Sunday, Nov 28, 2004
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By V.S. Sambandan
COLOMBO, NOV. 27. The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), V. Prabakaran, today warned the Sri Lankan Government that the Tigers would be "compelled to launch the freedom struggle" unless there was an "unconditional" resumption of the stalled peace talks, "without delay" based on its proposals for an interim self-governing authority (ISGA). Striking a belligerent note in his annual Heroes' Day speech, Mr. Prabakaran made, what he termed "an urgent appeal" to Colombo to restart the talks, "on the basis of the proposals for an interim self-governing authority" submitted last October. "If the Government rejects our urgent appeal, adopts delaying tactics perpetuating the suffering of our people, we have no alternative other than to advance the freedom struggle of our nation," he said. Mr. Prabakaran reiterated the position set out by the LTTE and other Tamil parties, including former militant groups and the Tamil United Liberation Front, in Thimpu in the 1980s, and wanted the Sri Lankan political parties to "officially declare their position on core issues of the Tamils — homeland, nationality and right to self-determination."
Rollback
In an important rollback, he dropped the distinction made two years back, between external and internal self-determination. In an apparent relapse to a hard bargaining position, he outlined the "bitter historical experience" of the past negotiations "for more than 50 years," on linguistic rights, equal rights, regional autonomy, federal self-rule and "pacts and agreements," and said his group was "not prepared to walk the path of treachery and deception once again." On the developments since the ceasefire agreement was signed in February 2002, Mr. Prabakaran said the LTTE had "been making every endeavour" to seek a negotiated settlement. The six rounds of peace talks — between September 2002 and March 2003, "turned out to be futile and meaningless." The LTTE was "not satisfied" with three successive draft proposals on an "interim set-up" submitted by the former Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe's Government as they "lacked adequate administrative authority and were unacceptable." The ISGA was "invested with substantial authority to effectively and expeditiously undertake all tasks of resettlement, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development in the Tamil homeland." Mr. Wickremesinghe's administration "did not reject" it but the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party "outrightly condemned our interim administrative framework as the foundation for a separate Tamil state." The Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, he said took "punitive action" and "destabilised" Mr. Wickremesinghe's rule. The "ethnic contradiction" between the "the Sinhala and Tamil nations became acute as a consequence of the general elections held at the beginning of the year."
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