'13th Amendment must be fully implemented'

Minister of Social Services and Jaffna District MP Douglas Devananda believes fire should be met with fire and calls for the elimination of the LTTE leadership in a bid to introduce democracy to the north. Following are excerpts of an interview with The Sunday Leader:

By Dilrukshi Handunnetti

Q: About how many civilians are likely to be trapped in the Wanni now?

A: The exact information is not available with me. The LTTE as usual is using the people as a human shield. They did it in the east and it happened in the north. Now it is happening in the Wanni. Different quarters quote various figures. I am unable to offer definite numbers.

Q: You hold the important portfolio of Social Services. What kind of scheme do you have in place to assist the displaced?

A: Not just because of that portfolio, but as a Minister who represents the people of the affected area, I may lead the government team there. People are beginning to move to government held areas and I want to see this happen.

There is a Special Task Force through which people come to meet us. We meet their needs through that.

Q: Do you believe that the LTTE is losing ground to the government forces?

A: Of course they are and it is natural for that to happen.

The LTTE has denied the north connectivity with the south. Even though we have a political problem, complete separation does not get us anywhere.

I am a politician who hails from a leftist background. I always held progressive views but unfortunately, we could not find a progressive southern government to work with.

As a member of this government, having shed my militancy to answer the political question that affects the community, I have begun a new journey. I want that connectivity, lost thanks to the LTTE, to be reintroduced. Through that, to make civilians and specially the young people to understand that they are misled and made to believe in war.

I just brought thousands of children from Vavuniya to Colombo recently. Right now I have a group of over 300 northern students who have excelled in sports and some young innovators visiting Colombo. We encourage them to participate in national athletic meets and to play a decisive role in shaping their own future.

We have committed too many youths to the war, from both sides. And this nation weeps.

I tell the Tamil people that for the past two decades, people in the Wanni suffered due to lack of democracy. We need to reintroduce democracy there.

President is trying to do that. We should assist him. It happened in the east also. There are some issues in the east still, no doubt. But it is better than what it used to be. Things will improve.

Northern Province is different. It has special concerns. But the fact remains that I have steadfastly fought for the rights of the Tamils, in government also. I have always strived to serve their needs and to increase their bargaining power and believe that their suffering should end.

I know by experience that militancy can get you only to the half way mark. Beyond that lies the political path. Naturally the LTTE is losing ground not just due to military setbacks but also due to lack of popular support.

There may be some political criticism on me. There may be one or two incidents where my people are involved.  But I keep them under strict check.

The issue is that the LTTE is against democracy. It is against democracy because in such a set up, the Tigers won't have a role to play. They will lose their significance. So they feel shielded by the gun culture for beyond that lies a barren future in which they are reduced to nothing.

When I call for the LTTE's elimination, I call for the elimination of its leadership. It should happen for the people to progress and look at new political alternatives.

Q: Do you foresee a separate Northern Provincial Council in the near future?

A: I have no doubt that it is the President's wish. Once the area is liberated, it will be a reality. Before that there is every chance to hold local government elections. There are many cleared areas that could be readied for local polls easily before we go for the larger political exercise of establishing a provincial administration.

Q: Do you still stand for an amalgamated northeast?

A: I still do. That's what I always stood for as a political leader from the north. But due to recent political changes, we are willing to adapt to new situations. Our original demands of a merged northeast and recognition of a homeland concept have not changed. But we all have evolved- political parties and the people.

The EPDP is willing to accept that the 13th Amendment was a turning point in Sri Lankan politics. We want it fully implemented. Let's take it from there and move forward.

Q: The government has set a new deadline for capturing Kilinochchi, which is the year-end. As someone aware of the ground situation, does this appear feasible?

A: If it becomes reality before that deadline, I would be happy. Not because I enjoy annihilation of people or due to some petty score I have to settle with the LTTE and its leadership. The reason is that for people and the area to progress, there has to be space for democracy. It will never be a reality as long as Pirapaharan is alive. He will never allow other political opinion. 

Q: Do you believe that civilians should be moved out of LTTE held territory?

A: Yes they should be. When security forces liberated Jaffna, the LTTE forced Jaffna people towards Wanni. Some two third did not turn up. They went up to Chavakachcheri area. They remained there and later returned home. Only about one third followed the LTTE instructions.

It is the LTTE atrocities people have to be careful about.

Q: How do you propose the government should act, to create a humanitarian corridor to help civilians evacuate?

A: It is a mechanism that the government should put in place. It is important to bear in mind that the LTTE would seriously block this from happening. That will dilute its presence and significance. Even if the government manages to grant safe passage, the LTTE will create problems.

Q: What mechanism can help civilians safely enter government-controlled areas?

A:  Somehow we have to ensure this.

Let me add this. There are two aspects to the ethnic question. One is the terrorist issue and the other, political. Terrorists have to be dealt with in a language they understand. The more  the government  attacks the more ferocious the LTTE response will be. We have to drain the LTTE on the one side and drain its leadership on the other side. Until then, there will be no amicable settlement. Pirapaharan will stand in the way to peaceful resolution of the conflict.

We must earn the trust of the Tamil people by granting safe passage. The armed forces can do that.

Q: When should the political process begin, according to you?

A:  Before the Indo-Lanka Agreement, we called it a Sinhala government. Now  we accept this as the Sri Lankan government. After the agreement, the Tamil democratic leadership had ample openings to enter the mainstream and make a difference. The Tamil political organisations did not make use of the new opportunity. There had been talks during President Premadasa's time, then during President Kumaratunga's, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's and even with President Rajapakse.

This President is an amicable one. In Tamil there is a saying that the most enduring of gods refuse to bear pain at some point. The LTTE drove the President to this end. Now he has decided on a course of military action. 

Q: Are you satisfied with the Tamil political leadership in the north?

A: Do you feel only the LTTE represents the Tamil people? Are they a strong political presence? The organisation has been the bane of the people.

After the Indo Lanka Peace Accord, things have changed. The problem is that there is no internal democracy in any of these Tamil political organisations. How can they preach democracy outside?

Also, militancy is a passing phase. It is a tool to be heard, to clamour for a cause. But it does not last. There has to be a political ideology that is pushed through a limited militant movement. That's why the Tamil problem remains unresolved.

Q: Is it your position that Tamil militancy has failed?

A: Sad as it may seem, it has failed. The problem is that these organisations forgot that militancy should be used in order to be politically heard. Now the political voice is not heard. The LTTE especially will be nothing without its military power.

I am qualified to speak as a former militant. I was in the EROS and the EPRLF before the EPDP. We should evolve and learn from past mistakes. Militancy is only a means to an end, but not the end.

Q: How can the government guarantee safe passage when it has required the INGOs and NGOs to leave the Wanni immediately?

A: That is altogether different. That is an extra burden that the government does not wish to accept at a time when civilian security is the foremost issue. Instead of having multiple concerns, the government has decided to deal with the humanitarian problem this way.

Q: Does the humanitarian problems in the north require UN or international intervention?