A Loaded Question

by Chandi Sinnathurai

War is nothing but a continuation of politics with the admixture of other means" - Karl Von Clausewitz (1780 - 1831)

An interview concluded with Tamil Nadu politician Vaiko with the following question :

"It is believed that Parabhakaran is ageing and is not in touch with the latest global trends." Rediff/India Abroad, November 27, 2006

My initial reaction to such a question was that it smells as 'crisp as a fart'.

But the question was more of a suggestion, a subtle one, than an measured observation. A question meant to 'wrong foot', to trip you over, to test your pressure points, to feel your testicles even. The core idea of the question is the planting of a cunning suggestion. This is exactly what the Devil did with Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden. A telling story. The origin of bad mouthing. Passing the buck at its best.

In 1957, Packard tested the technique of Persuading us as Citizens in his seminal work:

"The manipulative approach to politics is of course not a discovery of the nineteen-fifties, or even the twentieth century. Napoleon set up a Press bureau that he called, perhaps in a playful moment, his Bureau of Public Opinion. Its function was to manufacture political trends to order. Machiavelli was another who made some original contributions to the thinking in this field. The real challenge comes in dealing effectively with citizens of a free society who can vote you out of office, or spurn your solicitation for their support, if they are so minded." (The Hidden Persuaders, Packard:1957)

Spilling of suggestions, dropping a hint, manufacturing a myth is all a matter of persuasive massaging. A working at a sub-conscious level.

To suggest that Prabaharan is ageing, however, is not just a joke of bad taste - it is a fact of life. That also means that the Eelam struggle is maturing and the Tamils are politically agéd enough to understand their destiny. They can no longer be hoodwinked by rhetoric. A man in his early-fifties is not a spring chicken. Neither is he an old fool. Perhaps 'getting on a bit' might be the best way of putting it.

The idea that Prabaharan is out of touch with global trends is barking mad! He is not isolated in his jungle bunkers, as one would like to hint. It is childish to suggest that the man has no access to the information highway in this internet world. In fact, he is believed to be quite switched on with the most modern communication items in the global market.

It is sheer audacity to always paint freedom-fighters as something that they are not.

A man's age has nothing to do with him/her being up to the minute with modern trends and traits. Prabaharan is believed to be 'book wormy', intellectual, sensitive, sensible and patiently pragmatic in his approach. His actions are the proof. That ought to explain his natural inclination to shun the limelight. He is noone's media-monkey. He, no doubt a strategist of the highest order, instinctively perceives every subtle move in the international system. To suggest otherwise is a buffooning blunder: who is the organ-grinder and who the monkey?

The spreading of an idea that Prabakaran is not capable of understanding the sophistry of world affairs is useful to someone who tries to portray Prabaharan as the wonder boy in The Jungle Book. Now that is not without intent - they are queuing up to become Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear.

Many self-serving Saviors have appeared on the horizon since the demise of the Father of the Tamil Nation: Tantai Chelva in the 1970's up to date. Prabaharan has never pretended to be one. But the burden of proof of his actions - more than his words - has thrust upon this shy man the historical responsibility of delivering his dispossessed people from the clutches of Sinhala hegemony. There are however those who speak with passion about Tamil Eelam but with an allergic reaction to the name Prabaharan. These are opportunistic hyenas.

There are others, a band of intelligentsia, who want to use 'the boys' for the purpose of achieving the vision. In other words, to 'employ' them as fodders for their cannons. When Eelam is achieved, they feel, they ought to be invited to be the ruling elites. Why? Because they are the only ones who know the 'know how' of governance. Sophisticate or redneck -- In your wildest dreams!

There is no policy minus the politics; and no politics without bias and distortion. The policy announcement of Talaivar is another revelation of his grip on all matters geo-politics.

I'm of the mind that Prabaharan should demolish the myth of him being a remote figure. That gives the opportunity sometimes for people to 'buy into stories' that are far off the record. I'm also concerned, not without vanity of course, that his recent published photographs are just stills - not taking into account portraying the angles and contours of his character and office.

Talaivar is a man of the people. And that needs to be captured as much as his November 27 policy-speech encapsulated that essence of illustration.

The policy and politics of the Tamil Tigers are in the open free for all to interpret. However, the "out side Vanni" translators, polemicist, speculators and spin-doctors have to be cautious of their inconsistency, lack of strategic coherence, including arguments worse than 'angels on a pinhead' reasoning.

I got a 14 year-old lad to read the English version of the Policy-Speech. I quizzed him on some finer points. This young lad had no doubts as to what and why and how Prabaharan is fighting for Tamil independence from "Cingala thesam." I was over the moon.

If we aim for the stars, an African bed-time story tells me that we will only reach to the tree-top. But if we aim for higher things, much higher than the twinkling stars, we will land on the moon. We can't keep evading the truth like a peripatetic jester.

Prabaharan: A mythical identity? Mistaken. The proof deconstructs the myth.

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