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Non-States and Non-Events
S.M.Lingam 21 March 2006
Some of the
recent
tragic events in Tamil Eelam have caused a sense of alarm and profound
sadness among the Tamil people.But when these sad events happened, the
international community maintained a studied silence and ignored them with a
callous indifference.Why have they behaved in such a way? What happened to
justice and fair play? If we want to learn from those incidents, gather strength
and move forward, we have to get a deeper understanding of the prevailing
geo-political frame.
Among the many tragic events, I want to mention only two events to stress and
make clear of my views.First is the case of the senior
Tamil
Parliamentarian Joseph Pararajasingham, shot and killed at the St.Mary's
Cathedral in Batticaloa while attending the Christmas night Mass on December
25,2005.The second event that occured after a week on 2nd January 2006,was
the
"execution style" killing of five Tamil students, all below the age of 20,in
Trincomalee.
When these tragic and brutal murders happened the so-called international
community simply ignored them. Mr.Pararajasingham was murdered in a 'church'on a
'very holy occasion' as the Christmas eve - in a holy place on a very holy night
in a high security zone in the Batticaloa town.Leaving aside the politicians,the
God-fearing Catholic Church , its well-knit organisational bodies in and out of
SriLanka too, failed to utter any word of condemnation.May be they had something
to fear more than their God. For the premeditated and cruel murder of those five
innocent Tamil students by the SriLankan security forces,there was not a murmur
of protest or condemnation.The international community, the SLMM and others were
so blind, deaf and mute!
The reasons behind such behaviour were the geo-political interests of the
international community. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhala-majority control a recognised
nation-state whereas the Tamil-minority have only a nation but not a recognised
state.The Tamils are victimised by a nation-state created by our European
colonial masters to further their own interests and then imposed on us.To
continue their hegemony and exploitation, the powerful Western nations want the
status quo to continue undisturbed. Hence existing compliant States are allowed
to have an unfettered monopoly of violence and even their state-terrorism is
explained away as legitimate law and order operations.
As a result, in the current geo-political situation, only power and strength
count.Whatever that happens to the people of a non-state is a non-event.They are
of no significance.Here we may note that Harold Pinter in his
Nobel lecture
[7 December 2005] referring to the crimes committed by the powerful USA in
Central American countries said as follows:
"It never happened.Nothing ever happened.Even while it was
happening,it wasn't happening.It didn't
matter.It was of no interest." ---- [1].
So it was a matter of power versus the powerless.If you belong
to a powerless group, then whatever happens to you doesn't matter.It is as if it
never happened -- that is a non-event.
Strength respects Strength
To understand the real nature of this geo-politics, that which Golda Meir - a
former Prime Minister of Israel - wrote may be of much help. In her
Autobiography she wrote:
"The world is harsh,selfish and materialistic. It is
insensitive to the sufferings of small nations.Even the most enlightened of
governments,democracies that are led by decent leaders who represent fine
decent people,are not much inclined today to concern themselves with
problems of justice in international relations.At a time when great nations
are capable of knuckling under to blakmail and decisions are being made on
the basis of big-power politics,we cannot always be expected to take their
advice,and therefore,we must have the capacity and the courage
to go on seeing things as they really are and to act on our own most
fundamental instincts for self preservation. So to those who ask,"What
of the future?" I still have only one answer: I believe that we will have
peace with our neighbours, but I am sure that no one will make peace with a
weak Israel.If Israel is not strong, there will be no peace." [2]
As we all know, Israel still continues to enjoy "the most
favoured nation status" from USA and its Western allies. Even then, Golda Meir
complained so much about their plight. We can use our imagination and insight to
understand the far worse suffering of the weaker nations and states in our
present time.
In the 1960s when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister of India, her Principal
Secretary P.N.Haksar urged her that India should produce nuclear weapons.Arguing
for it he told her,"If India is not strong and has no power, its concerns are
likely to be dismissed as quibbles".To add strength to his argument P.N.Haksar
used the following quote from the Oxford historian Lewis Namier:
"The weight of an argument greatly depends on him who uses
it; that of the strong has "force" and carries "conviction"; that of the
weak, if unanswerable, is called quibble and apt to cause annoyance." [3].
Then Indira Gandhi agreed and said, "In this day and age if you
want to be counted you have to be strong". As pointed out in a recent
article,the father-figure of Indian Nuclear Programme, Dr.Homi Bhaba too had the
same view.I quote:
"Bhaba wanted India to be a Nuclear Weapons state....He
visualised a powerful India....... Bhaba was believer of the dictum:
"Strength respects Strength" and foresaw a role for the nuclear
bomb in the security of the country; a concept Pandit Nehru did not share
with Bhaba." [4].
So now India has become a powerful country that even the USA and
other Western countries are all rushing to become the friends of India.
The Role of the SLMM
When the CFA was signed, a
SLMM was established to monitor the implementation of the CFA. As a body created
under the CFA, it was the bounden duty of the SLMM to treat both parties
to the dispute, the LTTE and the GOSL, as equals. The Tamils expected that the
facilitator Norway and the SLMM will conduct themselves in a strictly impartial
manner.
In the past, Tamils
have had many talks and discussions and signed many pacts with the Sinhala
leaders but none of them were honoured. It was after such bitter experiences
that Tamils wanted to have an impartial third party mediator. In such a
situation,the behaviour of the SLMM, to say the least, is unsatisfactory.For
example, in a statement to the BBC,after a firing at the GOSL helicopter on 17
December 2005,the SLMM said:
"As the small arms fire against the helicopter originated
from an area controlled by LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] the LTTE
must bear the responsibility for the incident". ------[5].
If the considered view of the SLMM is such then what about the
many attacks and killings of many unarmed LTTE cadres in "the GOSL controlled
areas"? Did the SLMM ever had the courage to condemn the GOSL for at least one
such incident among the many such incidents? Then after a Claymore attack on the
SL Navy personnel in Chettikulam, the SLMM said in its statement of 13 January
2006 as follows:
"Various actors in the international community have blamed
the LTTE for attacking Government troops but the LTTE has continuously
denied any involvement. The LTTE claims that �the People� are behind the
attacks on the military. SLMM finds this explanation unacceptable. It is
safe to say that LTTE involvement cannot be ruled out and we find the LTTE's
indifference to these attacks worrying." -----[6].
If the LTTE's explanations for attacks in "the GOSL controlled
areas" from which the LTTE had already withdrawn even their unarmed political
workers, were "unacceptable" to the SLMM, then what about the GOSL's explanation
regarding the attacks and abductions by the Tamil paramilitary groups in areas
fully controlled by the GOSL? They seem to be "very acceptable" to these
international ceasefire monitors. Anyway it is heartening to note that,
"after the Geneva talks", the head of the SLMM has mustered enough courage to
speak the truth: "There is no doubt that such groups do exist.The
army should be truthful about this issue". [Daily Mirror,1 March 2006 ]
The Way Out In an article entitled, "It is national
sovereignty that has given China and India their edge" in 'The Guardian[UK]' of
17 September 2005, Professor Martin Jacques says:
"An independent nation-state remains the most important
means by which peoples can exercise control over their own destiny. Without
it, they are rendered impotent. With it, as East Asia has shown most
clearly, an extraordinary transformation is possible. Much is made of the
importance and virtues of democracy, but for developing countries, the most
important form of democracy - whether their regime is authoritarian or
democratic - is the right to control
their own destiny." [7].
Here we must understand that these ideas are not only true for
big countries like China and India, but also true for small countries like
Singapore, Luxemburg etc. It is the control over our own destiny that counts.
In quote[6] above, the SLMM inadvertently admits that they are guided and
dictated by the "various actors in the international community" and that too
only when "they have blamed the LTTE for attacking Government Troops".But
as impartial international ceasefire monitors who are well aware of the
ground situation, the SLMM should, by its actions and observations, guide the
international community - the international community should be influenced by
the SLMM and not the SLMM by the international community.
As I have shown above in quotes[5] and [6] the SLMM issues hard hitting
statements only when they have to blame the LTTE but they are always soft on the
GOSL.When the victims are the LTTE cadres or Tamil civilians then both the SLMM
and the international community remain silent - to them such victims are
non-entities and those events are non-events.In fact,the Sinhala-dominated GOSL
is having a state infrastructure for the last fifty- eight years and therefore
the well experienced GOSL ought to be held responsible and accountable for what
happen in the GOSL controlled areas.
Engulfed by the mist of 'maya'[illusion] created by the geo-political interests
of the international community or the "co-chairs", we must try to go beyond
their advice, persuasion, pressures and veiled threats.As Golda Meir said:
"We cannot always be expected to take their advice,and
therefore, we must have the capacity and the courage to go on
seeing things as they really are and to act on our own most fundamental
instincts for self preservation".
References:
[1]Harold Pinter: Art,Truth & Politics; Nobel Lecture, 7 December 2005.
http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/pinter.htm
[2]My Life by Golda Meir;p.460. [G.P.Putnam's Sons,New York - 1975 First
American Edition]
[3]The quotes and other related details are from: 'A Toast to India' by Raj
Chengappa, in India Today International [North American Special Edition],22
August 2005, -page 10.
[4]'He believed that strength respects strength' by Dr.V.S.Ramamurthy, 2
February 2006.
http://www.rediff.com//news/2006/feb/02nspec.htm
[5]http://www.tamilnation.org/conflictresolution/tamileelam/norway/051218newswatch.htm
[6]http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=16846
[7]http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1572204,00.html
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