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The LTTE connection

There should be no doubts in the minds of the public that the so-called Tamil National Alliance, with which the UNP is having close ties, is nothing more than a servile mouthpiece of the LTTE. This point has now been clearly established by the pre-polls posturings and pronouncements of some leaders of the constituent parties of the TNA.

For instance, TELO leader Selvam Adaikalanathan was quoted saying recently that a victory for the TNA in the North-East at the forthcoming poll would prove that the national question cannot be effectively resolved without negotiating with the LTTE "who are the sole representatives of the Tamil community". Meanwhile, another TELO member, N. SriKantha, contesting in the Trincomalee District, had explained that the TNA was no leader of the Tamils. "We are spokesmen of the LTTE who are fighting for the legitimate rights of the Tamil people in the North-East province", he said.

In another thought-provoking development, a UNP candidate for the Jaffna district had reportedly said that the LTTE is indeed the sole representative of the Tamil people.

While these statements testify to the faint-heartedness of the Tamil parliamentary parties in the face of LTTE pressure, they amount to a betrayal of the Tamil people, the majority of whom do not associate themselves with the LTTE. It is patently obvious that only the Tamil people are entitled to make such claims.

The LTTE, it must be admitted, is the symptom of the disease which is the ethnic conflict. At some point in the peace process, the Government will be compelled to hold negotiations with the LTTE as the latter is an important party to the conflict. A permanent peace wouldn't be possible without Government - LTTE negotiations, but this is a far cry from saying that the "LTTE is the sole representative of the Tamil people". This is because the vital interests of the Tamil minority are not synonymous with those of the Tigers who are a military formation spawned by the conflict.

These points have to be borne in mind by the UNP which is believed to be having covert links with the LTTE. We are obliged to point out that such links shouldn't be considered a kind of trump card by the UNP. The latter is obliged to come clean in public on the real state of its relations with the LTTE because the interests of an entire community are involved in these links. The UNP owes it to the public to make a clean breast on these issues since they impinge on the national interest.

Besides, there is no need for hush-hush dealings with the UNP. Former UNP MP, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, for instance, is accused of being in touch with LTTE top-notchers. If these dealings are not going against the public interest, why doesn't he too state publicly on what he is up to, so that all doubts may be clarified and the public may get an inkling of where they are heading. There is absolutely no need for cloak-and-dagger politics on such issues which have to be debated in public.

• Editorial of  The Observer - 23.11.2001
  Afghanistan’s continuing agony
  

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