by Tamil Guardian Editorial; London, March 17, 2004
Indelible Blot – The homeland is part of the Tamil identity
The standoff between the Liberation Tigers’ leadership and the rebellious former commander of the movement’s forces in the Batticaloa-Ampara districts continued this week, with several developing aspects of the crisis raising anxieties amongst the Tamil people, particularly those resident in the eastern districts anxieties fuelled moreover, by the Sri Lankan and international media’s sensational and often irresponsible reports of the situation. Rumour and speculation has routinely found form as ‘news. ‘ The LTTE’s precautionary positioning of a small contingent of its forces on the Trincomalee-Batticaloa border was, for example, reported this week as a massive buildup ahead of a major conflict. Karuna’s media blitz of the past week in which several international news firms were invited into one of the LTTE’s key bases in the district was clearly intended to shift the public terms of the controversy away from the sordid details about his conduct that have begun emerging, particularly since trusted aides including those familiar with his financial dealings and private life escaped into the Vanni.
Two weeks ago, Karuna shocked and dismayed the Tamil community when, whilst retaining authority over the LTTE’s forces in the Batticaloa-Ampara region, he declared himself a separate entity, no longer subject to the authority of the LTTE, and demanded he be accorded the role of a major actor in the conflict. The movement’s response was predictably swift: Karuna, though a senior officer, was sacked outright. The accompanying charge of treachery, leveled against a hitherto respected commander of the LTTE, added to the Tamil community’s shock and dismay. Some, particularly in Karuna’s Batticaloa heartland, protested it as excessive. But Karuna’s actions and statements in the following days have created a wave of revulsion and anger amongst Tamils across the Northeast and the Diaspora, turning the crisis into both a tragic episode in the Tamil struggle and an indelible and inglorious blot on his personal history in it. For it was in the divisive politics of regionalism that Karuna took refuge. The LTTE leadership, he claimed, was discriminating against the Tamils in the east. Several thousand cadres from the east, he declared, had died ‘to protect the north. ‘ Shunning the LTTE’s offer of amnesty an unprecedented one, given the movement’s traditional iron discipline Karuna thus justified his lunge for power in the eastern region.
And therein lay the substance of the LTTE’s charge of treachery. As the movement’s theoretician, Mr. Anton Balasingham told Tamil Guardian this week, “by denying the Tamils their inherent right to their homeland Karuna is committing a grave act of injustice to his own people; an act of betrayal that history will never forgive.” The homeland is the very foundation of the Tamil struggle, cherished by Tamils of every political persuasion and abhorred by the Sinhala supremacists. Indeed, by renouncing the homeland concept, Karuna to the Tamil community’s shame echoed the very thrust of the Sinhala argument for denying us our political rights. He also belittled the sacrifices made by thousands of cadres from the east and from every other part of the homeland who have given their lives for freedom. As Mr. Balasingham put it, “to argue that one region has fought and sacrificed for the other region is a reactionary form of regionalism, which has to be condemned by all Tamil patriots.” Calling for innovative, creative measures to bring about reconciliation and unity, we asked last week how Karuna could conceivably advance the Tamil national liberation struggle in a meaningful manner if he and his combatants were determined to tread a lonely, alienated path divorced from the parent organisation. It would appear, today, that he is quite prepared to sacrifice the struggle itself for his personal ambitions.
As Karuna fortifies himself in an LTTE base camp this week, his priority has been to keep the thousands of LTTE cadres under his command and the people of the Batticaloa-Ampara district in the dark. Copies of Colombo based Tamil newspapers reporting the LTTE’s charges against the renegade officer have been confiscated and destroyed. A local paper has been shut down. Tamil candidates contesting the April 2 Parliamentary elections on a platform of supporting the LTTE have been intimidated. Nevertheless, the implications of unfolding events is dawning amongst the Tamils of the east. The desertions have begun, with many LTTE cadres escaping to the Vanni to join up with senior leaders who left Batticaloa-Ampara shortly before Karuna seized power. Recognising that the vast majority of their cadres serving in eastern province will remain habitually disciplined whilst loyal to the Tamil cause, the LTTE leadership, meanwhile, continues to call for calm, insisting the matter will be solved without bloodshed. In doing so, it has the unqualified support of the Tamil people.
Originally published March 19, 2004