War On Terror A Lesson From Sri Lanka The triumph of Sri Lankan army over LTTE speaks a lot. The longest bloody war in recent times has come to an end not a day sooner. LTTE had over decades become a very strong rogue army with global covert support in terms of supply of arms and ammunition. It was the only terror outfit with air force and naval capabilities though not comparable to fullfledged establishments. The Sri Lankan State had to sacrifice many political top leaders and thousands of citizens over decades of terror. LTTE had perfected the art of suicide attacks and succeeded in killing of Rajiv Gandhi and President Ransinghe Premdasa of Sri Lanka. It spread the culture of suicide attacks and terrorism. The political will and firm resolve of President Mahindra Rajapaska was the main reason for success of Sri Lankan forces. He was undeterred in the final stage of fight to finish in spite of global outcry and call for ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. There were pressures to enter into negotiations to end the war and minimize civilian casualties. While safety and rescue of civilians was the top priority of the government, they did not flinch and blink. As it emerged later, it seems some powers wanted to protect Prabhakaran of LTTE. It was clear vision and political will which led to total elimination and annihilation of LTTE. If they had dithered like their predecessors, LTTE would have had stretched life line as in the past. With the bitter war coming to an end, the immediate priority now is rehabilitation of the civilian population and restoration of law & order and civic amenities. Politically, the most important step would be to win over the sympathizers of LTTE and find a lasting peaceful solution to the aspirations of Tamils within the constitution of Sri Lanka. The global war on terror started after 9/11. After 8 years, we are yet to see any logical conclusion on AfPak front which is the epicenter of global terrorism. U.S. & the NATO forces have the latest of technology as compared to the terror groups and yet it is strange that perhaps even the beginning has not been made for a conclusive phase. Should a mighty force called U.S. take longer than eight years to bring the terror groups under control? The political will on the part of Pakistan and Afghanistan is very important for success of the war on terror. The Sri Lankan forces did not have sophistication of technology as much as they would have wished. LTTE controlled areas seemed to be invincible at one stage. The military and political strategists coordinated extremely well for the success of the mission with surgical precision. We have not seen any war come to an end with this decisiveness and relatively swiftly as done by the government in Sri Lanka and considering the not so long tenure of Mahindra Rajapaksa. The war experts need to closely examine the reasons for success against equally deadly enemy. At home, in India, we have been having Naxalite problem for several decades. While the situations are not comparable, are we waiting for the situation to go out of hand?
Recently 16 police personnel have been killed at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra. Thousands have laid down lives in the past. 17 States have been struggling with different levels of menace and morale of the police force is down as never before. The issue has been hanging for want of clear direction and political will. The police force is awfully inadequate and ill equipped to fight. On another front, in what way the Naxal hit areas are different than Swat Valley? The state governments have found it difficult to run the administration in some of these areas controlled by Maoists. The politicians in some of these areas could not even hold election rallies due to fear of terror strikes. Election Commission had to change timings to ensure people reach home before dark. For the first time the Maoists have targeted even election officers. With Maoist gaining ground in Nepal and Chinese support for the same, it is long overdue for the nation to move the issue on top of the political agenda for positive action. We must learn from the neighborhood that problems can not be brushed under the carpet without facing the consequences. How many million voters reside in these areas who may have avoided going to the election booth due to fear of the gun? We must bring them into national mainstream before it is too late. While we need not take the conflict to fully armed intervention, we need to raise the level of composite dialogue with the objective of addressing the root cause with reforms. It is essential to bring the warring groups to the discussion table to resolve the issues earnestly. No war has yielded peace without paying heavy price in terms of human lives, taking development back by 510 years and bitterness to last life time and generations. The long term cost of any war is in multiples of budgets for growth & development. One can not put a price tag on human lives lost. Development and empowering people to participate in growth is the only alternative to armed conflict. With no nonsense Home Minister P.Chidambaram back at the helm of home ministry, I am sure the centrestate syndrome would vanish to present a cohesive political force while efforts are directed to upgrade the fighting police personnel. There should be internal time frame for sorting out this vexed problem so that we can have the so called "inclusive growth" of all segments of society.
Vijay M.Deshpande Corporate Advisor, Strategic Management Initiative, Pune
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