Scepticism Looms
over Softened Stance
Tamil Tigers Drop
Demand for a Separate State in Sri Lanka
Feizal Samath
COLOMBO:
The scepticism that has greeted the Tamil Tigers' softening of
their positions in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict shows the challenge
that the government faces in getting acceptance of any peace deal
between the rebels and the state.
Tiger guerrillas, who have been fighting for a homeland for the
country's minority Tamils for 19 years, surprised even their ardent
supporters when they said at last week's peace talks that they
would enter the democratic political mainstream.
But even as they prepare to do this and allow more room for dissent
in rebel-controlled areas, many people here are watching how each
and every step in the current peace process goes. ''I don't believe
them (the Tigers). There are inconsistencies in what they say
"all the time,'' argued S Sivathasan, an ex-parliamentarian
and high-ranking member of the Eelam People's Democratic Front,
a Tamil political party and arch opponent of the rebels.
Clearly, the government, which faces criticism from some politicians
and hardline groups among the country's Sinhala majority, has
to bridge the gap between ''the words (of the rebels), the agreement
(in the peace process), and the ground reality'', says political
analyst Jehan Perera.
''I know there is a lot of scepticism over rebel announcements,''
says Perera, media director at the National Peace Council. ''But
it is up to the government to hold the rebels accountable. My
own feeling is that the rebels would keep to their side of the
bargain.''
Nearly a week after the second round of talks in Thailand ended
on Nov. 3, many are still talking about the unexpected announcements
the Tigers have made so far. At the first round of talks in September,
Anton Balasingham, chief negotiator of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the rebels no longer aimed for a separate
state but for genuine regional autonomy in the north and east,
the areas where most Tamils live.
At last week's talks, Balasingham said the rebels wanted to enter
the democratic political mainstream after a political solution
is reached in a conflict that has cost the lives of some 64,000
people.
The rebels also said other groups within the Tamil community were
free to engage in the democratic process, remarks that were in
sharp contrast to how they did not brook opposition from Tamil
civilians or groups in the past and had opponents threatened or
killed.
The Tigers pledged to stop recruiting children into their fighting
units, a pledge that Sivathasan recalls they made to the United
Nations years ago but did not keep. Last
week, the two sides created a joint panel that will oversee rehabilitation
efforts in Sri Lanka's north and east.
The rebels and the government also agreed to start discussing
the more difficult core political issues in coming negotiations.
Thus far, an interim administration in the north and east has
been seen as a temporary step before a permanent solution is found.
In the future, government officials close to the negotiations
said, both sides were expected to look at administrative models
for the north and east that would grant greater autonomy to the
current provincial councils, introduced in 1987 in an Indian-brokered
attempt to end the conflict.
Some models of federalism they are expected to consider are that
of Canada, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have different
relationships between the central and regional administrations.
But there may be other ways by which the government could have
a chance to better sell the peace package to appease its Sinhalese
majority. A veteran journalist and military analyst, who requested
anonymity, says the government and the rebels could resort to
a prolonged ''armed truce'', with Colombo using the peace dividend
to develop the south and rebuild the north and the east.
''Under
an armed truce, both sides are armed and continue to arm themselves
but won't fight,'' he said. ''This situation would continue for
a while. The economy will prosper under a peace dividend, and
the government would use prosperity to soften hardline elements
in the south on
the prospects of the rebels controlling the north and the east.''
Analysts believe the government is gradually moving toward legitimising
the rebels' legal, revenue collection, banking and administrative
structures already in place in the areas they control. Thes rapidly-growing
structures have drawn criticism from hardline Sinhalese political
parties and President Chandrika Kumaratunga, arch foe of Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's ruling United National Party.
These critics have accused the rebels of quietly carving out a
separate state and the government of turning a blind eye to this.
''I think the government will gradually recognise these (LTTE)
institutions but make sure they come under some form of standardisation.
These systems are compatible with a federal system and I don't
think the government would try to dismantle them,'' says the NPC's
Perera.
For now, many are watching how the Tigers carry out the commitments
they have made so far. For instance, media carried reports this
week of complaints by Paul Harris, a Colombo-based British journalist
for the 'Daily Telegraph', who said the government had refused
to extend his visa because he was ''a threat to national security''.
Harris, who has been critical of the LTTE and has close contacts
with the opposition People's Alliance, Kumaratunga's party, claims
the Tigers, despite their stated openness to criticism, pressured
the government to ask him to leave.
Vinton Somadasa, a taxi driver, says this is one reason why he
still does not trust the rebels. ''The Tigers are still bringing
in arms from outside. Why? It must be to be ready for another
battle.''
