Discipline, death and martyrdom

By Dumeetha Luthra

BBC News, Trincomalee

The Tigers are renowned for their discipline

It is a small glass vial, no longer than a cigarette, and it is worn with a little black string as a pendant.

It could almost be a fashion accessory if it were not for the white powder inside - a fatal dose of cyanide.

Nothing symbolises the Tamil Tigers and their culture of death and martyrdom quite so succinctly.

Every rebel wears it when on duty. Death is better than capture.

Maraivendan describes exactly how it is taken.

"We need to bite into the glass so that it will cut the skin on the inside of our mouth."

His calm, detached explanation is unsettling.

"Then the cyanide goes into the bloodstream. We'll be feeling a fizzing at the back of our mouth after about seven seconds and then we die."

He smiles at the end. There is not even a faint tremor in his voice.

But then this is an organisation that has specialised in the art of death. While it did not invent the tactic of suicide bombing, it honed the method to deadly effect.

Dead Tigers are seen as seeds rather than bodies

Twenty years of civil war, fighting for an independent homeland within Sri Lanka, gave the Tamil separatist group plenty of opportunity.

They have killed one Sri Lankan president, the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and many others.

In total they have launched more than 240 suicide attacks.

The latest was in April, when a female suicide bomber targeted the chief of the army, Sarath Fonseka in what was assumed to be the highly secure army headquarters.

He survived but eight others were killed.

The attacker pretended to be pregnant, her explosives hidden beneath her clothes.

Personality cult

In what was clearly a carefully planned operation, she made several visits to the site, allegedly to visit doctors.

None of the medical staff at the army hospital have any record of examining her. It was a massive breakdown in security at a time when everyone was on high alert.

It is an example of the ruthlessness, patience and sheer audacity used by the Tigers to gain their ends.

They are led by the reclusive Velupillai Prabhakaran, accused of building an organisation around a personality cult.

All Tigers carry cyanide capsules to be used if they are captured

He is called the great leader and his picture is everywhere in rebel held areas.

Anyone who wants to join the suicide Black Tiger squad has to write him a letter of application. Before they carry out their suicide missions they are granted a meal with him. Religion is banned, as is alcohol and smoking.

By claiming to be the sole representatives of the Tamil people, he has steeped the entire culture into one of self-sacrifice and martyrdom.

Many Tamils see the Tigers as a necessary evil. Time and again I have heard this view expressed: "I don't agree with them totally, but as a Tamil we would have been wiped out without them putting our cause on the map."

The Tamil minority say they have suffered years of oppression at the hands of the Sinhalese majority.

Grievances

The Tigers say the only way to tackle this is by fighting for an independent homeland.

Their tactics are ruthless, and opposition is not an option.

They have been accused of killing political rivals in addition to dissenters from inside or outside the ranks. All have been swiftly dealt with.

The Tigers "specialise in the art of death"

The problem for the government is that it has failed to persuade Tamils there is a viable alternative within the government structures, says Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council, an advocacy group in Colombo.

"So far the Sri Lankan state has not been able to convince the Tamil people that their grievances for equality, for power sharing, for a form of federal autonomy, would indeed be delivered to them. Until that point, I don't think the Tigers will change."

Elilan, the head of the political wing in Trincomalee, describes how a Tiger dies smiling. He says that it is not called a "suicide" but "donating yourself to the cause".

The mythology of the movement feeds into the Tiger's sense of power.

Rebels are not buried not in what most would call a cemetery, but in what they call a sleeping arena. There are no bodies, only seeds, they say. Once the dream of Tamil Eelam is achieved, the story goes, they will rise up as trees.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asi...sia/5051652.stm

நண்றி:- By Dumeetha Luthra

BBC News, Trincomalee (இந்திய கட்டுரையாளர்...???)

வணக்கம் தல அண்ணா

நீங்க சொல்லுற மாதிரி பிபிஸி எங்கட போராட்டத்தை வேறு கோணத்தில் பார்ப்பதாக இந்தக் கட்டுரையை படிக்கும் போது எனக்கு ஏற்படவில்லை

வணக்கம் தல அண்ணா  

நீங்க சொல்லுற மாதிரி பிபிஸி எங்கட போராட்டத்தை வேறு கோணத்தில் பார்ப்பதாக இந்தக் கட்டுரையை படிக்கும் போது எனக்கு ஏற்படவில்லை

உண்மை நிலை தெரிந்த எங்களுக்கு இது வேறு கோணத்தில் பார்த்ததாக தெரியாதுதான்.... ஆனால் சனைற், தற்கொலைத்தாக்குதல் எண்றாலே ஏதோ தீண்டத்தகாத விடயங்கள் போல சொல்லுக்கொள்ளும் மேற்குலக ஊடகம் அதுக்கான விளக்கங்களை தேட முயற்ச்சி செய்திருக்கிறது.... சரியாக சொன்னார்களா என்பது வேறு விடயம்..... எங்களின் நிலைப்பாடுகளுக்கு காரணம் தேட முயற்ச்சித்திருக்கிறார்கள்..

.

இதற்க்கு முதல் புலிகள் பற்றியோ அல்லது ஈழம்பற்றி கட்டுறைகள் வராமல் இல்லை.... வந்தன அவை எல்லாமே புலிகளின் தமிழரின் கட்டுமானங்கள் சம்பந்தப்பட்டவை.... அதாவது ஒரு பயங்கரவாத இயக்கம் இவ்வளவு வசதிகளை வைத்திருக்கின்றது எண்றது போண்ற பாணியை கை கொண்டார்கள்.... ஆனால் இது புலிகளின் உள்ளம் அவர்களின் மனவோடத்தை படம்பிடிக்க முயண்று இருப்பது நான் அறிய முதற்தடவை.....!

அவர்கள் முயற்சியில் வெற்றி பெற்றார்களா என்பது கெள்விக்கிடமாக இல்லை... ( தோற்றிருக்கிறார்கள்..) எண்றாலும் மேற்க்கு ஊடகம் ஒண்றின் புலிகளின், தமிழர்களின் பிரச்சினைய, பற்றுதியை ஆராய முற்பட்டது பாராட்ட படவேண்டிய கோணம்......!

எதிர்காலக்தில் வெளிநாட்டு மக்களின் பார்வையை மாற்றவேண்டிய எங்களின் நியாயதன்மையை புரிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய காலம் வரும் என்பதுக்கு ஆரம்பமாக இருக்கட்டும்....

வணக்கம் தல அண்ணா  

நீங்க சொல்லுற மாதிரி பிபிஸி எங்கட போராட்டத்தை வேறு கோணத்தில் பார்ப்பதாக இந்தக் கட்டுரையை படிக்கும் போது எனக்கு ஏற்படவில்லை

முதலில் அதைப் படிக்கும் போது எனக்கும் அவ்வாறான தோற்றம் ஏற்படவில்லை ஆயினும் அதனை மேற்கொண்டு பார்க்கும் போது ஓர் மேற்குலக ஊடகத்தில் ஏற்பட்ட மாற்றமாகக் கருதலாம். இவ்வளவு காலமும் இருந்து கருத்துக்களிற்கு எதிராக ஓர் மாற்றத்தினை உடனேயே எதிர்பார்க்க முடியாது. ஆயினும் இது தொடரும் மாற்றத்தின் முதற்படியாய் இருப்பின் அது வரவேற்கத்தக்கது.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4764521.stm

Sri Lanka's war in all but name

By Paul Danahar

BBC South Asia bureau editor

Many fear Sri Lanka may be sliding back to war

Europeans have a rather quaint tradition of telling everyone when they intend to go to war.

That's why so many of them are now asking the burning question: "Can the ceasefire in Sri Lanka survive the latest violence between the government and the Tamil Tiger rebels?"

But to ask the question is to miss the point.

The two sides in Sri Lanka are already having a war - they just haven't told anybody yet.

And they've decided, so far, not to have the war everyone was expecting.

Renegade rebel

The Norwegian mediators, the EU, the Japanese and even an Indian holy man have all been busy trying to persuade both sides not to return to an all-out conflict.

But apart from the hardliners, neither the government nor the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), as the rebels are known, seem to want a big war because neither side is really prepared for it yet.

The reasons are cash and Karuna.

Colonel Karuna was one of the Tamil Tigers' heroes of the last war, which ended with the much talked-about ceasefire agreement signed four years ago.

But in March 2004 he and his fighters, based around the eastern Batticaloa districts of the country, split from the group and began fighting against their former comrades.

Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, Col Karuna's real name, is both partly the cause of the present crisis and why there probably won't be a full-scale war anytime soon.

He split from the Tigers because he said the eastern cadres were not being properly represented in the group's hierarchy.

Some analysts in Colombo say it was more to do with an alleged financial investigation by the Tigers into his family's business interests in the region.

Guerrilla tactics

Whatever the truth is, Col Karuna has levelled the playing field.

He has opened up an eastern flank and has provoked the Tigers by attacking and destabilising them with the kind of guerrilla tactics the LTTE have used so successfully against the government over the years.

For the first time if a proper war happened both sides would now be facing a conventional force on the battlefield and a guerrilla force spreading terror in the areas populated by their civilians.

So the Tigers want him stopped.

The government committed itself to disarming any paramilitaries operating in areas under their control.

But they've avoided taking action by saying Karuna is moving in Tiger territory beyond their influence.

The fact is, though, that whilst the more moderate wings of the government say he is an out-of-control menace who is doing more harm than good, the military leadership couldn't be happier.

They have absolutely no intention of trying to disarm Karuna even if they could, which the UN said recently was doubtful.

They think he is far too useful. In fact more than just turning a blind eye to his actions they are encouraging his group to develop political and social wings to better integrate themselves into their communities in the way the Tigers have done so successfully in the north.

And some analysts say that, while the military isn't arming Karuna, they are supporting him with finances, logistics and medical assistance for his injured fighters.

Diplomats' fears

The worry in all of this is that the government in Colombo might overplay its hand.

The hardliners in the leadership believe a short sharp war could bulldoze the Tigers into submission and force a negotiated settlement.

It's the kind of talk that has diplomats reaching for some very undiplomatic language. The response of one I spoke to translated as "crap".

President Mahinda Rajapakse has so far managed to fend off the more extreme suggestions from the right-wingers within his government.

And he allowed limited air strikes to take away their puff after the latest Tiger suicide attack in the capital.

But his attempts to stop a wider war are being undermined by the LTTE, something the international community is recognising.

Thursday's attack by the Tigers on the navy left the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission fuming, particularly as it took place whilst their people were on the government boats.

And there is increasingly a weariness creeping across the face of diplomats trying to resolve this conflict.

Nobody likes being treated as a fool, and when the Tigers tell mediators they have no idea who sent a suicide bomber to blow up the army chief, finger nails start pushing into palms.

War too costly

But even with all the provocation President Rajapakse knows war is not an option because the country simply cannot afford one.

The economy is too shaky, damaged by years of war, the tsunami and then by the upsurge in violence.

He can't afford to buy now everything the army would need. A full war would also see bombs going off all over the capital.

As a colleague in Colombo pointed out, all it would take is a bomb in a hotel and one at the port to decimate two of the country's biggest foreign exchange earners.

Those investors lured back to Sri Lanka last time at the prospect of peace might pack their bags for good.

The Tigers would also see their foreign income strangled.

Canada and the UK, where the group is banned but most of the Tamil diaspora lives, would probably make serious efforts to stop the willing and unwilling donations given to the Tiger fundraisers.

That's now much easier to do post 9/11 and the changes to the international banking regulations.

What next?

Another attack by the Tigers on someone as strategically important as the army chief might push the country beyond the point of no return.

In the meantime, the government will sort out security in the capital after places like its army headquarters turned out to have worse security than a Western shopping mall.

The Tigers will use their time to try and finish off Karuna, with the army doing its best to see that that fight drags on draining resources and energy from both groups.

Attacks like the one on the navy and claymore mine blasts against the army will rumble on.

And so will the revenge killings against civilian Tiger sympathisers by the nasty bands of death squads, a few of whom appear to be linked to rogue bits of the security forces.

In short, people will carry on dying on a daily basis but in small enough numbers to maintain the façade that the ceasefire agreement is holding.

And Westerners will keep asking if war is just around the corner.

பி.பி.சி யிடம் இருந்து வந்த பதில்

http://www.yarl.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?p...p=193219#193219