Re-Starting Serious Dialogue?

The situation in the Eelam Tamil territories is bleak and miserable. Battles are being lost and won by either sides. However, the war on the whole is taking its toll on the people.

In the Jaffna peninsula alone nearly 600,000 people are facing starvation. A lady commented to me over the phone: "If we have rice; we don't have even dhal to make curry with it. Our fisher folk are not allowed to fish so fish-curry is literally a red-herring. Even to light fire for cooking we have to think twice when a box of matches is costing nearly 50 rupees. (In Colombo a box of matches is 2 Rupees)"  Turning to the east, thousands of Tamil civilians are trapped in the jungles of Vaharai without any clean drinking water and food.  Already some have died in the precision-misses, not excluding children.

State Armed Forces are engaged in indiscriminate aerial bombing and mass killing. 

In the midst of it all, as 2007 is dawning, the international community is taking soundings as to restarting serious dialogue.

People are war weary.  There is no question about it.  Tamils have taken the brunt of war - a long and protracted battle with noble dignity.  But there comes a point - enough really is enough.  That is not to say that the will to struggle has ebbed away and now the enemy can think of a walk over.  That is not the case at all.  The core point nonetheless that the international community is willing to back a serious dialogue. And that has to be studied carefully.  If the battling forces are interested in the psychophysical welfare of the people 'Makkal' - then both parties would give this matter a serious consideration.

This writer is adamantly opposed to duplicitous talks. In this cosmetic exercise; again and again, repeatedly, it is the Makkal who are taken on roller coaster - a 'free' ride. The Makkal are defrauded. Their emotions are blackmailed. It is often believed diplomacy is an other word for duplicity. The fashionable fact remains sacred that an ambassador is an honest person sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.

So How do we conduct diplomacy with stark-naked truths?

If the proposed serious dialogue is going to be based on false premises and forged promises then Tamils ought to avoid it like a plague.  But things at this critical juncture cannot stop at simplistic objections.  A creative and viable approach has to be found. There is however, another serious question.  What does it mean to re-start? Do we start a fresh - starting from a clean slate? Or do we tinker with the dead circuitry to spark life in a long-dead decrepit engine?

There is an expectation in certain Western quarters that the Tamil Tigers would put forward some reasonable proposals as to how this could take shape. Many are of the mind that both parties must be in the position of strength in order to negotiate. The self-determination of the Tamils is no longer the bone of contention - at least in the international circles. The sticking point nevertheless is that Tamil self-determination could only be considered without seccession.

There is also a view, often articulated under one's breath that, it is the Diaspora who are wanting the war of independence and it is them that are coughing up the dosh. This writer with sincerity and honesty, with no political axes to grind would say, seccession is the solution. Having lost over 60,000 Tamil lives it is too late to reverse and revise. This is not a minority view at any conservative estimate. Given the past-present history such view is a far cry from extremist position! One is however entitled to that view. Having said that, on the bigger picture, should there be other alternative viable proposals that ought to be considered for the sake of our Makkal. It is not right to slam the door shut yet. Pragmatism would suggest otherwise.

Sinhala state must stop Tamil genocide. There is no military solution to this Question. There will be no winners and losers. Colombo should consider a viable peace alternative.

If the international community is willing to support the cause of self-determination of Tamils they ought to see that it is the Tamils who determine their destiny. They ought to exert tangible pressure on Colombo.

Tamils want to engage in good faith with the international community. In a globalised world no one wants to be shunned, snubbed and ignored. International relations deems that:

"We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies.  Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow."Lord Palmerston (1784 - 1865).

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