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We are Prepared to Pay for Freedom With Our Lives | 'Sunday'- Sept. 1985 | Hon. V. Prabhakaran


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" We are Prepared to Pay for Freedom With Our Lives "


Q: Why did you choose to go underground?

A: I did not leave with the intention of going under ground. I had to
attend to some work in my country. I had to discuss certain matters
relating to the peace talks with my lieutenants. I also had to assess
for myself the situation and reaction in the Tamil areas. While I was
there certain incidents took place (referring to the deportation of A.
S. Balasingham, official spokes man of the LTTE) so I continued to
remain there.

Q: What is the reaction of your lieutenants to the cease-fire?

A: The cease-fire is a drama. Under its guise, the Sri Lankan armed
forces are continuing to perpetrate atrocities against our people,
massacres are still going on, Tamils are still being driven out of
their homes. If it is a true cease-fire, our lieutenants will be happy.
We followed the cease fire in letter and spirit and stopped all our
guerrilla operations. But the Sri Lankan armed forces continued to
attack civilians, forcing us to retaliate. I find I have to handle the
present situation very carefully. The cease-fire itself is a farce and I
also have to handle my lieutenants, who know only too well that it
is a drama where the Sri Lanka government is covertly going ahead
with its genocide of the Tamils!

Q: Why did you choose to go under ground when Balasingham
was de ported?

A: I could have come back immediately. But I wanted to express my
resentment at the deportation order.

Q: You continued to remain inaccessible even when Rajiv Gandhi
summoned the ENLF leaders. Don't you think your inaccessibility
has strained relations between the government of India and you?

A: But I wished to convey my dissatisfaction also, as I strongly felt
that the deportation order was unnecessary.

Q: Then what made you surface again ?

A: There were many reasons. First, because I was underground
there were some negative forces, certain anti-liberation forces
which in my absence were trying to portray us as dangerous
terrorists who were opposed to the peace talks. Second, there was
an attempt to isolate and single us out as hard-liners who wanted
only a military solution. Rumours were being floated in the public
and in some newspapers which started giving grossly exaggerated
and distorted news about us, painting us as dangerous terrorists.
Third, the Sri Lankan Government was exploiting my absence and
blaming the LTTE for having killed the TULF ex-MPs.

Q: What do you hope will come out of your meeting with Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi?

A: We hope to explain our problem clearly to him. Among the
issues we want to raise with him is the fact that Jayewardene is
using the cease-fire as a front while he goes about systematically
massacring the Tamils. We want to try and convince him that what
is going on in Sri Lanka is genocide of a race. We want to give him
details of what exactly is going on in Sri Lanka even though there is
supposed to be a cease-fire. We also want to highlight the fact that
the Sri Lanka government has so far not put forward genuine,
meaningful set of proposals. So far we have had contacts with the
Indian Prime Minister only through third parties. We want to meet
him directly so that we can clear a lot of misunderstandings and
suspicions.

Q: Do you think the PM will be sympathetic?

A: I trust he will be.

Q: Do you feel that in the last three months the Indian
government's attitude towards the militants has hardened?

A: In the beginning I did not think so but after Balasingham was de
ported I am inclined to believe that the attitude has hardened.

Q: What do you think has caused this change in the Indian
government's stance?

A: I don't know what has caused this change. Perhaps, some
international crisis or pressure is responsible. It is not possible for
us to ascertain immediately as to what has caused this change, but
with time I am sure the reasons will come out.

Q: Do you think that India has become more pro-Sri Lanka?

A: So far we have not thought along those lines. But certain
incidents create doubts in our minds.

Q: Why did you not respond immediately to Mr. Gandhi's summons
when Thimphu II talks had failed?

A: Though both the LTTE delegates had come away, one delegate
of the other groups was kept back in Thimphu. India wanted the
ENLF leaders in Delhi so that they could somehow resume the
peace talks. But when massacres were going on in Vavuniya and
Trincomalee, isn't it a mockery that we, who are supposed to defend
our people, are engaged in peace talks? When there is no sense of
responsibility on the part of the Sri Lanka government to adhere
strictly to the cease-fire regulations peace talks become
meaningless. The Sri Lanka government gave no assurances that
such massacres will not recur. In the circumstances we decided not
to terminate the talks.

Q: Did the LTTE kill the two TULF ex-MP's? The Indian intelligence
agencies are positive that you were responsible.

A: We are not responsible for the killing. What can we do if Indian
intelligence agencies make such claims? Immediately after it took
place, we denied the claim made by the Sri Lanka government that
we were responsible. The ENLF also issued a denial. Even if the
Indian intelligence agencies claim that we are responsible the
people in Jaffna know that we have not done it. Maybe the Indian
intelligence agencies have assumed that we did it without any
evidence. Because I had gone underground they may have come to
such conclusions. If we had done it, we would have claimed
responsibility, giving our reasons for doing it. We undertake an
operation only on the basis of our conviction. So, if we had done it
we would not have gone about hiding the fact. For instance, when
we shot Alalasundaram (the ex-TULF MP who was killed recently
had earlier been shot in the leg by the LTTE) we claimed we had
done it. We did not kill him because we thought it was
unnecessary. We punished him for his anti-social activities: he had
a hand in the cooperative fraud. We produced evidence of his
embezzlement. Incidentally, a lot of the documents exposing his
nefarious activities were set ablaze on the cooperative premises.
We also claimed responsibility when we shot Anandarajah
(principal of St. John's School in Jaffna). When the Sri Lanka
government announced a reward of Rs. five lakhs for information
leading to the arrest of his killers, the people of Jaffna came to know
the basis of his relationship with the Sri Lanka government. They
kept quiet fully understanding why we had killed him. Anandarajah
was planning to hold a cricket match with the armed forces at a time
when they were killing our people, arresting young Tamil boys
indiscriminately, burning Tamil property and raping Tamil women.
We had to do away with him because the government was using
the impending cricket match as propaganda to give the impression
to the world that the Tamil civilians have very cordial relations with
the Sri Lanka armed forces and that the ethnic problem is something
created by a handful of militants.

Q: Could not the ex-TULF MPs have been killed by some rebel
LTTE members?

A: Absolutely not. Nothing happens in the LTTE without my
permission. About the killing I want to say something. I met TULF
leaders and assured them that we had not done this killing and that
they need not worry about facing such consequences from us. I
told them that just because we had shot Alalasundaram some time
ago, it did not mean that we were against the TULF. However, I
pointed out to them that the gap between them and the younger
generation was widening most alarmingly. The younger generation
look upon them as betrayers who have given up the struggle for
Eelam. The gap is widening all the more because they are not in
Eelam facing the people. They have been completely isolated from
the realities in Eelam. So, as long as they remain isolated from the
Tamil people, they are likely to face such drastic action from the
younger generation. The reality is that if I were to give up the Eelam
struggle I would face similar action from them.

Q: You mean to say that the younger generation is even more
committed to Eelam?

A: The incidents in Eelam show that a Eelam, a separate state, is the
only solution. After facing so many genocidal attacks, the Tamils
realise there is no solution other than Eelam for them if they are to
live in peace I and security.

Q: Apparently the killing of the TULF MPs, for which the LTTE was
held responsible, has hardened Mr. Gandhi. In fact, he did not
rescind the deportation order on Balasingham even though he had
been on the verge of doing so...

A: We have no connection with the killing. If the Indian
government does not rescind the orders because it assumes that
we killed the TULF' MPs, then it is its mistake. There is no point in
punishing us. They should punish the agency that is really guilty
so that such incidents do not occur again.

Q: What was your reaction when Balasingham was deported?

A: We had cooperated so much with the Indian government, so
when it happened we felt we had been wronged. The incident has
created a certain amount of bitterness between us and them.

Q: How would you define your relationship with Balasingham? A:
He is our political advisor. As a true patriot, he reflects the national
sentiments of our people.

Q: Why did India deport Balasingham?

A: India has said that he was deported in "public interest." But the
reason appears to be farcical.

 

Courtesy: 'SUNDAY' magazine, India 29 September -5 October 1985

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