Beyond UNHRC Resolution: Demand A Constituent Assembly
By TU Senan -February 4, 2014
TU Senan
Genocide – that is the recent verdict given against the Sri Lankan government by the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) in relation to the carnage in the last stages of the civil war. Yet this verdict will have no value for Tamils other than serving as a propaganda point. As we know, the PPT decisions are never acknowledged by the ‘international community’ of world governments. But that is largely beside the point; the volume of established evidence that has been accepted by the PPT could have been accepted in any court of law. Is a court challenge to the Rajapaksa dictatorship likely to take place? We all know the answer. Similarly we all know the answer to the question of what is likely to come out of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in March this year.
There will be no talk of a political solution either or any attempt made to address the national aspirations of the Tamil masses in Sri Lanka. It is not a lack of evidence that is holding them back. Rather a severe lack of ‘political will’. And that ‘will’ is not determined by genuine interest in ‘justice’, but rather by the competing economic interests in the region.
Conflicting economic interests behind the March resolution
The Chinese government, which holds a veto power in the UN, has scheduled further discussion for March on the FTA agreement with Sri Lanka. They want to come to a ‘landmark’ agreement before the end of 2014. Already China-Lanka trade has increased by 306% since 2005. According to a Sri Lanka Central Bank report, 19% of total imports, worth $3.64 billion, came from China in 2012.
Another important country that determines South Asian regional politics, certainly Sri Lanka’s socio-economic future, is India. Sri Lanka’s trade with India was just $672 million in 2001. But it has increased by over 500% to $4.08 billion in 2012. Heavy criticism from Indian capitalists is starting to be expressed with claims that “Sri Lanka is slipping out of India’s orbit”. Indian big businesses want more ties and more investment as they predict the ‘Great Game’ of this century will be played out in the Indian Ocean.
Both China and India are investing heavily in various infra-structure projects. India is building a major railway line while China is building a big motorway. The Chinese are significantly ahead of India in this competition by helping to provide arms to the regime and forging close ties with the Rajapaksa family. The current economic crisis and the fall of GDP growth in India and China will further hamper the Indian government’s hold on the Sri Lankan economy. Mammoth China, even with low growth, still has the potential to hold on to small economies like Sri Lanka’s. This factor could help to sustain the Sri Lankan economy, without which crisis is imminent.
Even with the so-called ‘Pacific turn’ of the US, the western imperialist powers are set to lose out in this game for now. They need the Indian and Chinese economies to come to the rescue of the world economy. At the same time they are pushing for greater control in the Pacific region – particularly to counter the threat from increasing Chinese influence. But the small economies in Asia are falling like little flies when China raises its hand against them. Read More
