Another Tiger plan goes awry (The Island Editorial)
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Mr. Ajith Silva (36), and daughters Sulochana and Sewvandi cry as his
wounded wife receives treatment at the National Hospital in Colombo,
following an LTTE suicide attack at the Fort Railway station on
Sunday(03). Eight innocent school children were also killed in the
treacherous LTTE attack.
Image courtesy: AFP
Prabhakaran's plan to derail the Independence Day celebrations went
awry. All that he succeeded in achieving with terror attacks in the run
up to yesterday's ceremony was the gratification of his bestial desire
for ethnic bloodletting. His terror strikes only strengthened the
resolve of the country to battle terror with might and main. A
grief-stricken mother who had lost her daughter in the LTTE bomb attack
at the Fort Railway Station on Sunday called upon the government to
remove the scourge of LTTE terror, regardless of what the consequences
might be, for the sake of future generations.
A similar call was made by a grieving father at Tanamalwila in the
aftermath of the recent massacre by the LTTE. He said the only way to
stop brutal killings of that nature was to put an end to the LTTE. In
other words, both parents were asking the government exercise its Right
to Protect (R2P) civilians against terror attacks. That kind of reaction
of terror victims' parents and kith and kin bears testimony to the fact
that Prabhakaran's attacks on civilians have become counterproductive.
Instead of being frightened into submission, the people are being
emboldened to fight back, as they know appeasement is an exercise in
futility. The end result of LTTE attacks on civilians has been the
mobilisation of the people against terrorism. Rohana Wijeweera, too,
made the blunder of attacking the people to the point of their rising
against him and urging the then government to crush his terror campaign.
Unbridled terror against civilians always causes the people to stand up
to terrorist outfits however ruthless they may be. This is happening in
the Wanni as well. As we said in these columns on Jan. 21, the
resentment of the people under Prabhakaran's jackboot is only too well
known. This is what the University Teachers for Human Rights
(Jaffna)-the UTHR (J)-says about the public mood in the LTTE-held
terrain: "Several LTTE leaders who deal with the people know the extent
of resentment and the curses uttered out of their hearing. Instances of
popular jubilation have also been re****ted when air force bombers hit an
LTTE target. At a place 12 miles north of the frontline, a senior LTTE
leader told some friends, "Should the Army advance this far, the people
would rebel against us!" (UTHR (J) Special Re****t No: 28, Dec. 04, 2007).
Prabhakaran has not yet realised the limitations of his terrorism which
has lost, so to speak, its magic. It was he who plunged a wavering
President Mahinda Rajapaksa into the Mavil Aru anicut and made a hero of
him by forcing him to either swim or drown. He chose to swim and is
faring well. At that time, a deep-rooted myth was that the LTTE was
invincible. Even President Rajapaksa seems to have believed that. He
said in his address to the nation yesterday at the Independence Day
ceremony: "In short, two years ago, no one believed that terrorists
could be defeated. But, during the last two years
we made it a reality in our motherland." Now, the need to defeat
terrorism is foremost on his agenda. He said in his speech, where he
referred to terrorism sixteen times, "As I see it, among im****tant
measure that should be taken to enrich freedom are the defeat of
terrorism, development of the country and consolidating trust among all
people."
He made special mention of the Mavil Aru anicut, where he picked up
Prabhakaran's gauntlet, having tried his utmost to appease the LTTE in
spite of many a provocative act. "Just as every drop of water released
from the Mavil Aru anicut since its liberation," said the President,
"every plant we grow and nurture in our villages under the theme "Let us
grow to build the country" is a gigantic step to nurture the country's
independence and freedom."
President Rajapaksa is also marketing his war effort to the developed
world affected by the scourge of terrorism. "The defeat of the most
ruthless terrorists of the world in Sri Lanka is also a victory of the
developed world, which, too, is a victim of terrorism...," he said in
his address adding that the confidence placed in his government by the
international community had not diminished at all.
Having spurned Provincial Councils, the Regional Councils and then
federalism since 1987, the LTTE has got a choice between Provincial
Councils and fighting once again after twenty years. President
Rajapaksa, who was bending over backwards to accommodate Prabhakaran's
demands two years ago has said in no uncertain terms that the LTTE won't
get anything more than the Provincial Councils: "Friends, our solution
must be based on what could be implemented in this country. We cannot
offer solutions that are experiments. We cannot experiment with
solutions when so much blood has been shed and tens of thousands of
lives have been lost. That is why we selected a solution which can be
implemented and about which we have experience. This practical solution
is to bring the provincial administration closer to the people within
the framework of our Constitution."
The President knows his limits where devolution is concerned.
Antagonising India is the last thing he can afford in battling the LTTE.
And the beaten track is said to be the surest and safest. So, he may
have opted for the path of least resistance-the Indian remedy. The
federalist lobby that put all its eggs in the LTTE's basket and banked
on the international community to hatch them is naturally disappointed.
They must have let out a string of expletives when the President said
yesterday, "This commitment of ours is to go forward as a single,
unitary state." (Emphasis added)
A prisoner of his own violence, Prabhakaran has no need for a political
solution, short of a separate state, which he can turn into something
like Cambodia under Pol Pot or Afghanistan under Taliban. He will go on
unlea****ng violence and hoping against hope.
The LTTE blasted a bus yesterday, too, in Weli Oya killing 20, while
these comments were being written. Its desperation knows no bounds and
it is likely to ratchet up such cowardly strikes in time to come until
it runs out of the huge stock of claymore mines smuggled in during the
first few years of the recently ended truce.
But, its goal will remain a mirage!
Courtesy: The Island
--
For genuine Situation Re****t visit:
http://www.nationalsecurity.lk
http://www.defence.lk/
http://www.army.lk/index1.php
http://www.nmatnet.com/
http://www.sinhalaya.info/index-EN.php
Worth to look following to see how brutal Tamil Tiger Terrorists are
Child Soldiers of LTTE Tamil Tiger Terrorists in Sri Lanka
http://www.spur.asn.au/childwar.htm
Ethnic Cleansing in Sri Lanka
http://www.spur.asn.au/ethnic_cleansing_in_sri_lanka.htm
LTTE TAMIL TIGER ATROCITIES
http://www.spur.asn.au/ltteatrp.htm
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