Why Prabhakaran did it

By Radhavinod Raju

Because of this (DK background), Tamil Nadu politicians made a marvellous hero out of Prabhakaran... That’s why he made this blunder against Rajiv Gandhi... They (Tamil politicians) fed him against the Brahmins. That’s why he hated the prime minister of India... He tried to solve the problem as soon as possible. 

 — Former LTTE arms procurer and Prabhakaran confidant Kumaran Pathmanathan

Major operations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targeting rival Tamil leaders or major political leaders were planned and carried out by their intelligence wing under Pottu Amman after the decision was taken by the leader Prabhakaran. How does one say Prabhakaran alone took decisions in the LTTE? This is on the basis of insights gained by people who have closely interacted with the LTTE and its leader, or assessments of colleagues, or circumstances that throw light on the subject. This was a matter that engaged the attention of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI investigating the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Once the investigators established the link between the blast at Sriperumbudur that assassinated the former prime minister and 17 others and the assassins who were on the spot — the one-eyed Sivarasan, the human bomb Dhanu, her companion Subha (all belonging to the intelligence wing of the LTTE), Nalini and the deceased photographer, Haribabu, the planning of the assassination, LTTE’s infiltration into Tamil Nadu and the preparing for the assassination with assistance of a few Indian accomplices began to unravel.

One of the best pieces of evidence produced by the SIT to show how decisions are taken in the LTTE was an audio recording of an interview of Kittu, a senior LTTE leader then based in London looking after the LTTE’s international secretariat, soon after the assassination. Kittu said decisions are taken in the LTTE only by Prabhakaran after weighing all the pros and cons. General Depinder Singh, who headed the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) during the crucial period July 1987, has related in his book IPKF in Sri Lanka how the LTTE cadres would participate in important discussions with the IPKF. A lot of freedom was allowed to the cadres to put across their points of view. But once Prabhakaran gave his views, none spoke. He was their final arbiter.

The LTTE had a formidable set up in Tamil Nadu which looked after their supply wing, treatment of injured cadres, publicity wing and such other activities, called the political group. It was headed by Tiruchy Santhan. However, when the intelligence wing set up a separate base in Chennai to carry out the assassination, the political group had been kept out of the loop. Because of this, when Sivarasan and Subha got cornered due to the intense media coverage and the relentless hunt for them, Sivarasan could not get in touch with Tiruchy Santhan. This became possible only after Prabhakaran intervened and asked Santhan to help out Sivarasan. Once Santhan came into the picture, sleuths of the SIT worked out clues and tracked down one after the other hide-outs of this group.

A strong item of evidence of the involvement of the LTTE in the assassination was a letter addressed by Tiruchy Santhan to Prabhakaran, and sent to Jaffna through his assistant, Irumborai. Irumborai was apprehended while attempting to go to Jaffna in a boat by the Indian Navy. In the letter Santhan blamed the intelligence wing operatives who were caught by the SIT for exposing the role of the LTTE in the assassination, and also sought Prabhakaran’s pardon for ordering his boys to commit suicide without Prabhakaran’s orders, if caught by the SIT. This is because all decisions impacting on the organisation and its goals were taken by Prabhakaran alone.

During investigation of the case, a large number of LTTE publications and files had been seized by the SIT which gave an insight into the LTTE’s views about Tamil Eelam, and its commitment to its achievement. They claimed they were the sole representatives of the Tamils of Sri Lanka; for them Tamil Eelam was non-negotiable. Anybody who came between the LTTE and these goals was simply eliminated. Sri Sabaratinam of the TELO and Padmanabha of the EPRLF were Tamil leaders who challenged Prabhakaran, and were mercilessly killed. Amrithalingam of the TULF, a one-time godfather of Prabhakaran, strayed from his earlier objective of seeking self-determination and started dialogue with Colombo. In June, 1989, when the Sri Lankan president of the day asked the IPKF to leave, Amrithalingam, who was then living in Colombo, under IPKF protection, wanted them to stay till the Tamils were in a position to defend themselves. This was a time when the Sri Lankan government was in talks with the LTTE, though the IPKF was fighting them. Calling him a Tamil traitor, the LTTE assassinated Amritalingam in July, 1989.

After the IPKF withdrew in March 1990 from Sri Lanka, the LTTE took over the entire Northeast, and it was reported that even ministers of the Sri Lankan government needed the LTTE’s permission to enter that part of the country. In August, with reports of impending mid-term elections in India, Rajiv Gandhi’s views were that the Indo-Sri Lanka accord was a conscious decision of the two governments for stability in the region, and for the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka. It was clear that Rajiv would never accept break up of Sri Lanka, that there was no place for an independent Tamil Eelam in his scheme of things. After the IPKF’s withdrawal, the LTTE was virtually ruling Tamil Eelam. They were confident of taking on the Sri Lankan army, and in early June 1990, was the Eelam War II. The LTTE then decided to prevent Rajiv from coming to power by planning to eliminate him.

In all this there is no evidence to suggest that Prabhakaran was influenced by the ideology of the Dravidian movement, and that this may have influenced his decision to eliminate Rajiv Gandhi as recently claimed by Kumaran Pathmanathan. Rajiv Gandhi was against Tamil Eelam, and he had an alternate narrative to redress Tamil grievances. That was a serious threat to the LTTE, which had to be neutralised. Prabhakaran did that in the only way he knew.

New Indian Express

03rd July 2011