VZCZCXRO7917
PP RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #0215/01 0361315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051315Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5316
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0176
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 9861
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 6805
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 4873
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3503
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0581
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 3595
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2672
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 7374
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 0319
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 5105
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1772
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000215 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PTER CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: MONK-BASED JHU INSISTS GSL SHOULD SEEK 
TO CRUSH LTTE 
 
REF: COLOMBO 188 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: On February 2, Ambassador met with several 
members of the Buddhist monk-based Jathika Hela Urumaya 
(JHU), including newly appointed environment minister 
Champika Ranawaka (reftel).  JHU representatives said the 
government should crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam 
(LTTE) through military means.   The JHU representatives 
offered a revisionist take on Sri Lanka's ethnic history, 
positing that the Tamils have no roots in the north and east. 
 The JHU acknowledged a need for dialogue on the ethnic 
issue, but said since the LTTE does not adequately represent 
the Tamils, it would be vital for the government to restore 
democracy to LTTE-controlled areas before a meaningful 
discussion could occur.  The Ambassador reiterated the U.S. 
stance that a negotiated settlement that meets the needs of 
the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim communities would provide 
the only lasting solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri 
Lanka.  The Ambassador noted that the U.S. continues to stand 
with Sri Lanka in its fight against terrorism, but believes a 
military solution is neither viable nor desirable.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On February 2, the Ambassador met with three 
Buddhist monks and five laypersons of the Buddhist monk-based 
Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), including newly appointed 
Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka.  The JHU 
characterized the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as 
a small group that has taken up arms in "a conspiracy to 
destroy the culture" of Sinhalese Buddhism.  One monk who had 
studied archaeology theorized that Tamils have no claim to an 
indigenous homeland in Sri Lanka's north or east because the 
Sinhalese established the entire country and maintained 
kingdoms throughout the island. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) One JHU interlocutor said it is the party's 
"theoretical policy that there is no ethnic conflict."  He 
said the Tamils were over-privileged during British colonial 
rule, and many Tamils resented the Sinhalese "taking their 
rightful place as the majority" at Sri Lanka's independence. 
He stated that the Tamils founded the first race-based 
political party, positing that now the vast majority of 
Tamils would rather live in the Sinhalese south than in 
LTTE-controlled territories in the north and east.  (In fact, 
approximately 52 percent of Sri Lanka's Tamil population 
lives in government-controlled areas.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) JHU representatives said the government must 
"militarily crush" the Tigers in order to restore democracy 
to the north and east and offer Tamils a genuine voice. 
Several JHU members criticized the Tigers for terrorist 
tactics, drug trafficking and other unlawful activities, 
killing moderate Tamils, and claiming to represent the whole 
Tamil community despite lacking legal standing.  Udaya 
Gammanpila, a JHU lawyer, said he did not know of any Tamil 
grievances against the government, but if Tamils, speaking 
for themselves and not through the LTTE or one of its 
proxies, raised such issues, his party would welcome the 
dialogue. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Ambassador reiterated that the US has 
proscribed the LTTE as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, made 
law enforcement efforts to limit Tiger activities, and 
supports the Sri Lankan government's right to defend itself 
against terrorist activity.  The Ambassador added, however, 
that the US does not believe a military solution is either 
viable or desirable, and urged the JHU to support a peaceful, 
negotiated settlement.  Party officials responded that six 
sets of negotiations with the Tigers over the last twenty 
years have not yielded peace in Sri Lanka, and the government 
must eliminate the LTTE.  Nevertheless, they conceded, the 
JHU's November 2005 electoral pact with President Rajapaksa 
outlines some measures to open talks with the LTTE, which the 
 
COLOMBO 00000215  002 OF 002 
 
 
JHU will continue to support. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The JHU's focus on the Sinhalese Buddhist 
version of Sri Lankan history and the accusation that the 
LTTE is trying to undermine the nation's "culture" typifies 
its chauvinist stance: it claims to permit tolerance for 
minorities but makes no actual concessions to address 
minority rights or protections.  While the JHU is certainly 
correct that the LTTE does not speak for all Tamils, it is a 
bridge too far for us to follow its logic to the conclusion 
that therefore "there is no ethnic conflict."  Many Sri 
Lankan Tamils who abhor the LTTE nevertheless feel deeply 
disenfranchised and poorly served by a government which they 
believe does not recognize, let alone address, their concerns 
about language rights and human rights violations.  The JHU's 
new ministerial post only offers the party one voice in a 
cabinet of 55, but the party's allies and supporters in the 
larger Sinhalese community will continue to try to throw a 
monkey wrench into efforts to develop a "southern consensus" 
on a resolution to the ethnic conflict. 
BLAKE