Easter Sunday attack needs no civil war solution
Almost all western countries, such as, the US, the UK, France, Canada, Germany and Australia, have experienced flash terrorist attacks in the not too distant past. Terrorist attacks, therefore, unfortunately are facts of life in the 21st Century. If one thinks a terrorist attack is a reason to write off a country and for the citizens to lose hope, take a good look at the US, which saw 3,000 killed and 6,000 injured in the 9/11 attacks. The US was neither written off nor categorized as a dangerous place to travel or for business. More importantly, US citizens did not lose hope and let the country slip in to economic, social and political disarray. Therefore, unlike 20th Century Sri Lanka, where a chronic civil war led to Sri Lanka being branded a ‘no go ‘ place, Easter Sunday’s flash attacks, unless allowed to be frequently repeated, is no reason to lose hope about the future.
The USA has 3.5 million Muslims, Canada 1 million, England 3 million and Sri Lanka 2 million. We should learn how those western countries prevent terrorist attacks on their soil repeat frequently. Did they deport all Muslims from their countries? Did they brand all Muslims as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers? Did they unleash white supremacists and tried to answer one wrong with another wrong?
They knew such wrong responses would have driven more Muslims to the lap of the extremists, which the extremists would love to see, just as the Tamil Tigers exploited the July riots and other attacks on Tamil civilians to their advantage. Instead, these western countries tackled the problem in a smart way; intelligence, surveillance, arrest, confinement and dealing through the legal system with maximum punishment.
Identifying the problem in its true colour and shape, and finding answers smartly should be the answer. What happened on Easter Sunday was an international terrorist attack, through some brain-washed Sri Lankans, hurting westerners in a complacent sitting duck nation. There may well be more attacks and/or apprehending of extremists and bombs in the future. Apprehending radicals with and without arms and even infrequent attacks have been happening in the western countries throughout this century after the 9/11. However, they do not consider their countries are at war with the Muslim migrant community.
As recent as 24 April 2019, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) relayed news of a Federal study, which revealed the existence of disproportionate number of extremists and a surge of radical groups in the province of Alberta. For these countries, it is a fact of life in the 21st Century and they respond to such findings by tackling them tactfully; intelligence, surveillance, arrest, confinement and dealing through the legal system with maximum punishment. The governments do not allow or promote a fertile ground for white supremacist groups to validate their ideologies, or create an atmosphere for the average citizen to sour their relationships with their Muslim neighbour, colleague and friend, because they know that it only make matters worse and plunge the country into darkness. They do not brand the Muslim community as traitors or terrorists and pave the way for anger; hatred and extremism drive a wedge between their own communities. Communities create a country and divided communities at each other’s throat only destroy a country. That would lead to a situation with frequent repeat terrorist attacks, communities at war with each other and even a civil war like situation resulting in our people having to live in miserable failed nation.
Sri Lankans can learn a lesson from our own past in this regard. Tamil Tigers were only few terrorist guerrillas capable only of ambush and run, in the early 1980s. Foolishness behind the 1983 July riots, among other things only helped them grow into a lethal force that could wage a conventional war. Unleashing extremism against extremism, the wrongful thinking behind the July riots, only backfired, burning the country for nearly 30 years. Sri Lankan civil war was a far cry from the present situation and therefore responding with war like approach is not the answer at present.
Making somebody else’s war our own
However, we ourselves would make this situation into an internal issue between two Sri Lankan communities if we do not isolate the brainwashed youths from the majority of the Muslim community, as done by the West. If we do not succeed in that, we would only make ourselves a party to a battle between the religious fanatics, through lack of wit and tact. The end result would be Sri Lanka at war with a combined International and Sri Lankan terrorists.
Challenging the challenge
We are a nation of resilient and strong people. Not even two rebellions and a long drawn civil war could make us a failed nation. We should use that smartness to tackle the problem in a tactful way, learning from other countries that faced similar situations and also from our own past. Whether we let this international terrorist attack grow into a serious internal problem will be determined by the future actions of the people of Sri Lanka.
We have to understand that international terrorism is a fact and menace that cannot be eradicated, but only successfully managed, which all the western countries have been doing. However, unless we realize this and act accordingly, this would only grow in to a chronic, frequent repeat attack situation, if not a civil war, plunging this beautiful country in to darkness
Making peace harder than waging war
This is not a war that should be fought by war heroes, at least not yet. Finding answers smartly can prevent us from going back to a war, where war generals would be the need of the hour. Why go back to that bitter past? We only need intelligent leadership who can wage peace with great tactfulness, while tackling ruthless terrorism through advanced methodologies as done by Western countries (They are ready to help us in this regard).
If the people understand this situation and force the rulers (whatever political camp they may be from) to act intelligently, we still can save this country from further chaos.
By BANDULA ABEYSINGHE
Attorney-at-Law
(The writer can be contacted at bandulazenth@gmail.com)
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