Editorial
Sri Lanka crisis deepens
Govt should treat Tamil refugees well to regain their confidence
We note with concern that as the strongholds of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are beginning to fall one by one following close encounters with the Sri Lankan government troops, the number of deaths of civilians is also mounting alarmingly. The air raids that the government forces are conducting to flush out rebels are reportedly taking a heavy toll. Suicide bomb attacks on soft targets unleashed in Colombo by a splinter group of Tamil Tigers are also contributing to more civilian deaths and destruction. We fear that whatever the outcome of the military engagement, a major humanitarian catastrophe is well under way, including displacement of people in the battle-torn regions. This is likely to result in a refugee problem in the near future.
For over two decades the undisputed Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran managed to keep the government troops off major portions of his territory in a bid to create an independent Tamil land. He managed to have a constant supply of men and women, even teenagers, to join his rebel army in one of the bloodiest of separatist movements in recent history. The long struggle has been interspersed with several attempts at striking peace deals between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE. At times, they came close enough to thrashing an agreement to end the conflict.
Even if the present drive to crush the military might of LTTE succeeds, the major task ahead for the Sri Lankan government will be to earn the confidence of the minority Tamil population, who had suffered discriminatory treatment in the hands of the Sinhalese, who formed majority in the state's demographic chart. The feeling of alienation among the Tamils has to be assuaged and they will have to be treated equally as the citizens of the country and invited to be involved in all sorts of nation building activities.
We hope the Sri Lankan government would consider the fact that military victory is short lived and a durable solution can only come through creating an environment of inclusiveness and working for a negotiated settlement. We hope through the sagacity of Sri Lankan leadership an olive branch will be spread across the country.
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