The Hindu : Opinion / Leader Page Articles : A wish-list

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Saturday, Nov 27, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Leader Page Articles

A wish-list

By Nirupama Subramanian

What many of 'Sri Lanka's Tamils would like to hear the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, say in his "Heroes' Day Address."

EVERY YEAR on November 27, Velupillai Prabakaran, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), makes a speech known as the "Heroes' Day Address." Over the years the speech, which comes at the end of a week of celebrations by the LTTE in memory of their cadres killed in fighting, and a day after Mr. Prabakaran's birthday — his 50th this year — has come to be regarded as the group's annual policy statement.

In the absence of any other statements by Mr. Prabakaran, the speech provides the only clues to his thinking on current issues and developments with regard to Sri Lanka's Tamil question.

Over two years have passed since the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, assisted by Norway, signed a ceasefire, the first since 1994, that laid the foundation for peace talks between the two sides. While the ceasefire has held, the process itself has stalled over the LTTE's demand that the peace talks should only discuss the setting up of an Interim Self-Governing Authority (ISGA) under its control in North-East Sri Lanka, for which it submitted proposals in October 2003. In the meantime, the LTTE has suffered an unprecedented split.

This year's "Heroes' Day Address," which Mr. Prabakaran will as usual make from a secret location in northern Sri Lanka this evening, is especially awaited for what he will say about the emergence of Karuna, a former military commander of the LTTE, as his sworn rival; his position on a federal solution to the Tamil question; and the impasse in the peace process. Meanwhile, here is the speech that many Sri Lankan Tamils would like to hear:

"Since the beginning of the Eelam struggle, the LTTE has held that those who do not subscribe to our viewpoint must be ruthlessly eliminated. To this end, we began by liquidating other militant groups. Then, we assassinated moderate Tamil politicians. In the two years of the ceasefire, we have killed many Tamils who we suspected of disloyalty.

"These killings constitute a crime against the Tamil community. They have robbed our society of several potential leaders and the leading lights of its intelligentsia. The LTTE will no more resort to killings of political rivals. The movement recognises the need to engage with all shades of opinion in a non-violent, democratic manner in order to pave the way towards a truly progressive Tamil society.

"The LTTE realises only some Tamils see North-East Sri Lanka as a unified homeland. Those in the East, particularly Batticaloa, have regional aspirations that our movement has from the beginning refused to recognise. The LTTE shut out eastern Tamils from positions of significance in the group but used the region as a convenient recruiting ground for fighters.

"This added to the resentment of the eastern Tamils against the North. The departure of Karuna, our eastern military commander, was an expression of this resentment. The LTTE's determination to eliminate him has turned Batticaloa into a battleground where our cadres and his clash and are killed every day. The LTTE has now called off the mission to eliminate Karuna and all his supporters and hopes that peace will return to the region.

"Tamils and Muslims lived peacefully together in the North-East for generations until the LTTE drove a wedge between the two communities by driving Muslims out of the North and going on a Muslim killing spree in the East.

"These anti-Muslim acts rank among the LTTE's biggest mistakes. We want to contribute towards building a plural society in the North-East with the Muslims and the Sinhalese forming an integral part.

"By conscripting children, the LTTE has committed another grave crime against the Tamil people. We have continued to recruit children even after we signed the ceasefire with the Sri Lanka Government. The LTTE will no longer recruit children. We will also set free all underage recruits so that they can be reunited with their parents.

"The LTTE waged a long war against the Sri Lanka Government to establish an independent Eelam, but we know this is an impossibility. In December 2002, the LTTE, along with the Sri Lanka Government, signed an agreement at Oslo to explore a federal solution.

"But the peace process is at a dead end because of our insistence that the ISGA should form the only agenda for further talks and that it should not be linked to a permanent solution. President Chandrika Kumaratunga has agreed on condition that the agenda will be about setting up an ISGA within a `unified Sri Lanka'. Delaying the peace talks any further will endanger the process and the fragile peace of the ceasefire, which has brought the Tamil people respite from two decades of war. With this in mind, the LTTE wishes to recommence the peace process immediately."

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