by

Mano Ratwatte

I know it is not fashionable to talk or mention ex-Presidents or political leaders of the past when it comes to matters of importance in Sri Lanka because the very same people who curry favor and act as sycophants are usually the first to abandon and deny the leaders (faster than Peter) when their fortunes are down and they no longer have any credibility.

I have been a critic of my own cousin, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, during her regime and sometimes perhaps unfairly hoping and expecting better governance from her. However, in the context of recent clashes between religious groups and religious intolerance or extremism creeping into the body politic I want to share with your readers a conversation I had with her.

This was in 1997 before she was nearly murdered by an LTTE terrorist suicide bomber. I was very warmly greeted by her when I visited her at Temple Trees rather tentatively because I had been away from Sri Lanka for so long and said a few indiscreet things about her regime.

In a long friendly chat about lots of issues, I was telling her about how the Russians got rid of Chechen rebel leader in 1996 when the leader Dzhokhar Dudayev was speaking on a satellite phone and how it helped Russia beat the Chechen extremists.

I asked her if Sri Lanka could get help for such a strategy to get rid of the leader of Tamil Tigers to end this miserable war; she said the country did not have the intelligence capabilities or the resources to do that. She said she was frustrated at the lack of information on the Tigers and their activities and the absolutely lack of intelligence on their worldwide global network. Before 9/11 attacks the western world was indifferent and callous in dealing with terrorists operating from their soil.

However, that was just a side note and we got to talking about radical Islamic fundamentalism and its spread. (This was before 9/11). She raised her eyebrow and said in no uncertain terms, “Oh, my gosh, if that comes to Sri Lanka, it will be worse than the Tigers; we should never allow that to happen because of the foreign connections.”

It shows how aware she was of global extremism. I want to share this with Sri Lankans because if people are pushed to a corner and feel they are not an integral and valuable equal partners in a multi-ethnic land, troublemakers with global extremist agendas can make use of that to foment trouble.

Then on another visit, after an abortive attempt by the LTTE to assassinate her, it was clear that she was suffering from post traumatic symptoms. I asked her if she hated Tamils or wanted revenge. And she again shrugged and said, “You cannot hate a people for what a few extremists do; it is not the fault of Tamils but the Tigers”.

This time I was visiting her at the President’s House in Fort, where she had been compelled to move to because of security concerns and more Tiger threats to her life. I had sentimental reasons to want to visit and see the palace, and after dinner we were discussing how beautiful the place was and admired that grand old famous Nuga (Ficus Tree) tree in the backyard.

She said with a lot of remorse and a sigh, “Yes it is beautiful but I am living in a gilded cage.” It was clear the assassination attempt had taken a terrible toll on her; Many people today will attack her left right and center and I will not argue with them over policy issues or governance issues; but on the matter of ethnic issues and extremists she always had a really good sense of what was right and wrong.

Her husband Vijaya paid the supreme price for wanting peace at a time it was unfashionable to want peace. Her warning about radical Jihadists should not be ignored. If minor conflicts go unchecked and there are attacks on mosques, churches etc by backward thugs masquerading as pious people, some people may be pushed to extremist action.

This country cannot afford another war. It should have at least 50 years of peace to recover from what it underwent during thirty years of war.
COURTESY:THE ISLAND