Now what?

I didn’t blog about Kebithigollewa massacre, because I didn’t think I had anything new to say. But now, with the increase of terrorist activities has led many, including acclaimed journalists to believe that we are indeed heading towards yet another war, so I am compelled to write something on a potential way forward, if again (god forbid), all hell breaks loose

I believe, if there is a resumption of direct hostilities between the LTTE and the government then the government must make a paradigm shift towards how it view the conflict. In the past any resolution of the ethnic conflict was tied with negotiations with exclusively, the LTTE. Now it’s time the people and the government tries to go around the Tigers if that’s what’s required to achieve progress.

What this means in essence is the Sri Lankan government must take steps to create a legitimate and acceptable political solution to the ethnic conflict even while fighting a war against the LTTE.

The CFA, despite its shortcomings (I’ve yet to come across a document without) resulted in a climate which created unique situations that didn’t exist before. For the first time there are a few groups which can claim to effectively represent the Tamil people other than the LTTE; from Karuna’s followers to Mr. Anandasangaree, to other anti-LTTE Tamil voices in Europe. There is now, new room to take a new view of the process.

So the government must, in the event it fails to re-start negotiations with the LTTE form a sort of a council given full authority to come up with a draft constitution to bring a lasting political solution. The council must comprise of the willing Tamil academia, other interest groups including the Karuna faction, and of course representation of other ethnicities via representations by political parties.

If the LTTE continues to refrain from engaging in talks and continues to engage in violence like in Kebithigollewa, or tries to blow up the whole coastline, as they seemed to be doing now this may be the only solution we are left with.