The International Community has still not stopped calling “ both sides to a negotiated settlement”.

The terrorism in Sri Lanka began some where in the 1970s. It became a political problem after 1983. It created a marked division between the Sinhala and Tamil Communities. It began by ethnic cleansing in Jaffna by giving notice to Muslim population to leave the peninsula with in 48 hours.

Preliminary attempts to stop terrorism was not a success. Thereafter attempts to end terrorism by military action failed due to Indian Intervention in 1987, and due to political undercurrents within the Majority Community and the absence of consensus.

The International Community paid scant interest in Sri Lanka’s conflict with terrorism. But on the other hand the IC helped to enhance and strengthen terrorists , making them a rival politico –terrorist movement of the Sri Lanka Government.

Though Sri Lanka had able military commanders, and second rung officers of remarkable ability there was scheming and rivalry on the part of the political leaders of the time that failed to make the best use of these men. The beneficiary of the failure of the government to funnel the available forces in the correct direction was the terrorists.

Thereafter the terrorism became Sri Lanka’s major problem due to a week political leadership, and then to crown it all the signing of a CFA between the terrorists and the most weakest and unintelligent political leader in the political history of Independent Sri Lanka Ranil Wickramasinghe.

The CFA allowed, the terrorist controlled areas into which no government official could enter. It was more or less a first step for the establishment of an Eelam State. The significant contribution of the then President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumaratunga to Sri Lanka was the suspension of the Parliament and taking control of the country to oust the Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe

The principal error of the Government of Sri Lanka that followed the continued failure of the previous governments to produce a strong determined political leader to end terrorism, was to allow Eric Solheim of Norway to become the mediator between the terrorists and the Government. Solheim made the terrorist held areas almost a parallel government. Sri Lanka had almost accepted the superior armed power of the terrorists, and reckoned its own in ability to stand up to them.

Thereafter, all actions that followed strengthened the terrorists and weakened the government. The International Community seemed to be helping the terrorists to set up a Provisional Government. The Heroes day speech of Prabhakaran the terrorist leader became an important event look forward to by the interested parties who were scheming against the government. The Norway led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission openly took side with the terrorists, to cover up atrocities committed by them.

The tsunami was a catastrophe that devastated parts of the country, and the influx of the NGOs and INGOs that followed was the worst evil that befell on Sri Lanka. It again stood against Sri Lanka, and the terrorists benefitted from it. It had allowed them to construct luxury bungalows, swimming pools, bunkers, air strips, submarines, boats, printing presses and develop an industry of bombs, personal mines, grenades, and suicide jackets. They constructed police stations, court houses, prisons, torture chamber. The technicians for these work had obviously infiltrated into the terrorist controlled areas in the guise of INGOs.

Then came the so called donor states, who agreed to grant 3 billion Dollars for reconstruction work after tsunami. The Donors however laid down conditions that money should be shared with the LTTE terrorists. It was decided to set up a Post Tsunami Operational Management (PTOM) in Kilonochchi, held by the terrorists, and disburse the financial needs for construction work in the area through it. The JVP went to courts and the Supreme courts ruled it out. That was a move by the donor states to raise the terrorists held areas to a virtual provisional Government.

The heads of donor state were unhappy . But made “curtsey” call to the terrorists to patch up differences. It was said that the Japanese Foreign Minister who visited Kilinochchi handed over a large sum of money in cash to Tamilselvam for construction work in the area. The donor states made use of the promised loans as a wedge to get the government to agree for a negotiated settlement with the terrorists.

In the mean time a farce of a negotiated peace settlement had been set in motion with Eric Solheim acting as the mediator. It was evident from the beginning that nothing was going to come out of it. The Head of terrorists delegation Balasingham jauntily expressed at a press conference, that Velupullai Prabhakaran is both their “ President and the Prime Minister”.

Several rounds of negotiations were held in Foreign Capitals, and the terrorist delegations broke up the negotiations and went shopping for arms and armaments. But that did not deter the International Community and the American Ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O’Blake calling governments to negotiate for a peace settlement.

The donor States promised aid did not help Sri Lanka but helped the terrorists to enhance their standing among the International Community and win their sympathy and indirect help. Wonder what actually happened to the 3 billion Dollars for reconstruction work promised by the donor states …….?.

It was in this climate that Mahinda Rajapakse was elected the President of Sri Lanka. He was supported by the JVP in his election compaign. The out going President was all out to have him defeated in the Presidential elections. But finally it was a great relief for the patriots of Sri Lanka that he was elected the President. The International Community was expecting the election of the Western Stooge Ranil Wickramasinghe to win. The media of the West immediately called the elected President Mahinda Rajapakse a hawkish President.

However, it was a great fortune that Sri Lankan people had him elected as the President at this great hour of need. But the JVP who had supported him in the elections thought that it was their popularity that brought Mahinda Rajapakse into power. They thought that by dumping the newly elected President, they could identify themselves as an independent political party and thus retain the popularity they thought they had gained at the Presidential election.
Notwithstanding, President Mahinda Rajapakse immediately put in motion a call for face to face negotiations for a peace settlement with the terrorist leader Prabhakaran. Prabhakaran perhaps thinking it is below his dignity to talk peace with a Sinhala President, refused to meet the President but agreed to send a delegation for a peace settlement to be held out side Sri Lanka. The negotiations failed with the terrorist delegation leaving the conference hall.

Prabhakaran called for nothing less than a Eelam State , and said he was ready to go to war to win his demand, He confirmed it by having a claymore blasted targeting a bus carrying civilians. 87 of them were killed in the blast. Immediately thereafter he got the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru tank closed denying water to thousands of farmers. The President ran out of his patience, and started military operations against the terrorists.

USA Ambassador called the government to stop the military solution to the problem and asked “ both parties to come to a political settlement”. The call was taken up by the International Community, and donor states . The President Mahinda Rajapakse’s determination to end terrorism for good was to withstand all barriers put before him by the foreign and local anti war lobby.

Thereafter, the stage was taken by non-descript human rights activists, amnesty international, UNHRC, Ban ki Moon of UNO , Koichiro Matsuura of UNESCO , Foreign Media, BBC, CNN, Washington post. All asking government to back out of the military operations as it puts in danger the civilian population which would amount to a violation of human rights.

The news coming from the conflict zone were distorted by the foreign media. The local media lead by the Sunday Leader publication of late Lasantha Wicrmathunga, was the most unpatriotic anti government, and notoriously anti progressive.

But the President Mahinda Rajapakse’s determination could not be subdued by nincompoops, NGO’s, INGOs or “foreign do gooders” whose concern was not the development and progress of Sri Lanka. Most of them would have liked Sri Lanka divided between the terrorists and the Government.

The President of Sri Lanka, had great patriots to back him and lead the Armed Forces. The Army Commander , Commanders of the Navy and the Air Force, the valiant Soldiers, the Secretary of Defence, contributed to the realisation of the Presidents determination to end terrorism.

There were others like Dayan Jayatilleke, Palitha Kohona, and Rajiva Wijesinghe who took up the challenge to defy those who falsified information to discredit the government. The media too such as the Island News Papers, internet electronic media like the Lanka Web and Asian Tribune contributed in their own way to counterattack those abusers of media to discredit the government and the Armed Forces.

All of them and many more contributed greatly to the resounding victory against terrorism.

But still, while the terrorists are holed up in a 17 Sq.Km. of land space , reduced in numbers to a few hundreds, still ruthlessly keeping a large number of civilians as a human shield, the Inter National Community, USA President Mr.Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, UN, Britain, Kouchner, Boucher and Robert O’Blake, continue to call “ both sides for a negotiated settlement”.