8 Tuesday 16th May, 2006 Special Report Responding to Terrorism their call to demonstrate. TTN is now instigating communal disharmony and more surgical and effective in nature. broadcasting free without subscription, portraying itself as the “saviours of the Sri Lanka needs to balance world per- because Tamils subscribing to the LTTE Tamils” a strategy which has now been ception created by the terrorist attack on television station has hit an all time low. exposed even within Tamil society. It the army commander with that of the Even in Sri Lanka as a whole, the attempts to impose its will on the Tamil perception created by the air force of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a proxy population by claiming to be the sole rep- republic carrying out air strikes and of the LTTE, has failed to secure even resentative of Tamils. causing several thousand civilian dis- 50% of the Sri Lankan Tamil vote in Sri Copying the concept of the placement albeit unintentionally. Lanka and that’s after ballot box stuffing Palestinian Authority, the LTTE and Britain would not have dreamt of car- as declared by the EU election monitors. their propaganda regularly refers to the rying out air strikes against the IRA in The LTTE are clearly annoyed by the LTTE administered region of Sri Lanka. response to the terrorist assassination of lack of support from Tamils, and their Reality is the LTTE does not administer Lord Mountbatten. It responded by using latest ‘land laws’ aimed at confiscating any region of Sri Lanka. The LTTE phys- other but more deadly surgical methods. Diaspora property is a sign of this frus- ically controls certain areas in Sri Lanka This year when we travelled through tration. but the administration of these regions the Eastern Province and spoke to ordi- Considering Jewish-Islamic hate that is still under the Sri Lankan state. For nary Tamils, the opinions expressed exists in Israel and around the globe, example, the schools, examinations, hos- with one voice by the overwhelming Hindu-Muslim hate that exists in India pitals, roads, electricity, pensions, water, majority was, “We are fed up with and among the Indian Diaspora, irrigation, housing, transport, munici- Prabakaran’s forces, Karuna’s forces and Sinhalese-Tamil hate is almost non-exis- pal and local services etc in LTTE con- the Sri Lankan forces and want to be left tent in comparison. One reason may be trolled Vanni is administered by the Sri alone to live our lives”. The Sri Lankan the similarities of Buddhism and Lankan state. During war, the Sri state must be sensitive to the aspirations Hinduism and the intermingling of Sri Lankan state even sent food convoys into of these citizens and act with extreme Lanka’s Buddhists and Hindu’s in vari- the Vanni! caution, especially at a time when the ous places of worship. In fact ordinary The LTTE only controls these areas tide is turning against the LTTE. Sinhalese acknowledge that Tamils have illegally by arms, extorting and exploit- However, the air strikes by the Sri been wronged and are in favour of equal ing the local Tamil population and Lankan state could be justified, as a pre- opportunity. LTTE is seen by them as the depriving them of democracy to achieve emptive strike to protect Sri Lanka’s mil- obstacle that is preventing a resolution to its political aims. The method of opera- itary assets in Trincomalee, if it has rea- A rescue operation in progress after a terror attack in Colombo...(File photo) the conflict. tion is similar to what Stalin used in son to believe that the LTTE is on the The LTTE’s attempts to radicalize Russia or the Nazi’s in Germany, a high- verge of abandoning the ceasefire and Tamil society, by encouraging communal ly politicized violent minority using going for full scale offensive operations. By Dushy Ranetunge Israel’s high profile iron fist response violence and hate propaganda have con- propaganda and terror tactics to control But the question is whether the interna- to terrorism is viewed in the West as an sistently failed and their support base the greater population under its control tional community is convinced that the impediment towards the resolution of ow a democratic state responds to has begun to decrease in recent times. depriving it of democracy. LTTE is on the verge of such an action. that conflict. a terrorist attack, is a topic that is The only common factor between In this context counter terrorism Unless adequate proof of an ‘immi- In Sri Lanka, the situation is very dif- Hbeing studied in depth by terror- these two conflicts in Sri Lanka and strategies used in Israel and other places nent’ threat could be provided the inter- ferent. The Sri Lankan Tamil population ism experts the world over. The US State Israel is the terrorist methodology used of conflict may not be suitable in Sri national community will not be con- and their Diaspora are significantly Department has a section of its web site by these different groups in terms of sui- Lanka. Military strikes similar to those vinced that the actions of the Sri Lankan smaller than the Sinhalese and Muslim debating this very topic as a part of its cide bombers, strategy, terrorist psychol- carried out by Israel and in Iraq may state in Trincomalee were for self population of Sri Lanka which amounts counter terrorism strategy. Their latest ogy and behaviour. prove to be counter productive. defence, or an appropriate counter ter- to over 82% of the total population. Only country report on terrorism concludes Although the LTTE attempts to emu- The above should be borne in mind rorism response to the LTTE’s targeting a small fraction of the Tamil population that the United States and its partners late the political strategies of the when trying to understand the lack of of the Sri Lankan army commander. and Diaspora support the terrorists. are still in the first phase of a long war Palestinians and the Palestinians try to enthusiasm of the international commu- They would view it as politically moti- In the , from a Tamil against an enemy skilled in adapting to copy the terrorist technology of the nity to Colombo’s air strikes in vated action on the part of the Sri Diaspora of approximately 150,000, the counterterrorist tactics. LTTE, the situations in which these two Trincomalee and their concerns for civil- Lankan state and as being unhelpful in LTTE support base is less than 5,000. Last The state of Israel has consistently terrorist groups are operating are very ian casualties. the present time of the conflict cycle. weekend a highly publicized LTTE responded to terrorist attacks against it different. Selective targeting of a particular A surgical single air strike could have protest in front of Rajasingham by hitting back at an array of Palestinian The Palestinian terrorist groups have high value terrorist leader would be a also been justified if it was specifically Jayadevan’s Eelapatheeswarar Shiva targets, adopting the iron fist approach. popular majority support of the better response to the terrorist outrage targeting one of LTTE’s high value lead- temple based in Wembley turned out to This strategy has yielded limited success Palestinian peoples and are not afraid to perpetrated in Colombo, which would ers as a response to the attempt on the be a farce as Tamils boycotted the LTTE’s because of a number of reasons. fight democratic elections and win, as have avoided civilian casualties and life of the Sri Lankan army commander. call to demonstrate. The size of the Palestinian population Hamas has done recently. civilian displacement, a majority of The air strikes have drawn negative The LTTE went all out with its UK and their Diaspora is much larger than The LTTE, do not have popular or whom are not LTTE supporters, but vic- international publicity for Sri Lanka based media network of Tamil Television the Jewish population of Israel. Further majority support of the Tamil popula- tims of terrorism themselves, living a and the Government is clearly disap- Network (TTN), International more the politicization of the tion; controls the Tamil population by tenuous terrorized existence in a LTTE pointed with the response to the air Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), LTTE’s Palestinians; the proportion of the assassinating dissent and is pursuing a controlled area, for no fault of their own. strikes in the international media. The Intelligence Head Pottu Amman’s Oslo Palestinian population supporting the separatist agenda which has only minor- Sri Lanka needs to develop such a BBC has been singled out for criticism. It based website together with Tooting radicals; the sympathy and assistance of ity support among the Tamil population. capability as a measured counter terror- is doubtful if the government would based Sivayogam Trust calling on Tamils the Arab nations and the hatred between While Hamas tries to win the hearts ist response to a terrorist outrage. By achieve anything in this front as even the to demonstrate on the 28th of April in the two communities in conflict are sig- and minds of the Palestinians with posi- resorting to air strikes Sri Lanka expos- British government has found fault with front of the temple. About 35 die-hard nificant factors that empower the tive action, the LTTE tries to win the es the fact that it has failed to develop the BBC with regard to war in Iraq has LTTE supporters turned up as London Palestinian terror groups. Tamils with negative action, such as alternative forms of responses which are been protesting without much success. Tamils, fed up with the LTTE, boycotted Four decades on, leaves indelible imprint on by Peter Harmsen tuous period, they were suddenly told to posterity. BEIJING, May 15, 2006 (AFP) - Zhao Zilao stop and sent to the countryside when Mao It is a common psychological mecha- was only two when the Cultural Revolution attempted to restore order in late 1968. nism, said Nora Sausmikat, a specialist on started in 1966. The sounds and colors of After the movement finally finished in the Cultural Revolution from Germany's the decade of upheaval have been with him 1976, not everyone could adjust and many Duisburg-Essen University. ever since. spent their adult lives digesting the experi- "Many people do not want to remember Forty years on, China's experiment with ences. this very painful past and only the third gen- turning society upside down and inside out Yin Hongbiao was one of them. He had eration now starts asking questions that forms an eerie presence in the everyday just turned 15 at the start of the Cultural parents couldnt answer or were not willing lives of the nation's 1.3 billion citizens, in Revolution, and the general mood of the to answer, because it was too painful," she both subtle and not-so-subtle ways. period, one that was dismissive of the past said. "I admire the spirit of that time. The peo- hierarchies, taught him not to trust any "I think there is also a strong force inside ple worked hard, not for themselves, but for authority. the population wanting to look forward and the future," said Zhao, now an artist in "During the Cultural Revolution, first not really wanting to remember." Beijing's avant-garde Dashanzi district. they told us our teachers were wrong, then Sausmikat said she saw a clear parallel "Nobody said, I want to do this job for that our employers were wrong, and finally, with Germany in the 1950s, a country in the 2,000 dollars. They said, I want to do it that the Red Guards themselves were middle of an economic boom that wished to because I believe in it," he recalled. wrong," said the former Red Guard. move on rather than linger on a dark past. Born into a Beijing family, Zhao was "It was very confusing, and eventually I But the crucial difference is that in near the vortex of the storm that seized decided I might as well just think for myself. China, unlike the post-war German Federal China, and his recollections are of masses Independent thinking is a characteristic of Republic, the government actively assists of people in constant restless commotion. many from my generation." the public in its attempt to forget. He remembers no violence. Yin, too, has been marked indelibly by Mainstream state media has kept silent Even so, the idealism of the era had a the events, deciding later to devote his on the issue in the run-up to the anniver- deadly flip side. Millions of Chinese met entire career as a history professor at sary. early and often horrible deaths because Beijing University to the study of the period. "Every country, or every people that they were labelled "class enemies" or "cap- But he is in a minority. Many Chinese experiences this kind of totalitarian past has italist roaders". are unwilling to discuss the Cultural selective memories," she said. Millions of others, who survived Revolution, leaving a gaping hole in a pub- "And only in China, its forced also by the because they were not among the victims, lic discourse that otherwise has few qualms state, so you have your own psychological politics can arguably be traced back to the "The political elite, the cultural elite and protests on Tiananmen, which reminded were traumatized. focusing on historical issues, such as the mechanism, and you have the force of the period. the intellectual elite, fear and are paranoid many aging leaders of the youth-led turmoil A large number were Red Guards, uni- 1937-45 war with Japan. state." about popular protest. They fear chaos or of two decades earlier. formed militant youth who imposed their One reason could be that most, even Lost generation Mostly, the decade of chaos is used to disorder," he said. There is also a less easily perceived view of pure Maoism on everyone else, the victims themselves, were also perpetra- While the Cultural Revolution is not dis- remind people how politics should not be change in Chinese society, in the way that often through violence. tors or passive onlookers in the atrocities cussed openly in all its many and varied conducted, said Gao Mobo, a professor at He said it was most clearly shown in the juniors -- sons and students -- interact with Living on the edge during the tumul- for which the period has become known to aspects, some features of modern Chinese the . crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy their seniors -- fathers and teachers.