The ‘belief’ of the Bishop

The Catholic Church’s Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, was reported in the Sunday edition of The Island saying that he "believed that the LTTE had given up its demand for a separate state but was demanding that the solution must be based on the ‘Thimpu Principles’".

While we do wish to believe in what the good bishop believes in, the obvious question that arises is : Why can’t the LTTE say it? Is this the kind of diplomatic ‘feeler’ that the terrorist organisation is using for a peace move or is this another propaganda ploy, particularly at a time when terrorist movement is being viewed with a jaundiced eye by western leaders? What LTTE apologists always wanted the world to believe in is that the LTTE is willing for a negotiated settlement and will give up its call for a separate state. The pronouncements and actions of the leaders of the LTTE have belied all this propaganda. Thus, when statements such as those of Bishop Rayappu Joseph are made, they are looked upon with a great deal of circumspection by experienced observers of Sri Lankan politics.

The belief of the Bishop on LTTE’s peaceful intentions runs against statements made by Vellupillai Prabakaran who has consistently maintained that he would never give up his demand for a separate state. On occasions such as the so-called’ heroes day’ of the LTTE, Prabakaran vows that even if he does make a move which would deviate from the objective of creating a separate Tamil state, he should be summarily executed.

The LTTE, is not devoid of sources to make their intentions known to the outside world. Daily, their clandestine radio puts out various pronouncements and disinformation. They have their propaganda centres in western capitals and there is an abundance of propaganda sheets coming out each week from western capitals such as London. If the LTTE wants to negotiate for peace, it would be far better to make a public pronouncement rather than make people depend on what the good Catholic father’s beliefs are of the intention of terrorists.

The apologists for the LTTE and the self-proclaimed conflict resolution specialists will say that such megaphone diplomacy is not the way in which conflicts of this nature are resolved. Certainly, let silent diplomacy work but if the Bishop has been used as a sounding board, it does amount to megaphone diplomacy. The immediate impact of this would be that the fellow travellers of the LTTE will proclaim that the LTTE is willing for a negotiated settlement and thus pressurise western governments to adopt a more favourable attitude towards this terrorist organisation. If there is any substance in the belief of the Mannar Bishop, it will have to be followed by categorical statements by the leadership of the terrorist organisation.

On the other hand, even if the belief of the Bishop of the peaceful intentions of the LTTE does come true, the demand for a solution based on the ‘Thimpu Principles’ makes it no big deal. The ‘Thimpu Principles’ were basic non-negotiable demands put forward by Tamil terrorist groups and the TULF when they held discussions with the J. R. Jayewardene government representatives at Thimpu. Some of these basic non-negotiable demands include: granting of a Tamil homeland which includes the Northern and Eastern Provinces, right of secession and the right of self-determination. If these demands could have been met, then the conflict would long have ended. If the LTTE is prepared to negotiate on these demands, then there is a possibility for a peaceful resolution to the intractable problem.

We have consistently stressed that even after the military victory of the government forces, there has to be a negotiated settlement and moves towards this end should be welcomed. But they have to be genuine efforts, not efforts for the LTTE to gain breathing space to launch another military assault. We have seen the LTTE do this twice — with the Premadasa regime and the Chandrika Kumaratunga regime where they recouped from very weak military positions by gaining time and launched devastating blows on the government forces. Little wonder that President Kumaratunga, who claims she was elected on a ‘mandate for peace’ and had the support of the Tamil community, is extremely wary of negotiating with the LTTE, even while the UNP is asking her to do so.

The Bishop had made these remarks while representatives of a Colombo-based NGO were visiting Jaffna and taking some representatives of local government bodies from the South to have a view of the situation in Mannar. This NGO is looked upon with much circumspection by many who monitor the NGO scene, particularly after the secretary of an international organisation which had and still has close links with the local organisation was accused by the president of Sierra Leone of attempting to stage a coup in his country. The government as well as the foreign powers who are interested in this conflict should inquire and ascertain whether the beliefs entertained by the Bishop of Mannar are justified.