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Ceasefire has become defunct: LTTE chief

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Sri Lankan Government not perturbed at Prabakaran's `Heroes Day' speech

— Photo: AFP/LTTE handout

Velupillai Prabakaran lights a lamp in front of the portraits of the fallen comrades after his annual policy statement in Sri Lanka's rebel-held Kilinochchi on Monday.

COLOMBO: In his `Heroes Day' address on Monday, LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran left no one in doubt that the Norwegian brokered Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of 2002 and negotiations were a thing of the past.

"It is now crystal clear that the Sinhala leaders will never put forward a just resolution to the Tamil national question. Therefore, we are not prepared to place our trust in the impossible and walk along the same old futile path."

Mr. Prabakaran spoke of what he characterised as "the unchanging attitude of successive Sinhala regimes towards resolving the burning Tamil national question and, in particular, the deceitful handling of the current peace efforts by three successive Sinhala regimes."

"At this historic time when the Tamils are recommencing their journey on the path of freedom we seek the unwavering support and assistance of the world Tamil community. We express our gratitude to Tamil Nadu people and leaders for voicing their support and ask them to continue their efforts to help us in our freedom struggle. We express our gratitude to the Tamil diaspora, our displaced brethren living all around the world, for their contribution to our struggle and ask them to maintain their unwavering participation and support."

The Government of Sri Lanka appeared unperturbed at Mr. Prabakaran's speech. "Last year Mr. Prabakaran gave one-year time to the Rajapaksa Government, but on the ground the LTTE resumed military attacks within two weeks. We can't be bothered about speeches. The Government is committed to finding a political solution to the ethnic problem," Sri Lankan Minister and Defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwellatold The Hindu .

Mr. Prabakaran said the endeavour of the All Parties Conference (APC) to find a solution to the ethnic problem was like "searching for a black cat in a dark room." The Rajapaksa regime hoped to decide the fate of the "Tamil nation using its military power." It hoped to occupy Tamil land, and then force an unacceptable solution on the Tamils.

"Kill at will"

Because of this strategy, the CFA "has become defunct. The Rajapaksa regime, by openly advocating attacks on our positions, has effectively buried the CFA. The regime's attacks have expanded from land to sea and air. It has given a free hand to the paramilitary groups to kill at will. It has occupied Mavilaru and Sampur, blatantly breaking the CFA terms," the LTTE chief alleged.

The Rajapaksa regime, while "carrying out a genocide of Tamils," was portraying their movement as a terrorist organisation. "It has launched a malicious propaganda campaign to defame our movement. Ignoring the unanimous opposition of our people and the objection of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the European Union and Canada have yielded to diplomatic pressure from the Sri Lankan Government and listed our movement as a terrorist organisation. They isolated us as undesirables."

The "hasty decision, arrived at without considering the prevailing context, has created serious repercussions" and disturbed the LTTE's parity of status and balance of power with the Sinhala regime.

Mr. Prabakaran said: "It encouraged the hardline stance of the Sinhala regime. It weakened the SLMM and facilitated the war plans of the Sinhala regime. Some countries that proclaim to be helping the peace efforts have not only failed to condemn the genocidal attacks on our people but are also giving military and financial aid to the Sinhala regime to support its war plans."

The Rajapaksa regime did not give due importance to the peace talks because it was confident of its military approach, and the two rounds of Geneva talks were unproductive because of its lack of interest in peace negotiations, Mr. Prabakaran said.

Jayadeva Uyangoda, political analyst and professor at Colombo University, told The Hindu that the speech was a disappointment for those who expected a formal declaration of war by the LTTE or a unilateral declaration of independence.

"It appears to be an attempt to charter a political strategy to reclaim international legitimacy for the secessionist agenda of the Tamil Tigers. However, the approach is entirely negative. It tries to seek legitimacy from a critique of Sinhala polity without a constructive social or economic programme for Tamils," Prof. Uyangoda said.

Though Mr. Prabakaran avoided any reference to a military campaign to achieve `political independence,' political and diplomatic observers felt that the aggressive message was bound to vitiate the volatile security environment.

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