Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond

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Therefore, while the Tamils have accepted and proclaimed LTTEleader Mr. Velupillai Pirapakaran (VP) as their National leaderthrough the last parliamentary election, President MahindaRajapakse has been chosen as their National leader by theSinghalese through the just concluded Presidential election.Leaders’ addresses to their peopleThe victorious President Rajapakse delivered an hour longspeech in parliament on the 25 th of November 2005, outliningthe policies of his government. In this address to his people,he promised to usher in an era of peace by talking to all thestake holders of peace in Sri Lanka. At the same time, he alsoreiterated a few key things he had promised to the Singhalesehardliners in his election manifesto. He proclaimed that he willreject self-determination for the Tamils, that he is committed to a‘’unitary state” controlled by the Sinhala-Buddhist majority, thathe will revise the CFA, that he will dissolve the agreed joint LTTEgovernmentadministration of post-tsunami relief (P-TOMS) andthat for mediation he will use the United Nations and all the otherfriendly nations that have shown interest in the past, includingthe nations in the region. He purposely omitted specificallymentioning what Norway’s role will be. Singhalese hardlinershave been demanding Rajapakse terminate Norway’s role as thefacilitator during the presidential election campaign.Two days later, in his annual address to his people, the LTTEleader Pirapakaran emphasised the LTTE’s aim of self-governmentin a Tamil homeland. He compared the new president’s policywith the LTTE’s own policy and pointed out the existence of vastpolicy differences between the two and warned that Tamils arelosing patience and have started to express their feeling throughresurgence rallies that they have been staging in various Tamildistricts in recent times. He also said that ‘’the new governmentshould come forward soon with a reasonable political frameworkthat will satisfy the political aspirations of the Tamil people.” Ifno such offer is forthcoming, Pirapakaran said, the Tigers willin the next year ‘’intensify our struggle for self-determination.”When Pirapakaran talked about intensifying the struggle for self-38
determination, many analysts and commentators have interpretedthis as an ultimatum to the new President Rajapakse.Future prospect for peaceFrom the stated positions above, of the leaders of the two Nationsof people in Sri Lanka, and going by past experience of peaceattempts made in the country, a renewal of armed conflict isinevitable in Sri Lanka, unless influential forces among the ICexert their pressure on both sides.Full implementation of the CFA is the number one priority todiffuse the existing tension that is building up between the twosides and to restart the peace process. As the disarming of theTamil paramilitary forces working side by side with the SLSFagainst the LTTE is a primary aspect of the CFA, and most ofthe violent incidents happening during the last few months havebeen a direct effect of non-implementation of this disarming, thisis the subject that needs to be addressed immediately.While power-sharing with Tamils has been previously accepted byboth UNP and SLFP governments as the basic necessity to find apolitical solution to the conflict, President Rajapakse’s insistenceon maintaining the “unitary state” makes one wonder whetherthe new President is really as pragmatic a politician as he isbeing described. President Rajapakse’s policy of maintaining the“unitary state” also ignores completely the agreement, reachedbetween the LTTE and the GoSL in Oslo during the peace talks,that both sides will explore the possibility of finding a solutionbased on a federal model.While previous agreements made (but not implemented) betweenthe Singhalese leaders and Tamil leaders, including the 1987Indo-Lanka Agreement, have recognised the North-East regionas the traditional homeland of the Tamils, President Rajapakse’srejection of this fundamental concept is contradictory to thedeclaration he made in parliament that he will usher in an eraof peace satisfying the aspirations of all the communities in SriLanka.39
Page 7 and 8: ContentsIntroduction ..............
Page 9 and 10: IntroductionThe prospects for peace
Page 17 and 18: that I haven’t voted in the elect
Page 19 and 20: Is Peace Feasible?- Wakeley Paul[Wa
Page 21 and 22: In short, Rajapakse’s conception
Page 23 and 24: their leader should be? Obviously n
Page 25 and 26: The Vaddukodai resolutionIf there i
Page 27 and 28: due to the depopulation of vast are
Page 29 and 30: east because the Muslims reacted to
Page 31 and 32: usually tends to be obfuscated in d
Page 33 and 34: consider federal structures based o
Page 35 and 36: The official languageThe question o
Page 37 and 38: the LTTE-led Tamil National Movemen
Page 39 and 40: the LTTE to deliver humanitarian ai
Page 41 and 42: to power sharing. This behaviour, t
Page 43 and 44: political stand of the overwhelming
Page 45 and 46: Sudan’s Interim Power-sharing and
Page 47 and 48: of Norway and with the support of t
Page 49: inception of the CFA, they laid out
Page 53 and 54: The peace talks were mediated by th
Page 55 and 56: Sri Lanka and Tamil Eelam: The Part
Page 57 and 58: e trusted on a permanent basis. The
Page 59 and 60: their times and climes but their vo
Page 61 and 62: 4. Consequently the feeling of a mi
Page 63 and 64: The Armed StruggleIn the arena of c
Page 65 and 66: aircraft, the world has chosen to l
Page 67 and 68: Former President Bill Clinton, who
Page 69 and 70: epresentative, was “review of the
Page 71 and 72: says: “The governments of India a

Conflict in Sri Lanka: Ground Realities - Tamil Nation & Beyond

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