President vindicated

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has once again made the pertinent observation that the world should not penalise Sri Lanka for defeating terrorism. In an interview with Al Jazeera he said he was not of the opinion as the International Community that Sri Lanka should be punished for defeating terrorism on her soil.

He referred to the happenings in Iraq and Afghanistan and queried from the interviewer as to why there was a silence on this score.

The answer lies in the fact that these countries fighting terrorism has failed in their bid after all these years while Sri Lanka had performed the impossible - eliminating a terror outfit deemed invincible by the world at large.

Now smarting from the humiliation they are trying to find fault with Sri Lanka on the conduct of the war. Hence the attempts to bring in war crimes charges against the country.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa who just completed 40 years in politics is the one leader who will leave his mark on the sands of time in this country for ushering in a true independence.

Although the country was rid of the colonial yoke six decades ago it did not enjoy true independence since at various times it had to buckle under pressure of our colonial masters.

President Rajapaksa was the first post independent Lankan leader to break out of this mould, defying the West in going ahead with his unswerving determination to militarily crush the LTTE. Now he has delivered the nation from external pressures and shown the way for others to follow.

That the country has returned to normalcy after three decades of bloody war has been illustrated in no uncertain terms by the lifting of the travel warning on Sri Lanka by the US Government to its citizens.

This travel warning was issued for Sri Lanka on November 19 last year. The US State Department has cited the peaceful atmosphere that prevails in the country one year after the defeat of terrorism.

It said “the Department of State has cancelled the Travel Warning for Sri Lanka due to improvements in safety conditions throughout the country. What this does mean is Sri Lanka is now safe for all foreigners, an idea which would have provoked derision by Opposition politicians not long ago, who used Travel Advisories issued by Western countries to portray Sri Lanka as an unsafe destination.

The lifting of the US Travel Warning can only mean one thing. That is the US administration has welcomed the country’s return to peace. Coming as it does from the US it is a signal to the world that Sri Lanka is now a safe for tourists and investors.

One cannot overemphasize the positives that will result from the cancellation of the US Travel Warning and it is up to the Government to seize upon the opportunity to convert this into solid economic terms.

Already tourist arrivals have doubled in the first quarter of the year demonstration the potential that is gradually opening up for the country. There is no question that investors shied away from Sri Lanka due to the uncertain security situation.

They were wary of investing in long-term projects due to the impunity with which terrorists struck at economic targets. But with the threat of explosions and suicide bombers now a thing of the past prospects beckon the country in this post war period.

All this was made possible due to the military option perused by the President to remove the cancer of terrorism. The lifting of the travel warning by the US is a tacit admission that the formula adopted by the President had worked. Then why is the Western world still pursuing Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes when the US itself has accepted that peace has returned to the country through the military option.

It is in this context that the comment made by President Rajapaksa to Al- Jazeera bears relevance. He said Sri Lanka defeated terrorism effectively whereas other countries failed. He said Sri Lanka should not be given stepmotherly treatment merely because it defeated terrorism.

He is now amply vindicated for his pursuance of the military option by the US itself. Is it too much to hope that this signal endorsement by the US of the return to peace would silence the rest of the Western world who are gunning for Sri Lanka on alleged war crimes charges.