The Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have always been proud of their discipline.
Velupillai Prabhakaran, their supreme commander, has referred to the
Tigers’ iron discipline in several interviews. Outside observers who have
watched them grow from boys to guerillas have also extolled their
determination and discipline while comparing them with other Tamil
militant groups. The Tigers’ oath affirms their total faith in their
leader Prabhakaran, and their motto, “Tigers Thirst for a Tamil
Homeland,” has never been compromised even during their worst crises.
The LTTE have
projected themselves as the sole representatives of the Tamils of Sri
Lanka, and have jealously guarded this self-acclaimed position through
the years. It is in furtherance of this dictum that they virtually
destroyed the other militant groups and their leadership.
All final
decisions in the LTTE are the preserve of the Tigers’ chief. While
discussions are allowed, the decision is Prabhakaran’s to make. Even
seasoned LTTE leaders like Kittu have, on record, affirmed that it is
Prabhakaran who takes all decisions after deep analysis. And once the
leader takes a decision, the group implements it without question. Any
member who dared challenge either Prabhakaran’s leadership or his
decisions, was ruthlessly eliminated, howsoever high he might have been
in the hierarchy. Mahattiya was the deputy military commander who led the
LTTE against the IPKF and Yogi the political chief during the same critical
phase. However, when differences surfaced between them and Prabhakaran,
Mahattiya was reported to have been eliminated and Yogi simply vanished
from the scene. Other dissident leaders have come and gone, but
Prabhakaran has reigned supreme.
Senior leaders
have accepted Prabhakaran’s decision without question, even if it meant
suicide! Dileepan fasted to death in September 1987, just before the
LTTE-IPKF war commenced. The order was without doubt Prabhakaran’s,
though he may have had his reasons to take this decision in the ‘larger
interests’ of the LTTE. But nobody questioned it. The military
commanders of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, Pulendran and Kumarappa, the
latter a predecessor of Karuna, along with 12 others committed suicide by
biting the cyanide capsule on 5 October 1987, leading to the LTTE-IPKF
war. Even Kittu bit the cyanide capsule before his ship, theYahata
Maru, sank off the coast of Chennai
in 1993, following Prabhakaran’s directive of not being caught alive.
Whatever
methods Prabhakaran may have followed in his determined struggle for an
independent Eelam, and despite differing views, most analysts agree on
one point: without the LTTE, the Tamils’ struggle for rights in Sri Lanka
would not have had the attention or the success that it has had. Apart
from eliminating foes and friends-turned foes, Prabhakaran also ordered
the assassinations of Rajiv Gandhi, Premadasa and other ranking Sri
Lankan politicians like Ranjan Wijeratne, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini
Dissanayake, and almost succeeded in assassinating Chandrika Kumaratunga
– all in his quest for Tamil Eelam. He has also led the LTTE in
some famous military victories.
Against this
background, we may examine how the Tigers’ chief will look at ‘Col.’
Karuna’s perceived betrayal. By all accounts, Karuna has made significant
contributions in the LTTE’s military campaigns and has loyal followers.
How strong this following is and how serious a dent it will make in the
LTTE’s hitherto impregnable fortress remains to be seen. It certainly
offers the Sri Lankan government some options to take on Prabhakaran even
though the government has taken the stand that it is an internal matter
of the LTTE. In the mid-eighties, when the LTTE and other militant
groups had their violent quarrels, the Tamils, especially those
abroad, did make attempts to bring the ‘boys’ together. But the LTTE
would have none of it and went after the other groups. Tamil supporters
had to fall in line and rally behind Prabhakaran. The Tamil National
Alliance is contesting all the seats in Tamil areas in the forthcoming
Parliament elections in Sri
Lanka after accepting the LTTE as the
sole representative of all Tamils. Karuna has challenged Prabhakaran’s
uncompromising stand that the LTTE alone represents the Tamils there cannot be two LTTEs, one led by Prabhakaran
and the other by Karuna. The LTTE’s history, brief though it is, is
mercilessly violent against
traitors. Can it be different in the case of Karuna? Does the Tiger
change its spots?
The new
commander of Batticaloa, ‘Col.’
Ramesh has said that the ‘supreme leader’ has already set in motion a
cautious plan to deal with Karuna’s problem, which will not affect the
people. The only consideration will be the forthcoming
elections during which the LTTE hopes to put up a united show of
total support of the Tamils for its goals, and the restrictions placed by
the two-year old ceasefire agreement brokered by the Norwegians, banning
all violence. This explains the caution in dealing with Karuna. The
coming days will make it clear whether Prabhakaran continues to retain
his hold over Tamil minds in Sri Lanka, or whether the combination
of regional aspirations and the strength that media exposure has
given to the LTTE’s regional commanders would finally split
the monolith.
IPCS 9, March 2004
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