By Editorial Desk
Hopes of peace have been dashed once again. The Geneva talks have come a cropper with the LTTE demanding that the Kandy-Jaffna highway (A-9) be reopened for negotiations to continue. The LTTE had given advance notice of its talk-breaking demand, though it is not known if the government had taken it seriously.
The A-9 highway was a goldmine for the LTTE in that it used to rake in millions of rupees a day by way of illegal taxes from those who used it. The road also stood the LTTE in good stead in the transportation of warlike material. It is natural that the LTTE is perturbed over the closure of that road.
However, the government must heed the plight of civilians who have been left without regular supplies because of the road closure. A full-blown humanitarian crisis may not be far off.
Apart from the financial benefits and the military advantages that the LTTE seeks from the reopening of the highway, its demand is an adroit move which has thwarted the government’s attempt to take up issues such as child recruitment and unprovoked attacks on the troops. The government, which earlier planned to have talks on its terms, has now had to have talks on the LTTE’ terms like in the past or have no talks at all. The government has a great deal to learn from the LTTE about the ‘demand game’ and brinkmanship.
The LTTE wanted a breather, when it realised its ‘final war’ had backfired, in Jaffna. And by luring the government into talks the LTTE has not only got a respite but made it difficult for the government to respond to provocations by shrewdly leaving the door slightly open for talks. If the government resorts to retaliatory military action in the future, especially air strikes, the LTTE will be able to turn the international opinion against the government by claiming that it is jeopardising the frozen talks.
Demands are a potent weapon in the LTTE’s hands, as we have pointed out previously. It first enters negotiations without conditions and then springs surprises for the government to stall talks or to scuttle them once and for all.
Even if the A-9 road had remained open, the LTTE would have come out with some other demand to deadlock the talks. In Oslo last time, it should be recalled, the LTTE refused to meet the government delegation that had gone there for talks on the CFA, on the grounds that it didn’t have ministerial representation. There is no end to LTTE demands. If the A-9 road is re-opened by any chance and talks resume, the LTTE will revive its old demand for ‘disarming paramilitaries’ or setting up the ISGA as a condition for talks so as to derail the negotiations.
If anyone thinks the LTTE is genuinely interested in negotiations aimed at a final solution, he or she is being rather na`EFve. It will agree to talk peace only if all its demands are granted without being made to make any compromises. If that’s the way the aid donors and the other members of the international community want the negotiations conducted, they might as well get the LTTE to fax or e-mail its demands and ask the government to meet them from Colombo without sending its delegates all the way to Geneva at public expense. That way, Switzerland or other well intentioned hosts, too, could be spared the trouble of making elaborate arrangements for talks.
We peddle no argument that the A-9 highway should remain closed. It must be kept open for the benefit of civilians. But, neither party must be allowed to use that road to its advantage. The CFA is not efficacious enough to safeguard the interests of the general public. It is silent on the illegal taxes and its provision for the movement of unarmed troops to use that road was never given effect. The A-9 issue points to the need for amending the CFA or adopting a brand new one.
Now that the LTTE is demanding that the road be re-opened, it must be made to desist from illegal taxes, looting and shell fire, as a condition for re-opening the road. That is the only way to help those thousands of people who are suffering in silence, deprived of cheap and convenient overland transport. However, the architects of the talks must be made to take the full responsibility for the safety of road users.
The biggest threat to global democracy emanates not so much from terrorism but the leniency of the democratic nations towards some terrorist groups. While negotiations are the best way to resolve a conflict, and war must be rejected, any attempt by a group, which has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many leading nations, to hijack a peace process must be thwarted. Unfortunately, the LTTE is today in a position to dictate terms not only to the Sri Lankan government but military super powers – which is perhaps more worrisome than the collapse of talks.
ANN-TI, 31.10.2006