The international community has no leverage on either President Rajapakse or the LTTE to put an end to the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire. A DNA Analysis
DNA Analysis
NEW DELHI: Has the international community washed its hands off the escalating ethnic war in Sri Lanka? Going by the collateral damage to civilians triggered by continued fighting between government forces and the LTTE, the international community has no leverage on either President Mahinda Rajapakse or the LTTE to put an end to the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire.
Incidentally, while a full scale war is on, both the LTTE and Colombo say that the Norwegian brokered 2002 is still on. In the latest round of fighting which began in the middle of last week, over 40,000 people, mostly Tamils have fled from their homes in Batticaloa villages where fierce fighting continues in eastern Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan authorities reported on Saturday that 10,000 civilians have crossed into government controlled areas of Batticaloa to escape the being caught in the cross fire.
For the first time in decades the Sri Lankan army has an edge on the LTTE. This has much to do with the division within the LTTE's ranks and the southern commander Karuna falling out with the Prabhakaran-led northern faction. Karuna is obviously helping the army with intelligence output, though army headquarters in Colombo deny the charge.
Taking advantage of the chink in the LTTE armour, Lankan military is pushing ahead in the eastern province to clear the area's held by the Tigers.The earlier operations by the army helped to drive the LTTE from areas along the coast. The effort now is to take effective control of the east and consolidate the government hold in the province.
This is the best that the Sri Lankan military can do, because there can be no consolidation in the northern province, which is still under LTTE control.
The rebels have said the government is trying to push them into a full-scale war and they have warned the conflict could engulf the entire island. Suicide attacks in Colombo and other towns and garrisons in Sinhala majority areas is likely to be the order of the day.
Apart from calling for peace talks there is little that the international community is willing to do. Any tapering down of aid, will affect the people who need it most in the Tamil held areas. President Rajapakse has got away with all this because the international community is otherwise occupied. The US has much larger worries in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.
The EU keeps condemning and issuing statements about civilian casualties but can do little to alter the situation. Norway is in the island as a facilitator any nothing else. The one country, which can play a decisive role has already burnt its fingers once. The murder of Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber, has muddied the waters. New Delhi does not want to interfere directly in the island. So there is no one to take up the cudgels for civilians at the moment.
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