Scenario A - LTTE gains: Army loses Jaffna, LTTE bombs Palaly and handicaps SLAF air-power, LTTE gains the upper hand and they begin sporadic attacks all over the place. We will end up in one fine mess.
Scenario B - Things will cool down: Army maintains the defense lines, carries on with "missions" without any strategy as usual, the government calls for peace talks, unconditionally. (again, without a strategy, as usual.) And Chintaka says Ohoma Yan, please let me live my dream for the next 11 years..!
Scenario C - Army gains: What, I don't know.
Scenario D - Divine Intervention: The God has had enough and sends a message to Bush. Bush sends shiploads of ammo and thousands of white brats for a real life ps2 game. From Yala to Batti to Jaffna, the whole place is bombed to bits, nothing is left of the spotted kind. No LTTE, no war. We ride humvies in Colombo.
Scenario E - ......................................... (yours to fill in the blanks)
The truth is, the war in this country cannot be won with guns and bullets. The government must win the war in the hearts and minds of the discriminated Sri Lankans (I chose not to divide Sri Lankans in to Tamils, Sinhalese and other "races"). Then, and only then, will there be a lasting peace prevailing in the island.
We are one country, one nation. We have been intertwined for thousands of years, there is no blue-blooded pedigree left anymore in this land. Each and every one of us have a mix of Sinhala and Tamil blood running in our veins. We are inseparable, we have been inseparable for many, many centuries. It is like the four kovils in every Buddhist temple.
We have already seen far too many men, women and children being killed all around us. The "fresh" air in the Paradise smells of raw blood. The bloodbath has to stop, we have suffered enough, we have seen too much.
We have wronged each other for far too long, we have destroyed each other far too much. We have hurt each other far too deep.
It's time to give up one's pride - it's time to let go of the ego. It's time to say "I'm sorry..." and mean it.
The time is now. The time is now to bring back the smiles and touch each others hearts. We are one nation, we are all Sri Lankans.
It's that simple, and it's that complicated.
is it that easy?
ReplyDeleteyou forget one thing: ltte .
as long as they are there it doesn't matter how good the government is in winning the hearts and minds. most ppl in any community do not support them but they are still powerful. as long as they can get obedience by killings and threats there will not be peace. and peace with ltte in charge is hell to those who have to live under it.
do you advocate to leave them in charge or do you think they should be defeated ( by whatever method including war if needs be ) ? as long as you avoid that question yours is a unrealistic dream.
Sittingnut:
ReplyDeleteYes, terrorism MUST be defeated, no question about that.
How practical, how realistic is it? We don't need examples from around the world - look no further than the second JVP revolution in the late eighties. It was the Sinhalese students against the regime. It was "the country against the government." The government couldn't win it by force even after brutally killing (and disappearing)over 50,000 Sinhalese youth. Then, the Army adopted a campaign to get closer to the people under Brig. Daya Weerasekera (I think that's the name if I remember right) and finally the government managed to extract the information from the civilians that led to eliminating the root-cause of the so called revolution. The campaign to eliminate terror (JVP in this instance) was a success. The government forces managed to clean-up the country, so much so only the useless rubbish was left behind. (Isn't it obvious when you look at the parliament today..?)
But, it all begins with getting closer to the innocent civilians and winning their hearts.
Sorry, adapt, not adopt. :)
ReplyDeleteyou have a point ,
ReplyDeletethough i believe it was not so much the goodwill of the civilians as some other less savory methods that led the 'opscombine'(?) jvp's then leadership.
you have a point ,
ReplyDeletethough i believe it was not so much the goodwill of the civilians as some other less savory methods that led the 'opscombine'(?) to the jvp's then leadership.
You hit the nail. This govt is never going to be able to win the hearts of Tamils let alone beating the LTTE. This is something most governments fail to understand. The only way to defeat LTTE is to eliminate the cause they are fighting for. How come no govt is interested in solving the issue?
ReplyDelete