'Breakthrough'?

It has become customary for the media and the analysts to detect "breakthroughs" after everyround of talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government and the third round of talks is no exception.The fact that the LTTE agreed to look for a federal structure within a United Sri Lanka has been welcomed andhailed as a break through.

The LTTE’s position was made out by the leader Prabakaran in his Heroes’day speech this year that they are willing to favourably consider any proposal of self rule and regionalautonomy and if denied there will be no alternative but to go for secession. . Earlier also the standard position of LTTE had beenthat if there is an alternative model to meet the just aspirations of the Tamil people they will go along with such a proposal.

The three principles of Thimpu reiterated by Prabakaran was also clarified in detail by Anton Balasinghamin his interview with Tamil guardian of London on June 4, 2002:

"We hold the view that the Tamils have the right to both internal and external aspects of selfdetermination. The Tamils would examine a proposal for a fully autonomous Tamil homeland with a system ofself government in realisation of their inalienable right to self determination. But if Sri Lanka denies theright to internal self determination and continues to subject the Tamils to genocidal oppression they willcertainly attempt to realise it externally by struggling for secession, political independence andstatehood."

[emphasis added]

In the press conference on the first day of talks this time, Balasingham reiterated the Thimpu positionthat the Tamils are a nation of people, having a distinct language culture, history, a contiguous territoryand the consciousness of a national identity.

This position may therefore be read with the officialstatement of the Royal Norwegian Government on 5 December , where in response to the proposal of LTTEleadership the parties agreed to explore a solution founded on the principle of self determination in areas ofhistorical habitation of the Tamil-speaking peoples, based on the federal structure within a United SriLanka. The sentence following this is of equal significance that the solution has to be acceptable to allcommunities. Here is an exit route for the majority Sinhala community.

The real surprise is that the Sri Lankan government has at last realised that nothing short of a radicaldeparture from the present constitutional dispensation would satisfy the Tamils. Until recently the term"federal" was a bad word in Sri Lankan government lexicon and the fact that the government hasformally agreed to consider a federal structure as a solution to the ethnic strife is a major surprise.Earlier pacts later reneged by the Sri Lankan government like the Bandaranaike-ChelvanayakamPact of 1957 and that of the Dudley-ChelvanayagamPact of 1965 had elements of federalism.

But what the LTTE is looking for is not clear yet, but it can be surmised that it has to take into accountthe ground realities when the LTTE is in full control of a large territory occupied by the Tamils. After theconclusion of the talks, the LTTE delegation flew to Berne, Switzerland and discussed with senior Swissofficials the Swiss model of federalism.

A team of Canadian experts met the LTTE delegation before the talks began and explained the Canadianpolitical structure and the position of French-speaking Quebec Province. In fact, to one of the questions fromthe media, Balasingham is said to have shown his interest in the Quebec system which has the right forinternal and external self determination. (Tamil net of 5 December 2002).

Another model which is likely to come up and discussed at length by the Tamil groups earlier is the Cyprusmodel. A solution to the Cyprus situation is now being discussed by the international community on the basisof "one common country and two components."

Other issues of importance relating to the talks were

• The LTTE brought up the issue of High Security zones in Jaffna Peninsula and the presence of a largenumber of troops. The Sri Lankan government promised to take remedial measures soon.
  
  
• The question of opening of police stations and courts by the LTTE came up for discussion. The position ofLTTE was that they were opening Police stations and Courts only in areas under their control and this has beengoing on for the last twelve years.
  
  While the area under control of the LTTE in the north is clearly defined by the line of bunkers on both sides,in the east there is no such delineation and this is where the LTTE has opened two stations recently. There isan assurance from the LTTE side in the communique issued by the Norwegian government that their law and ordermechanisms will not be extended beyond the areas dominated by them.
  
  Balasingham is reported to have opined (LTTE Tamil broadcast of 3^rd December) that there should beno objection when in any future setup, the Tamil Eelam Police and Justice departments will have to be formallyrecognised.
  
  
• A more delicate issue has been that of the situation in Delft island. Prior to the peace talks, the EPDPwith the support of the Sri Lankan Government had full control of the island to the exclusion of other groups.Now the LTTE is making inroads into the island and the EPDP is under pressure from the civilian population.
  
  This was discussed by the two parties in the talks and the LTTE has again reiterated its readiness to acceptthe rights of political groups to carry out political work, including in the Jaffna peninsula and the islands,provided that they are unarmed, as stipulated by the Cease fire agreement. Delft appears to be test case asother Tamil Groups excluding the TNA are still not sure whether they will be allowed to operate politicallynot only in areas controlled by the Sri Lankan government but also in areas held by the LTTE.
  
  
• After a long time the Indian government formally responded to the ongoing peace talks. The statementissued by the India High Commission on the conclusion of the visit by the Foreign Secretary on 10^thDecember noted the positive signals emanating from the latest round of talks at Oslo and said
  
  "India supports a peaceful, negotiated settlement that meets the just aspirations of all elements of SriLanka society, besides ensuring that the principles of democracy, pluralism and human rights are respected onthe ground." The latter part of the statement appears to be directed towards the LTTE.
  
  
• In a related development a delegation of the People’s Alliance (PA) led by Anura Bandaranaike visitedNew Delhi and besides meeting the officials called on the Prime minister. The delegation is said to havecarried a letter from President Chandrika to Prime minister Vajpayee.

There is no doubt that there has been a forward move in the talks, but tough negotiations are likely whenthe core issues are to be discussed from the next round onwards.

(The author is Director, the South Asian Analysis Group, New Delhi)