federalidea.com

by Dr.Vickramabahu Karunaratne

It is idiotic, to say the least, for the Government to tell the public after wasting time and money for one and a half years, that a part of the existing Constitution is the solution to the Tamil national problem or is the first stage to such a solution. It appears more ridiculous when one considers that the amendment was made 20 years ago and has been put into use or misuse for so many years. If it had a semblance of a solution to the Tamil national problem twenty years ago, today it has become a caricature of the problem itself. So we can have a good laugh at the expense of both Tissa and Mahinda. But the serious aspect of this proposal is that it has divided the Mahinda regime right at the centre. While the JVP leaders are up in arms against the Government for mentioning political solutions and thus betraying the Mahinda chinthanaya, the reformists who blindly expected the All Party Representative Committee ( APRC) to discuss and develop a set of new constitutional proposals addressing the Tamil national problem, are now totally frustrated. Both parties are busy organising campaigns to assert their respective positions. The JVP aim is clear. It wants to establish a dictatorial war mongering state with or without Mahinda at the helm. However, it is not clear what the reformists want. Maybe they want to convert Mahinda to being a centrist peacemaker. But certainly, they do not have any intention of changing the regime. While both parties have clear differences on the Tamil national problem, they have come together to protest against the attacks on media personnel and on press freedom. This is certainly a temporary alliance. In the near future, we should expect serious conflicts between the two groups.

While the Mahinda regime is ruptured, creating two openly different camps, the situation in the North is becoming critical. Ranga of Lakbimanews, after making a serious study of the details of the military situation concludes “indeed bitter battles are yet to flare up. What troops are now engaged in is the softening up of Tiger positions through regular limited offensives. According to the statistics given by the Defence ministry, 636 LTTE cadres and 26 soldiers have been killed since the start of the New Year. However, these figures could not be verified independently. What is, however, obvious is that the fourth Eelam war is set to unfold with greater ferocity in the coming months. The public should brace themselves for the inevitable.”

So, while the so- called Eelam war is becoming increasingly brutal and dirty, there will be aggressive campaigns in the South on the issue of a political solution. The latter is going to have a substantial effect on the military conflict. On the other hand, the Indian involvement is taking several different faces; the pressure exerted by the Indian government is very clear. Secondly, massive campaigns are developing in Tamil Nadu, supporting the Tamil demand for autonomy. Thirdly, not only the Indian Marxist Communist Party but also the less radical Indian Communist Party is pressing for a federal solution. This means Mahinda can expect Indian support only if the Indian leaders accept the 13th Amendment proposal as a tangible political solution. Maybe Mahinda wants to tell the Indian and global capitalist leaders that this is the best he could do at the moment without destabilizing the regime in the South? Well, other leaders too must face the agitations of the people in their respective countries!

The country is at the cross roads and there are three different paths open to us. The JVP proposes to mobilize the masses for the continuation of the war against the LTTE. According to them, we should tighten our belts and be prepared to go hungry; keep cool to human rights violations and suppression of trade union rights. We must learn to tolerate repression and attacks against media personnel and press freedom. We must not care about the views of the international community. This is the path of chauvinist militarism. Secondly, the global capital and the Indians want us to come out with a political solution to satisfy the Tamil elite while continuing the war against Tamil terrorism. There should be concern for human rights violations. But the global capitalist development programme should continue at any cost. Against both these alternatives there is a path for freedom and unity. For that we must stop the war and give real autonomy to the Tamil homeland, protect human rights and raise the living standard of the people. In the end, we must follow the example of Venezuela and other Latin American countries and select an independent path of development.