The executive committee of the Action Group of Tamils in Colombo met on 5 November 1994 and issued the following press release: The Action Group of Tamils in Colombo (AGOTIC) has been observing the campaign for the presidential election. The traditional Sinhalese political football - of using the Tamil problem as the object of dispute - is in full swing. This time Mrs Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has made conciliatory remarks about the Tamil problem. The United National Party (UNP) has retaliated by alleging that the Peoples Alliance (PA), which is led by the SLFP, is virtually selling the birth right of the Sinhala Nation to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
This is nothing new. Ever since the 1960 March elections the Sinhalese party/candidate in opposition or out of power traditionally has been pro-minorities to win over their votes. In contrast, the Sinhalese party/politician in government or holding office has traditionally whipped up Sinhalese communalism. This was done to discredit the opposition party/candidate as "traitors" in order to win a majority Sinhalese vote.
The reason for this tactic is obvious. The party in power routinely alienates the minorities. At election time it has no alternative but to appeal to Sinhalese chauvinism - as the UNP is doing now. The party out of power woos the minorities largely in the belief that its anti-minority actions taken when it was last in power are a distant memory. This is the position of the PA today.
Where the minorities distrust the Sinhalese party/candidate which/who woos them, the main Tamil parties have opportunistically supported that party/candidate. They attempt to convince the Tamil voters that the chosen Sinhalese party/leader has turned a new leaf and is now a "friend" of the Tamils. Thus the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) is asking Tamils to vote for Mrs Kumaratunge.
The TULF believes that Mrs Kumaratunge is a peace maker mainly because:
1. She claims to recognise that there is a Tamil problem.
2. After becoming Prime Minister, she has initiated "talks" with the LTTE, and made positive gestures.
AGOTIC appreciates the peace initiatives taken so far and hopes that Mrs Kumaratunge is seriously seeking a political solution. We also hope that she not merely posturing to attract minority votes in the coming election.
But Mrs Kumaratunge is not putting to the Sinhalese people a concrete plan for solving the problem. She is not seeking a mandate from the Sinhalese people to declare a cessation of hostilities as the first step to a negotiated political solution with the LTTE.
In the event that Mrs Kumaratunge's future government decides to seek a military solution, the effect will be profound. The Sri Lankan armed forces lack the capacity to achieve a military solution. Then what is the way out for the government? It must not be forgotten that even a foreign military intervention in the north-east could not bring the desired results.
Enlightened people from all communities in Sri Lanka must act now to prevent a disaster. Tamils in Colombo demand that Mrs Kumaratunge must immediately on her election place before the people of this country a peace package, as her victory is an endorsement to continue the peace initiatives and bring the war to an end.
The Action Group of Tamils in Colombo
Dr K Velauthapillai (President)
Dr S Sathananthan (Secretary)
5 November 1994Published in: Virakesari, 7/11/94
ACTION GROUP OF TAMILS IN COLOMBO
(AGOTIC)Press Release
The Action Group of Tamils in Colombo (AGOTIC) in our 5 November statement (published 7 November) urged Mrs Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge to place before the country a peace package and to pursue the peace process towards a negotiated solution to the Tamil problem.
However, AGOTIC notes with regret that there is no change in Mrs Kumaratunge's approach to the Tamil problem. At the May Day meeting this year, Mrs Kumaratunge "solemnly pledged to foster Buddhist rights in the event of her coming to power" through the August parliamentary elections. She added that the rights of other religions will "guaranteed".
After that May Day statement, Mrs Kumaratunge projected a less partisan image of herself in the run up to the parliamentary elections. Her new government announced in September that their aim is "peace at any cost". As Prime Minister she sent a peace delegation in October to meet the LTTE in Jaffna and appeared to make conciliatory gestures. As presidential candidate her call for peace was unqualified. This was the official position up to the presidential election on the 9th.
The day after the presidential election Mrs Kumaratunge began the slide back to her May Day political position. As president-elect she moved away from "peace at any cost" to announce to the country on the 10th that her government "will seek peace but not at any cost". In this context she offered "justice" to the minorities whilst safeguarding the "rights" of the Sinhalese Buddhists.
By the time the new President delivered her address to the nation two days later on the 12th, she had completed the political back-sliding. Reading from a prepared text, President Kumaratunge said: "We will ensure that our approach to peace will fully address the necessity to safeguard and strengthen the rights of the Sinhala people, while recognising dignity, self-respect and equality of treatment of all communities. This will form the essential basis of a negotiated solution to the ethnic problem".
From whom are the rights of Sinhalese to be safeguarded and strengthened? Does the President believe that the rights of Sinhalese are being threatened by Tamils and Muslims?
To make matters worse the President MADE NO REFERENCE whatsoever to the RIGHTS of other communities. Does the President believe that Tamils and Muslims have no rights in this country? Does she believe that only the Sinhalese have rights in Sri Lanka?
The new President pledged that the November 12th approach is "the essential basis of a negotiated solution". However the President has given priority to the Sinhalese. Her approach assumes that peace can be achieved only by securing more advantages for the Sinhalese majority, by safeguarding and strengthening their rights. In other words, this approach will necessarily further undermine the rights of Tamils and Muslims.
AGOTIC condemns the President's chauvinistic approach to the Tamil problem. The former President D B Wijetunge expressed the same chauvinist opinion but in a less sophisticated way: he claimed superiority of the Sinhalese "tree" on which the subordinate Tamil and Muslim "vines" spread.
When the Peoples Alliance (PA) government announced that proposals for constitutional reform will be submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform on 24 November, we expected the proposals to include provisions for resolution of the Tamil problem. The proposals addressed the questions of the dissolution of Executive Presidency, judicial review of legislation, and fundamental rights. No mention was made of constitutional reform to resolve the Tamil problem.
The most disturbing change in the government's approach is the apparent debasing of the peace process. Before the presidential election the peace process was projected as the way to a negotiated solution which would end the civil war in the north-east. But after the election, the peace process has become a tactic to isolate and defeat the LTTE by pitting the Tamil people against the LTTE. The peace process which began as a strategy for conflict resolution has been corrupted into a counter insurgency political tactic. For example. in the first press interview on 12 November, President Kumaratunge interpreted the electoral verdict primarily as a vote against violence, as a message to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The "peace lobby" in Colombo is a major contributor to this unprincipled and opportunistic tactic.
We caution the government that dishonest intentions cannot produce honest results. Nothing will be settled until it is settled right. So-called peace initiatives aimed at politically isolating and defeating the LTTE are nothing more than counter-insurgency measures. They will fail to drive a wedge between the LTTE and the Tamil People. They will not solve the Tamil problem.
We note the announcement on 17 December that the government is drafting proposals for a political solution. But a few days later on the 20th the government postponed the 2nd round of "talks" with the LTTE until the LTTE clarified its attitude towards one member of the government team.
AGOTIC cannot accept that LTTE criticisms could honestly be given as a valid reason for suspending the peace process. AGOTIC strongly urges the President to desist from further delay and immediately put forward a genuine peace package which could be the sincere basis for negotiating with the LTTE to end the civil war in the country.
Dr K Velauthapillai President
Dr S Sathananthan Secretary
21 December 1994Published in: Sunday Observer, 1/1/95
