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Journalism of Courage
As comparisons go,the LTTE is hard to bracket. In the past 26 years it rewrote many of the standards of terrorism. In tactics like suicide attacks,in fund-raising and in propaganda networking,the Tigers remained frontrunners. They acquired an awe-inspiring reputation for audacity,brutality and perverse glorification of valour by projecting these qualities on the person of their chief,Velupillai Prabhakaran. That is why,even as the enclave held by the LTTE kept shrinking under an
all-out offensive by the Sri Lankan army,it could not be declared
Harvesting that closure,however,will not come merely with a military victory. On Sunday,an LTTE spokesperson posted a dramatic admission of surrender on a website seen to be pro-rebel: The battle has reached its dramatic end. But to convert the end of the LTTEs 26-year-long civil war into the end of conflict will be a challenge. For closure to come,a correct measure of the moment must be taken. This victory is an accomplishment thats come with huge costs in terms of civilian deaths and displacement. To validate the argument that sovereign nations have the onus of clearing their territory of terrorist infrastructure,Colombo needs to capture the moment with genero-sity,humane and political,to its Tamil civilians. Ending a civil war means not just defeating the insurgents,but effecting reconciliation. In reconciliation,in fully articulating a recognition of Tamil aspirations,lies victory.
India will have to be pro-active in making that point to Sri Lanka. Delhis role in the post-civil war political process need not be reflective of regional hegemony. For too long the logical contacts between Sri Lanka and India economic,cultural and political have been impeded by the LTTEs activities and propaganda. A properly fast-tracked and wholesome reconciliation could lead to big-vision
economic cooperation. Security concerns and sometimes political anxiety have prevented the two countries from reaping the benefits that would accrue from a coordinated vision for economic growth and development of infrastructure like roads and harbours. The peace,and the benefits of that peace,will be won by thinking big and generous. Such moments dont come too
often,and Colombo must be told of the costs of letting them slip away.
