LTTE Overtures to India: Is it Real or Virtual?
07 Feb, 2002 · 690
S Ramkumar looks into the latest Indian dilemma in resolving the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka
The LTTE’s request to the Government of India to allow it to hold talks with the Sri Lankan Government in
South India
, due to the ill-health of its
London
based Political Advisor, Anton Balasingham, is surprising. The outfit made this request when
India
is arguing its case on stopping Pak-sponsored cross-border terrorism to the western world. Moreover, the LTTE supreme leader, V Prabhakaran, and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman have been named as prime suspects in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination (21 May 1991); further it is a banned organization since 1992, besides the fact that the LTTE fought against the IPKF in the late eighties cannot be ignored. Why did the outfit make this unreasonable demand? The LTTE has been placed in an unenviable position after the recent bans upon it in
UK
,
Canada
and
Australia
. It is fighting hard to claim that there has to be a distinction between terrorist organizations like itself, which is fighting for the self-determination of a community and a victim of state-sponsored terrorism, and other such outfits.
16 January 2002 at Mallavi when the new government had just assumed office and had taken steps to increase the movement of goods and people into the LTTE-controlled areas. The demand for lifting the ban is a year old, but it is still unclear why the LTTE chose to associate
India
in this peace process. The new Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, visited
India
(24-26 December 2001) and asked for its help in the peace process.
India
had offered all possible help, but has stated that any solution to the ethnic crisis involve all sections of its society. Does the LTTE offer, however unacceptable, indicate that it is genuinely interested now in involving
India
, or is this a ploy to warn the Sri Lankan government not to involve
India
beyond a point?
South India
to be the venue for peace talks, clothed in humanitarian terms, is atypical of the LTTE’s impractical conditionalities for these peace talks. Assuming that the LTTE made this request to the Norwegians to pass on to
Colombo
, it is surprising why it was leaked even before the Norwegians met the Sri Lankan establishment. The LTTE chief had issued a statement (27 December 2001 ) welcoming the Norwegian facilitation; hence the venue question was premature with no agreement on even the ground rules for cessation of hostilities between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE.
15 March 2002 . As mentioned in the Indian media, there has been no negative reaction from the Sinhalese community to the LTTE request to hold these talks in
South India
. The wheel has turned full circle since the late eighties with the UNP again in power in
Sri Lanka
as before, although the Executive President is from the opposition party.
Last year, the LTTE made the demand for lifting the ban on it as a pre-requisite for negotiating with the earlier Sri Lankan Government under the Norwegian facilitated peace process. Its political wing leader, SP Tamilchelvam, has reiterated this LTTE demand on
The LTTE, through its various front organizations, has actively campaigned for the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, whilst also arguing before the world community that it had no truck with the Rajiv Gandhi assassination. Making a request for
The earlier Government had always argued that the LTTE was not sincere in holding a dialogue on “core” or “substantive” issues, but here was the LTTE asserting that it was interested in a serious dialogue, although the new government had conveyed that talks could not be held before
Finally, it is time for
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