The Hindu : Mutiny with a cause?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 11, 2004

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Mutiny with a cause?

By V.S. Sambandan

BATTICALOA: After waging a violent ``national liberation struggle,'' constructed on concepts of rights to ``traditional homeland, identity and self-determination'' and a pan-Sri Lankan Tamil fervour, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is now directly challenged from within.

When V. Muralitharan (a.k.a. `Col.' Karuna) rose in revolt against the LTTE leadership, he chose a theme that civilians and cadres in his eastern stronghold, Batticaloa, could relate to — ``discrimination of the easterner by the northerner.''

In its own way, the quagmire into which the LTTE has now sunk reflects the political dynamics of Sri Lankan Tamil politics. The race for consolidating the Tamil constituency between 1950s and 1970s was a contributory factor for the emergence of armed militancy as political parties out-promised each other till the Tamil youth took to arms against two political enemies — the Sinhala and the Tamil leaderships. The death and the destruction caused by the battle guns that roared for the last two decades also squashed the bitter political rivalry between Tamil political and militant groups.

The power of the gun stilled the differences between the ``prosperous north'' and the ``exploited east,'' which Mr. Muralitharan has now picked up to settle — what the LTTE says — is ``the problem of a single individual.'' Versions differ between the LTTE's leadership and the supporters of the rebel commander on the exact reason for `Col.' Karuna's mutiny, but the common denominator is that it was a long time coming. The current revolt, hence, is also the time for a reality check on the LTTE, which had evoked a sense of fearsome awe since the 1980s.

Popular opinion for `Col.' Karuna contrasts sharply among Tamils depending on their place of origin. Understandably, none wants to be named. ``Karuna has a case — that of the pillaging of the east by the north. In any other formation it would be a democratic assertion, but not in the LTTE,'' an influential resident of Batticaloa said. For a Tamil from Batticaloa, Mr. Muralitharan is the ``right answer'' to the ``exploitative Jaffna man.'' For his counterpart from Jaffna, `Col.' Karuna has ``wrecked the Tamil cause.'' Trapped between the two are Tamils of Indian origin, who are scattered across the island's north and east who see ``no purpose in this mutually destructive exercise'' and fear that the ``prospects of peace have been damaged.''

The ominous uncertainty is particularly pronounced for the Tamils from Jaffna and the Vanni, who are currently residents of Batticaloa. ``It could be just a matter of time before my stay here ends,'' a Jaffna Tamil said. Muralitharan supporters allege that it is ``just panic reaction,'' aimed at ``discrediting us.''

Before the revolt of `Col.' Karuna, the rebel among rebels, the LTTE's internal spats remained fatally internal and nothing was known to the outside world. As the unseated military leader — known for charting out battlefield victories along with the LTTE leader, V. Prabakaran — continues to strike a defiant mode, a new sense of ominous uncertainty stares on Tamil civilians in the eastern town. Undiluted up to now, however, is `Col.' Karuna's image as tactician and fighter.

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