The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : WHERE IS PRABAKARAN?

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Tuesday, Jan 11, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

WHERE IS PRABAKARAN?

EVEN IF ONE were to discount reports that the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Velupillai Prabakaran, is among the thousands dead or missing in Sri Lanka after the December 26 tsunami, his absence at a time of unprecedented crisis for the people in the LTTE-controlled North-East is passing strange. In the countries hit by the catastrophe, national and regional leaders publicly and visibly rallied to provide direction to a people confused and shattered by the unexpected nature of the calamity and the extent of the devastation around them. In Sri Lanka, the country worst affected after Indonesia, both President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe rose to the occasion. The President cut short her private visit to the United Kingdom and flew back to Sri Lanka immediately to direct relief operations. During her short absence in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse held the fort ably. President Kumaratunga and Mr. Wickremesinghe put aside their rivalry and made similar appeals calling on the Sri Lankan people to rise above all political, ethnic, and religious differences and to make a united effort to rebuild the country. But in North-East Sri Lanka, where some places have been as badly affected as parts of the south, the most important political figure is conspicuously missing. Where is Mr. Prabakaran at this hour of grief and distress for a people he claims only he and his group can lead?

A statement from the LTTE lambasted the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, a state-run radio station and the first to air a report about Mr. Prabakaran's possible fate in the tsunami, for "spreading rumours and speculation." The radio station has since retracted the report but it is interesting that the LTTE statement is not a categorical denial. In fact, it does not say anything specific about Mr. Prabakaran's safety and well-being. Ignoring this detail and assuming that the LTTE leader is alive and well, his non-appearance in public is outrageous by any standard of leadership, considering that of the more than 30,000 people killed in Sri Lanka nearly half lived in the North-East. On December 29, a statement attributed to him and appealing for international assistance for the tsunami-hit regions of the North-East appeared on a few websites. But nearly two weeks after the tragedy, the "national leader," as Mr. Prabkaran is described by the LTTE, is yet to make direct contact with the Tamil people. It can be argued that the LTTE supremo obsessed with his security makes only rare public appearances. Over the last decade, he has not departed from his custom of making a public appearance and speech just once a year, on November 27, a day observed by the LTTE as "Heroes Day." But surely an extraordinary situation demands extraordinary gestures by a leader.

However, the absence of the LTTE leader does not seem to have held up relief operations in the North-East. Despite the extensive toll the tsunami inflicted on its military forces, especially its Sea Wing, the LTTE has managed to project its capability in organising relief. Soosai, the commander of the Sea Tigers who is widely believed to have differences with Prabakaran, has been the most visible member of the LTTE hierarchy post-tsunami, and appears to be leading the task of relief and immediate rehabilitation. The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation, a front of the LTTE, has stepped up efforts to raise funds abroad, especially from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. For long, Mr. Prabakaran's name alone was used to motivate the Tiger international network. But first Karuna's revolt, and now the tsunami, seems to have transformed the situation on the ground in favour of the Sri Lankan state. Assuming he is alive, the LTTE supremo will be under tremendous pressure to appear in public. Not only will such surfacing be the only way to express solidarity with the people he claims to represent, it is the only way by which he can set at rest the stories aswirl about his fate.

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