It was with sighs of relief that we heard news of the surrender of the Tamil insurgents a few days back. Indeed, the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka had been a major concern for the international community because so many civilian lives were lost unnecessarily in the conflicts between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

However, this defeat is also poses questions as to what extent “peace” can be sustained, and what to do next after the victory? While we should not undermine the euphoria of the people and the Sri Lankan Government in celebrating their victory over the LTTE, it is pertinent this question be raised.  

Theoretically and empirically “peace” achieved through military solutions will never last.

Second, in many ethnic conflict cases diasporas have an enormous role in prolonging conflicts. After the defeat of LTTE, protests were held by a significant number of Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils in many countries in Europe and North America. In Geneva they held a protest in front of the UN Headquarters. In Washington they protested demanding a two state solution.  

Such groups were believed to have financed the militant and violent insurgencies of LTTE for more than 20 years. It is important that after the LTTE defeat these groups be monitored closely, since from the above mentioned protests it seems they are not ready to accept the defeat of the LTTE.

Indeed, the conflicts between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE have been one of the most protracted ethnic conflicts in history. Efforts have been made to draw similarities between the Tamil insurgency and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The differences are significant. While GAM had Hasan Tiro as the charisma and soul of the movement, it lacked the support of a well organized diaspora that the LTTE had.

The Aceh insurgency was defeated not by military campaigns, since the Indonesian government was never successful with them, but by a natural disaster which weakened the presences of the central government and GAM in Aceh. It is the wise decision of the government not to continue to retaliate against GAM when they were at the weakest point after Tsunami, through mediated peace negotiations.

Judging from the above lessons and to seize the moment, the military defeat of the Tamil group should be followed by peaceful solutions since the Tamil are in fact Sri Lankan citizens by law.

The government of Sri Lanka needs to peacefully and compassionately address their well known grievances that have led them seek secession from Sri Lanka, such as discrimination etc.

Furthermore, it should take heed of some Javanese wise words, “menang tanpa ngasorake” (win without making the enemy embarrassed or feel like a loser).

A failure to do this will only harden their feelings and widen the old wounds, or worse they may re-utilize the conventional but effective strategy of the weak — guerilla warfare. Well, if this happens it is said that attempting to fight a guerilla war, coupled with foreign intervention like that from the Tamil diaspora, is like trying to eat soup with a fork.

The writer is an Indonesian diplomat. These are his personal views.

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