Anton Balasingam's Memorial 27/01/2007

Last night a memorial gathering was held at the Tun Sambathan building KL in remembrance of the late Anton Balasingham, advisor and theoretician for the Liberation Tamil Tigers Eealam (LTTE). Among the people who spoke at the memorial included Sec-Gen of the DAP Lim Guan Eng, Hon. Eelaventhan MP(TNA) Jaffna, Sri Lanka, A.Sivanesan-CEC Member DAP, Pasupathy from the Tamil Foundation.
The late Anton was one of the main architects of the policies of the LTTE and was very involved in the peace negotiations. When Anton was diagnosed with cancer he remarked that the pain he is undergoing is just a drop in the ocean as compared to the sufferings of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.Let me just quote what Erik Solheim, the Norwegian International Development Minister Erik Solheim, the Norwegian International Development Minister said at the late Anton’s funeral "I met so many other people in the Peace Process in Sri Lanka, of all communities. But I have to say that Bala is one of the very very few people who never lied to me in this peace process,"
Although the memorial was organized at only 4 days notice a very large crowd was in attendance. Among others I said the following: Peace Process in Sri Lanka Must Be Revived Immediately Before More Civilians Killed. The situation in Sri Lanka is getting worse each passing day. The ceasefire achieved between the Sri Lankan authorities and the LTTE in 2002, with mediation help from Norway, is almost as good as being completely destroyed, thanks to the mindset of the current government that there can be a military solution to the conflict. As a result of this dangerous and wrong calculation and strategy the government under Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa does not seem to be interested any more in peace negotiations with the LTTE; at the same time, the government does not want to work with Norway. This, sadly and tragically, is the way to war, which means renewed death, injury and immense suffering to the innocent civilians both in the Tamil and Sinhala communities; it also means that other communities like the Muslims and Christians will also inevitably suffer. Death and destruction will follow; the fragile economy will deteriorate, because aid donors and investor will shy away. Equally serious, the government and the Sri Lanka armed forces have deliberately over the last few months been targeting Tamil civilians; many, including women and children and teenagers have killed or grievously wounded. In addition to that, hundreds of thousands of other civilians have been displaced from their home. Even before the tragedy of the December 2004 tsunami disaster has been alleviated, thanks largely to the deliberate policy to discriminate against Tamil victims in the distribution of relief aid by the government and its coalition partners like JVP, the powers that be in Sri Lanka are creating a new humanitarian crisis in the country by their military postures. Way back in September 2006, the Co-chairs of the peace process (the United States, the European Union, Japan and Norway), the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and international NGOs had severely condemned the Rajapaksa government for serious violations of the ceasefire agreement and atrocities against civilians. On August 30, General Ulf Henricsson, the outgoing head of the SLMM gave a ruling on the execution of 17 national aid workers of a French NGO at Muttur in the first week of August; the SLMM said there were’ very strong indications’ of the involvement of the security forces. On the claymore/ mine attacks in LTTE-controlled areas between April 1 and June 15, the SLMM said:”…it is clear that the units/groups executed those attacks with the possibility to escape into Government-of Sri Lanka-controlled areas where safe exit entry points, logistic and other assistance must have been provided by the Security Forces and /or GOSL/police units deployed along the Forward Defense Line. Based on the verified activities of the SLA Special units soldiers in LTTE-controlled areas these are firm indications of the involvement of the SLA in such attacks.” As the Frontline publication has pointed out, “there are elements within the Rajapaksa government that are advancing the military option in preference to the political one as a solution to the current situation.” Yesterday the Sri Lankan President has announced “to crush the Tamil rebels and further said the military has the strength to defeat the rebels” Instead of a no ending military solution to the ongoing civil war the better alternative is to allow the Tamil people to exercise their legitimate right of self determination. The 58 donor countries, represented by the Tokyo Donor Conference on Sri Lanka, must exert much more pressure on the Sri Lanka government to go back to the negotiating table to continue with the peace talks. 23 years of armed conflict in Sri Lanka has cost the lives of more than 66,000 people, most of them civilians. Sri Lanka has become the most militarized country in South Asia, with 8,000 military personnel per one million people, compared to Pakistan with 4,000, Nepal 2,700, India 1,300 and Bangladesh 1,000. Sri Lanka spends 4.1% of its GDP on military expenditure, while Pakistan it is 3, 5%; India and Nepal 2.5%, and Bangladesh 1.5%. We also call upon India, the largest and strongest country in South Asia, and Sri Lanka closest neighbor, to exert her influence and leadership to bring about a resumption of peace talks, and to avert a new holocaust on the island.