LTTE doomed

The sudden upsurge in the influx of civilians trapped by the LTTE in a bid for freedom with the ending of the 48 hour humanitarian pause is a clear indication of the desperation of these hapless souls to break out of the hell hole they have been consigned by those who claimed to be their sole representative.

It is also the writing on the wall for Velupillai Prabhakaran to whom the genesis of the existence of his outfit was the liberation of the Tamil people.

According to the main story of our weekend paper the Sunday Observer close to 3,000 civilians have escaped the LTTE, no sooner the lull in fighting ended. They had arrived at the 58th Division which is in close vicinity to the No Fire Zone.

According to reports originally over 5000 civilian hostages were planning to escape but half of them had to run back as the LTTE had started firing at the massive crowds. That the remainder managed to escape even while being fired at shows the desperate lengths to which they are willing to go to escape the Tiger tyranny.

It is in this light that President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s call to those opposing his humanitarian military operation, to urge the LTTE to give the civilians one hour’s freedom to do as they please is significant.

“If such a freedom is given to the Tamil civilians who are held back no one can prevent them coming of their own free will to the Government administered areas,” the President said at a function at Temple Trees.

The influx has also proved beyond all doubt that the civilians have had enough and want to get out. They are no longer prepared to tolerate LTTE barbarism. There are also accounts of rebellion in the No Fire Zone with civilians daring to challenge the LTTE. All this no doubt, strips the LTTE of its claim to represent the Tamil community.

Whatever spell cast over them by the LTTE with its utopian dreams has no doubt vanished long ago. The untold suffering and privations they were subjected to had unmasked the Tigers and exposed its true face to the civilian population as well as to the outside world. Only those who wear blinkers would refuse to accept this fact.

It was said that the LTTE were able to wage a successful guerrilla campaign in the past, due to the support it received from the civilian population. At that time the Tamils were driven to support the LTTE who posited itself as their sole representative and protector after the many aberrations in the Sinhala - Tamil relationships partly engendered by wrong political decisions such as medium-wide Standardisation in the 70s.

The unfortunate episode of July 83 drove the Tamils en-masse into the arms of Tamil militants with the LTTE ultimately emerging as the self proclaimed protector of the Tamils.

But what it did to the innocent Tamils has been well catalogued to merit repetition. Suffice it says that the roles have changed 180 degrees.

That Tamils who were driven into the arms of the LTTE by the events in the South are now seeking solace with the Security Forces who were their villain of the piece in the past speaks for itself.

The recent Avurudu festivities celebrated in the Army camps in North with the participation of Tamil civilians who have fled the LTTE is but a clear portrayal of this changed attitude epitomising the coming together of the once estranged communities. Hopefully, these scenes of togetherness would make those scribes of the Western Media who made reference to concentration camps, reverse their line of thinking.

From the increasing instances of defiance by the civilian population in the face of LTTE intimidation it is clear that they have come to the end of their tether. They are prepared to take risks in order to flee to the Government controlled areas which also shows where the real concentration camp lies.

The only option left to Prabhakaran now is to let the civilians free. He well understands that the Government would have finished off the remainder of his fighters but for the civilian presence.

It is ironic indeed that an outfit which justified its existence based on the goal of saving the Tamil civilians from the oppression of the majority community is today seeking shelter and protection under these self same civilians to save the skin of its leadership.

If the Tiger leader still entertains any notion that the Tamil population are with his outfit, let him heed the President’s call and permit them an hour’s freedom to do as they please.He will soon find out that the bubble has burst and his Eelam project has crumbled at his own cloven feet.