West Wanted A Puppet, They Could Not Control Mahinda – Keheliya Rambukwella

(Courtesy of Sunday Leader)

Six years since the end of the war, Sri Lanka has seen many changes, especially in recent months. While the current government is pursuing a path that is friendlier towards the west, the former regime is critical of the current stand. In an interview with The Sunday Leader, former Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa is the leader who took up the challenge of defeating the LTTE terrorist network.  He said that the West wanted a puppet leader as the head of state of the country, and they wanted Rajapaksa defeated because they could not manipulate him the way they are doing now.  He also said that while he supported the commemoration of war heroes, he had no objection to the people of the North commemorating their dead. However he said that by allowing organised memorials to be held commemorating the LTTE as war heroes, it was only condoning with terrorism.

Following are excerpts of the interview:

By Camelia Nathaniel

Q: Six years since the end of the war, how do you see Sri Lanka recovering?

A:  One cannot erase the history and the whole country suffered for generations due to the war. Some people have suffered their entire lives as a result of the war and they never knew any other situation other than the conflict riddled environment that prevailed during their whole life time, the activities of terrorism, the consequences and the repercussions of terrorism.

However one great leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and his entire team including the armed forces came together to put an end to the war and the suffering of the people, basically when the whole world was turning a blind eye to the plight of the people especially in the North and the East. In my opinion it calls for some sort of felicitation and should be remembered by the people.

It is sad to note though that prominent politicians such as Rajitha Senaratne have stated that by celebrating the victory over war some other groups might be unhappy. This is a very grave statements because I am sure no right thinking Tamil was happy to suffer during the war and all ordinary Tamils, I am sure are happy that the war has ended and there is peace. Hence by generalising that some groups might be unhappy, he is categorising all Tamils as being supporters or sympathisers of terrorists. If according to what he says, one community gets hurt, then it is obvious that the particular community that is hurt have been supporters of terrorism. However we have always been of the view that all Tamils are not terrorists and the average Tamil civilian does not want war and they just want to live in peace. If any party is unhappy then it only proves that they were ones who were living off terrorism and aiding and abating the terrorists.

Hence such statements can create many issues, because if you say that a certain community gets hurt when the country celebrates victory of war over terrorism, how can any ordinary group or ethnic group get hurt? Then it should be only those who supported terrorism who would get hurt. Therefore I feel that it is an insult on the heroes who fought to liberate the country at the expense of sacrificing their lives. Governments and leaders alike failed to end the war right throughout.  But when the previous president took up the challenge with the support of the entire armed forces, one has to appreciate that courage at least and give them due credit for having accomplished a task that many deemed impossible to achieve.

Therefore as we all celebrate the fruits of peace and unity; it is unfortunate that these sorts of statements are made with the intention of belittling the efforts of those who did so much to bring peace to the country. I am not someone who is racial or discriminates any community, but I have many friends who are of all ethnic groups and religious backgrounds. However we cannot ignore the fact that terrorism did destroy Sri Lanka and hence a solution and firm action had to be taken in order to end it. There was only one man who took up the challenge and it is only fair that he be given credit for his achievements together with the brave armed forces.

Q:  Since the end of the war, the sentiments of some have changed regarding the security forces, from being hailed as heroes to now wanting them being held accountable for war crimes etc. Do you think that our human rights record has improved, and should these soldiers accused of war crimes be held accountable?

A: Certainly not. This I would think is the most criminal act that one could ever think of. The most atrocious acts would be to allow Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda or Former Air Force Commander Roshan Gunatillake to be held accountable or even to take them in for questioning itself is a terrible thing. This I am sure is nothing but a requirement of the Diaspora.

It is evident that the present government is surely but gradually giving way to the demands and the agendas of the Diaspora and the west, at the cost of our integrity. I am not categorising this as an international conspiracy, but if you look at the unfolding of events, it is evident that this government is merely playing into the hands of the west. They have now remanded five Navy personnel and they are trying to exert pressure on them to make some statement according to their requirement and agenda. The judiciary is in a quandary, as I am certain there still are senior members of the judiciary who will always abide by the law and uphold the law and fight for the rights of the people. That was manifested just last week.

Basically if I simplify the whole issue, its sad and highly regrettable that these people who sacrificed so much for the freedom of the whole country are now being targeted simply to satisfy the vested interests of the Western powers and the Diaspora.

I am certain that before long this government will allow for the merger of the North and East as well on the request of the west and I am openly saying that this is a request made by Cameron and Kerry, the Tamil Diaspora and it was made by the west. I am not certain if the president is aware or unaware of this ploy, but I am hundred percent sure and I say it with conviction that one by one we are slowly but surely giving into the demands of the west and the Diaspora. I will fearlessly say this anywhere and to any media, as this is what I strongly believe in.

Q: The previous regime have been criticised for doing little or nothing for the upliftment of the quality of life of the Tamil people, other than simply doing up the roads. Do you feel that the people in the North have seen any progress in their standard of living despite the end of the war?

A:  No I certainly won’t subscribe to that allegation. Before the roads were developed and taking into consideration the condition of the roads were in, it was impossible for anyone to even travel there and even for transportation of goods and services to and from the North. Before the roads were developed and the North and the South were connected, the Tamil people had nothing.

It is unfair to say that nothing has been done over the past five years. In fact we have rehabilitated over 3000 ex LTTE cadres and even the most hard core LTTE members were rehabilitated successfully and reintegrated into society. Within a short span of just five years since the end of the war and considering that most areas in the North were completely destroyed, we have done a lot to reconstruct and put in place all basic infrastructure facilities, and provide at least most of the basic needs of the people. Schools were developed and the education of the Tamil students was put on track. During the LTTE rule the education of most of the children in the North had come to a halt. Our efforts are clear indications of the amount we have done as just a few years after the end of the war, the A/L results in the Northern Province speaks for itself.

Today anyone can criticise us for many reasons, but the fact is that it was because the war was ended by the former president and the security forces that this entire people can now come forward and play their role. At the time no one was willing to risk their lives or take a chance with the LTTE. Now everyone has become heroes and saviours of this country and the true heroes are being punished and targeted.

I am certainly not claiming that everything is up to mark and there isn’t much left to do. But in spite of much that still needs to be done, we were moving forward steadily and we were making progress. Its not fair that some parties with vested interest is trying to gain political mileage by trying to belittle our efforts and trying to portray themselves as the saviours of the minority of this country.

Q: During US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit and his speech, he mentioned that they did not have an issue with Sri Lanka winning the war and they too considered the LTTE as a terrorist organisation, but also said that the manner in which it was won is where the issue lies. How would you respond to this statement?

A: War is always bitter and there are no winners or losers at the end of the day. Now Kerry himself admitted that there are Human Rights issues is America as well. My argument is that they too listed the LTTE as the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world, yet when supporters of the LTTE now take up banners and posters of Prabhakaran and the LTTE flags and stage protests in the west, they do nothing to stop it claiming that it is freedom of speech. But I ask will the west tolerate it if a group of Muslims take up posters and banners with Bin Laden’s picture on them and stage protests in any of the western countries, will they then also consider it freedom of speech and let it go? I certain doubt it.

What the west wanted was a puppet that they can manipulate any way that they choose to and this was not possible with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, hence they supported this change and now they are happy that they can manipulate Sri Lanka exactly the way they want to.

Q: Another area that the previous regime was found fault with was that they did not allow the Tamils in the North to commemorate their dead, while the South celebrated victory and commemorated their dead. Why do you think they should not be allowed to commemorate their dead?

A: There is a difference. We never prevented the Tamils from commemorating their dead, whether they were fighting with the LTTE or killed by them or the armed forces during the conflict. The armed forces did not target the Tamil youth specifically but during war they had no choice but to fight them if they were fighting for the terrorists.

That being said, the issue is not about families commemorating their dead, but as a government we cannot allow for organised groups to commemorate the dead LTTE cadres in mass ceremonies, as this would be condoning with terrorism. This is what we are against. We understand that all mothers fathers and families be it Sinhala soldiers or Tamil LTTE fighters, feel the same pain and suffer the same loss. However, as a country that upholds certain democratic values and ethics, we cannot condone the organised staging of these sorts of commemoration ceremonies that glorify the LTTE as heroes.

The west can point fingers at us, but will they allow commemoration ceremonies to be held for the persons who crashed the aircrafts into the World Trade Centre killing many Americans. They do commemorate the victims of the incident and they also commemorate the heroes who sacrificed their lives in attempting to save or rescue the civilians during that ordeal, but will they allow commemoration ceremonies for the dead terrorists on their soil? They too are the sons or daughters of some mother and father. Then should they too not be allowed to be commemorated? Why the double standards? People need to understand this and see the truth in every situation. It is easy for some to point fingers, but one has to see these situations in a practical and unbiased manner, and be fair by those who gave up their lives so we can now live in peace.

Q: There are allegations that the demining process has now come to a standstill in the former war torn areas. Why is this?

A: Well everything in the North is now at a standstill. Not only the demining but even the development in the North and even the entire country has ground to a halt. The fact is that all these development projects were initiated by the former regime and Mahinda Rajapaksa never expected to be defeated. Had he won then the development projects as well as the demining would have continued. However this government is hell-bent on only criticising the Rajapaksa regime but they have nothing to show that they have done so far.

In fact although the new finance minister and several others condemned the former central bank governor and said that the statistics in the financial report they submitted were inflated and the figures were false, recently Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran happily handed over a report to the Finance Minister that in fact carried the same figures. It is a big farce by this current government and it is just a matter of time before the people actually realise their games.

Q:  Although your government claimed that the resettlement in the North and East was completed, there are still reports of displaced persons who are living in temporary shelters. Why?

A:  Well nearly 95% of the resettlement had been completed by our government. However there were some whose lands could not be released due to National security reasons and as such they had to be given alternative lands. However in some cases they were not happy with the alternative lands and hence remained in the same IDP camp areas. In many instances we have tried to negotiate with the land owners in order to get them the lands where they had been temporarily residing. Yet in some areas while we were able to obtain these lands, in other areas it was not possible as the original owners refused to sell these lands. At the end of the war over 300,000 people crossed over to the army controlled areas and we have done our best to resettle most of them. However as I said five years is only a short period and we have done the best we could. However when one wants to find fault, there is always areas that can be exaggerated and belittle the genuine efforts made.

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