maintained
and
strengthened
have
thankfully
prevented
such
an
eventuality.
But
only
just.
The
rapid
announcement
last
week
of
new
talks
between
both
sides
has
further
stabilised
matters.
The
world
has
condemned
the
killing
of
Mr.
Kadirgamar.
The
anger
and
dismay
expressed
by
several
governments,
including
the
members
of
the
United
Nations
Security
Council,
are
understandable.
But
the
vehement
reaction
in
southern
Sri
Lanka
and
the
silence
in
the
NorthEast
underlines
Mr.
Kadirgamar’s
distinctive
role
in
Sri
Lanka’s
ethnic
politics
and
conflict.
He
is,
of
course,
credited
with
the
successful
demonisation
abroad
of
the
LTTE
and
the
Tamil
struggle.
But amongst the Tamil people, Mr. Kadirgamar is remembered for other reasons also. Despite his espousal of liberal values, including human rights, he rose time and again to the defence of the Sri Lankan state in the wake of atrocities blamed by international actors on its armed forces. When UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali expressed concern for the plight of the half a million people who fled Jaffna in 1995, Mr. Kadirgamar admonished him. On numerous occasions Mr. Kadirgamar rebuked and threatened the ICRC, MSF and the UN agencies working in Sri Lanka for either exposing or protesting against mass killings and abuses carried out by Sri Lanka’s armed forces.
Mr.
Kadirgamar
was
undoubtedly
a
highly
educated
and
cultured
man.
His
forceful
personality,
bordering
on
arrogance,
ought
to
have
provided
the
Tamils
with
a
voice
in
Colombo.
Instead
his
legacy
amongst
Tamils
is
of
that
of
one
of
us
who
chose
to
side
with
our
oppressors
and
who,
moreover,
dedicated
himself
to
this
task.
This
is
not
to
say,
however,
that
his
assassination
was
justified.
It
has
come
as
a
severe
blow
to
the
peace
process
and
our
efforts
to
secure
international
sympathy
for
the
Tamil
cause.
Yet
amid
the
condemnations
that
such
a
high
profile
political
assassination
inevitably
invoke,
we
cannot
forget
the
recent
and
painful
past.
Mr.
Kadirgamar
was
a
close
confidante
and
an
advisor
to
President
Chandrika
Kumaratunga.
Yet,
he
was
not
a
restraint
on
her
militarism.
Like
her,
he
was
also
an
opponent
of
the
peace
process
on
which
we
have
pinned
so
much
hope.
His
criticism
of
the
Norwegians,
their
initiative
and
the
efforts
of
Ranil
Wickremesinghe’s
government
have
all
contributed
to
the
undermining
of
the
peace
process.
Mr.
Kadirgamar
was
overly
sensitive
to
perceived
infringements
of
Sri
Lanka’s
sovereignty
–
even
by
those
meaning
well.
He
looked
for
weaknesses
rather
than
strengths
in
the
Norwegian
initiative.
And
the
people
of
the
NorthEast,
almost
a
million
of
whom
are
internally
displaced,
continue
to
pay
the
price.
After the degenerative violence of the past year, the forthcoming talks promise a much needed fresh start, albeit a tentative one. It is incumbent on all those concerned for Sri Lanka’s peace to rally behind this new start.
###
Posted August 25, 2005