A LASTING solution can be found for separatism by creating a social environment where every Sri Lankan could lead a dignified life, says Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Reasons for ethnic disharmony should be identified and solutions found for them to prevent separatism raising head once again he said in an interview with a television channel on Sunday, May 24.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q. During a previous interview you promised to defeat terrorism completely and teach the LTTE a bitter lesson. How do you feel now that the LTTE has been defeated?
A. I am extremely happy to have been able to wipe out terrorism which had been a major problem for the last 30 years. Considering the lives and property lost, it is a pleasure to have freed the nation.
Q. There are allegations that there had been political interference in the defence plans launched earlier by previous Presidents? Didn’t you come across such interference. Or is it that there was no interference because the President is your brother?
A. As Defence Secretary I had the opportunity to take correct decisions by solving pressures and problems coming from high as well as low echelons. I earned the President’s confidence by providing the correct information. I convinced them that this was a winnable war and all of them gave me their support.
Q. Wasn’t there international interference from the beginning to the end. You and your Government have given them the proper answer. How did you manage to overcome these challenges?
A. As regards this question we have to properly understand what constituted the international community. We not only considered a few western countries like USA and UK but also other countries and specially understood who were the friendly nations assisting us. India was in the forefront of friendly countries.
India’s influence was specially important for us. The President soon after assuming office visited India and gave a detailed analysis about terrorism. When Indian Security Advisor Minister Narayanan came here recently I reminded him about it and he told me a startling thing. He said a small diplomatic mistake can create a big destruction. He said if the then Government acted diplomatically when Prabhakaran and Uma Maheswaran were arrested by the Indian Government in 1982 terrorism would not have progressed so far.
Just because a foreigner with a white skin comes here and makes a big fuss we need not get agitated. Because those who are making a big hue and cry don’t give us any assistance. In order to win over the international community we developed relations with countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
We knew that the LTTE was involved in gun running through these countries.
Defence and intelligence establishments worked in co-operation with their counterparts in those countries to minimise and completely stop LTTE arms smuggling.
China and Russia were important for us and we purchased armaments from Pakistan. The President visited those countries thrice and even talked to their leaders via telephone on numerous occasions.
Some countries which earlier spurned the LTTE tried to save Prabhakaran at the last minute. This is the truth and we knew about it.
We should try to ascertain whether those countries did so considering the pressure of the Tamil Diaspora in those countries or due to a longstanding relationship with the LTTE, or as part of a grand plan they have as regards small developing countries like us. They cooked up human rights allegations against us even before the humanitarian operations were launched and tried to exert pressure on us.
Q. Won’t there be threats to your life and that of the President in future due to this duplicity?
A. There is a possibility. We know that if there are some people irked over the defeat of terrorism they might pose a threat to us in return.
Q. Why couldn’t you capture LTTE leaders alive?
A. After the last civilian was rescued under a conflict situation the LTTE leaders were stranded in a small area.
Ample time was given to them to surrender if they wanted to do so. People like Daya Master came along with the rescued civilians and surrendered. Apart from them there are over 5,000 LTTE cadres who have surrendered. The top leaders did not surrender thinking the international community would save them.
Q. Isn’t there much talk about a person called Kumaran Pathmanathan or KP?
A. He is considered to be the LTTE’s main arms purchaser and supplier for the last several years. He is wanted by Interpol for illegal activities including the narcotics trade. He strengthened the LTTE financially and certain web sites claimed that he has assumed LTTE leadership.
I am at a loss to understand why those countries do not arrest such a person wanted by Interpol.
Q. What action will be taken against LTTE members now in custody?
A. Steps will be taken to rehabilitate them. They have confessed to their involvement in LTTE terrorist activities. Further investigations will be made and legal action would be taken against those against whom there are prima facie cases. We have gained experience in this respect in the East.
The rehabilitation camps in the East have been highly successful.
Transforming people who have engaged in LTTE activities for over 30 years to normal civilian lifestyles is no mean task.
Q. Even though the LTTE has been completely defeated, can’t there be threats to your life in the future?
A. There may be such threats to me, the President and the Armed Forces Chiefs. We have to expect it after vanquishing all LTTE top rung including the leader Prabhakaran.
Sometimes it may be from international level because a lot of international pressure is exerted on our country. So we ought to take precautions against it.
Q. The bodies of all LTTE leaders have been identified except that of Pottu Amman. Why is it that there is no information about Pottu Amman?
A. A large number of LTTE members were killed due to Army operations during the last few days. We identified all the bodies according to our means and published their names. If Prabhakaran, Bhanu and Soosai were killed Pottu Amman too would have been killed. They would have died under different circumstances if they were killed in confrontations with the Army. Identification would not have been possible at that time.
Q. Will LTTE terrorism raise its head again?
A. We will not allow that to happen. Our Forces have captured a large stock of their weapons collected for well over 30 years. We will take action to seize the remaining weapons they had. Nearly 20,000 LTTE cadres have been killed by our Forces. Few people like Padmanathan are still dreaming of Eelam. So they are carrying out false propaganda.
The international community has a duty by us to stop the pressure brought on to us. Why are they not pressuring on the people who procure weapons to the LTTE. Kumaran Pathmanathan supplies arms to the LTTE from international sources. He also engages in drug peddling to earn money.
The whole world knows about it. Those international organisations who put pressure on us have a duty to arrest such persons who do illegal business at international level. So we urge these organisations to take legal action against people of this type.
Q. LTTE activists have attacked Sri Lankan missions, Buddhist temples and institutions in foreign countries. What action is the Government going to take on such matters?
A. As a Government, we invited our Ambassadors and enlightened them. Relevant foreign governments have been informed of this through our Embassies there. However, such Governments or Foreign Ministries have been unable to bring to book such culprits so far.
We must put an end to these things. But the fact of the matter is that such countries have failed to at least arrest those responsible for those incidents. Countries which talk of law and order have not been able to arrest human rights violations of this type so far. We have brought this to the notice of the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon. We urged him to bring some kind of pressure over these countries.
Q. Certain group of people at international level visit our country very often. What is your opinion over such visits by these foreigners?
A. What happened during the past few months in Sri Lanka had been that standard rules and regulations were forgotten. Things happened outside this circle. This is entirely due to terrorism here. This is a good opportunity to prevent repetition of such things. Certain people acted in such a way as if they are ruling this country.
They interfered in our internal matters unnecessarily. These were done by NGOs without any national or international restrictions. Their decisions have gone beyond the level of responsibility. There are instances where such NGOs have acted that way internationally. It was because of the terrorism that weakened these rules and regulations in the country. We were compelled to turn a blind eye to those happenings. Of course, we had a set of rules and regulations indigenous to our country. We must restore all these very soon.
Q. What steps will you take to identify the LTTE suspects who are still hiding in Colombo?
A. Our investigators through intelligence service and police have resulted in the breakdown of the LTTE network already in Colombo. We have been able arrest those LTTE suspects who fled to the Vanni. Intelligence units are now in the process of completing the task. We are doing that with a view to bringing the civil life to normal. Ordinary Tamils faced problems like Tiger threats and intimidation. They had problems to sort it out with the help of police and army. Now all the communities have been able to live amicably in a peaceful environment.
Q. What about the role played by the media in this whole exercise?
A. We never tried to suppress the media. The media in a country should act with responsibility. I only talked about sections of the media which acted in a manner that obstructed the humanitarian operations carried out by the Forces. They were a big obstruction. If an incorrect report was published about the conflict situations, the President or the Government would not have received the people’s support in this task. So we had to prevent incorrect reports reaching the people. There would be a ground swell of wrong impressions if wrong figures were given. That is why I spoke against them. We never harassed anyone at any time. We only corrected wrong news reports through other mediums. The Defence web site ably presented the correct picture to the people and the world at large. We only performed a duty and never resorted to censorship. (Courtesy: Daily News)
