by

Vishnuguptha

“History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse. Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom.”
~Daisaku Ikeda

Never has an international organization or the United Nations, International Labor Organization, World Bank or the International Monitory Fund, managed to irritate a Sri Lankan government or the ruling clan the way United Nations Human Rights Council has done, controlling the psyche and the process of physical preparation and execution of work with regard to the alleged human rights violations during the closing stages of the armed conflict between Sri Lankan security forces and armed militants of the Tamil terrorist groups led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE).

The most astounding part of this process is not that there are allegations by some global quarters about grave misdeeds committed by the armed forces of Sri Lanka. The surprise dwells in the inability or plain refusal on the part of Sri Lankan leaders to see the ‘obvious’. That ‘obvious’ runs counter to a false assertion that the ‘armed conflict’ (I have opted to use the term ‘armed conflict’ as against ‘war’ as history bears testimony wars occur generally between counties while an ‘armed conflict’ could be between two or more rival parties) between the security forces and the armed militants of the Tamil terrorist groups was firstly a ‘humanitarian operation’ and secondly the stupidly cocky claim that it was concluded with ‘zero casualty’.

When the rulers took that route- that of ‘zero casualty’- there was no going back. The Government got inextricably caught up in its own web of half-truths and lies. The absurdity of their claim that there were no civilian casualties when the armed conflict was taking place in widely populated areas in the North and East was quite obvious and the very argument cannot stand the test of inquiry and investigation. The sad legacies of all conflicts, especially when they are waged between parties which are armed to their teeth in small armaments and frequently supported by heavy mortars, shells, missiles and bombs, are filled with collaterally damaged human lives and properties. Leaving aside the unspeakable psychological trauma that armed conflicts could cause to those who also just stand by and watch or run for cover, the inevitability of loss of life is given context in any battlefield. Any reasonable man, woman or child would understand this lamentable phenomenon of armed conflict and owning up to the ‘mistakes’ of warfare is much more civil and manly than a cowardly claim of ‘zero casualty’.

This ‘obvious’ may have evaded the untrained and unskilled minds of the local politicians who lead our country today, but it simply cannot escape the intellectually curious and ‘commonsensically’ alert international minds. They are waiting to pounce upon the tiniest of slips; their antennas and sensibilities are finely tuned and the language they use are totally devoid of emotion and parochial prejudices.

At this time it is pertinent to refer to the most powerful talk delivered by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke, ex-diplomat and political scientist at the Taj Samudra Hotel on Tuesday, February 18, 2014. With the usually flowing manner in which the talk was delivered and the authoritative manner in which the salient points were emphasized, there is no doubt that the so-called opinion-leaders who gathered at the Roof-Top Crystal Ball Room of the Taj Samudra Hotel could not have expected a more delectable dessert to digest their scrumptious lunch, courtesy of the Colombo Club. Listening to Dayan, one was reminded of Lakshman Kadirgamar’s reign as Minister of External Affairs and his masterful handling of international affairs, his commitment to a peaceful yet just settlement of the Tamil question, his interactions with the Sri Lankan diplomats scattered in every corner of the globe and his ability to relate to the nuanced edges of geopolitics of the ‘First World’. Dr. Jayatilleke’s professional skill did not take the listener there but pointed him in that direction. In that context the address had the required sense of objectivity which is a must in these emotion-charged times.

The evident lack of skill and professional repertoire of international negotiations among the present lot of ‘diplomats’ is glaring. Almost all the lucrative Foreign Service jobs are being ‘awarded’ to the kith and kin of the ruling family or their immediate cohorts. These ‘diplomats’ are hardly equipped to come to terms with the ‘liberal awakening’ of the modern mind, especially in the west of the Suez Canal. And those powers located to the west of the Suez are dominating the world today, both economically and politically. To be classified alongside Myanmar and North Korea in itself is an immeasurably great insult to the people of Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, the naked attempt by the Government to portray the ‘Geneva crisis’ as one of negligible magnitude with its gravity being reduced to a couple of cheap election-slogans, it has rendered the Government into a false sense of ‘diplomatic-security’. Especially in this sphere, the Sri Lankan rulers have fallen into the same trap that the Republican Party in the United States has been dwelling in the last couple of election cycles. The Republicans after their humiliating defeat to Obama for the second consecutive time in 2012 declared that what went wrong was their messaging and not the message, whereas what in fact was rejected by the American constituency was the Republican message.

On the same note, Sri Lankan leaders are delusionary in that, they seem to have got bogged down in their own creation of self-righteousness and ultra-patriotism; they cannot and would not deviate from their tactics of changing the messenger. It’s time they realized that what needs to change is the very ‘message’. But to change the ‘message’ one needs to be exceedingly flexible and open-minded. They are neither. And they lack the basic strength to change. This is not only visible in the Government circles; it’s also evident in the main Opposition party, the United National Party. That is a major setback of the times and it is of national proportions.
In this particular context, Dayan Jayatilleke had a very valid point in his illustration of appointing an Investigative Body headed by either Christie Weeramanthri or Desmond Fernando. Validity and legitimacy of those who investigate is of paramount significance and cannot be understated. The Government’s basic premise of ‘zero casualty’ and ‘humanitarian operation’ must be done away with and the sooner it is done the better.

But we are almost assured not only of their inability to do this but also of their unwillingness to do so. It’s the Mafia-type Dons who don’t bend and compromise when that is the only way forward. Stupid arrogance and swollen egos belong in such shady dens of hooligans. They don’t belong in the circles of governance. National affairs need to be addressed with a little more finesse and much more care. This Government has time and again proved seriously inadequate in that field.

They need to do the following if they are ever serious about achieving any acceptable outcome at the next Geneva summit:

I am pretty sure that the present set of rulers would neither change their message nor would try to think ‘outside the box’. They seem to prefer to rot away inside the box. And that is a real national tragedy.