| SRI LANKA WATCH |
| TALK OF TAMIL HOMELAND by Daya Gamage Former United States President Bill Clinton once told one of his closest acquaintances Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at Yale’s School of Management that "when your critics are wrong, fire back on all cylinders. Take it on with full force and don’t let up." Sri Lanka’s failure to grasp the 'mindset' of the U.S. State Department when Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, last June in Sri Lanka espoused "Tamil Homeland" concept, the non-negotiable one of the "Five Thimpu Principles" of the Liberation Tigers (LTTE), ignorance of Boucher’s frequent contacts with United States Congressmen who are interested in the subjects under his watch and less or no interest of learning Sri Lanka’s pro-LTTE lobby in the this country gave rise to the endorsement of the "concept" by a prominent and senior congressman in the well of the House this week. Quoting Boucher’s statement in Colombo endorsing the homeland concept, the New Jersey Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone, speaking in the House on Wednesday, September 27, said "I echo this sentiment and support a solution that retains Sri Lanka’s unity. Yet, it should grant a level of autonomy to ethnic minorities like the Tamils. We have seen very similar successful situations throughout the world. Places like Quebec in Canada, Wales and Scotland in Great Britain are all part of their Federal Nations but have significant autonomy." (The full text of his speech is given below). The officials of the Government of Sri Lanka, domestic or overseas, who do background papers and brief President Mahinda Rajapaksa, have so far failed to understand or monitor which official of the United States government and which lawmaker in the U.S. Congress are being approached by professionals of the Tamil Tigers to influence or change their thinking on the National Question in Sri Lanka. U.S. Congressman from New Jersey Frank Pallone, whose electoral district gives shelter to the well known LTTE lobby Ilankai Tamil Sangam, expressed a different sentiment when he addressed the House on March 22, 2002: "In the upcoming months, it is important to watch closely how this peace process unfolds in Sri Lanka. The Prime Minister (Ranil Wickremasinghe) is willing to negotiate all forms of settlement with the LTTE, except for establishment of an independent homeland for the Tamil community. I agree that the LTTE should not have an independent state within Sri Lanka." One could see how Pallone, at that time, linked "Tamil Homeland" to LTTE’s “independent state.” Within four years, his mind was changed. Is this to the credit of Sri Lanka and its officials, domestic and overseas, who are engaged in public diplomacy? Do those who advise President Rajapaksa aware that the most active pro-LTTE Tamil Sangams operate in the Frank Pallone’s electoral district in the State of New Jersey and that a high concentration of Sri Lankan Tamils, who are under the influence of Tamil Tiger operatives, live within this electoral district? And, are they aware that the electoral district of Congressman Rush Holt, who receives reports on Sri Lanka situation from ‘outside sources’ independent of officials of the Sri Lanka government, is also located close proximity to where the ‘high priests’ of Tamil eelam reside? Pallone said this on 2 March 1999 in the U.S. House of Representatives when the Congressional Human Rights Caucus debated the developments in Sri Lanka: "My interest in Sri Lanka stems from the constituents of Sri Lankan origin that live in my district in New Jersey. As a result of my contact with the Sri Lankan community in the U.S., and my interest in Sri Lanka, I along with 10 of my colleagues, established in October 1998, the Congressional Caucus on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Americans." Frank Pallone, who has been in the Congress since 1988, is now the co-chair of this Sri Lanka Caucus. Sri Lanka is totally unable to perform "When your critics are wrong, fire back on all cylinders. Take it on with full force and don’t let up.” Why? It has no credible information and research to “take it on with full force." Sri Lanka should have "fire back on all cylinders" when Richard Boucher espoused "Tamil Homeland", and this South Asian nation, which has faced a well organized rebel separatist group, militarily powerful as a non-state player and diplomatically advanced in the international arena since mid-eighties, allowed the Tamil separatists to ‘re-adjust’ the ‘mindset’ of policymakers of the sole Superpower, that (1) the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, though use terrorist tactics, in fact speaks for the ethnic minority Tamils (2) that this ethnic minority Tamils are domiciled in the north and east of the country (3) therefore granting a ‘homeland’ in the north-east provinces, which in the belief of American lawmakers and State Department officials is predominantly Tamil, is the most reasonable devolution package to solve the Tamil National Question in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan state has fails to understand that when State Department officials espouse "Tamil Homeland" it brings legitimacy to the struggle launched by the Tamil Tigers. Its failure to separate the Tigers from Tamil grievances enhanced the ‘clout’ of the LTTE in any bargaining forum. Now, it has reached the United States Congress. This South Asian nation’s failure to combat the disinformation and distortions of the professional agents of the Tamil Tigers was displayed last week in Washington when Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, the chief negotiator with the LTTE for the Rajapaksa Administration, met with several United States Congressmen to present Sri Lanka’s position. A week later, for Congressman Frank Pallone to espouse "Tamil Homeland" in a congressional session endorsing State’s Richard Boucher’s official position on the issue clearly shows that in recent months, after Rajapaksa was elected the president, Sri Lanka failed to "fire back on all cylinders" to separate the Tamil people from the Liberation Tigers projecting the latter as a ruthless terrorist group which suppresses the basic human and democratic rights of the ethnic group that it said to be defending and that majority of the ethnic Tamils in fact are domiciled outside the so called "homeland" outside the clutches of the Tamil Tigers. All these congressional critics come from New Jersey: Democratic Congressman Rush Holt’s association with the Tiger lobby goes back to several years. He attended the Members’ briefing organized by the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on July 26, 2005 at Rayburn Building of the Capitol Hill in Washington on "Sri Lanka: Challenges and Efforts to Effectively Deliver Humanitarian Relief in the wake of the Tsunami." Sri Lanka ambassador to the United States Bernard Goonetilleke will vouch what turn the session took when Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam presented his paper. Last week Holt told Minister De Silva in Washington that he wrote to Secretary of State Condi Rice to appoint a special envoy to Sri Lanka and that this envoy "be a high-level official with the ear of President Bush and you", and that this envoy’s "mandate should be clear and must include efforts to increase monitoring of human rights violations." Very soon Bush will not only learn where Sri Lanka is geographically located but will be convinced that there is a growing concept of "Tamil Homeland" by "popular demand", a notion well concealed that it is one of the "non-negotiable" five demands of the Liberation Tigers first brought at Thimpu Talks way back in mid eighties rejected by successive governments. How far has the overseas agents of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam gone, and how far Sri Lanka has to travel to catch up with those guys? Congressman Rush Holt was obviously briefed that the location the Sri Lankan air force attacked in Mullaitivu was a building that housed school children for him to use the term "school" when he had his audience with the Minister. Minister De Silva had to correct him to say that even the LTTE had characterized it as an "orphanage." The "interpretation" from the operatives of the LTTE reached these congressmen far earlier when Sri Lanka was turning where to start. In the press release issued by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington on September 22 on Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva and other delegates discussions with the United States Congressmen stated: C"ongressman Holt who in his discussions with the Sri Lanka delegation acknowledged that the information received by him from various sources was often conflicting and said he was very pleased to hear the views expressed by the Minister, particularly that Sri Lanka was having transparent investigations into allegations of human rights abuses." Does this mean that Congressman Rush Holts received the information independent of any Sri Lankan authority and that it was the first time the congressman listened to an official explanation to volatile issues that were distorted by "others" and that this official explanation is from a visiting Minister and not from his country’s representatives in the United States capital? On several occasions these columns stated the importance of public diplomacy to change the "mindset" of the officials of the United States Department of State, and that was long before Mahinda Rajapaksa won his presidency. The vitality of constantly maintaining a rapport with leading and influential congressmen was also stressed. Several contributions in these columns gave specific evidences as to how the LTTE lobby works in the United States. And, stressed the importance of forcefully stating the position to combat misinformation and distortions of the Tamil Tigers while recognizing the existence of Tamil grievances that need to be given high priority and convince the international community that Sri Lanka is genuinely searching for a political solution. None of these seems to have been done forcefully. Rajapaksa administration is now approaching the completion of one year, and it is not too late even now to "fire back on all cylinders, take it on with full force and never let up." For that, Sri Lanka needs to study the behavior and sentiments of principal players in the State department and the Congress who could make things easier or difficult for this South Asian nation. They need to do lot of research, make themselves aware of the concerns that the international community raise when they meet Sri Lankan officials, arm with answers to convince them by changing their "mindset" which was conditioned by Tamil Tiger propaganda and lobbying for a considerable long period to arrive at the negotiating table with strength while making the LTTE not the sole opposition negotiator but one of the negotiators among several other forces that represent all three ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. Did anyone noticed that both Frank Pallone and Rush Holt are Democrats, and so was Congressman Danny Davis, who undertook a tour in Tamil Tiger controlled territory? And anyone who is knowledgeable of the "political shading" of State Department officials at any given time, they are not very far from liberal politics. In this country, liberals and democrats are well known to champion human rights and ethnic diversity more than the conservative Republicans, and it is more advantageous for Sri Lanka to get its message across with cogent arguments to marginalize the separatist Tamil Tigers so that by the time the Democrats re-gain the House in November, which will partially disable the Republican White House, ground work has been laid to bring a durable peace to that resplendent land. AT, 30.9.2006 Also Read the full text of Frank Pallon' s speech Mr. Speaker, we are on the verge of a full-scale war in Sri Lanka. The 2002 cease-fire agreement and the peace process in Sri Lanka between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam, LTTE, is essentially nonexistent. The violence is escalating and thousands of Sri Lankan civilians are suffering. These past few months have resulted in nearly 2,000 deaths with more than 200,000 displaced persons. The fighting has also blocked access to essential supplies for many parts of the northeastern province, cutting off more than 60,000 Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils from water. This sinister cycle of war, cease-fire and then more war is not effective. Each side blames the other side and the situation is only getting worse. Hostilities must end and violence must not be the means for resolving ethnic conflict. All efforts must be focused on restoring and sustaining peace, and both parties must swallow their pride for the sake of their Nation. Norway and the co-chairs of the Tokyo Donors' Conference, which includes the United States, have called for a return to unconditional negotiations in October. This return to the negotiating table is critical, and I am fully supportive of this effort. Both parties must guarantee the safety of its citizens, aid workers and peace monitors. Meanwhile, the LTTE must denounce terrorism as a means to its political aspirations. Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe the majority of people in Sri Lanka would be in favor of a democratic solution to the conflict. The political challenges cannot be resolved through war, and that is clear. In June, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher stated "though we reject the methods that the Tamil Tigers have used, there are legitimate issues raised by the Tamil community and they have a legitimate desire to control their own lives, to rule their own destinies, and to govern themselves in their homeland." I echo this sentiment and support a solution that retains Sri Lanka's unity. Yet, it should grant a level of autonomy to ethnic minorities like the Tamils. We have seen very similar successful situations throughout the world. Places like Quebec in Canada, Wales and Scotland in Great Britain are all part of their Federal Nations but have significant autonomy. Mr. Speaker, the situation in Sri Lanka is certainly not getting any better. As we have seen over the past few months, international monitors are leaving the country, scared for their well-being. The United Nations has threatened to revoke its international aid. If this pattern of violence continues without pursuit of a political solution, the international community may completely rescind its support. Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge both sides to recommit to the process of sustaining peace in Sri Lanka. The devastating effect this is having on the civilian population of the country is not just. It is up to both parties to find a way to ensure the safety and security of all the people of Sri Lanka. AT, 30.9.2006 |