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Taming of Tamil Tigers threatens to breed fiercer creatures

The victory for Sri Lankan forces has come at a high price both in terms of civilian life and damage to Colombo’s international reputation. According to U.N. figures, an estimated 7,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed between January 20, when a military offensive pushed back the rebels into a tiny enclave in the north-east, and May 7.

Although the military largely blocked the world’s media from covering the carnage in the so-called no-fire zone, TV images conveyed part of the horror, showing civilians making a desperate break across a lagoon to escape the last strip of land controlled by the rebels.

Doctors have recounted the cries of the wounded at a makeshift hospital they had to abandon because of continual artillery shelling — despite denials from the Sri Lankan military.

Despite pleas from Barack Obama and the U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, Colombo has zealously pursued its objective of wiping out the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once and for all.

For President Mahinda Rajapaksa, military victory is the climax of his election campaign in November 2005, when he ruled out autonomy for Tamils. He has been able to dress up the offensive as part of the global fight against terrorism. There is little sympathy for the Tigers. A ruthless group that pioneered suicide attacks and is accused of using human shields, it is listed as a terrorist organisation by both the U.S. and the EU.

But while many Tamils are appalled at the Tigers’ tactics, they also harbour deep grievances about their treatment by the Sinhalese majority. Analysts claim the government’s conduct has hardened an already humiliated Tamil diaspora, storing trouble for the future.

“If the Tigers’ leadership is removed or killed in a government assault, it’s easy to imagine one of the newly energised generation stepping in to fill the void,” said Robert Templer, of the International Crisis Group thinktank.

For now, the Sri Lankan government has prevailed, militarily. But it has a huge humanitarian problem on its hands and will need international aid.

It is time for western leaders who urged restraint to call on Rajapaksa to address Tamil demands for devolution of power and language rights. Given the increasingly authoritarian streak of the Rajapaksa government, with its crackdown on dissent — particularly in the media — the omens are not good. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

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