Sri Lanka is still under threat - warns Defence Secretary

LTTE rump groups and pro-LTTE organizations are trying hard to achieve their separatist ideology in the country :

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that there is a possibility of the re-emergence of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, as LTTE sympathizers abroad are still struggling to achieve the LTTE’s separatist ideology in the country. He made this observation speaking at a public lecture on ‘Future Challenges to National Security in Sri Lanka’ organized by the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute and the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, at the auditorium of the Institute, Tuesday.

Full text of the speech:

I consider it a pleasure and a privilege to have been invited to deliver the first Public Lecture at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on the topic, 'Future Challenges of National Security in Sri Lanka'. Although Sri Lanka today is one of the most stable and secure countries in the Asian region, it needs to be understood that national security is still a critical issue for us.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

It was less than three short years ago that the LTTE was defeated, after having caused enormous suffering for all Sri Lankans for three decades. The LTTE's military defeat in May 2009 was a pivotal event in Sri Lanka's history. It lifted the veil of fear that hung over daily life and impacted each and every Sri Lankan for a generation. It eliminated the primary obstacle to Sri Lanka's future prospects and brought back a long overdue sense of peace and stability to our people. It is vital that we do not take any of this for granted. Sri Lanka still has enemies, and they are still at work to bring back disharmony and conflict to our nation.

International network

There are several threats that will be covered during the course of this lecture. These include:

*The reorganization of the LTTE in the international arena

*The possible re-emergence of terrorism within Sri Lanka

*The efforts by some to take Sri Lanka's internal issues in front of international bodies

*The challenges posed by the regional geopolitical situation

*The possibility of creating instability within Sri Lanka through indirect means.

The first threat to consider is the on-going activities of LTTE linked organizations outside Sri Lanka. Despite the military defeat of the LTTE and the elimination of its top leadership two and a half years ago, the rump of the LTTE's global establishment is still active. There are ex-LTTE cadres, pro-LTTE activists and LTTE sympathisers still operating in various guises through various groups in many countries around the world.

After the demise of Prabhakaran, the LTTE's former head of procurement Kumaran Pathmanadan, better known as KP, took control over the LTTE's international network. However, a breakaway faction emerged almost immediately, led by Nediyawan, who was a follower of Manivannan (alias Castro), the former head of the LTTE's international network. The key reason for the emergence of a breakaway faction was that while KP's group declared they would continue their struggle for a separate state through democratic means, Nediyawan's group felt that objective could only be achieved by following the violent ideology preached by Prabhakaran.

Following the arrest of KP in August 2009, Rudrakumaran took over the leadership of his organization and worked towards establishing a 'Government in Exile’.

This group now fashions itself as The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam. Its primary objective is to lobby Foreign Governments for the establishment of a separate state in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The so-called 'Transnational Government' has more than 20 so-called 'Ministers' and an advisory committee comprising prominent pro-LTTE activists. Even at the start of this year, Rudrakumaran not only outlined the group's clear intention to intensify its lobbying of foreign governments to support a separate state, but also stated its hope to encourage the resumption of direct struggles within Sri Lanka.

Local politicians

Another prominent LTTE-linked group is the British Tamils Forum, which is an umbrella organization established in the United Kingdom with the aim of mustering support from the immigrant Tamil community and local politicians for the division of Sri Lanka. One of the primary objectives of this group has been to influence the thinking of the British government in favour of the LTTE's interests. Evolving from the BTF is the Global Tamils Forum, which emerged in February 2010. The head of the GTF is the so-called Father Emmanuel, a priest who was once hailed by Prabhakaran as 'a freedom fighter who has given leadership to a movement committed to setting up the homeland to Tamil Eelam'. Father Emmanuel has been engaged in a propaganda campaign against Sri Lanka for many years, targeting Tamil expatriates, foreign governments and international organizations. Under his guidance, the GTF has successfully won over a number of politicians from various political parties in European countries as well as the United States, Australia, Canada and India to support the separatist cause. In addition, the GTF and the BTF have courted officials within international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union and various non-governmental organizations to obtain their support.

In the meanwhile, Nediyawan's group, known as The Tamil Eelam People's Assembly or the Tamil National Council, has been working with other international groups to promote the separatist cause in many parts of the world. Nediyawan's group has control over most of the assets of the LTTE's international organization. It also presently controls the more than 350 Tamil schools that function in Europe supposedly for the promotion of Tamil language and culture. In reality, these schools aim to inculcate separatist sentiments and hatred towards the Sinhalese amongst second and third generation Tamils living abroad.

Humanitarian operation

The on-going indoctrination of the students in these schools is a matter of grave concern. It affects a significant number of children all over Europe. These LTTE-linked Tamil schools have a student population of approximately 6,500 in Germany, 5,800 in Switzerland, 5,000 in France and nearly 2,000 more in the rest of Europe. These are large numbers. A proportion of the school fees charged from these students is directed into the coffers of LTTE-linked organizations. So is the income generated from events organized by these schools. It should also be noted that during the war, these schools functioned as a selection ground for future terrorists. In certain schools, the administration made arrangements for batches of students to undergo military training in the Vanni. Some of these students fought against the Security Forces during the Humanitarian Operation. Others returned to their countries and continue to work towards the separatist objective from outside Sri Lanka.

To be continued