Tiger, Still Burning Bright?

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara For the enemy to be recognised and feared, he has to be in your home or on your doorstep. mberto !co "The #rague $emetery% "February &', ()&*, $olombo, Sri +anka Guardian% The #rotocols of the !lders of ,ion, an alleged -secret.plan/ by 0e1ish leaders for 1orld domination, took the occident by storm in the early ()th $entury. !2en after it 1as e3posed as a forgery perpetrated by the Tsarist secret police "a sham culled from t1o 1orks of literature 4 a French satire and a German no2el%, it continued to e3cite the fanatical imagination of anti.Semitics and became a ma5or influence on 6dolf 7itler.

6n -us 2s. them/ metanarrati2e is dependent on an enemy 1ho is ubi8uitous, both geographically and temporally, 1ho ne2er ceases to li2e, lurk and loom, 1ho can be summoned across any barrier, 1hene2er its e3culpatory or terrifying presence is needed. That is 1hy, e2en if the Tiger is forgotten by e2ery Tamil, he 1ill li2e fore2ermore in 9a5apaksa propaganda.

:hen asked 1hy the regime failed in its lobbying campaign in 6merica, #residential Secretary +alith :eeratunga did not blame the 9a5apaksa kith and kin festering the +ankan !mbassy in :ashington 4 understandably; nor did he mention $olombo/s inane decision to hire an unrated, miniscule and e3tremely e3pensi2e lobbying firm headed by a political.has.been from the 9eagan.era. 7e laid the blame s8uarely on the Tiger, the same Tiger his political masters annihilated almost fi2e years ago. <= must say that the +TT! has hired a lobbying company 1hich is one of the strongest groups and is already in the :hite 7ouse. =ts head is one of the closest associates of #resident >bama, so they are 1ell placed. 6nd the Sri +ankan go2ernment has not been able to reach that le2el. So almost fi2e years after the entire +TT! leadership 1as killed?captured the Tiger is thri2ing. The Tiger is the !3hibit @o. & in the 9a5apaksa political gallery. The Siblings base their claim to eternal rulership and unconditional impunity on the argument that they liberated the country from the Tiger. 6ccording to this logic, +ankans must 1illingly agree to a lifetime of 9a5apaksa rule, as payment for the debt.of.gratitude they o1e to their liberators. "@o such gratitude is o1ed to the 1ar.1inning army commander 1ho became a national enemy 1hen he opted to oppose the 9a5apaksas%. 6nd 1hene2er the Siblings are in need, the 2an8uished and annihilated Tiger is presented as a real li2ing threat 1ith undiminished destructi2e strength and 1recking capacity. So in the 9a5apaksa metanarrati2e, the Tiger is the defeated.enemy and the omnipresent bogeyman, the e2il 1hich 1as 1iped.out and the threat 1hich ne2er dies. Thus +alith :eeratunga can indicate that the defeated Tiger has more resources and more capacities than the 2ictorious Airacle of 6sia and can afford to hire the best of the lobbyists 1hile $olombo is reduced to scraping the bottom of the barrelB <The +TT! has taken the #odesta GroupC They ha2e 0ohn #odesta 1ho is almost an ad2isor to #resident >bamaC 6re 1e to belie2e that the 9a5apaksa regime failed to be heard in :ashington because Sri +anka, 1hich spends the largest chunk of its budget on defence, has less financial resources than the organisationally non.e3istent +TT!? 6re 1e to accept that this monumental failure has nothing to do 1ith the total incompetence of the +ankan embassy in :ashington, 1hich has become a ha2en for political appointees? Do the 9a5apaksas and their glib +aundrymen think that Sinhalese are stupid enough to gulp the ludicrous claim that 2arious pro.Tiger Diaspora entities ha2e more resources and capacities than the +ankan state?

6re they right? 6re 1e that gullible? The #odesta Group 1as certainly not hired by the +TT! "1hich, apart from being organisationally non.e3istent, is banned in the S% or e2en the Transnational Go2ernment of Tamil !elam but by the Tamil 6merican #eace =nitiati2e . The Tamil 6merican #eace =nitiati2e paid the #odesta Group SE F),))) in ()&) , SE G),))) in ()&& and SE F),))) in ()&H . Thus the Tamil 6merican #eace =nitiati2e spent SE ('),))) for three years to retain the -1ell.placed/ #odesta Group, 1hich according to Ar. :eeratunga, is headed by a man 1ho -has the ear of the administration/. =n ()&H Sri +anka signed a contract agreeing to pay SE IF(,))) for 5ust one year to Thompson 6d2isory Group "T6G%, 1hich is headed by 9obert Thompson 1ho may "or may not% ha2e had the ear of #resident 9onald 9eagan "diseased% and #resident George Bush senior "retired%, on the recommendation of Ar. Thompson/s +ankan. born chaufferJ 6lso in ()&H, #residential.kinsman 6mbassador 0alyiya :ickremesuriya hired the Aa5ority Group , for SE K),))) a month " SE ')),))) per annum%. That is a grand total of SE &.HFmillion, for one year, for t1o lobbying groups 1hich pale into insignificance besides the -1ell.placed/ #odesta Group. 6nd to retain that super.influential #odesta Group for three 1hole years, a non. famous small Tamil group paid 5ust SE ('),))) "less than SE GI,))) per year%. :as $olombo/s failure to -reach that le2el/ due to lack of resources or lack of brains 4 and a superabundance of nepotism and chicanery? #olitico.De2elopmental Failures The :ashington debacle is a microcosm of the larger +ankan debacle. The truth is that the 9a5apaksas ha2e used the post.1ar years not to lay the foundation for a +ankan future based on national reconciliation and a consensual peace but to destroy democracy from 1ithin and set up a familial state. The current problems the Siblings face in the international arena are primarily sourced in his essential nature of 9a5apaksa pro5ect. The 9a5apaksas do not 1ant to share po1er e2en 1ith fello1 Sinhala.Buddhists. They ha2e spent the post.1ar years undermining the pro2incial councils and e2ading a more comprehensi2e political solution. Since they do not belie2e in the e3istence of an ethnic problem, and because they do not 1ant to permit the e3istence?creation of any alternate po1er.centres "including the 5udiciary%, they ha2e opted for a militarised and a ma5oritarian peace "peace as the continuation of 1ar by other means%.

This political nihilism could ha2e been mitigated had the regime prioritised the li2elihood, health and education needs of Tamils. The gross neglect of human and community needs in the 1ar.torn areas has led to the creation of dangerous socio. economic trends. The latest case in point is the high rate of school dropouts in the @orth and the !ast due to financial and economic reasonsB <Aost of the dropouts are from poor families 1ho find it difficult to make ends meet as humanitarian assistance dries upC. This situation is being aggra2ated by an acute lack of 5ob opportunities and a rising cost of li2ing. =f the regime does not address this issue fast, it 1ill find itself facing problems on another international front. The =+> has already e3pressed concern about the proliferation of child labour in the @orth and the !ast and the appalling 1orking conditions these children face, including 2ery lo1 pay . $urrently the most potent challenge faced by the 9a5apaksas is a result of their reductio ad absurdum approach to the ethnic problem and the anti.democratic nature of their dynastic.pro5ect. The Theatre de bouffonnerie that is 9a5apaksa.diplomacy is no help, but e2en the most effecti2e lobbying firm cannot turn non.reality into reality. 9eferences;
1. The #rotocols first appeared in an abbre2iated form in &F)H in the 9ussian paper

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

,namia "The Banner%. =n the S, 7enry Ford published and distributed K),))) copies in &F(), after anti.$ommunist 9ussian LmigrLs presented copies of the #rotocol to 6merican politicians, 5udiciary and intelligence community. =n &F(&, #hilips Gra2es, a reporter for the Times disco2ered that the #rotocols 1as a fraudulent document largely culled from a political satire by Aaurice 0oly and an anti.Semitic no2el by 7ermann Goedsche. +anka/s fate hangs on tough lobbying on SB +alith 4 Daily Airror 4 &*.(.()&*; emphasis mine Small countries at the mercy of lobbying groups 4 The Sunday Times 4 &'.(.()&*; emphasis mine httpB??reporting.sunlightfoundation.com?lobbying?firm?podesta. group?F*6FD(G*.'&!B.*HBI.G'&B.((I$HBDH'FG' httpB??111.opensecrets.org?lobby?clientMreports.php? idND))))KIHFFOyearN()&) httpB??111.opensecrets.org?lobby?clientMreports.php? idND))))KIHFFOyearN()&& httpB??111.opensecrets.org?lobby?clientMreports.php? idND))))KIHFFOyearN()&H httpB??111.sundaytimes.lk?&*)&('?columns?foreign.mire.and.peoples.ire. 1ill.there.be.2oter.fire.G&&HH.html

9. httpB??111.politico.com?politicoinfluence?)*&H?politicoinfluence&)HIG.html 10.httpB??colombogaPette.com?()&*?)(?&&?high.number.of.school.dropouts? 11.httpB??colombogaPette.com?()&*?)(?&&?high.number.of.school.dropouts?

#osted by Tha2am