by

Shamindra Ferdinando

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa urged the northern electorate to shun those who had been overtly and covertly supportive of the LTTE terror project for personal gain as well as due to fear, particularly since the launch of the Norwegian-led peace initiative in February 2002.

Whatever the Opposition propagandists and a section of the international community say in the run-up to the first Northern Provincial Council polls scheduled for late September, he said those who had been trapped on the Vanni front in early 2009 couldn’t be deceived as they knew none of those shedding crocodile tears for war victims today opposed them being used a human shield.

Asked whether the government had hard evidence to accuse the LTTE of using human shields, the Defence Secretary said that the first indication of the enemy strategy came to light in early 2007 when the terrorists detained some UN workers for allegedly helping civilians to flee some parts of the Vanni region.

The UN mission in Colombo engaged in secret talks with the LTTE in a bid to secure their release and remained mum about it until the issue was raised at UN headquarters in New York. Two years later, the LTTE thwarted a UN bid to relocate its local staff along with their families in the Vanni, the Defence Secretary said.

In a brief interview with The Sunday Island in the immediate aftermath of his return from Uganda where he met Yoweri Museveni to discuss ways and means of enhancing bilateral cooperation, Rajapaksa said that though the Opposition propagated various topics ranging from war crimes to devolution of power, the primary issue should be the saving of Tamil speaking people from the clutches of the LTTE.

He challenged the Opposition to produce evidence that it intervened on behalf of the Vanni population at any point during Eelam War IV. “Just produce a single statement critical of using children as cannon fodder, human shields or detention of UN workers to justify their post-war concerns,” the Defence Secretary said.

Responding to a query, he alleged that some of those vying for power at the northern provincial polls had been making a desperate attempt to divert attention from real issues.

“How many children would have been dragged from their homes or abducted on their way to schools to be used as cannon fodder in case President Mahinda Rajapaksa succumbed to international pressure in April 2009? Would the international community, NGOs, the Tamil National Alliance as well as the Tamil diaspora intervene on behalf of at least children dragged into the bloody conflict? And most importantly, could the TNA have taken a decision on its own without consulting the LTTE if Prabhakaran was alive?” Rajapaksa asked.

Those who had been demanding devolution of police and powers to the provinces were silent as long as they believed the LTTE could achieve Eelam. Now that the LTTE conventional military clout was history they were playing a different tune, the war veteran said, adding that he expected the issue of child soldiers to be a major topic at the northern polls campaign.

It would be responsibility of the ruling coalition to ensure discussion on real issues. Whatever those wanting to haul Sri Lanka up before international war crimes tribunal said, no one could dispute the fact that there hadn’t been a single abduction of a child since the collapse of the LTTE on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on May 19, 2009.

One-time US ambassador in Colombo Patricia Butenis, in a secret diplomatic cable sent in the run-up to January 2010 presidential polls, categorized President Mahinda Rajapaksa along with the Defence Secretary, the then army commander General Sarath Fonseka and Economic Affairs Minister Basil Rajapaksa as war criminals.

The Defence Secretary recollected a failed UN bid to prevent the LTTE from using children as cannon fodder way back in May 1998 during the People’s Alliance administration. The official said that the UN went to the extent of sending the then UN Secretary General’s Special Representative Olara Otunu to work out modalities with the LTTE to stop using children as cannon fodder.

He said that the UN strongly pushed for halt to the use of children below the age of 18 in combat and to end the recruitment of those below the age of 17. Instead, the LTTE stepped up recruitment, he pointed out, insisting that recruitment continued until April-May 2009.

The outspoken official said that records maintained by the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) during Feb 2002-Jan 2006 period as well as a study undertaken by the UN in the immediate aftermath of the conclusion of the conflict would reveal use of children as cannon fodder. Those suspicious of his claims could easily obtain these reports in Colombo.

He alleged that the Opposition was making a desperate bid to sidetrack post-war developments. A simple check on the growing state and private banking networks in the northern region was evidence that those living abroad could freely remit money without having the LTTE demanding that the recipients part with substantial amount of money.

The list of the government’s post-war achievements was long, though the Opposition talked as though the northern province remains an open prison.

Hew declared: “Today, Tamil speaking girls have an opportunity to join the military. Many ex-LTTE cadres were absorbed to the Civil Defence Force. Over 11,000 ex-LTTE personnel are free after undergoing rehabilitation. And most importantly, thousands of acres of land previously held by the military as well as the LTTE had been released with the military retaining minimum land required for legitimate deployment of men and material.”

Responding to another query, the Defence Secretary said that those demanding a level playing field, particularly the removal of the Governor of the Northern Province Major General G. A. Chandrasiri because he was a former Chief of Staff of the army, should obtain a report issued by the European Union polls observation mission in the immediate aftermath of Dec 2001 parliamentary polls to examine what was going during the LTTE-TNA marriage.

Finally, those interested in a free and fair election should also examine the circumstances under which the TNA, at the behest of the LTTE, ordered Tamil speaking people to boycott the November 2005 presidential polls. He called for a candid discussion of genuine issues.
COURTESY:SUNDAY ISLAND