Re: Tamil Tigers claim second air raid
What, then, is the difference between followers of a religious cult who indulge in mass suicide and the Tigers of LTTE?
LTTE is also known for its suicide attacks. Known as Black Tigers, the suicide bombers are a glorified lot. The glorification of Black Tigers is part of the process of indoctrination and manipulation of their minds. A variety of subterfuges are used to manipulate their minds. LTTE considers Prabhakaran to be a demi-god and to meet him in person is considered a rare honour. Prabhakaran has very carefully cultivated this image. Before the mission, a Black Tiger eats his or her "Last Supper" with the leader, which is considered the greatest honour. But for most independent observers a sense of abhorrence to this whole drama is inescapable.
The choice of targets for the suicide bomber reveals the mind of Prabhakaran. One of the first targets of an LTTE human bomb using the suicide belt was Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by LTTE suicide bomber Dhanu, flowers in her hair and all decked up, at Sriperumbudur on 21 May 1991. Rajiv Gandhi more than any Indian leader, was sympathetic to the legitimate demands of Sri Lankan Tamils and helped them in their fight to win a place of equality. And yet, he was assassinated on the eve of Lok Sabha elections in 1991, because Prabhakaran feared that Rajiv would not be favourably disposed towards him and the cause of an independent Eelam. Similarly, on the eve of the 1994 Sri Lankan election, the LTTE assassinated UNP presidential candidate, Gamini Dissanayake, for fear that a government under him would receive Indian assistance. Prabhakaran did not hesitate to order the elimination of Premadasa, with whom he had collaborated to force the withdrawal of IPKF from Sri Lanka. The incumbent Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga had the good fortune to have survived an attempt on her life in another perfidious act by an LTTE suicide bomber. Ironically, Chandrika, amongst the Sri Lankan politicians has shown the greatest sensitivity to Tamil aspirations.
The LTTE suicide bomber is motivated by many factors. It will be too simplistic to assume that motivation comes primarily from commitment to the cause and loyalty to Prabhakaran. In the last two decades, death and destruction have ravaged Tamil society. A whole generation of young Tamils have been scarred by the brutalities of the Sri Lankan security forces on the one hand, and the fascism of Prabhakaran on the other. Caught as they are between the devil and the deep sea, many young Tamils see self-destruction as a form of revenge and martyrdom.
It is not that Prabhakaran is intolerant of political opponents only; he is equally intolerant and suspicious of his own comrades. Anyone whose loyalty to him is even remotely suspect is instantaneously eliminated. The killing of Mahatya, for long his second-in-command, is an example.
It has been argued that Prabhakaran is the sole representative of Sri Lankan Tamils. All major Tamil parties and groups under the banner of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) openly backed candidates approved by the Tigers in the parliamentary elections held in December 2001. But the University Teachers Human Right (UTHR), a respected and independent group of Tamil academics, formerly of Jaffna University had this to say:7
"The taming of TULF (Tamil Eelam Liberation Front) has an abject lesson in terror tactics of LTTE. One cannot play safe with the LTTE. The TULF Members of Parliament killed by the LTTE thought themselves to be playing safe. They all but acknowledged its totalitarian claim, never criticised it publicly and remained obligingly silent when LTTE killers one by one picked off their own colleagues.8 People are thus driven to be cautious to the point of not risking doing anything that may be taken amiss by the LTTE. It is a degree of terror the State cannot match."
The terrorist attack in the USA on 11 September 2001 by the Al Qaida network of Osama bin Laden that killed nearly 3,900 people and the consequent international campaign against terrorism has compelled Prabhakaran to moderate his style and rhetoric. His recent assertion that the Tamil struggle is "neither separatism nor terrorism" is only a clever ploy to gain international sympathy. The hardening of world opinion has forced Prabhakaran to revise his strategy. The present truce between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government has been forced on him by the countries like the US, the UK, Canada and Australia turning the financial screws on the LTTE. That the LTTE would be unable to continue its terror in Sri Lanka without the financial support collected via transnational regions is quite obvious.
While killings by LTTE are presently finely targeted to kill or paralyse by fear any person or group showing signs of independence, it has found newer ways to consolidate and expand the gains made by terror. Dr Rajini Thiranegama, a senior lecturer in Jaffna University and a founder member of UTHR, later believed to be murdered by the LTTE, had this to say about the LTTE:
"The LTTE religion is hierarchical. The common man counted for little except as devotees. Militants from other groups, whatever their contribution, were counted as animals or anti-social elements. Only the LTTE could make sacrifices, be counted as martyrs and become gods. One should not underestimate such a religion which has a semblance to the official religion of the Third Reich."
There is optimism in the Sri Lankan government circles over the latest truce and the Memorandum of Understanding the Tigers signed with it in February 2002 as a part of the peace process brokered by Norway. In the backdrop of past experience of negotiating with the Tigers, Wickremasinghe is taking a huge risk in trusting Prabhakaran. Prabhakaran had no faith in the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 and he had made up his mind to sabotage it even before the negotiations were concluded. The rest is history. The LTTE entered into negotiations with Premadasa with the sole purpose of getting the IPKF out of Sri Lanka but the honeymoon between the two lasted only till the IPKF was pulled out from the island. Premadasa was assassinated by the LTTE after he had served its purpose. Chandrika Kumaratunga would have met the same fate except that she survived the assassination attempt.
Many analysts have cited the example of the Oslo peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians as a way ahead in resolving the Sri Lankan crisis. But where is the Oslo peace plan today? Writing in an article, "The J&K Peace Process: Chasing the Chimera" KPS Gill and Ajai Sahni observe, "Despite popular contemporary rhetoric, unfortunately a sentiment in favour of peace is insufficient foundation for an effective process to secure peace. In a context where even a single player considers violence a legitimate instrument of policy, the resolution of disputes demands for firmer grounding in facts and the Oslo peace process was as divorced from such a foundation as could be conceivable.9" In the context of ethnic war in Sri Lanka, Prabhakaran has not given up violence as a legitimate means to achieve his goal of an independent Eelam. The past record of negotiations between the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka leads one to conclude that the Memorandum of Understanding signed in February this year is only a clever ploy by Prabhakaran to bid for time and gain international recognition. He also knows that public memory is short and hopes that the indignation of the Western countries over the 11 September terrorist attack would peter out sooner than later.