|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
The subtle way in which it has been able to swing the European Community in its favour and win over the Opposition United National Party (UNP) has surprised Sri Lankans, states Tuesday's Hindustani Times. The LTTE has long been thought to be strong militarily but weak politically. However, recent events show that it could be politically savvy as well. The first jolt, of course, came from "friendly" India, which refused to come to Sri Lanka's aid militarily, coolly brushing under the carpet pious international resolutions to jointly fight terrorism and its own off-repeated pleas to the world to help fight cross border terrorism. It states in the report from Colombo by P. K. Balachandran that as soon as the Jaffna offensive got underway, the LTTE set in motion its lobbyists in Tamil Nadu who rushed to New Delhi to garner support for a "hands off" policy. In the event, New Delhi refused to get involved militarily, though it allowed Colombo to get arms from elsewhere. To Prabhakaran's great relief, India would not be a milestone around his neck, thanks to Mr. Vaiko and Mr. M. Karunanidhi. The LTTE had worked on the Europeans too. "Dr. Anton Balasingham was sent to Europe from the Wanni not just for medical treatment but to prepare the political ground for the big military offensive," said analyst Dayan Jayatilleke. The European Union's move on the need for a negotiated settlement with Norwegian facilitation, its call for an end to the hostilities, and its concern`` for the plight for the civilians of Jaffna were unexceptionable. But where the LTTE's influence over the European Union was evident was in the latter's singling out the Sri Lankan Government for criticism, while completely ignoring the doings of the LTTE. The European Union had conveniently ignored the fact that the LTTE launched the Wanni offensive and subsequently attacked Elephant Pass and Jaffna, even as the talks about talks were on through the Norwegian facilitator. The LTTE had brazenly declared 2000 as the "Year of War". Instead of calling upon the aggressor" to restrain himself in Jaffna in the interest of the civilians there, the EU's moves equated the two parties. The latest "declaration" rapped the Sri Lankan Government for clamping Press censorship and outlawing trade union action to meet the grave threat to the integrity of the country. But there was stony silence on the measure's raison d'etre-the war unleashed by the LTTE to dismember the country.
|
|
Contact Information: Send
mail to