President Sirisena recently opinionated that if former president Mahinda Rajapaksa won his third term or had the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Prabakaran survived Eelam War IV, then achieving lasting peace is not possible. It is an interesting observation on three counts. One is that though the former president gave political will to end the war against terrorism, he did not bring peace to the country. The other is, he and the terrorist leader together were the obstacles to peace – thereby equalizing the war winning leader with the notorious terrorist. Finally, this opinion offers the impression that lasting peace is a step away.

However, recent events (and the not so recent, such as the UN Human Rights Council Commissioner Zeid’s remarks), which took place almost back-to-back, seriously challenge this notion. It is indeed a very curious comparison outgoing United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon made. He in one breath lamented that the UN was unable to prevent the genocide in Rwanda, a year later in Srebrenica and again in Sri Lanka. Though the government disagrees any disparaging remarks were made, discerning analysts strongly assert that he indeed accused Sri Lanka of committing genocide.

Genocide is a very serious accusation. If a clarification is not sought urgently and misconceptions rectified immediately, the implications can be far reaching and extremely adverse to Sri Lanka.

Recently, MP Wimal Weerawansa, on special appointment, visited the Malwatte Chapter Prelate Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thero. There, he too emphasized the danger that lies ahead, if it was established that genocide was committed in Sri Lanka. The new constitution in the making, he warned, will do away with existing laws to pave path to reach such a conclusion.

“Though the drafting of the new constitution,” explained MP Weerawansa, “is an ongoing process, we feel it is already finalized. I don’t think they’ll directly touch the status awarded to Buddhism by the Constitution. However, distracting us with such threats, the Constitution may be changed according to the needs of our detractors.”

The Prelate pointed out that MP Weerawansa has only a suspicion. He responded that his fears are foundered on number of facts. The speeches made by the Tamil National Alliance leader, Sambandan, in the North, is one factor.

“At one point he states,” recounted MP Weerawansa, “that ‘this new constitution will fulfill our long cherished hope and give federalism as a solution’.

“Jayampathy Wickramaratne, who is involved in the drafting of the new Constitution, also said that a constitutional solution will be given to the Tamils, at a Diaspora event. Likewise, if we look at the history of the people involved in this process and their ideology, it is reasonable to be concerned.”

He assured the prelate that as long as the new constitution does not lead to separatism or harm the country, he will not object.

“The danger is,” he says, “the need for a new constitution arose in the Geneva agreement. It has been definitely pledged in Geneva by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to establish a special war crimes tribunal through a special law to probe into war crimes allegations.

“The debate on this issue is, President Sirisena is against foreign judges. Geneva and the Diaspora are however insisting on foreign judges. Yet, no one had said anywhere that a war crimes tribunal will not be established.

“Now, once this tribunal is established, who will function in it? According to the documents, the agreement is a hybrid court with foreign judges, foreign investigators and foreign prosecutors. Though President Sirisena is against foreign judges, whether his opinion or if the agreement with the international community will hold sway we don’t know yet.

“Whether foreign judges participate or not is besides the point. We currently don’t have the laws for war crimes that they have agreed upon to investigate. What we have are laws against crime, which does not include war crimes.

“So, new laws are now been drafted to include war crimes, to be effected retrospectively. The current laws restrict this agenda, which is what the new constitution is trying to overcome.

“For instance, a camp of many acres in Kilinochchi was recently removed. This camp was amidst an LTTE burial ground – especially during the final battle days. In some future date, if these areas were excavated, then all these buried dead bodies would surface.

“This could lead to the accusation that a war crime had been committed. If the judgement was given that a war crime had indeed taken place, just like Kosovo was separated from Serbia, a UN resolution could be passed to divide Sri Lanka.”

When the Prelate pointed out that the public opinion had been sought in the drafting of the new constitution, he explained it was a process headed by the Lal Wijenayake Committee.

Wijenayake was a Provincial Councilor from Lanka Sama Samaja Party for almost 15 years. Then, during the previous administration, he had to leave the party.

“My party didn’t like me sharing the platform with the [then] opposition United National Party leaders,” he explains to Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka in 2012.

In that interview, he expresses views that are extremely biased against the military. According to him, “I don’t know whether everyone has realized the severity of the ongoing militarization process. There are several retired military officers who have been appointed as provincial governors. Some others – including serving military officers – have been posted as diplomats to various countries. This not only violates the fundamental values and core principals of a democratic system, it even goes further in violating international laws. Because many of these officers have been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

He overlooks two main factors. The North and the East were a terrorist hotbed for 30 years. Since the conclusion of the war against terrorism, nearly 14,000 LTTE cadres had been released. This number discounts the sympathizes of separatism who escaped the terrorist net. Bottom line is, there is a considerable, battle hardened force now living in these areas.

General Daya Ratnayake explains that before normalcy regains, first social aspect, then economic aspect and finally the political aspect must be established.

“Immediately after a conflict,” he explains, “people are disorganized. Except in the Jaffna Peninsula, almost 99 percent of the people were displaced and living in welfare centers. Reuniting them with their families and resettling them in their homes is the social aspect. Then, providing them with livelihood opportunities and the necessary support is the economic aspect. Once these two have been achieved, people need a voice for their opinion, which is the political aspect.”

The other fact overlooked by Wijenayake was that the LTTE was not a band of bad boys confined to Sri Lanka. It was (and still is) an internationally organized syndicate of criminals, engaged in many nefarious activities such as human and contraband smuggling, money laundering, narcotics, and providing logistics to other terrorist groups. Tissa Ravindra Perera writes in Rivira that countries like Malaysia were LTTE hubs to smuggle arms and collect funds with the blessings of prominent politicians as P Ramasamy – current deputy chief minister of the State, Penang. Therefore, major generals were sent as ambassadors to counter these illegal activities.

Wijenayake exaggerates, “Even to breathe they [tamils in the North] need to get permission from the military.”

Presence of any authority is stressful. However, until May 2009, Tamils especially in the North were literally in the terrorists’ deathly grip. Many restrictions, some of inhuman proportions, were forced on them. Surely Wijenayake knows children as young as eight were conscripted against their anguished parents’ pleas and protests. They were used as slave labor and cannon fodder. Every business had to pay an exorbitant daily ‘tax’. People committed suicide when businesses failed to meet this target than face the punishment. Everyone who received foreign remittance had to ‘share’ half of it with the LTTE. It should hurt Wijenayake, a founder of Lawyers for Democracy as, “at a time of crisis in the country, legal profession needs to play a serious role,” that all semblance of law was replaced by jungle law and people had no recourse from the kangaroo courts.

Wijenayake strongly faults the Sri Lankan governments for failing to “resolve the national question”. He asks what is there to negotiate on the northern Tamil politicians’ demands. He even finds the sixth amendment to the Constitution the cause that threw “Tamil United Liberation Front leader Amirthalingam out of the parliament and eventually paving the way for his untimely death”. He fails to appreciate that this amendment safeguards the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of our country. It also escapes him, the Amirthalingam was killed by the LTTE, who systematically eliminated the Tamil political leadership.

He asks, “How long do they intend to keep the Tamils as slaves of the Sinhala governments?” He further dismisses the massive post development efforts claiming, “a large amount of people are still forced to live under deplorable conditions as IDPs even three years after the war ended? The government has not showed any intention to resettle them in their own lands.”

Wijenayake might be unaware, but the five Non-Governmental Organizations engaged in de-mining process requested 12 years to complete the task. It was thanks to the efforts of the military that the whole exercise was expedited and completed in three years.

Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera points out, “those who express concern over the IDPs, did not so much as offer a cup of tea to the soldiers who were de-mining anti-personnel mines in very trying conditions.”

When UN camps have had epidemics like cholera outbreaks, Wijenayake must question if the Sri Lankan IDP camps also had such issues. If not, could the camps have been as deplorable as he implies?

Wijenayake is tilted towards a certain adverse propaganda. His assertions are the same harangues of the separatists. He conveniently overlook the misery the LTTE heaped on the Tamils. Nor does he sees the normalcy these people are beginning to enjoy. Furthermore, he fails to appreciate that this is because of the Sri Lankan military’s efforts. Instead, he believes in accusations that are sans credible evidence.

Yet, he is charged with garnering public opinion on the new constitution to be drafted. MP Weerawansa is correct that we as citizens should be wary in the face of such biased thinking. The new changes, he warns, might be irreversible.

Before we could recover from Ban’s stinging insinuations, our High Commissioner to Malaysia Ibrahim Sahib Ansar was publicly assaulted by Tamil separatist thugs. Almost simultaneously, the Buddhist chief monk in Sentul was also assaulted. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleke draws a parallel between the attacks on the HC and the Jaffna university attack. In both instances, only one side were injured and had to be hospitalized. The Tamil Eelam map prominently in the background was the other common denominator.

The new constitution is been drafted amidst this rising violence by Tamil extremists. The Gatembe Temple chief monk Kappettiyagoda Siriwimala Thero advises the government to fulfill election promises, instead of grappling with a new constitution. A new constitution was neither pledged nor asked by the people.

Dr. Jayatilleke makes the chilling observation that since it is the Foreign Minister who announces its status and that too in the North, instead in the Capital, the new constitution appears as a project pushed by external forces.

These rising incidents hardly attest to a lasting peace. Instead, it appears we are groveling with abject submission – not that it is improving the International Community’s general response. To top it, economic situation is worsening. Lasting peace seems a long way off.