President sent his secretary Weeratunga secretly for talks with the LTTE
President sent his secretary Weeratunga secretly for talks with the LTTE: Victor Ivan discloses in Interview with CR Chandraprema
Chandraprema:
What we have observed in this country over the past several decades, is that when one crisis is over, it’s followed by an even bigger crisis. Once the LTTE problem was finally dealt with, we had to face what was in my view the biggest threat to democracy in the post independence history of this country in the form of last month’s presidential election. This country seems to be just going from one crisis to another, with no real peace and quiet anywhere in sight.
Victor Ivan:
Some may have criticisms about the things that have taken place after the presidential election. My concern however, is what would have happened if things had gone the other way? There would have been a blood bath. One of the limitations of the joint opposition at the presidential election was that they did not have a vision that went beyond hate and revenge. This is one of the greatest tragedies in our post independence history. Why did things end up in this manner?
In my view, fielding a military officer at this election was wrong. Why did a mature political party like the UNP agree to such a thing? Some may ask at this stage, whether a retired military officer has no right to contest elections. But when someone comes fresh from a war, fresh out of the military into politics, especially to contest the position of head of state, a crisis is unavoidable. Divisions will appear in the military. In this case, the candidate himself appeared to be deliberately fomenting such differences, through his speeches and through his election advertisements. There were appeals addressed to the armed forces and he publicly stated that the families of armed forces personnel would vote for him. I believe that there should be some arrangement to ensure that such things do not happen in the future.
What is happening now is that no government will allow those who supported an opposing candidate at a presidential election to stay on in the army because there would be fears of a coup. If someone has created splits within an army that has gained a great deal of prestige by winning a major civil war, that will not conduce to the wellbeing of the nation. The way I see it, this was by far the most emotionally charged, and acrimonious presidential election campaign in this country ever. Incumbent presidents were criticized at previous elections, but none so venemously as the present president.
Q. The growls and threats from the opposition was because they were so cocksure. They failed to judge the mood of the people accurately.
A. In the urban areas, a groundswell against the president was visible. In the urban areas, there was a debate on who should get more credit for winning the war. But in the rural areas, there was no such debate. As far as the rural people were concerned, it’s the president who won the war. In my view, the decision to go to war, and implementing that decision successfully is of such magnitude that it can be described as biggest achievement by any political leader since independence. Giving emphasis to rural upliftment was another aspect of the government’s success. Though I work in Colombo, I go back to my village on the weekends. In the old days, a major issue was housing in the rural sector.
Today, there are almost no cadjan thatched houses even in the rural areas, but the rural road network was a very important matter to the rural masses. In my experience, no government has put so much emphasis on improving the rural road network. During the past few years, there was also an emphasis on the highways network, on constructing power plants, and various other infrastructure projects. There are whisperings about corruption, but then there were corruption charges about the Mahaweli project as well. During the short space of four years, even while fighting the war, the government has also done a significant amount of development work.
Q. This is my point, given the facts you just mentioned, this country should be now headed for a period of peace and stability. But soon after the earth shaking events that led to the climax of the 30 year war, came this earth shaking presidential election. After the dust settles on that, the Mahanayakes began playing up. What is wrong with this country? Is it the system of governance in this country or the political culture?
A. I wouldn’t be too pessimistic. But there is a problem in the system. Except for a brief period between 2001 and 2004, the UNP has been in opposition since 1994 almost continuously. So the aim is to come into power by good means or bad. In this country, a member of a political party has a special status. He is in a better position to have a child admitted to a school, to deal with the police, or to find employment. When one section of the population enjoys these benefits for a long time and another section is left out, the struggle between these two segments of the population, tends to assume a very acrimonious form.
Q. The opposition clearly overdid the aggression and acrimony part…
A. At last month’s presidential election, the opposition failed to give the signal that if they won, there would be a peaceful transfer of power. The signal was given to the opposite effect. The idea conveyed was that they will seek revenge. It is said that they had even given phone calls to certain key individuals and told them to prepare for long jail sentences. The opposition candidate’s statements added to the violent and acrimonious character of the whole campaign. Had the opposition candidate been Ranil Wickremesinghe or Karu Jayasuriya or a conventional politician, the presidential campaign would never have assumed such an acrimonious form. Bringing an army commander fresh out of the armed services into a contest for the position of head of state, meant that he would bring everything he had, his warlike temperament, his tendency to bulldoze through things, into the fray. And the government itself, will respond in a manner appropriate to who they are confronted with. The nature of the candidate was in large part responsible for the form the presidential election took.
Q. From the beginning, people did expect a heated campaign. But it went beyond that and careerd out of control...
A. The General was not an experienced political leader. He knew how to wage war. When he saw large crowds at election rallies, he may have been led to believe that the people had already elected him their leader. He was thinking only of victory and not of defeat. Their campaign not only misled the people, they also deceived themselves. When we were in the JVP, we would go on push cycles and put up posters everywhere. There would be only one or two activists in each village, but posters were to be seen everywhere. The next morning, we would go around and see our own posters everywhere, and we ourselves would get carried away by this sign of ubiquity. The impression created that our people were present at every junction. But that was not the truth. Our attempt was to deceive the people, but we ourselves were misled by it in the morning.
We saw similar tendencies within this presidential election campaign as well. In the JVP, the same people go for meetings in Warakapola in Ginigathhean and even Colombo. They wave flags and shout encouragement - that is the nature of the JVP. An inexperienced person seeing this may arrive at wrong assessments about what the result of the election is going to be. The people of this country are very intelligent. The people thought that if they go for a change at this moment, the country will face an unprecedented crisis. There would have been reprisals and bloodshed. That such a situation was averted is good for the country. I don’t believe that in today’s situation, anyone can change anything by coming out on to the streets and shouting slogans. There may of course be some people who think they can achieve something through this, so this shouting will last for some time. Then events will be overtaken by the parliamentary election and it will gradually fizzle out. This is now Mahinda Rajapakse’s turn. He has now won a bigger victory than even he anticipated. Now he can take a look at things calmly and examine the people’s concerns. He must look at a way of doing things without being swayed by petty political considerations. I believe he should seek the cooperation of the opposition.
Q. The opposition has been out of power for a long time and are chafing and resentful...
A. The presidential system was designed in such a way that the holder of that position stands even above the constitution. While J.R.Jayewardene thus concentrated power in his hands, he allowed those below him be they ministers or officials to make money. What has prevailed to date is this system. This has to change.
Today politics is bound up with making and spending money. You need a lot of money to get into power. This money has to be made by some means. I don’t say that corruption can be ended completely. But the president can without continuing as we have done in the past, initiate a change. What is most important is asking for the cooperation of the opposition. Today, we see a situation where the antagonism between the government and the opposition is as intense as the hatred that existed between the LTTE and all those opposed to them. This is not good for the country.
Q. If you compare Mahinda Rajapakse with some previous holders of that position, he is by no means an oppressive or dictatorial president, yet, as you say the tensions between the UNP and UPFA very intense. It’s not only he who has to come halfway…
A. This system that we are talking of was created by the UNP. This system was designed in such a way that it is extremely difficult to dislodge an incumbent government. Once power went to a different party, the problem confronting the UNP was how to get it back. Both these parties have suffered under this system. The SLFP suffered from 1977 to 1994 and the UNP has been suffering in the same way since 1994. So while there should be a signal for change from the president, an even bigger signal to this effect has to come from the opposition.
Now for quite a while, no change of government will be possible. We now have an opportunity to dream dreams of a less antagonistic political culture where people will be able to work together. Even if these dreams are never realized, merely dreaming such dreams will serve to reduce the antagonism between us. When a president wins an election, he is the president of those who voted against him as well. There are many challenges confronting this government. One is the challenge coming from the western countries over human rights and so on. The way to face this challenge is for all of us to get together to rebuild this country. The way we can face criticisms from the international community is not by appealing to them or making excuses, but by showing that everybody has got together to rebuild the nation.
Q. That antagonism you mentioned between the haves and have not’s in terms of political power, is very much a part of the political landscape. In this situation of conflicting aspirations, how do you achieve such an outcome?
A. This is why we need political debate in this country. In India, before the last election, the main topics of discussion were, where India was going as a nation and what the future India should be like. I believe such a debate in necessary in Sri Lanka as well. Ranil Wickremesinghe can’t be simply discounted as irrelevant. He is also an experienced leader. He has a responsibility to do away with the politics of hate, and to create a situation where he can work together with the president. By working together, I don’t mean a national government. Most ordinary people would not think twice of discarding litter in an untidy environment. But in a clean and well ordered place, he will not do so, because he will see that there is no litter around. This is what we mean by a system. Ordinary people can’t create systems – that the domain of the politicians. If politicians think less narrowly and take the big picture into account, our future will be quite bright.
Q. Conflict in this country can be seen at various levels. At one level is power politics. The other is the rankling mistrust between the various ethnic groups.
A. We have now ended one era. At one stage Tamil youth wanted a separate state and that they thought they could achieve that through armed struggle. After the war ended, the Sinhala people demonstrated that they did not view the Tamil people with hate. Tamil people were not set upon by the Sinhalese or harmed in any way. This is a beginning. The Sinhala Tamil, and Muslim people can live together in this country. The problems have been created by politicians. Some people say that Mahinda Rajapakse represents rabidly chauvinistic political forces. I don’t accept that. Mahinda Rajapakse is a nationalist, but he is not a chauvinist.
Even the forces aligned with him are not necessarily chauvinistic. Even the JVP which supported Mahinda in 2005, have since demonstrated that they can work together with the TNA for a political purpose. What the nationalistic forces aligned with Mahinda opposed was separatism. I don’t think any of these forces will oppose equal rights for all ethnic communities. Mahinda Rajapakse represents the Sinhalese. But he takes a very enlightened view of the other ethnic communities. One day before the presidential election I asked him whether the Tamil people would vote for him. His answer was that the war caused a lot of problems and that he does not expect the Tamil people to vote for him all at once, and that they may perhaps vote for him at a later election. It was during Mahinda’s period that the most emphasis was given to implementing the language act. A record number of candidates sat for the Tamil proficiency exams.
Even at the height of the war, there were attempts made to man the checkpoints with officers who knew Tamil. The president never had plans to win the war and colonise the north and east. Such plans were not made by even the ordinary Sinhala people. One day, I was having a discussion with R.Sambandan, Mavai Senathraja and others when a well known Tamil personality joined the discussion. What he told us was that when the LTTE had stepped up attacks on the military in 2006, he was phoned by the president and told to go to the north with Lalith Weeratunga and to talk to the LTTE. On the way, Lalith Weeratunga had taken precautions not to be seen even by the soldiers at the checkpoints lest the news of discussions got out. In Killinochchi, they had met the Sea Tiger leader who had been brusque and dismissive towards them and they had come back empty handed. When the crisis escalated to the Sampur showdown with the LTTE building bunkers outside their area of control established by the CFA, he once again was asked by the president to go to meet the LTTE leadership, this time with Jeyaraj Fernandopulle.
Once again they had been met by the Sea Tiger leader and he had been just as dismissive and as brusque as before. But Jeyaraj had argued with him. On the way back, Jeyaraj had told this gentleman that war was inevitable. The president had listened to what they had to say with his head on his hands and he had said at the end – "If war cannot be avoided, let’s go to war". So he tried his best to prevent war. This Tamil gentleman then told Sambandan myself and the others present that the president tried to take a step backwards, but he was thwarted by the arrogance and the stubbornness of the LTTE. It is now time to leave all that behind and look to the future.
If a significant number of Tamil representatives become members of the next government, and they come to a settlement through discussions, that will be a start. We can’t of course, go for simplistic solutions. The Vaddukkodai and resolution and the Thimpu principles are no longer valid this should be accepted by the Tamil leadership. ~ courtesy: The Island ~
29 Comments
This is the funniest "interview" I have seen in a long time. Chandraperuma's "questions" are more or less leading statements. And Ivan chips in with what Chnadraperuma wants him to say.
Are all Sri Lankans this stupid?
Victor Ivan is going kade:)
We have to agree that it was a mistake on the part of mature men like Wickremasinghe to have consented to bringing in the General to the Presidential contest.Most sober minded people would have been convinced he could never have won against the incumbent President. But there seems to have been a determination by a large number of people who wanted to express their protest against the obvious blunders and misdeeds of bad governance of the government. The people must now contribute to building up a strong but more cooperative opposition to work with the government to sort out our basic problems and make this country a more civilized and respectable one in line with our charished traditions. I agree with most of Mr.Victor Ivans views.
The most stupid interview I ever read. It is like a film script already written to please the Moda Rajas and Rajayakshayas.Say something independent and logical for the masses to think.
"The problems have been created by politicians. Some people say that Mahinda Rajapakse represents rabidly chauvinistic political forces. I don’t accept that. Mahinda Rajapakse is a NATIONALIST, but he is not a CHAUVINIST.
Even the forces aligned with him are not necessarily chauvinistic. Even the JVP which supported Mahinda in 2005, have since demonstrated that they can work together with the TNA for a political purpose. What the nationalistic forces aligned with Mahinda opposed was separatism. I don’t think any of these forces will oppose equal rights for all ethnic communities. Mahinda Rajapakse REPRESENTS THE SINHALESE. But he takes a very enlightened view of the other ethnic communities...."
If Mahinda Rajapakse represents the Sinhalese and a nationalist and has an elightened view of other communities, why Victor Ivan advocate that "If a significant number of Tamil representatives become members of the next government, and they come to a settlement through discussions, that will be a start...." ???
After all since 1948 the successive governments have been implementing what ever they wanted through majority power or through presidential power with or with out the support of minorities.The constititutions were changed. Victor's argument " It was during Mahinda’s period that the most EMPHASIS was given to implementing the language act. A record number of candidates SAT for the Tamil proficiency exams ",supports the power of MR.
So COMRADE Victor's arguement that " significant number of Tamil representatives must become part of the government .. " is a load of HUMBUG .
As a Victor ( or rather as a triumphalist ) he also puts conditions that "The Vaddukkodai and resolution and the Thimpu principles are no longer valid this should be accepted by the Tamil leadership ". This clearly reflects /or echo what Sarath Fonseka as supporter of MR regime, expressed as his view some months prior to the Presidential elections , on the ownership of the Island.
My last three posers to former comrade VICTOR are :
1. Since MR is so good and represents the Sinhalese and a nationalist , Why can not comrade Victor argue or put an open condition to MR that he should forget about the Tamil reps or Tamil leadership, go and implement what is best for the country in terms a political solution through constitutional change or otherwise?
2.D.S Senanayke, SWRD Bandaranyake , J.R.Jeyawardne, Srimavo,Felix and Colvin were they separatists, nationalists or chauvinists or none of these ?
3. Since Tamils or their leaders are so bad based on their political aspirations, Has the Sinhalese heartland or Sinhalese parties have produced any statesman since 1948 ? If so please enlighten the readers like me.
If fielding a military officer is wrong then holding the election prematurily is also wrong. Had the president waited for another two years and done the good work, I am sure he would have been elected very easily. Why did he go to hold the election prematurily? The answer will be the same for fielding the military officer too. One plus one is always two and not one Mr. Ivan. You as a senior journalist shouldn't stoop to that level.
Ditto Nimal Fernando.
The interviewer asks an important question: What is wrong with this country?
There is not one thing but many things wrong with Sri Lanka. However, the biggest thing that is worng with the nation is that it does not have principled leaders - not just in politics but across the entire spectrum of society, including among religious leaders.
Until there emerges a new generation of principled leaders the nation will continue to struggle.
This article has nothing left us to comment. It is a Blue print of the current situation in the country.
writer of the article seems to be so embarrased in fielding a malitary character for recently held presidential election. I belevie that it is the nature of politics,to face teh the head of the ruling party the best posible selection was made by the opposition.In fact it was a golden gift presented by himself while the opposition was waiting helpless to find a suitable candidate to field.it is good people were able to see a good challenge rather than being given a walkover to a one party.and on the other hand president could have waited till the end of his term instead of calling an early presidential election which has caused an unnecessary problems and put the country in political turmoil. as the writer says but president wanted to capitalize war victory to achive his personel political gains rather than focussing on other burning issues.the result of which is so disgusting that the countryis paying a heavy price and the president himself should take the responsibility of it.
What he talks are the reality of things. He sees the truth behind it. It was really the hate and revenge behind the opposition to MR. Think JVP & UNP both amalgamated on hate and revenge. But people thinked in a different way. As he pointed out people rightly got it was president who won the war (It was really a team work but without his leadership it wound not have happned). In my opinion JVP is the real culprit behind it. We should away from Hate and revenge. Try to develop the country through harmony of all sinhalese, tamils, muslims, burgurs and all other citizens of Sri Lanka. Let us forget the past, petty differences and get together for a better Sri Lanka
Nimal Fernando has got it right to some extent but is he? A journalist would question someone on what he beleives in or what he had heard to confirm or clarify the issue. What is important is not whether the questions were leading ones but whether the answers were relevant.
The controvercial journalist Victor Ivan has time and again proved himself above most when it comes to political analysis and is quite adept to adroit replies.
Coming from VI one would always expect a radical reply. VI to his credit has always been upto date with his analysis on current political scenario.
What erks me most is the misleading headline...possibly inspired by the intention of getting the attention of the readers which I find is pretty childish or politically bias.
Except for the question where Chandraperuma states that MR is by no means a dictatorial, or oppressive President where he leads VI according to Nimal Fernando one must understand that a journalist of Chandraperuma's stature does not have the eloquence to word it otherwise. Give credit to Ivan he has by all means seen and been what he is the evergreen journalist who is willing to tread hot water even if he burns his feet.
What NF expected could have been to see Chandra fire questions that would bowl out VI....but sorry mate..VI is a smarter man than what you are willing to give credit for.
This interview is a gross misleading and not speaking reality. Mr.Victor Ivan was talking of ideal situation, and that will never happen.
Mr. Ivan is trying to cover up the many important events in this country. For example, he did not talk about the IDP, the number of civilians and soldiers killed in the last war, the Tamils political struggle, and the huge racist feeling among the fellow country men.
He is also fabricating certain news such as President’s secretary went and met LTTE. He was not able give any justification why such move was kept in dark. He did not talk about the incident where government had given money to LTTE.
This article is not brining any value to the reader. It is just another publicity event for the Sri Lankan president.
If victor gives this type of interviews, I think his journalist future is almost finished.
I began reading the interview, with an ope mind because I believe any stupid person can sometimes be sensible. But this Ivan guy is a comic. Why people interview him is beyond any reasonable person's imagination. I stopped reading at the end of the first question or so when Ivan said there are almost no cadjan thatched houses. my foot! He must be living in such a strange world that he doen't see the state of the country. The poor has got poorer is the message that he needs to learn in the last decade, not very diffeent to the previous decade. Rural infrastructure is another bluff. Pouring concrete 3 foot wide lanes along villages will drag not only those poor villagers themselves but the whole country down the drains. The concrete roads are so badly and hastily done to save as much money as possible by the contractors (unqualified ones) and these will only take three wheelers now and in five years, they will be gone. No repairs can be done. It's such a waste of money. Anyway, what is the point in commenting on an Ivan's letter!!
I am happy that Voctor has realized the problem of the country and he gave a way of going for next 10 years to come ti Sri Lanka for its good.It is the journy with Mahinda now, if Sri Lankan wants good for the country. They can have their own political parties, but better to let Mahinda to do his task, not to disturb him. It will do for good for the country. There is nothing else at the moment to do if we want better Sri Lanka. Please join togehter and work for the contry. Demonstrations do not bring anything to Sri Lnka. Work, do your duty, your children reap the result if you can not.
I am happy that Voctor has realized the problem of the country and he gave a way of going for next 10 years to come ti Sri Lanka for its good.It is the journy with Mahinda now, if Sri Lankan wants good for the country. They can have their own political parties, but better to let Mahinda to do his task, not to disturb him. It will do for good for the country. There is nothing else at the moment to do if we want better Sri Lanka. Please join togehter and work for the contry. Demonstrations do not bring anything to Sri Lnka. Work, do your duty, your children reap the result if you can not.
There is no accountability in SL. Anything ispossible.
At least Mr. Victor Ivan is a committed loyalist for the opposition campaign of Mr. Sarath Fonseka and his utterances like this is expected from him. What else can he do? The problem is the other impression they are creating in the international media as if they do not have freedom to write and tell lies. Most of the opposition baseless attacks of the government do get more than the regular exposure thanks to the so called international press. If not for some of the government media no one would ever have gauged the realities in the ground. As Mr. Johnston Fernando suggested in Thulawa last night, MR and his government has done a yeoman service to the country, and all the good traditions will prevail in the country. In the alternative if by any chance SF were to come to power, with the help of JVP they would have massacred the democracy and the people of Sri Lanka in style.
Most commentors without putting facts against the facts in the interview,tend to insult,blame and growl at Chandraprema and Ivan.This is probalbly because they can bot digest the truth being discussed.
Also they do not wasnt to accept the truth and reality because of being blinded by politics.This is clearly explained in the interview.
Pathetic.
I read this article searching the icident "President sent his secretary Weeratunga secretly for talks with the LTTE" . I found that this incident has happened in 2006. Like me many readers may have read it. How ever many contents of the article are to discredit common oposition candidate. I suspect this is a new technique to brain wash people and get their support to Mahinda Regime.
Victor I is praising MR !
MR be careful, these are the serpants sent by NGO's
Seriously! do you take sri lankan people to be fools? everything is coming up roses! sure!
Reply to Nimal fernando's comment
No Mr.. Thses are facts.. If all Sri Lankan's thinks like you we will not have a country.In 1980 when JR Jayawardana destroying the country and create a war for us to fight for 30 years where was you or the poeple who talk about democracy. At least now we as country look forwad for future
Any neutral person is asking,what would have happened
if things had gone the other way? What happened to
SF would have happened to MR.What MR doing to stop a
blood bath,SF will do.But not this quick.They would
have waited for the general election?You forget how
Anura was airlifted from Nuwara eliya after results
in 1977 election,from humiliation.You also forget that SF detention, with another all important election
already opened,is intimidating the vote base of the
opposition openly.You are contradicting quite clearly
between MR's chauvinism,nationalism and sinhalism.You are clearly taking a pride in seeing MR as a sinhala
leader and as a nationalist.But in vain,you want to
tell the world that he's not chauvinist.You miserably fail to demonstrate your impartiality on your views. You are trying to discuss only the good side of one party and a contraversial side of the other party.Put everything on the table and search for the truth Ivan that's your job.It's rightly said that once a party is elected to power it's designed to last longer thanks to JR constitution.You don't want to say this whole heartedly but you want MR to enjoy it.Be generous and go garland the statue of old fox.You see Ivan,there's a new word in english about nationalism.Vivid nationalism,meaning,covering the whole country and not part or group of it.
As for the choice of SF candidature,he was the perfect match to MR in all fronts.It's your glasses that you should change to see clearly.MR associates engaged in real time political thuggery breaking up all political parties into pieces so that they will cease to function in full gear,leaving MR traffick free of jam and I wonder you failed to see this as a major setback of all opposition parties which eventually led to all this ugly situations including the victory of MR.You people won't be able to triumph this victory.Also
remember,a leader's credibility is under judiciary microscope.This happened bacause MR met his proper match.Ranil wouldn't have done this,you know why,he
wakes up from the wrong end of the bed.You are trying
to maintain that opposition aim was revenge in this
election.You must also make it clear,who branded the
opposition as traitors? This is the real thuggery.You are absolutely right to say that MR got rural votes.
It's to villagers he taught, to call the opposition
"traitors".Go to the bottom for facts.You are saying that MR dispatched Weeratunga secretly to LTTE.Ranil did that openly.Who's transparent? Who's traitor? This man MR lives on cheap tactics imitating everybody else just to remain in power to engage in real revenge politics.They are in politics to teach other people a lesson.That's where 80% of their time is spent on.Non stop humiliation of UNP led to deterioration of strong opposition and this should be included in the cost of their trumpeted developments,as the price the country had to pay.
Who is Victor Ivan? Why he is interviewed? I cannot understand. As Sri Lankans we should read these articles with an open mind. What has happened to democracy in SL. We are not fools and we all know about Victor Ivan's past.
Its a good interview Mr Nimal Fernando. That is the only way to bring peace and also to educate the masses. If you do not agree with a statement argue and warrant it please. Otherwise, the valuable pages get wasted with someone's emotions.Thanks.
Truth has come out. Victor Ivan says Predent's secretory met LTTE and Jeyaraj met LTTE. Ranil did talk to LTTE not in secret not like MR. Who is the traiter ?
Victor Ivan has been bought over by MR long time ago. So what do you expect from a guy like that.
To fix Sri Lanka , a leader has to emerge from outside the 2 main political parties. Because both main political parties are corrupt from inside out. So how can a politician from such a party can address the issues of corruption & Lawlessness in sri Lanka.
Here is the acid test for the article:
'The Vaddukkodai resolution and the Thimpu principles are no longer valid; this should be accepted by the Tamil leadership.'
Did I miss any earlier language that forecast that this final assault was coming? At least there could have been a hint that this was in the Brew!
It is this frozen mindset that Tamils have to 'accept' whatever the Sinhalese offer that forestalls peace in Sri Lanka.
Footnote: I am not a fan of Vaddukkodai resolution either; but, it was such high-handed exhibition of masterly arrogance that forced Tamils to reject a unitary State.
Do Tamils have any choice but to cling on to Thimpu principles?