Response to Col. Hariharan's "LTTE Strategies"

by Jayantha Gnanakone

Dear Colonel Hariharan,

I read your article, which demonstrates a typical Indian Intelligence point of view. Nevertheless, you have analyzed correctly the realistic situation in your last paragraph. The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the international community have to publicly acknowledge and give credit for what India did in 1987 regarding the Tamil homeland and Tamil grievances.

At the end of your article you quote verbatim a June 18, 2006 Island editorial:

"Tamils are not Tigers; but they are not anti-Tiger either. Both extremes are fallacies and both have been used to deny the existence and the legitimacy of Tamil grievances. The Tamils can be won over to the idea of a different Sri Lanka but this is yet to be done. That is why we need to show the Tamil people that the defeat of the LTTE would not mean a return to the Sinhala hegemonic past. For this we must demonstrate that we are serious about coming up with a political solution to the ethnic problem with or without the Tigers. We may have forgotten the string of broken promises from 1956 onwards but it is unreasonable to expect the Tamils to be equally amnesic. If the choice is between a pluralist, democratic, united Sri Lanka and the Tigers, the majority of the Tamils are likely to opt for Sri Lanka. But if the choice is between a Sinhala hegemonic Sri Lanka and the Tigers, the majority of the Tamils are likely to back the Tigers, however unwillingly. Our capacity to succeed in the coming war thus depends, to a considerable degree, on the choice we offer the Tamils.

"The LTTE knows that as long as we are not willing to come up with a reasonable formula of devolution the tide can still change in its favour. If the Lankan state is unwilling to share power, if the Lankan Armed Forces commit human rights violations, then the climate of international and Indian opinion can change once again against Sri Lanka and for the LTTE."

This is a wise analysis on both your parts and has been true for 50 years. It is incredible that the Tamils, the Sinhalese nationalists, the Indian intelligence community and US Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher are all in agreement that the path out of this current impasse is through more political autonomy for the Tamils, yet the NorthEast remains under military occupation and another war is imminent.

What prevents movement on this correct analysis is some parties' strong feelings against the LTTE. Yet it is because of the LTTE that autonomy is even under discussion and if they disappeared, so would the discussion.

The Tamils' desire to accomplish their aspirations and their resolve to do it are undiminished. This resolve has taken on a new perspective after the recent proscription of the LTTE by Canada and the EU. By the way, Australia has not banned the LTTE yet, and even if they do, it does not make any difference. The Aussies will be eliminating themselves from Killinochchi, and only isolating themselves from the Tamils in the NorthEast.

As far as aid is concerned, Tamils never received even the 20 per cent of foreign aid the Co-Chairs said has gone to the NorthEast, due to the lack of honesty by  both the donor nations and the Singhalese. I estimate that only 5-6 per cent of the aid has reached the Tamils living in the NorthEast, as the Singhalese grabbed more than 90 per cent of the aid to all other provinces, and within the NorthEast, aid was given both to the Muslim and Singhalese towns/villages by the GOSL and its Singhalese and Muslim Ministers. If the international community had distributed aid correctly and fairly in the past 58 years, the civil war might not have taken place. 

Even out of the the 3.4 billion dollars received after the Tsunami, only 5-6 per cent reached the Tamils. That is about 200 million dollars. I even doubt that amount reached the Tamils.

1. Chandrika, when she was elected for the second time as President, won as a hawk and not as a Peace Candidate. She received many sympathy votes as she canvassed from her hospital bed after all electioneering was closed. Her policies were a disaster for Sri Lanka from 1999 to 2005.
2. The GOSL was never accommodating the Tamils in any manner under the Presidency of Chandrika. It was the 2 year period under Ranil Wickramasinghe as PM which brought a little sanity to the country. Chandrika undermined Ranil all the time and finally dissolved Parliament using her unlimited presidential powers. So Chandrika is also the main cause of this mess and not only Rajapakse.
3. By November 2005, Tamils had lost all patience, and confidence in the Singhalese and had decided that the only way the rights and dignity of the Tamils can be achieved is by the same methods the great American leader George Washington used against the British. Tamils also have lost faith and trust in some forces in Delhi, several Tamil Nadu politicians, and the selfish and self-interested international community, which frequently act no better than white colonialists.
4. Karuna's forces were manipulated by none other than RAW and other Indian intelligence services. India is still covertly supporting, funding, and guaranteeing Karuna’s existence and safety. How do you account for the Muslim MP from Batticaloa, Ali Zaheer Moula, living in India with his family? S J V’s son, Chandrahasan, and Varatharaja Perumal, who you remember declared UDI when the IPKF was occupying the NE as military rulers against the will of the Tamils, also live in India.
5. P-TOMS was reneged upon by the international community, who should have frozen the 3.4 Billion dollars of Tsunami aid, and provided the Tamil share of aid directly via their own NGO’s and Embassies. The international community did not care enough to raise a fuss.
6. Rajapakse showed his bad faith well before the elections and soon after by all his uncompromising statements and hawkish appointments for Prime Minister, Defense Department etc. The cold-blooded murder of veteran Tamil parliamentarian Pararajasingham, on Christmas Day, in a Catholic church, murdering 5 teenage students who were mere children mafia-style should have started a full scale war. You may recollect the beginning of the First World War in 1915. There is no excuse for an elected government to attack Tamil civilians, along with the constant intimidation and harassment.
7. Shelling and aerial bombing of civilians is cold-blooded murder by one’s own government, and I guess the international community now realizes that, as a result, war is inevitable. This idiotic behavior will not force the Tamils to put their tail between their legs and beg for negotiations.
8. As for the ceasefire violations, the major and fundamental violations are by the government. Not recognizing this is deliberate. The GOSL needs to vacate all schools, homes, private and public buildings, temples and hotels. Tamil fishermen should have unfettered access to Tamil waters and beaches to catch all the marine food right up to the Indian border and our 200 mile economic zone and international waters. After 4 years, still 90 per cent of the fishing still does not take place and the entire international community, including India - not to mention the island's supposed government - has not built 1 single ice factory in 23 years, all of which have been destroyed by war by both Indian and Sri Lankan governments and the Tsunami. Now ice is brought in after a 12 hour drive and passing 4 checkpoints. All farm and agricultural land should be allowed to be cultivated by the Tamil farmer. This is fundamental and there should be no 'ifs' and 'buts' about it. Then there is the disarming of the paramilitary. So I do not know what 3-4,000 CFA violations of the LTTE you are talking about when there are the most fundamental of violations against the civilian population by the GOSL. 

If the GOSL and the international community cannot comprehend and deliberately try to demonize the Tamils and the LTTE, then there is certainly no chance for any peace. Quite frankly, if the Singhalese elected Rajapakse and still expected talks to continue for another few years, they must not only be naïve but  stupid. And we all know that the GOSL is both. Not that UNP were brilliant all these 30 years. They screwed it up, and when they had the opportunity, they tried to play smart with the likes of Moragoda, Godage, and Dissanayake. So please do not blame the Tamils.

Everybody tries to differentiate and separate the Tamils from the LTTE. Please remember the LTTE is only a tool of the Tamils and both the LTTE and Tamils are one and the same. They are nothing but the same unit, and India and the GOSL have tried their very best creating other armed groups and propping up the TULF and Amirthalingham crowd, to no avail.

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