by T. Sabaratnam; Colombo, published March 8, 2004
Weekly Review
The most redeeming feature of the northeastern crisis is the restraint shown by southern leaders, who have treated it as the LTTE’s internal affair, and their reluctance to exploit the crisis for their benefit.
The recently forged United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) strongman Mangala Samaraweera declined to comment on the crisis saying, “It’s an internal matter. It is not proper for me to comment about it.”
President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister have also refrained from commenting about Karuna’s revolt but privately expressed their worry about its impact on the peace process and the two- year- old ceasefire agreement signed between the government and the LTTE in February 2002.
The JVP, the Marxist-nationalist group which has taken up the role of Sinhala racism, which would have pounced on this crisis with glee for their propaganda in the past, has kept away from it so far.
Norwegians, the facilitators, who originally entertained worry, are now relaxed saying that the ceasefire will hold. Peace-broker Erik Solheim, who arrived late in the night (Monday), is scheduled to have talks with Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe about keeping the peace process alive. He is scheduled to visit Kilinochchi to meet LTTE political chief Thamilselvan.
Thamilselvan assured the media on Saturday that the crisis would not derail the peace process. He said, “Our leadership and our structures remain with firm commitment to the peaceful negotiations and the cease-fire agreement, and this isolated issue will not affect the peace initiatives.”
Earlier on Thursday Thamilselvan assured the Head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) Major General Trond Furuhovde that the LTTE is committed to uphold the Ceasefire Agreement.
“Upholding the integrity of the CFA, especially in the current political context, is crucially important”, Furuhovde said.
Southern restraint is based on the assessment that Tiger chief Velupillai Pirapaharan would ultimately triumph and Karuna would be sidelined. Analysts say this assessment is based on the fact that Pirapaharan is a far superior military and political strategist and possesses vast resources.
“More than these factors Pirapaharan is respected like a God by most of the Tamil people because he had led the Tamil struggle for freedom successfully and is the only leader capable of leading the Tamil people to their cherished goal of a united and free Tamil Nation,” an academic of the Eastern University said.
The fact that Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe continue to talk about peace negotiations with the LTTE after the election, political analysts say, reflects their conviction that the Karuna revolt would be overcome.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, speaking at an election meeting in the deep south, the stronghold of the JVP, said on Monday that he would resume the peace talks with the LTTE in April soon after the election and announced his intention to arrive at a permanent solution in one and a half to two years.
Kumaratunga also spoke on Sunday about resuming the peace negotiation soon after the election.
The President, now in charge of the defence ministry, instructed the defence secretary Cyril Herath to order the forces to be on red alert and to keep aloof of the LTTE’s internal strife. A top military official in Batticoloa confirmed that they had put the army on red alert and taken a neutral stand about the dispute.
“We fear that one or the other party might try to drag us in to complicate their row, but we are keen to avoid getting involved,” the official said.
The rebel Batticoloa- Amparai commander Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, also known as Karuna, contacted Norwegian ambassador Hans Brattskar and SLMM chief Trond Furhovde separately through his secretary Varathan and told them about his decision that the LTTE’s eastern division under his command would function independently and that it would respect the ceasefire. He proposed the signing of a separate Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the President and the Prime Minister to enable the ceasefire between his troops and the army to be effective.
The Norwegians first met with Kumaratunga and conveyed to her the information. Kumaratunga turned down Karuna’s request. She told the Norwegians that her position is to have talks with the LTTE. She said she is committed to upholding the ceasefire agreement and had done so since she had taken over the defence ministry.
She has been telling the people in all the election meetings she is addressing that she would bring peace to the country by talking to the LTTE. She also announced through her Media Minister Lakshman Kadirganar that she is prepared to talk only to the LTTE, thus satisfying the major condition the Tigers had laid down for peace talks.
She told The Hindu newspaper on Monday that she had had channels of discussion with the LTTE, but declined to give details.
The Tigers have expressed doubt about the genuineness of Kumaratunge’s commitment to peace talks. Thamilselvan voiced this doubt on Saturday. He reminded the media about her “War for Peace” pretense and said the current stand of talks with the LTTE might be a similar facade.
Whether Kumaratunga is deceptive is not relevant in the current context. What matters is her decision, based on intelligence reports, that she has to talk to Pirapaharan if she is to bring peace to the country.
Ranil Wickremesinghe also adopted that position. When told by the Norwegians about Karuna’s decision on Wednesday night Wickremesinghe made it clear that the government was not interested in fishing in troubled waters. He added that it was important the ceasefire holds and he would not mind the Norwegians playing a role in patching up the differences between Pirapaharan and Karuna.
The Norwegians did make an attempt to resolve the differences between the two by trying to involve LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham. Matters worsened on Thursday when Pirapaharan ruled that discipline mattered more than anything else and Karuna had violated the code of conduct which he had vowed to uphold. The decision to expel him from the organization was taken on Friday and announced on Saturday.
Karuna was also declared a traitor and stripped of his responsibilities. Col. Ramesh was promoted as Batticoloa- Ampara commander and Kausalyan, whom Karuna dismissed from the post of political head, was reinstated.
Karuna, who has a record of violence, had unleashed a campaign against the people of Jaffna thus rekindling the age-old “Yalpani” antagonism. Northern students in the Eastern University have been intimidated into fleeing their campus and leading Jaffna businessmen were forced to close down their shops. Karuna is whipping up a campaign to force the Tiger leadership to restore him to his old position and to force it to accept his independent position.
The Tiger leadership has said that Karuna is fomenting regionalism to hide his misdeeds, but has not come out with specific charges. Informed sources said Karuna was upset because he was questioned about financial irregularities.
There were also hints about his being ‘bought’ by outside forces inimical to the LTTE and the growing Tamil unity. Thamilselvan said investigations so far done point to such a possibility.
Karuna’s revolt should be viewed in the background of the activities of the EPDP and Varathar’s EPRLF and the antics of Anandasangaree,
The external forces behind these things will naturally try to prevent the LTTE emerging as the unchallenged representatives of the Tamil people and playing a role in the affairs of the national parliament.
But that is not as simple as those evil forces think. The past had hardened the Tamils sufficiently enough to enable them withstand any hardship. Karuna’s revolt has fortunately come early enough. The people have sufficient time to get over it, and they will get over it with determination and foresight.
“The people are going to rally behind the LTTE and not behind the disruptive forces,” an Eastern University academic said. “And they are going to do it with a vengeance.”
Originally published March 9, 2004