The Lahore Files: Axis of South Asian terror
(By: Lucien Rajakarunanayake)
"Terrorism anywhere is terrorism and there are
no good terrorists or bad terrorists."
This clear and succinct observation on terrorism was
made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the 15 Summit of SAARC in
Colombo in August last year. On previous occasions the President has
described this in more detail, saying that whether the attacks take
place in New York, London, Madrid or Colombo, terrorism remains the
same.
This week's attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket Team in
Lahore, Pakistan, follows Mumbai last November, and adds to the tally of
Lahore's count of terrorist attacks. It reminds us of the ubiquitous
presence of terrorism today, in case one believes that terrorism comes
from Al Qaeda only or is planned by Osama bin Laden alone.
Whether it is Stephen Sackur in HARDtalk on BBC or
commentators on the Sri Lankan situation, whether from Amnesty
International or Human Rights Watch, or the touchdown and speed-off
journalists of most international media, they are trying hard to
pressure Sri Lanka into agreeing to a ceasefire the Government is
clearly not agreeable to.
This is not because it does not care for international
opinion, or is unconcerned about the suffering of the Tamil people
trapped by the LTTE in the North. It is because the Government
understands well the nature of the enemy it is dealing with, having all
too often experienced how contemptuous it is of international opinion
and the basic norms of humanitarian practice.
Although the attack took place in Pakistan, possibly
by different exponents of terror, and maybe for a different cause or
goal, the trauma that Sri Lanka underwent in those hours of fear for the
lives of its players - the idols of the vast cricket loving population
here - was a grim reminder of the reality of terrorism.
It is not strange that we have not had one word of
condemnation from either AI or HRW of the attack on a team of sportsmen,
on a mission of goodwill to a friendly country, by a pack of all too
well armed terrorists. Sport is not important to these 'humanitarian'
pleaders for the LTTE.
One recalls the efforts of AI to smear Sri Lanka
through its antics at the last Cricket World Cup Tournament in the West
Indies. With the intrusion with venom against Sri Lanka, bringing their
own brand of politics into cricket, AI and others like it, may well have
paved the way for the terrorists in their attack on the Sri Lanka
cricketers and cricket in Pakistan.
Rights of governance
In the cacophony of calls for a ceasefire with the
LTTE, supposedly to ensure the release of the civilians it holds, and
not give a respite to its fighters for 'Rest & Recuperation', one is
reminded of what President Rajapaksa told the UN General Assembly last
September. "What the Government would not, and could not do is to let an
illegal and armed terrorist group, the LTTE, to hold a fraction of our
population, a part of the Tamil community, hostage to such terror in the
northern part of Sri Lanka and deny those people their democratic rights
of dissent and free elections.
"Our Government would only be ready to talk to this
illegal armed group when it is ready to commit itself to decommissioning
of its illicit weapons and dismantling of its military capability, and
return to the democratic fold. The Government has also made it clear
that the elected Government cannot and will not permit undermining of
the territorial integrity of the sovereign UN Member State of Sri Lanka
and the division of its territory. We are clear in this message."
Whatever the proxies, advocates, pleaders and many
other sorts of the LTTE may say, wearing a mask of humanitarianism, in
calling a ceasefire with the world's most brutal terrorist organisation,
the Government's refusal to give in to this is fully in keeping with its
rights as a sovereign member state of the United Nations.
Which means it cannot permit undermining of the
territorial integrity of the sovereign UN Member State of Sri Lanka and
the division of its territory, nor cannot it allow its own citizens to
be held hostage by the forces of terror. The liberty of these people is
the greater humanitarian cause.
The LeT - LTTE axis
The intelligence organisations and defence think-tanks
in key South Asian capitals are studying considerable information that
seeks to uncover those behind the attack on the Sri Lanka cricketers in
Lahore, Pakistan, earlier this week, and their motives.
Their focus is not limited to a single group. They see
in the attack, through a link of terrorist forces, the possibility of
creating a major diplomatic crisis in the entire region bringing Sri
Lanka into a crisis with two of its close regional friends, India and
Pakistan.
Of considerable interest is that the current
suspicions on Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), the group blamed by India
for the attacks on Mumbai, being responsible for this attack, have led
to serious considerations on the possibility of an LTTE link in the
attack on the Sri Lanka cricketers, in view of the known connections the
LTTE has with this group, dating back to 1992.
That was when Kittu, a key figure of the LTTE at the
time, was known to have been negotiating arms purchases for the LTTE in
Peshawar. Subsequently, in 1993, Indian intelligence is known to have
destroyed at sea the vessel carrying arms for the LTTE, killing Kittu,
too.
There had also been considerable speculation that the
Tigers may have had external help in firing the shoulder held missiles
that brought down two Avro aircraft near Palali airbase in April 1995,
killing all civilian passengers and crew. It was believed at the time
that the Tigers may have used mercenaries with links to Peshawar or
Afghanistan, to fire the missiles which hit the aircraft.
The LTTE's links with the LeT continued and there are
many substantiated reports by the intelligence community in South Asia,
particularly India, of the LTTE and LeT exchanging terrorist expertise,
the former being a conduit for arms to the LTTE, and both carrying out
joint training.
Intelligence sources
The information that the attackers had planned to take
the Sri Lankan players hostage, is also being viewed by intelligence
sources in South Asian capitals, in the context of the LTTE's current
position of near defeat, and the search for a bargaining tool for its
call for a ceasefire. Some Indian analysts are of the view that had the
attackers been successful and taken all or any of the Sri Lankan players
hostage, they could have been used for bargaining with Sri Lanka, or
either India or Pakistan or both, which would have led to a major
diplomatic crisis in the region.
There is also good cause for suspicion that the LTTE
may have been trying to seek revenge for the strong support Pakistan has
given to Sri Lanka in its fight against terror, especially from 1999;
support that has done much to bring the LTTE to its present situation of
near defeat.
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