Fight not against Tamils, but against LTTE terrorism -Defence
Secretary
[By: Shanika Sriyananda]
 While concerns about the plight of Wanni civilians
escalated with more MPs from the Tamil Nadu Government resigning in
protest and demanding the intervention of the Indian Central Government,
the Sri Lankan Government reiterated its commitment to end LTTE
terrorism. While the issue has reached boiling point in Tamil Nadu which
is going for its elections soon, Sri Lanka's no nonsense Defence
Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said that it was very unfair for Tamil
Nadu to demand of the Indian Government, which has a longstanding
relationship with Sri Lanka, to pressurise the Sri Lankan Government to
halt military offensives against the LTTE. Rajapaksa, who fought many
battles against the LTTE when he was in the Army, told the Sunday
Observer that the fight is not against Tamils, but to combat LTTE
terrorism.
"More than for us, terrorism is a serious problem to
India. Therefore, India should assist us more to defeat
LTTE terrorism", he said.
Excerpts of the interview:
Q: What is the military assistance that Sri Lanka is
getting at the moment?
|
*
Government will continue to have a close relationship with India
and will continue to get military assistance.
*
Humanitarian crisis in Wanni is LTTE's false propaganda.
*
Government is trying to liberate Tamils from the clutches of the
LTTE.
*
Tamil Nadu has come forward to save the LTTE, but no one can
save the LTTE.
*
Government has adopted the zero casualty of civilians.
*
Civilians will break all hard rules of the LTTE and come to
liberated areas.
*
Prabhakaran is a terrorist, not a democrat.
*
Tamil Diaspora and the international community should understand
the ground realities of the war.
*
Young LTTE cadres should not be caught up in LTTE's false
promise of an Eelam.
*
Media needs to be responsible in reporting in the present
context. |
A: From the inception of the Sri Lankan Army we are
getting military assistance from India and it is mainly the training. We
have a good relationship with India and also with its military. Indian
military assistance for us is not a new thing and we are getting their
help for the last so many years. Among the military assistance, training
of military personnel is given priority. But, India is not giving us any
offensive weapons like artillery and mortars or aircraft. However, we
will continue to have our relationship with India and continue to get
whatever the assistance we are getting from India.
Q: But, some political parties in Tamil Nadu have
demanded of the Indian Government to stop all military assistance to us
until our government stops the war in Wanni.
A: It is a very unfair request by them because we have
a long-term bilateral relationship with India. Tamil Nadu should not
request that because we are not fighting against Tamils, but against
terrorism, which is a deadly menace to the whole world. More than for
us, terrorism is a serious problem for India.
In fact, we should get more assistance from India to
counter terrorism. Especially the LTTE is a banned organisation. These
politicians must not forget that their popular leader, loved by most of
the Indians, was killed by the LTTE. They should not forget problems
that the LTTE has created in Tamil Nadu. There were LTTE gangs and the
law and order was completely messed up by the LTTE. These political
parties should realise that the so-called problems faced by Wanni
civilians are false propaganda by the LTTE. They must understand the
ground realities. Here, we are trying to safeguard Tamils from the
clutches of the LTTE. This has been proved very clearly during the last
three years. How we have liberated the Eastern Province is the best
example. It is clear how we have cleared the area from the LTTE, and how
we have transferred the power to their own people. Now they have their
own Chief Minister and an MP who were former LTTEers. It is the best
example to show the effectiveness of the power of the people rather than
power of the gun. There the Government has given the former guerillas to
come to the democratic mainstream to develop their much neglected areas.
It is the responsibility of everyone to help them to learn the art of
living within a democratic framework. It is not an easy task for them
too. They have to change their previous stances to adjust themselves
into the new life.
On the other hand, only this Government has given the
Eastern Tamils the opportunity to have their own administration. The
13th Amendment was brought decades back but till this year it was not
practised.
Q: Tamil Nadu politicians are trying their best to
halt military offensives in Wanni. Why do you think that they have
suddenly become so vociferous about civilians?
A: The LTTE has been trying and waiting for this to
happen so long. We know that some of the TNA MPs are living in these
areas and they are working hard on behalf of the LTTE. They have also
invited the Tamil Nadu politicians to come forward to save the LTTE.
Because it is very clear that the LTTE is at a decisive stage. And no
one can stop them getting defeated. So, they are trying their maximum to
get Tamil Nadu to pressurise the Indian Government to pressurise the Sri
Lankan Government. That is what the LTTE want and that is why this
sudden pressure is coming. The Government expects this situation as we
know there is no other way for the LTTE. Anyway, the LTTE cannot escape
facing military offensives now.
Q: TMVP leader Karuna Amman called this a political
gimmick as the TN elections are around the corner. What is your comment?
A: Yes, the election is also another factor for them
to be so active. These issues would be popular among them to attract
Tamils there. The other is the false propaganda by the LTTE to show
there is a humanitarian crisis in Wanni.
Q: What are the other major concerns of India apart
from the military operations?
A: One issue is about their fishermen. For the last so
many years the Sri Lankan Government has allowed Indian fishermen to
fish in Sri Lankan waters.But as these waters are in the high security
zones the Sri Lankan fishermen were not allowed to do fishing. But as a
good gesture the Government has allowed the Indian fishermen to carry on
fishing. They have crossed the international borders and are doing
fishing in these areas. We have not taken any action but only thing we
have requested is for them to stick to the security stipulations because
the LTTE was using these fishermen to attack the Sri Lankan Navy. They
pretend to be fishermen to carry out these attacks and smuggle weapons.
We have asked them not to fish in areas which are very close to military
camps and navel bases. Instead of going against the Sri Lankan
Government the TN government must thank us for allowing their people to
do fishing in our waters. For the last three years we have never
prosecuted a single Indian fisherman though they are coming to our
areas. Though we have arrested and questioned them, they were not
subjected to any legal process. But look at the plight of the Sri Lankan
fishermen who are fishing in Indian waters. They are being arrested,
prosecuted and detained for over two to three months. There is not a
single Indian fisherman in our custody.
The Tamil Nadu Government should educate their
fishermen about our security concerns instead of putting pressure on us.
Another issue is the IDPs. It is not a crisis in Sri
Lanka. It is very clear how this government tackled the IDP issue in the
East. There was a large number of displaced people during the clearing
of the East. Over 95 a percent of the IDPs are now resettled and we have
solved the issue better than any other part of the world. Now we are
prepared to tackle the IDP issue in the North and we have begun sending
food and necessary items for the civilians trapped in Wanni. Though the
LTTE is holding the land and control people, the administration is run
by the Government through the GAs who are responsible for the
distribution of food and handling of all other sectors from education to
health to welfare.
What the LTTE did and is doing is controlling these
civilians by force. Now what the Government is trying is to take this
control out from them to establish democracy. No responsible government
can allow anyone to terrorise its people. The administrative control is
there and we are trying to provide food for the civilians who are
trapped in Wanni. The Government will not discontinue sending relief and
we will continue to feed these people. Last week over 39 civilians have
fled from Mullaithivu to Pulmudei. They did not complaint about lack of
food, but the reason that they have come to these areas is because they
wanted to escape the LTTE. There is a youth who has got entrance to the
Jaffna University, but the LTTE has blocked him so he has come to
liberated area with his family. So we have arranged for him to go to
Jaffna University. The LTTE is trying to create a humanitarian crisis
there for their own benefits.
Q: India is also concerned about civilian casualties.
Are there any steps taken to minimise the number of civilian casualties?
A: The policy of the Government in these military
offensives is the zero casualty of civilian's. We can proudly boast
about the zero casualties in the Eastern liberation. That does not exist
anywhere in the world. No military can talk about this concept and only
the Sri Lankan military has adopted this concept because the Government
is seriously concerned about people of this country. Whether they are
Sinhalese or Tamils or Muslims, the Government is bound to look after
them all. We consider all these communities as Sri Lankans.
Q: But can the military maintain the same concept when
the offensives are getting stronger?
A: At one stage civilians will break all hard rules of
the LTTE and come to liberated areas. They will not remain in the midsts
of the battle. This is not just a prediction but the reality which
happened in the East. People came from Sampur to Vakarai and then
crossed into government controlled areas. Same process will take place
in Mullaithivu also.The pictures about civilian casualties published in
the pro LTTE web sites were not taken in the recent past but very old
ones. What I want to reiterate is that the Government is not against
Tamils but purely against terrorism.
Q: Another major allegation is that the Rajapaksa
Government is encouraging genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. What is your
comment?
A: I strongly refute that allegation. That is not the
truth and genocide is not taking place in Sri Lanka. That is just
propaganda by the LTTE. They use these words like 'genocide' to get more
international attention. As a responsible government we know exactly who
the innocent Tamils are and who the terrorists are. Our responsibility
is to look after the innocent Tamil civilians and destroy the
terrorists. Remember, they are only talking about a Tamil population of
150,000 who are living in Kilinochchi and Mullathiv. But what about the
Tamils who are scattered throughout the country. They are living with
all the communities like in a one family. If genocide is taking place in
Sri Lanka how many Tamils living in these areas would have been killed
upto now? This is all propaganda work of the terrorists. It is time for
the Tamil Diaspora and the international community to understand these
ground realities.
Q: If India pressurises to halt military offensives,
will the Government stop military offensives to liberate Wanni?
A: I am sure that India will not do so. We have
clearly underlined our stand.
The Sri Lankan President reiterated that if there are
issues for the Tamils or any other community, those will be solved
through political means. The Government is not trying to resolve the
national problem through military means. What we are trying is to crush
a military matter militarily. The LTTE terrorism is a military issue and
sees what they are doing through terror - killing innocent people and
politicians who go against them. The LTTE does not spare anyone who
stands against them. I believe that there is no other way to control
terrorism and it is only through military means.
Q: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too wanted the
Government to come up with a negotiated settlement rather than a
military solution.
A: Yes, negotiations should be done among the
democratic political parties.
That is what he has meant. That is what the All Party
Conference summoned by the President is all about. All the political
parties were asked to take part and that is the place for negotiations.
President Rajapaksa is committed to negotiate with the political
parties. What they can do at the APC is to discuss and come out with a
proposal to solve the national problem and then if it is acceptable the
President can implement the proposal. But in the mean time he had given
them the opportunity to find ways to solve the problem within the frame
work of the available Constitution. The best method that we have is the
13th Amendment, but the President asked the APC members whether there is
a necessity to go beyond the 13th Amendment.
Q: Is there any possibility to bring Prabhakaran into
peace talks?
A: We have tried this several times, but Prabhakaran
is a terrorist and not a democrat. The Government does not want to talk
to him as we had been cheated previously. Bringing Prabhakaran to the
negotiating table is not a new thing and for the last twenty years, five
Presidents tried to talk with him. The UNP which tried for 14 years had
ended up with Prabhakaran blowing up President Premadasa. Then the
Chandrika Bandaranaike Government tried. The international third parties
India and Norway intervened but failed.
All these occasions the LTTE strengthened themselves
to hit back at the Security Forces. They used peace talks as a cover up
to open avenues to procure arms, and recruit new cadres. During the last
period of the Ceasefire Agreement what they did was strengthen their
military power. The amount of weapons including heavy artillery and
mortars, machine guns, explosives that we captured from the East are the
evidences for this claim. They got aircrafts and boats for their Sea
Tiger Unit during the CFA. They had trained their cadres during the CFA.
Recently a person arriving from Malaysia who was taken into custody
disclosed where huge amounts of explosives were hidden in some areas.
The stock was brought to Colombo during the CFA and
hidden to use later.
We found lots of explosives from the upcountry. They
have trained suicide cadres during the CFA and constructed bunkers in
strategically important places during the CFA as they had a military
plan to capture Trincomalee.
According to their plan, they prepared to declare
Eelam. It is fool hardy for anybody to talk with Prabhakaran or the LTTE
now. The LTTE is not the sole representative of the people and there are
moderate Tamil leaders in this country. They are the people whom the
Government should talk with. They are the people that should get
involved in the APC and come out with a proposal but not Prabhakaran.
Q: As the Secretary Defence are you happy with the
military successes that the Security Forces are gaining?
A: Yes, of course. What we have achieved for the last
three years we have never achieved in the last twenty years. We have
done extremely well in defeating the LTTE. This is mainly thanks to the
Commanders of the three forces and other military leaders at various
levels. And also this is due to the commitment of the soldiers. Their
courage has brought us military victories.
Q: According to your predictions how soon can the
Security Forces capture the entire Wanni?
A: It is very difficult to give time frames because in
military operations we never know what obstacles you come across. But,
we are confident of liberating Wanni. We have some more areas in
Kilinochchi and Mullathiv, where they have been concentrating for longer
periods as they know that they have to fight hard with the military one
day. But facing whatever the difficulties, the military will capture the
entire Wanni.
Q: Talking about the improvement of man and fire power
of the Security Forces, are we steady enough to face any offensive in
future?
A: Yes, we have developed the strength of the three
forces and the Police during the last three years. It is an increase of
30 percent and we are bringing more armour and getting more training. We
are superior number wise and also quality wise. Sri Lankan Security
Forces have professionalism now. Training is the number one and lots of
emphasis has been given to improve training at all levels. Now our
forces are well trained and have the capability of facing any situation.
The officers are very professional. Well trained and ready to face any
situation. At the same time, from the Commanders to the three forces
most of the officers have faced the LTTE. They have gone through all the
major operations and have lots of experience and knowledge on how to
adapt to situations. This has made it easy to change the operational
tactics and that has brought lots of success. With regard to fire power
we have a high standard and most importantly the morale of commitment is
also high among the soldiers.
Q: Do we need additional man power to liberate Wanni?
A: Recruitment and training is going on. It is not
only getting the control of Wanni, maintaining the stability is also
important. Then only normalcy will prevail. We will continue with the
recruiting process and training.
Q: The LTTE had used CF gas thrice to attack the front
lines. Is there any information that they will use more deadly chemicals
and are we ready to face such attacks?
A: Yes, they have used gas at the front lines. They
may be having similar varieties in their hands but they cannot bring
more developed ones in large quantities. We are ready to face such
attacks and those who are in the front lines have been given protective
masks. We have countered those attacks effectively and I do not think it
would be a serious problem for us. And I do not think that they would
develop more deadly ones. If they had the capability they would have
attacked us earlier.
Q: What is your message for the LTTE leaders and
cadres and as the Secretary Defence can you guarantee their safety?
A: Yes, definitely we will assure their safety and the
Government is compelled to do so if they come unarmed. The best example
is the East. Those cadres who were fighting with the Security Forces
have given up arms and surrendered. Now the Government is helping them
to go back to normal life. They have been rehabilitated and given
vocational training.
Similarly, if those who are in Wanni come to us
leaving their arms we will welcome them. Those who are unarmed would not
be considered as LTTE terrorists but welcomed as normal civilians. So
anybody can give up arms and cross to liberated areas, Then we can
support them to get back to normal life.
I think these youth should not be caught in the LTTE's
false propaganda or their ideologies that they can declare Eelam.
It is very attractive to promise young people to give
them a separate country and to motivate them to kill whoever goes
against their ideology. It is very easy to give a wrong impression of a
government or a particular community. It is also easy to brainwash these
young minds. It is time for them to understand, what the LTTE leader
brought for Tamils for the last three decades. It is nothing other than
destruction.
The LTTE cadres should understand now that they are
the people who are suffering.
Prabhakaran has destroyed the lives of his own people,
their education and also their culture. These cadres should also
remember that the Tamils who are living abroad like Canada, USA, UK and
in other European countries while having luxury lives send money not to
develop the lives of their own people, who are suffering under the
clutches of the LTTE but to strengthen the LTTE.
They put the innocent Tamils more into war while doing
good jobs and giving good education to their children. But the children
of innocent Tamils are fighting and dying for an unworthy cause.
Q: You had clashes with the media in the recent past.
What is your present assessment about media?
A: I have no clashes with the media, but what I have
said was that the media has to be responsible in reporting. That is very
important as this is not a normal situation. Because now we are facing
this problem for more than twenty years. It is very clear that defeating
LTTE terrorism is vital if the country needs permanent peace. The
Government cannot allow the LTTE to continue like this. How many
generations are to go through this? One can forget the past and just
talk and write. But in the present context they should analyse and talk.
If they want this country to be a united country, then
everybody has to support to destroy the LTTE. It is good to talk about
media freedom, but media freedom comes after the freedom of the country.
Without a country it is useless to talk about media freedom. Without
jeopardising the thing media should help the Security Forces to defeat
the LTTE.
Courtesy : Sunday Observer |
