Gajalakshmi Paramasivam – 22 January   2016

Who Will Save Sri Lanka?

[Well may we say "God save the Queen", because nothing will save the Governor-General! The Proclamation which you have just heard read by the Governor-General's Official Secretary was countersigned Malcolm Fraser, who will undoubtedly go down in Australian history from Remembrance Day 1975 as Kerr's cur. ] The Hon Gough Whitlam – 21st Prime Minister of Australia

I was reminded of the above when I read the following news this morning:

‘The president of Sri Lanka has said foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in an investigation into allegations of war crimes.’ BBC

If such is the case – then Sri Lankans must prepare for Sri Lanka  to become another participant in global wars.  The reason is simple – we used global resources to prolong and then claim victory over Terrorism. Now we are effectively saying ‘We want our privacy’

If that is considered reasonable in the name of Sovereignty – Sri Lanka must calculate the value of global resources used in Sri Lanka’s ethnic war and record it as a debt owed by Sri Lanka to the global community. This is essential to maintain our Sovereignty – because nothing comes free in the world of Relativity.

Had Sri Lanka been Sovereign when the Tamil Tigers were active, it would not have needed Foreign Governments’ aid to combat terrorism. Had Sri Lankan Tamil Community been Sovereign in 1976 when we  recorded  the Vaddukoddai Resolution – we would not have accepted funds from foreigners – starting with India’s Tamil Nadu. Neither group was Sovereign.

What therefore would happen if we do not include members of the international community in the judges’ panel and write our horoscope – the confirmation of our past – on which is based our true Constitution for tomorrow? As per my understanding of the system of karma, we would lose self-confidence at the global level and be taken over by more powerful players in the International Political Game.

As per the above report:

[The final months of the 26-year war were the most bloody, with the government accused of repeatedly shelling safe zones set up to protect civilians. The Tamil Tiger rebels were accused of holding civilians as human shields and firing on those who tried to flee. Both sides denied the allegations.

President Sirisena said that while the UN report released in September 2015 had pointed to army involvement in war crimes, the report had failed to mention names. He said it was important to determine whether such crimes actually took place.]

An issue could be dealt with at the following levels:

1.      Through objectively verifiable facts

2.      Through Process Reliability

3.      Policy level

Individual names is needed to try individuals through global laws. When a whole government is held responsible – all members of that government at the time of  manifestation of the outcomes become party to such an inquiry. This includes many members of the current government – including the current president. Similarly, on the Tamil side – using the same measure - to the extent members of the LTTE were not tried by an International Court – individual members of the LTTE should not be listed as Terrorists. The whole of the  LTTE could be referred to as Terrorists only after they have been tried in an international court through global laws.

If therefore the Government is to be released from this responsibility – it must happen only on condition that they refrain from referring to the LTTE as Terrorists. Those who have followed global laws in listing the LTTE as Terrorists, have the responsibility to allow themselves to be measured for parallel crimes. To run away from such responsibility would isolate Sri Lanka to become a Coward in the International Community. The minds of Sri Lankans who rely on their Governments would become weak and disorderly through these war-genes which would remain as unaddressed cancer cells in our deep memories. Only true self-governing Sri Lankans could, through their Grace, then release Sri Lanka from the burdens of its sins of the past. Given that it is based on ethnicity – Tamil would need to cure Tamils and Sinhalese would need to cure Sinhalese.

Once the new Constitution is born – the war issue goes into heritage value. If we address the war crimes/terrorism  issue during current times – we could use ‘rights and wrongs’ to  balance our ethnic equation. That would raise the issue to the intellectual level which fits our claim that we are an educated country. Then the value added to the new constitution would be positive – to both sides. The one who ‘hides’ would become less orderly than the one who ‘owns’ the problem and therefore the opportunity.