Times of India Editorial:

Tame the Tiger

THE heinous attack on Sri Lankan Army chief Sarath Fonseka at a hospital in Colombo has pushed the nation to the brink of war. Goverment has already launched air strikes on 'selected targets' in uncleared areas as a retaliatory measure.

Despite President Mahinda Rajapaksa's announcement that the ceasefire agreement of 2002 will hold, there is concern that the tenuous peace process between Goverment and LTTE is under threat.

The suicide attack on Tuesday appears to be the handiwork of LTTE, even though the terror group has denied any involvement. LTTE has a history of engaging in brinkmanship.

In all probability, the attack on Fonseka was intended to provoke the Goverment ahead of the peace talks in Geneva. Any act of violence on the part of Sri Lankan armed forces, even if it is retaliatory, will be used by LTTE to drum up support in circles sympathetic to the Tamil cause.

Goverment should not walk into the trap. The impasse in the talks is largely due to LTTE's refusal to engage constructively with the peace process.

It is high time they realise that the best option for Tamils is a federal Sri Lanka that can protect the political and cultural concerns of various minorities.

Civil society should also lend a helping hand if the wounds of the violent decades are to heal and a multi-ethnic Sri Lanka is to survive.

There is a paucity of leadership within the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that can challenge the consensus manufactured by LTTE. This leadership drought is a fallout of LTTE's politics to destroy views and opinion that are at variance with those held by Prabhakaran.

Over the years, politicians and academics who resisted LTTE's hegemony have been killed. In an atmosphere of fear and terror, it is unlikely that correctives to LTTE's absolutist position on a Tamil homeland will emerge from within the community.

However, there are sections among the political class in Tamil Nadu which can engage with LTTE. Leaders like Karunanidhi and Vaiko have been vocal about their sympathies for the plight of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

They should impress upon LTTE leadership the need to be realistic and conciliatory about its goals. They should follow the example of CPM leader Sitaram Yechury who used his good offices with Nepal's Maoists and the Seven Party Alliance to work for peace.