The horror of suicide terrorism
Shenali Waduge
“While nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer, nothing is
more difficult than to understand him” — Mikhailovich Dostovsky The tiny
island nation of Sri Lanka has been plagued by terrorism for the past 25
years.
Citing irreparable differences with the majority ethnic group, the
armed militant group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is
demanding 35 percent of the country’s landmass and over 75 percent of
its surrounding sea for a separate Tamil state. Constituting only 6.5
percent of the country’s population, over half of the country’s Tamils
currently live amongst the majority Sinhalese.
It was the LTTE that reshaped conventional warfare by introducing
suicide bombers — in particular, the female suicide cadre. The LTTE
arguably still remains the global leader in suicide terrorism, carrying
out two-thirds of the world’s suicide attacks. The real “men of steel”
for the LTTE have been its female suicide bombers, who account for 40
percent of its suicide activities. It’s difficult to understand how a
woman would choose to become a human bomb.
A suicide attack on passenger bus |
Suicide bombings have become a convenient way to secure political
objectives for many groups worldwide. Suicide terrorism was non-existent
in global politics before emerging in the mid-1980s. Since then, it has
spread across the globe, growing ever more gruesome. Today, suicide
missions are being carried out in Iraq, in Palestine against the
Israelis, in Lebanon, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Turkey,
Russia and Uzbekistan.
It was on July 5, 1987 that the LTTE carried out its first suicide
bombing. The attack on the Nelliyady Army Camp claimed the lives of 40
Sri Lankan troops. To date, LTTE suicide missions number over 100,
resulting in over 1,400 deaths, including two world leaders. In 1991,
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female LTTE
suicide cadre on Indian soil.
After placing a garland around Rajiv’s neck, she blew herself up,
killing them both instantly along with many others. Sri Lankan President
Premadasa was killed at a May Day rally in 1993 by an aid who was
working at his presidential home — a man whom he trusted but who was in
actuality a LTTE suicide cadre, planted for the task. A host of Tamil
leaders have also been targeted, negating the LTTE’s argument that it
represents the rights and needs of the Tamil people.
Why Suicide Terrorism ?
Much study has been dedicated towards identifying and evaluating the
psychological and sociological motives for suicide terrorism. The
suicide unit of the LTTE calls itself the Black Tigers — of this,
one-third are women who are venerated for their acts in LTTE cemeteries.
With no body to bury, their granite tombstones watch over an empty
grave. Before embarking on their mission, suicide cadres are given a
special meal of their choice with the LTTE leader, Velupillai
Prabhakaran and a handsome monetary benefit is given to the family of
those who are successful in their suicide missions. And each year on
July 5, the Black Tigers who have given their lives to the cause are
celebrated by the LTTE, with Prabhakaran lighting a lantern for each.
In her book, Women Fighters of Liberation Tigers (1989), the
Australian wife of LTTE theoretician, Adel Balasingham describes the
decision of Tamil women who join: “they are not satisfied with the
social status quo; it means they are young women capable of defying
authority; it means they are women with independent thoughts; young
women prepared to lift up their heads.”
But this still does not explain why a woman would need to choose
death over life to assert her power.
All suicide missions are generally successful — there have only been
a few cases where vigilant military and even the public have been able
to identify suicide bombers before an attack. A female suicide cadre
sent to assassinate the current Prime Minister of Sri Lanka was
apprehended on January 5, 2000 by the police before she could carry out
her mission.
Having been sent from the rebel-held territory in Sri Lanka’s
jungles, it was only natural that she not be aware of the fashion trends
in Colombo. So after watching her for a few days, the police apprehended
her and removed the suicide kit strapped to her bra, stopping her from
biting the cyanide capsule that all LTTE members are compelled to wear
in an amulet. She is still in prison.
Recently the Norwegian government funded the movie My Daughter the
Terrorist which explores the paths of two female Black Tigers. The film
raises an important question for me - how can a government, especially
one that has been acting as a peace facilitator in Sri Lanka, agree to
fund a movie when suicide and suicide bombing are deplored the world
over? Though there have been different interpretations of the film, the
Sri Lankan embassies have objected saying it sends the wrong signals to
youngsters by glorifying suicide bombers on film.
But it also makes an important point about how politicized the world
has become. Though many become cadres believing that the militant outfit
is giving its all for “the cause,” it’s more likely that these men and
women have been brainwashed and even drugged.
Throughout the world, militant groups often sedate their cadres,
sometimes in their food, to ensure loyalty and obedience. This partially
explains how young men and women could choose to remain in the most
challenging of conditions — often in the jungles, exposed to the
elements, enduring the mosquitoes, without proper nutrition or even
clean sheets or towels.
Though no official statistics exists, some reports claim that there
are as many as 5,000 child recruits in the LTTE, accounting for 30
percent of the group’s brigade.
Young boys, forcefully taken by the LTTE from their mothers’ arms,
grow up knowing nothing more than hero worship for their militant
leader. Childhood pranks are soon replaced by shooting at government
armed forces in cold blood. Young girls are also taken against their
wills, forced to strip and change into tiger attire - their dreams of
home replaced by rigorous, early morning training sessions, LTTE
indoctrination, tasteless meals and ultimately, a suicide mission.
Is this what these women suicide cadres want from life? Is this what
they really want to be remembered as? Have they simply buried their old
identities, giving up the desire to have or career or a family? Or is
there something more to this gruesome exploitation of women? Even the
LTTE leader’s only daughter did not become a member of the elite Black
Tigers, showing the obvious hypocrisy of the LTTE’s philosophy — she was
sent overseas to study and has never experienced what any of these LTTE
women have had to endure.
I think the LTTE is turning to women for its suicide missions because
they are less conspicuous and can easily blend into a crowd. Men are
prone to greater scrutiny and their movements watched. Similarly, the
LTTE targets children as they are able to move quickly in the country’s
thick jungles and easily escape detection.
The LTTE would have us believe that these women are prepared for
their “cause,” but we really do not know what goes on in their minds —
none of the journalists I know have ever been able to question these
women before their deaths. But a lot can be gleaned from the suicide
cadre who was apprehended before carrying out her mission.
Today she begs for clemency, begs to be given a new lease on life and
asks to be pardoned. She is cooperating with the authorities, helping
them obtain vital information about LTTE hideouts and operations. She is
also undergoing psychiatric treatment in the course of her
rehabilitation and hopefully someday, will lead a peaceful life.
Though we may never really understand what makes these terrorists
tick, we do know that the leaders of these groups have brainwashed their
followers into carrying out tragedies that serve only their personal
desire to achieve power outside of the democratic framework that is
accepted by the rest of us. Politicized and polarized, they are hidden
in Sri Lanka’s jungles, waiting to use their bodies as human shields and
bombs for a leader who will stop at nothing to secure a separate state.
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