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Is the peace process in Sri Lanka suffering setbacks?

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury
THE peace process for a negotiated settlement of the long running civil war in the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka seems to have suffered setbacks in recent times. Indications are galore that the government and the leadership of the Tamil militants are increasing moving apart, even though no one has come out against the current cease-fire that has been in force since February 2002, and both are still seeking to give the impression that they are keen to see that the truce continues despite dislike for each other. The killing of several security personnel in Colombo on July 9 by a suicide bomber is a grim reminder of the daring attacks by the Tamil militants, who are hell-bent on carving out a separate homeland for the nearly 18 percent Tamil population in the country concentrated in the North. The militants used the suicide bombing
tactics against their opponents and even used this to assassinate former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he was killed by them in South India in 1991. The Tamils had opposed tooth and nail the dispatching of Indian troops to Sri Lanka by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who had entered into an agreement with Sri Lankan President Junius Jayawardene to crush the Tamil insurgency. The Indian troops returned home after
losing more than 1100 men mainly in clashes with the militants, who made no secret of their wrath against Rajiv Gandhi, whom they killed while he was addressing a rally near Madras as an opposition leader. Suicide bombing also killed Sri Lankan President Premadasa and this has become the hallmark of the Tamil rebels. Since a cease-fire came into force in a bid to find a negotiated solution of the civil war, both sides have been observing it but the suicide attacks appear to
have returned with its full fury when the attempt was apparently made on the life of minister Douglas Devananda, who is known as a hard-liner against the Tamil militants. No one has owned the responsibility of the attack, but a government spokesman said one could draw conclusion seeing the nature of the violence.
In Washington, a US government spokesman warned the Tamil militants against terrorism and said
return of violence would not serve any meaningful purpose. The United States
had imposed a ban on the Tamil militants and the spokesman said it has no intention to withdraw the ban. The Colombo incident is enough indication that the peace process is not going in the right direction and two sides are slowly slipping away from the positive stance, although resumption of the hostilities does not appear to be in the offing soon.
The defeat of former Prime Minis-
ter Ranil Wickramsinghe in the last parliamentary elections has substantially changed the fate of the peace process, since the former PM's government was more favourably disposed to a negotiated settlement of the civil war. President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is the principal political rival of Wickramsinghe, is a relative hardliner in approach towards the Tamils. When Ranil became the PM more than two and a half years ago,
taking a pro-peace stance, chances for a negotiated solution of the problem brightened, and several rounds of talks were held outside the country following an effective ceasefire. The civil war issue is complex, but the dialogue made some concrete progress and most notable is the significant policy shift by the rebels who abandoned the demand of straight independence and opted for regional autonomy. The govern-
ment side also gave several conces-
sions. But simmering differences between the President and the Prime Minister on the peace process were largely responsible for slow progress in the negotiations as the president felt too much of concessions were being given to the rebels. Coming from rival political platforms and both having power, they were at loggerheads and finally the more powerful President used her power to dissolve the parliament and call fresh polls. There was no
clear winner but Ranil lost and the new government is of the President's party and political alliance. This brought Chandrika to total ascendancy in Sri Lankan scene. The departure of Ranil Wickramsinghe on one hand dealt a blow to the peace process and on the other hardened the attitude of the militants. The defection of a regional commander Karuna from the mainstream militancy is seen by the rebels as engineered by the government and this further helped drive a wedge between the two sides.
Two decades of civil war is costing Sri Lanka heavily and it has become all the more catastrophic since there was no decisive outcome of the crisis. In a way, the nation was bleeding white because of unremitting war that was taking casualties on both sides. It is from this realisation that both sides agreed to a cease-fire and searched for a negotiated settlement although the problem is very complex. The cease-fire and the dialogue were brokered by the international community, mainly by the government of Norway and some headway was made in the delicate process.
Even during the last months of Ranil's government, both sides were finding difficulties in carrying out talks because of differences on some vital issues. However, they had committed to continue the process. The loss of Ranil Wickramsinghe in the polls came as a further setback to the peace process and the Tamils themselves are sceptical about the future of the dialogue under Chandrika. It is important that the peace process continues for the interest of the island state, no matter which government is in power. For the nation has suffered a lot and possible resumption of hostilities is the worst thing one can anticipate.
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is Senior Special Correspondent of BSS.