LTTE's self-defeating dream

COMING close on the heels of increasing proof that the LTTE cannot be relied on to steadfastly curb its terror instinct, the BBC's interview with Nirmala Rajasingham, which we front-paged yesterday, is further corroborative evidence of the Tigers' anti-democratic, repressive orientation.

As mentioned, Nirmala Rajasingham, is the sister of the late Dr. Rajini Thiranagama, who won widespread admiration for her courageous advocacy of the rights of the ordinary Tamil people. By cruelly snuffing out Thirangama's life in those early years of the conflict, the LTTE underscored its strong distrust and intolerance of peaceful opposition to its diktat. The killing also proved that the phrase "peaceful resistance" is not in the lexicon of the LTTE. It simply would go to any lengths to sustain its stranglehold over the Tamil people.

This proves that the LTTE could not care less about the rights of the Tamil people. Self-interest and self-aggrandizement seem to be its principal bases of thinking and action.

If this were not so, the LTTE would not have systematically physically eliminated, from the earliest years of Tamil militancy in the North-East, not only moderate Tamil politicians who took up the cause of the Tamil people, but also rival militant organisations which posed a threat to the LTTE ambition of being the foremost anti-State, insurrectionist group in the North-East.

It could be said that the LTTE has, by and large, achieved this ambition but at tremendous cost. It is plain to see that LTTE recalcitrance and its despotic orientation are instrumental in perpetuating the North-East conflict. The conflict would have been resolved long ago if the LTTE cooperated in working out a political solution which would have met the legitimate aspirations of the Tamil people.

However, the fact that the Tigers have backed unceremoniously out of past peace efforts is proof that they dread the prospect of peace returning to the North-East. The principal reason for this anomalous conduct is the fear of losing its stranglehold over the Tamil people. For, the LTTE would be compelled to adapt to a democratic order of things when the conflict is resolved by political means.

However, the LTTE would need to come to grips with reality if it does not want in the North-East a conflict situation which would spell continuous distress for the Tamil people. It should be clear that the lives of generations to come in the North-East in particular would be completely blighted if the LTTE unrelentingly holds on to the military option. There is no question of the State giving-in to separatist tendencies.

Every Government would staunchly uphold Lanka's geographical wholeness. A geographically intact Sri Lanka is non-negotiable.

If the LTTE imagines it could eventually compel the State to concede its separatist demands, it is totally mistaken because the State possesses sufficient resources to sustain the oneness and geographical wholeness of Sri Lanka. The same does not apply to the LTTE which has limited resources to fight with.

If the Tigers persist in clinging to their illusions, the lot of the ordinary Tamil people would only aggravate. This is the reason why the LTTE would do well to accept the State's offer of a political solution.