by Sachi Sri Kantha; published April 19, 2004
On the Colombo run of routed Karuna
There is a Tamil proverb which refers to the petty-mindedness of temple priests; ‘Even if the God grants divine munificence, the priest wouldn’t give his blessings’ [Kadavul varam koduthaalum Poosari idam kodaan.]. While two Sinhalese and one Muslim analyst openly stated that Col.Karuna fell flat on his back on April 11th and paid left-handed compliments to Pirabhakaran’s technical wizardry in the battle field, duplicitous Tamil analyst D.B.S.Jeyaraj propped up Karuna’s fallen image with a ‘deal’ story. The above-noted Tamil proverb sums up my thoughts, when I read four opinions, all of which appeared in Colombo press on April 18th Sunday. The titles of these four opinions were as follows:
1. “45 percent does not a summer make”. Editorial of Sunday Leader (Colombo).
2. “The fall and fallout of Karuna”. Editorial of Sunday Times (Colombo).
3. “Pistol gangs after Karuna in Colombo”, by Iqbal Athas in Sunday Times (Colombo)
4. “Karuna ends eastern revolt after deal with LTTE”, by D.B.S.Jeyaraj in Sunday Leader (Colombo)
Col.Karuna’s flight to Colombo in disgrace from his Kudumbimalai Base in the Eastern Province presented by the non-Tamil authors of the first three opinion pieces were compatible and had internal coherence with reality. But the fourth opinion of wordsmith Jeyaraj (a Tamil by birth) was in variance from the other three. This deserves some scrutiny, and a handful of readers of the Sangam website have requested me to comment on this. Also of note is the difference in the residing locations of the four contributors. While the authors of the first three opinions reside in Colombo, Jeyaraj is currently residing in Canada. Thus a legitimate question is now being raised about whether Jeyaraj’s well-read regular column in the Sunday Leader weekly has turned out to be nothing but a pouch for venomous bile filled with planted spins of skunks of sewer diplomacy, rather than being an illuminating torch on Eelam Tamil affairs.
Who is this anonymous deal maker?
Jeyaraj has presented a cockamamy twist to Col.Karuna’s flight in disgrace from East Eelam. According to this variant, “the former Batticaloa-Amparai commander [i.e., Col.Karuna] made a discreet deal with the estranged Tiger hierarchy based in the northern mainland of the Wanni. Karuna had already suspended fighting the previous day…According to knowlegeable sources, the settlement was worked out primarily by an important and well known personality based in a Western country deeply involved with the Sri Lankan peace process. Other well-meaning individuals in Sri Lanka and abroad ranging from clergymen to journalists were involved too at different levels and in different degrees. The objective was not political but deeply humanistic.”
What is troubling in this another ‘pigs are flying’ story from a prominent Tamil wordsmith is that not a single source is named openly. “According to knowledgeable sources” is the hackneyed opening gambit practised by the Indian journalists under whose feathers Jeyaraj had embedded his fortunes. If there is more than one source, then at least one of them wouldn’t have minded revealing their identity, since what they were credited with had saved hundreds of Tamil lives. Certainly, they wouldn’t have minded to come in the open and take their bows. Secondly, one is left guessing who was this ‘important and well known personality based in a Western country deeply involved with the Sri Lankan peace process’ whose identity also has been hidden by Jeyaraj. I prepared a checklist, who could fit the description; (1) Colin Powell – Nah! (2) Jimmy Carter – nope! (3) Kofi Annan – nope! (4) Eric Solheim – could it be he? (5) Anton Balasingham – could it be he? If it is Solheim or Balasingham (both of whom are listened to attentively at least by Pirabhakaran), were they so ashamed that they wouldn’t want to come out in the open to let Eelam Tamils know that they negotiated this ‘discreet deal’?
Discreet Deal – What?
Jeyaraj also had asserted fantastically, “The process [‘discreet deal’ that is] began from Easter Sunday morning [i.e., April 11th] onwards and ended on Monday [i.e., April 12th]. Karuna himself left Batticaloa on Monday for Colombo.” Based on the time-frame provided by Jeyaraj, it is simple logic that if [a Big If] there was a deal, it should have been a verbal agreement over the phone; and where was Pirabhakaran, the LTTE leader during these two days? Was he taking a long Easter Sunday sleep? Jeyaraj has not enlightened the reader on when Pirabhakaran approved this deal. It appears that in all probability, the ‘discreet deal’ was a reverse spin of Jeyaraj, courtesy Varadan, Col.Karuna’s now-disgraced spokesman. Didn’t Varadan fool other journalists [both local and international variety] by quoting Wordsworth to BBC reporter Frances Harrison, while showing the military base complex of his ‘boss?’ For us, Tamils who have lived with Pirabhakaran’s single minded purpose in dealing with conflicts and irritants, this ‘discreet deal’ story is a little too sweet and slimy to gulp.
Now, let me expand a little on my doubts about this deal. What type of a deal was this? The dictionary defines a deal as ‘an agreement entered into by two or more parties for their mutual benefit, especially in a business or political context.’ Jeyaraj doesn’t elaborate further on the situational context of this purported deal. If there was indeed an understanding between the LTTE leadership and Col.Karuna, was it an equality deal? Going by all the empty boast of Karuna and Varadan, from March 3 to April 9, if there was indeed an equality deal, then they should have stayed put in East Eelam rather than running for their lives from their Kudumbimalai Base camp in a hurry.
Jeyaraj had written, ‘Karuna himself left Batticaloa on Monday for Colombo.’ This is an understatement of extreme proportions. Karuna and his cohorts did not ‘leave’, rather they fled. The dictionary defines the word ‘flee’ as follows: (1) to run away, as from danger, (2) to move swiftly; leave abruptly, (3) to run away from (a person, place, etc.). If the deal between Karuna and the LTTE leadership was an equality deal, then Col.Karuna would have waited to offer a handshake to Col.Ramesh who was Pirabhakaran’s new nominee. And Col. Ramesh was no stranger to Col.Karuna; before March 2004, Ramesh was his deputy in East Eelam. The fact that Col.Karuna and his close circle fled the Kudumbimalai Base indicates that whatever the ‘dubious deal’ was, it was not an equality deal.
With the battlefield knockout delivered in East Eelam by Pirabhakaran, it appears Jeyaraj in Canada also has suffered amnesia. Though a wordsmith of good standing, he didn’t use a most appropriate word for Karuna’s flight from Kudumbimalai Base. That word was ‘surrender.’ If there was indeed a discreet deal by Karuna with intermediaries, it was a surrender deal – for saving his butt and neck, and nothing less. The dictionary defines surrender as, ‘cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority. [translated as] give up or hand over (a person, right or possession), typically on compulsion or demand.’ This is surrender, stupid. What Col.Karuna did on April 12th Monday was a surrender of his Eastern perch to the LTTE, and flee to Colombo. I repeat, this is surrender, stupid.
Jeyaraj as a puppet-mouth of skunk scripts
Jeyaraj, in his column, again parrot-mouths his handler skunk’s tune: “Despite the pro-Tiger elements shouting themselves hoarse about an external hand being involved, the revolt was essentially home grown. The danger was that some extraneous force could exploit the situation later.” In this, Jeyaraj contradicts the views of his own editor of Sunday Leader. On the same day in which Jeyaraj’s delusion appeared, the editorial of Sunday Leader had the following observation:
“As if poor Sri Lanka’s troubles were not enough, we now have to contend with yet another cabinet minister in the form of Nirupam Sen, Delhi’s Viceroy to the court of Chandrika Kumaratunga. Sadly for him, his first adventure in terms of a ‘more direct role for India’ in Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict has come to nought. Nurtured by India’s notorious RAW, Karuna’s breakaway faction of the LTTE has evaporated, with Karuna himself it seems, being whisked away to take refuge ultimately on foreign soil, no doubt funded by RAW as was the case with Varatharajah Perumal and countless Sri Lankan politicians and other influential personages still holding positions in government and opposition.”
Thus, if one believes Jeyaraj’s diatribe, even the editor of Sunday Leader [Mr.Lasantha Wickrematunge – a Sinhalese, residing in Colombo and not in Canada] appears to be a ‘pro-Tiger element shouting hoarse about an external hand’. Since this cannot be true in reality, Jeyaraj must be suffering from a serious state of mental confusion now.
First I began to suspect Jeyaraj as a puppet mouth of skunk scripts originating from Chennai nearly five years ago. One specific report from D.B.S.Jeyaraj in the Frontline magazine (Chennai), strengthened my suspicion on his position. In a political commentary entitled, ‘Sonia and the Tigers’, Jeyaraj had this comment which is nothing but a varnished fib to character-assassinate the LTTE and its supporters;
“The potential danger to Sonia Gandhi from the LTTE is always there. That threat is something that cannot be disregarded as improbable. Therefore, it would be prudent for the authorities to provide maximum security to Sonia Gandhi and also exercise a constant vigil in this respect.” [Frontline magazine, July 3-16, 1999]
Luckily, more than four years after this slander on LTTE appeared under the name of Jeyaraj, the current Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi is still alive and kicking. But Tamils should note the date of this publication. This ‘enlightened opinion’ of Jeyaraj appeared only two months later, after the three Supreme Court Justices reversed the verdict of the political judgement issued by Justice Navaneetham, and substantially reduced the penalty on the accused who stood for trial on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Numerous examples exist in print like this, in which Jeyaraj had refrained from critically commenting on the nefarious activities of RAW in Sri Lankan issues, and even studiously avoided mentioning the spy institution in his reports.
Iqbal Athas on Karuna’s Colombo run
The dubious nature of Jeyaraj’s described deal by Karuna with the LTTE leadership also doesn’t gel with the observations of Iqbal Athas, the defence columnist to the Sunday Times (Colombo). In his column, Athas [a Muslim, residing in Colombo] with close ears to the Sri Lankan military circles, has presented a clear-headed picture of how Col.Karuna fled to Colombo. Unlike Jeyaraj, Athas [though using his own spin – for paycheck purposes – in showing the Sri Lankan military in good light] used the appropriate words to describe Karuna’s surrender. Excerpts:
“The humiliating saga of renegade eastern Tiger guerrilla leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna is now over. He and a host of his close aides have fled the battle areas of Batticaloa district to find safety and comfort in the South. Some of other members of his inner circle and their families were not so lucky….
Karuna and his close aides came through a route north of the City. Boarding a fleet of luxury vehicles for the journey after his ignominious defeat at the hands of Mr.Prabhakaran’s men…
After disbanding, at least a 1,500 of Karuna’s men had entered Security Forces controlled areas. A further 750 had moved into areas held by the Police Special Task Force (STF)…” [Sunday Times, Colombo, April 18, 2004]
Another observation made by Athas – leaked by the Sri Lankan military sources -, does not corroborate with Jeyaraj’s ‘discreet deal’ balloon, and projects the insincerity and unsound state of mind which Col.Karuna was in during the Easter Friday blitz of the LTTE. To quote,
“The Sunday Times has learnt from authoritative sources that a more shocking, if not surprising offer, came when Karuna realised that he was on the verge of defeat. He and his men offered to surrender to the Sri Lanka Army. Some even said they were prepared to join the ranks of the Army. But some of the higher ups in the defence establishment found the offers were fraught with serious dangers…” [ibid]
If this indeed was true, and can be believed – based on the media reports of vibes passing between Karuna and the Sri Lankan military circles since March 3rd – then the purported ‘discreet deal’ between Karuna and the LTTE leadership, described by Jeyaraj, should have happened after the rebuff of Karuna by the Sri Lankan military. Either way, it appears that Jeyaraj’s slip is showing.
Chutzpah from Canada
Why did Jeyaraj float this ‘discreet deal’ balloon? For this, one needs to read again, what was published under his name on the day after Karuna’s expulsion from LTTE.
“Now the day of Karuna has come. If the current crisis is unresolved and the LTTE’s eastern component charters an independent course then the November 27 Great Heroes’ Day will be observed in the east as an independent act. Karuna then will receive greater attention than he has ever received before. The Tamils will then have a northern as well as an eastern national leader. It was only some weeks ago in a different context that Karuna told the media “We are strong. We are patient.” Like Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, then Karuna Amman too can ‘watch, wait and hope’ till his day of destiny dawns on the eastern horizon.” [Sunday Leader, Colombo, March 7, 2004]
Jeyaraj was indulging in bloated prophesy. But, his prophesy bubble burst in 35 days. Thus, Jeyaraj was left to paint an unequivocal knockout of Karuna in the East Eelam into a respectable draw, through the courtesy of humanitarian interests of unnamed intermediaries, among whom he count himself as one. His chutzpah descriptions such as ‘Karuna had already suspended fighting the previous day which was also Holy Saturday according to Christian tenets’ are utter varnish generated from the briefing book of stinking skunks who had to save their butts by reverse spin. Sonny Liston failed to answer the bell in the 7th round against the then Cassius Clay on February 25, 1964. Does Liston’s thoughtful refusal make the result of the Liston-Clay title match a ‘draw’? In the deluded mind of Jeyaraj, this seems to be so.
As opposed to Jeyaraj, the editorialist of Sunday Times was more forthcoming in offering grudging compliments to Pirabhakaran on his well-executed knockout of Karuna. Excerpts:
“For the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, acclaimed by friend and foe as a great military strategist, the timing of his surgical operation to remove an unhealthy growth within his system needed little thought. Those who knew, knew that he would move swiftly, and decisively, to eliminate a mutiny. He just bided his time till the General Elections were over, planning his exercises and manoeuvres for his battle-starved cadres…
The Government and its Armed Forces were caught flat-footed like a rabbit caught to the headlights. They remained passive spectators as Prabhakaran’s loyal cadres ran circles round the Ceasefire, the Armed Forces. They then circled the renegade Karuna and made him run for his life – to the safe heaven of the ‘south’…. The Government in Colombo was naturally caught in a web. Should it have backed Karuna and ensured the split of the LTTE, but earn the wrath of Prabhakaran and de-rail the peace process. That was the complex issue. Added to that, there was the lure of a possible five pro-Karuna TNA MPs supporting a hard-pressed minority Government in Colombo. It’s all water under the bridge now. Prabhakaran has secured control of his breakaway Batticaloa camps. All Karuna’s men and all Karuna’s 120 mm artillery guns may have de-camped or been destroyed, but he remains defeated.
While Prabhakaran’s military take-over of the Batticaloa LTTE camps in less than three days is an object lesson in warfare for our own Armed Forces – there is a legitimate fear that the new political leadership in the country would be found wanting in dealing with future situations of such a nature.”
Isn’t it neat that the editors of Sunday Times and Sunday Leader and Iqbal Athas (all three residing in Colombo) has blown holes in the ‘discreet deal’ balloon of Jeyaraj, floated from Canada?
Karuna’s beef on Pottu Amman; the other side of the coin
Now it’s time that the other side of the coin is also duly presented, and I heard this in Kilinochchi from my informant on March 5th. Whatever the bad press Pottu Amman had received from wordsmiths like Jeyaraj and other Indian reporters aligned with skunks in sewer diplomacy, he and his team did (and continues to perform) brilliant reconnaissance work to protect the LTTE’s vital interests. This was the beef Col.Karuna had with Pottu Amman. In early March, immediately after he bade good-bye to the LTTE openly, Karuna even publicly issued a statement that he was willing to work again under Pirabhakaran directly but not under any other appointees. [see, the report of P.Karunakharan, ‘Revolt in the Tigers den’, Deccan Herald, March 14, 2004]. Reading between the lines one could infer that this was Indian skunks’ script of turning Karuna as a double agent for them, but Pirabhakaran deflected this trap. From what I was informed in Kilinochchi, Pottu Amman’s team found out this skunk trap long before Karuna’s open defiance in March, and reported the treachery to Pirabhakaran. This was why Karuna was cross about Pottu Amman.
The question which arises in many Tamils’ minds is that whether the LTTE was dumb in not knowing Col.Karuna’s deviation from the LTTE path. I was told that, for well in advance, the LTTE leadership was aware about the brewing problem. But, they wanted this to be treated differently from that of the Mahattaya affair of the early 1990s. They felt that if they had repeated the ‘Mahattaya treatment’ to Karuna, it would be more unpleasant this time – second time in repetition. So, balancing the available options, they allowed Karuna’s dissent to come into open [even at the expense of discomfiture and agony to Tamil public], and let Karuna fall on his back and destroy his credibility openly for everyone to see. The LTTE inferred quite correctly (as it appears now), this option would convince the public better rather than calling Karuna to Kilinochchi secretly and delivering the ‘Mahattaya treatment.’ This approach had been foretold in the Tamil proverb, Aadukira maatai aadi karakkanum, Paadukira maatai paadi karakkanum. [translation: The docile and diffident cows need different treatments in milking.]
Could it be that Karuna might have been honey-trapped by stinking skunks during his overseas travels on peace talks and also paid for passing LTTE insider information on the Sri Lankan-LTTE peace discussions? Though this cannot be dismissed outrightly, it needs corroboration from other independent sources. Why his financial transactions and independent contacts came under suspicion by LTTE management well ahead of March this year also suggests that Col.Karuna was playing hokey-pokey. It should be reminded that apart from Pottu Amman, in an interview he gave to the BBC Tamil service on March 7th Sunday night, Karuna also wanted Thamilenthi [Head of Financial Affairs, Tamil Eelam] and P.Nadesan [police chief of Tamil Eelam] to be removed prior to his rapproachement with the LTTE leadership. In his days of short-lived glory, he called ‘names’ on all three and quipped that these three were not fit to be in the LTTE. Karuna talked tough. [a quote: “He (Karuna) said if Prabhakaran was willing, he was prepared for an MoU- for an amicable resolution to the crisis. But before that, he should remove his intelligence wing head Pottu Amman, financial chief Thamilenthi and police chief P.Nadesan.”, Deccan Herald, March 9, 2004]. Why? These three had smelled the real rat on Karuna. For corroborative relevance, I add here that on March 8th Monday, I met with Thamilenthi and P.Nadesan in Kilinochchi for nearly three hours, before my departure to Colombo. They were in their normal selves, least disturbed by Karuna’s accusations on them.
Now, let’s take stock of who is standing and who has fallen and on the run from Eelam? If the purported ‘discreet deal’ [an ‘MoU’ which had been pouted by Karuna in his March news releases, and outrightlly ignored by Pirabhakaran] arranged between Karuna and the LTTE leadership was indeed an equality deal, the three LTTE officials accused by Karuna, namely Pottu Amman, Thamilenthi and Nadesan would have been given pink slips. This has not happened. Thus, the purported ‘discreet deal,’ in reality was nothing but a surrender deal by Karuna to save his skin. Jeyaraj has just spun a yarn on the March memorandum of understanding dreamt up by Karuna.