Sri Lanka: Real challenge starts now

Amongst the handful of childhood memories which remain etched in my mind, as they happened, I clearly remember this: I am watching the morning DD news, I shout out to my father the main headline, he rushes out to the TV room, shaving brush in hand, face half lathered, stopping in his tracks when he could see it for himself.

It was a tumultuous day. Rajiv Gandhi had been assassinated. Crowds gathered in town, all unwilling to believe that act had been carried out. That was the day the unflinching support shown by Tamil Nadu began to dwindle.

It brings us to today, where the Sri Lankan government says it has restricted the LTTE to less than 200 sq km. As of this post that organisation is now banned in more countries than al-Qaeda as a terrorist organisation, although it has a very powerful international diaspora supporting it. Across the internet, if you have ever watched Tamil shows or listened to Tamil music, chances are those websites support the Tamils in Sri Lanka. Going by the rhetoric and ground reports, the Sri Lankan government is all set to regain control over all of Sri Lanka.

The pro-LTTE media outlets regulary say civilians are being killed by the SL army, which the SL govt most certainly denies. At the same time carrying out suicide missions and firing at fleeing civilians brings the LTTE no sympathy. The gag on the local media and lack of any foreign press makes verification of any events impossible. That the LTTE chose, while retreating, to take all civilians in the area, leaving ghost towns is disturbing. Why should non-combatants be caught in the cross-fire - although strategy does not make very good PR. The SL govt too does good PR: best shown in its website and bold maps.

What's next? The LTTE is a terrorist organisation; it must not be tolerated. In my humble opinion, trying to associate the LTTE with the Tamils issue is futile because of the baggage the LTTE brings along. That is why, how the Sri Lankan government moves from here on will determine how relations materialise. If the SL govt makes the same mistakes it made during the '80s, it will be like pouring kerosene over a dying fire. True, the SL govt has made all assurances that 'Tamils will be given all rights'(which implies they did not have them before), but not keeping promises is what got the SL govt into a mess. But that is how the real challenge starts.

This is an opportunity for the SL govt to ensure 30 years of the past does not repeat itself. Trying to impose itself by force will alienate the population in question - they have to be absorbed into all forms of authority and bridge the Sinhala-Tamil divide. The demands of self-rule, well, I honestly have no opinions on, I only wish there be one Lanka and not two.

Even though they may be eliminated from the island and since India definitely would not harbour them, a claim that the LTTE has been dismembered, when such news arrives, has to be taken with a pinch of salt. The aforementioned diaspora are too large to allow it to disappear without a trace. I won't be surprised if it continues to carry out 'proxy' activities. Then again, that will be only if the SL govt fumbles in its steps. The ball is clearly in the Sri Lankan government's court.