‘India has a huge role to in SL peace process’
By Madhur Singh
Ahilan Kadirgamar is a human rights activist with the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum, which works to promote human rights and a peaceful resolution of the Sri Lankan problem. A Tamil dissident, he is based in US and is currently visiting New Delhi to raise awareness about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka . Due to security constraints, he did not wish to be photographed.
What is the state of human rights in Sri Lanka today?
Since last year, the human rights situation has worsened considerably, with multi actors on the scene. In addition to the LTTE, the State has gone back to the trend of the early 1990s, with disappearances, abductions and torture on the rise. The violations that had ended during the last decade have reappeared. So the human rights situation has worsened considerably.
How do you think the situation can be remedied?
Over the next few months, there needs to be a concerned international effort to put pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop human rights violations. We believe that if the government really wants to, it can bring the situation under control. Obviously, the LTTE continues with its human rights violations.
The other thing is that there is a danger that the government is going too much towards a military solution to the problem. What is needed, instead, is a political approach, and there we support the All Party Representative Committee process. Some acceptable, viable proposals for constitutional reform must come out of the APRC, and the proposals must not be watered down.
Do you support the Norwegian peace process?
We in the human rights community have had two main problems with the Norwegian peace process. We have always been clear that any process, to succeed, must fulfil two conditions, which the Norwegian process does not.
In the north, the LTTE has to be willing to come into the political settlement and need to change their policies - they have decimated dissidence by eliminating all those who spoke out. But they must allow political pluralism, they have to allow dissent. On the other hand, in the south, all parties must reach consensus to address Tamil aspirations. They must jointly pursue the path of peace and stop trying to gain political mileage by following policies that ultimately prolong the conflict. There must also be security sector reform.
But are you still working within the parameters of the Norwegian process?
We are on the last leg of the Norwegian peace process, and we must salvage something out of it. If we don’t, we will become enmeshed in a protracted cycle of war for the next five to 10 years, which is going to affect Tamil people most of all.
Once the government comes out with its proposals, pressure must be brought to bear on the LTTE to return to the table and talk. Even if the LTTE does not agree to negotiate, to begin with, the government must unilaterally reform constitutional reform as a first step towards showing that they are serious about addressing Tamil aspirations and making the Tamil community a part of the country.
What kind of role do you think India can play?
There is the bitter experience of the 1980s, with the IPKF, but India has a huge role to play. Many of us do not see a long-term sustainable future without a major Indian role, and, in fact, India has been in the driver’s seat in the search for a political solution. In the short term, India can help by putting pressure on the human rights front. India can take the lead in the international community and coordinate with other international powers. It can play a big role at multilateral institutions like the UN to ensure that there is interest in the Sri Lankan situation. [Courtesy: HindustanTimes]
