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COUNTERVIEW | No truck with LTTE PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Ratna Goswami 

Sri Lanka has rejected the LTTE's offer of a ceasefire to the war raging in north-east of the island nation. Its stand will doubtless be decried as counterproductive intransigence. Innocent Tamils are suffering and hence the calls for a political rather than military solution to the conflict. But those passing moral judgment on Sri Lanka's military offensive are off target. Aren't they overlooking the LTTE's caveat that it won't lay down arms? Or that its recent aborted air raid on Colombo signalled its complete lack of interest in peace? For the first time since 1983, the Tamil Tigers have been pushed into a fast-shrinking corner along the north-east coast. If they're now talking truce, there's reason to be suspicious. The LTTE has tactically capitulated before, only to live to fight another day. That's why the deal brokered by Norway in 2002 fell apart.

Tamil civilians have been no more than collateral damage to their own self-proclaimed champions. Recently, the Sri Lankan authorities announced a 48-hour ceasefire, asking the LTTE to ensure safe passage for people trapped in the war zone. There was no response. India also asked the LTTE to disarm. In answer, all the world has seen are horrific reports of civilians being used as human shields or forced labour and children recruited as soldiers. This is not official propaganda; it's a charge levelled by human rights watchdogs.  


Should Sri Lanka believe the LTTE has turned dove overnight? A political solution is the ideal but requires genuine dialogue. If the LTTE wants peace, it must disarm first. There can be no truck with violent groups refusing to come overground. If we sympathise with the 'root causes' of the LTTE's murderous war, shouldn't we do the same for India-baiting terrorists or al-Qaeda's butchers or Taliban's strangulators of freedom? Sri Lanka is within sniffing distance of smashing a terror outfit disingenuously parading as the sole mouthpiece of an ethnic minority whose members are fleeing LTTE-controlled territory by the thousands. Why should Sri Lanka's army snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

Courtesy: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Last Updated ( Friday, 09 October 2009 )
 
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