The Urgent Need of the Boston Globe to Save Terrorists - 06 February 2009

by Rajiva Wijesinha

As what seems the end of the Tigers draws nigh, the arguments used to rescue them from oblivion get ever more preposterous. Let us begin with the Boston Globe, which has issued yet another editorial on the subject. Last time round I wrote about what the Boston Globe failed to say, in its patronising description of the Sri Lankan situation. This time, I can only draw attention to a couple of its horrendous non sequiturs.

It begins by claiming that 'The shelling of a hospital pediatric ward Sunday in Sri Lanka gave the world a glimpse of the scorched-earth offensive Sri Lanka's government has been conducting against the secessionist Tamil Tigers'. Only belatedly does it seem to grant that it is not really sure who did the shelling, when it declares that it does not matter whether the Government or the Tigers are most to blame for the suffering of the civilians 'trapped in the war zone' - i.e., it is the Tigers who will not let them get away, obviously because they want the suffering of these civilians to prompt the world to interfere, and this is what the Globe is obligingly engaged in.

The Globe, as though it has made a discovery no one else has, asserts that the only true solution must be political. This is what the Government has been saying, and this is why successive governments sought to negotiate with the Tigers, who withdrew from talks with a much more indulgent government in 2003 and then came back to talk with this government only to launch two violent military offensives even while it claimed it was willing to talk.

But the prejudice of the Globe becomes clear when it claims that what it means by a political solution is 'some sort of confederal autonomy for the Tamil regions'. Does it not realise that the Tigers repudiated federalism when that was mooted in 2002? Does it not realise that Sri Lankan voters have repudiated federalism? Does it believe that Boston Brahmins can impose whatever solution they wish, regardless of the democratic will of the people of Sri Lanka?

The Globe then goes on to say that ending the offensive would be politically wise, because the Tigers, even if defeated militarily, are likely to regroup and commit terrorist acts in Colombo - i.e., they should be allowed to escape because, if they don't escape, they will commit terrorist acts. Even a fool - and Bostonians are not foolish - would realise that, if they do escape, they will commit even more outrageous terrorist acts.

Then the Globe claims it is nervous about Tamil pressures leading to destabilisation in India. Surely the Globe should realise by now that India is grown up enough to look after its own safety, and if the Indian government has made it clear that Tiger terrorism must be destroyed, it is a bit much of the Globe to want to intervene on their behalf and give the Tigers the new lease of life that they were provided with nearly twenty years ago when Sri Lanka lost its head and thought, as the Globe seems to do now, that Tigers are really endearing pussy cats.

In short, when for once a government is - as Time Magazine put it clearly, whilst also urging moderation in seeking a political solution and greater concern for human rights - succeeding in a struggle against terror, it is outrageous that the Globe should seek to subvert this. It is one thing to ask for justice for the Tamils - and also the Muslims, because the Globe should not forget that one of the areas the Tigers claimed as their own actually has more Muslims, and the Tigers have actually sent Muslims away from some areas in the only known instance of ethnic cleansing in Sri Lanka. It is quite another, and totally unacceptable, to promote the cause of terrorists.

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha

Secretary General

Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process