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Dissension in Tiger Camp

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have always been proud of their discipline. Velupillai Prabhakaran, their supreme commander, has referred to the Tigers’ iron discipline in several interviews. Outside observers who have watched them grow from boys to guerillas have also extolled their determination and discipline while comparing them with other Tamil militant groups. The Tigers’ oath affirms their total faith in their leader Prabhakaran, and their motto, “Tigers Thirst for a Tamil Homeland,” has never been compromised even during their worst crises.

The LTTE have projected themselves as the sole representatives of the Tamils of Sri Lanka, and have jealously guarded this self-acclaimed position through the years. It is in furtherance of this dictum that they virtually destroyed the other militant groups and their leadership.

All final decisions in the LTTE are the preserve of the Tigers’ chief. While discussions are allowed, the decision is Prabhakaran’s to make. Even seasoned LTTE leaders like Kittu have, on record, affirmed that it is Prabhakaran who takes all decisions after deep analysis. And once the leader takes a decision, the group implements it without question. Any member who dared challenge either Prabhakaran’s leadership or his decisions, was ruthlessly eliminated, howsoever high he might have been in the hierarchy. Mahattiya was the deputy military commander who led the LTTE against the IPKF and Yogi the political chief during the same critical phase. However, when differences surfaced between them and Prabhakaran, Mahattiya was reported to have been eliminated and Yogi simply vanished from the scene. Other dissident leaders have come and gone, but Prabhakaran has reigned supreme.

Senior leaders have accepted Prabhakaran’s decision without question, even if it meant suicide! Dileepan fasted to death in September 1987, just before the LTTE-IPKF war commenced. The order was without doubt Prabhakaran’s, though he may have had his reasons to take this decision in the ‘larger interests’ of the LTTE. But nobody questioned it. The military commanders of Trincomalee and Batticaloa, Pulendran and Kumarappa, the latter a predecessor of Karuna, along with 12 others committed suicide by biting the cyanide capsule on 5 October 1987, leading to the LTTE-IPKF war. Even Kittu bit the cyanide capsule before his ship, the Yahata Maru, sank off the coast of Chennai in 1993, following Prabhakaran’s directive of not being caught alive.

 

Whatever methods Prabhakaran may have followed in his determined struggle for an independent Eelam, and despite differing views, most analysts agree on one point: without the LTTE, the Tamils’ struggle for rights in Sri Lanka would not have had the attention or the success that it has had. Apart from eliminating foes and friends-turned foes, Prabhakaran also ordered the assassinations of Rajiv Gandhi, Premadasa and other ranking Sri Lankan politicians like Ranjan Wijeratne, Lalith Athulathmudali, Gamini Dissanayake, and almost succeeded in assassinating Chandrika Kumaratunga – all in his quest for Tamil Eelam. He has also led the LTTE in some famous military victories.

Against this background, we may examine how the Tigers’ chief will look at ‘Col.’ Karuna’s perceived betrayal. By all accounts, Karuna has made significant contributions in the LTTE’s military campaigns and has loyal followers. How strong this following is and how serious a dent it will make in the LTTE’s hitherto impregnable fortress remains to be seen. It certainly offers the Sri Lankan government some options to take on Prabhakaran even though the government has taken the stand that it is an internal matter of the LTTE. In the mid-eighties, when the LTTE and other militant groups  had their violent quarrels, the Tamils, especially those abroad, did make attempts to bring the ‘boys’ together. But the LTTE would have none of it and went after the other groups. Tamil supporters had to fall in line and rally behind Prabhakaran. The Tamil National Alliance is contesting all the seats in Tamil areas in the forthcoming Parliament elections in Sri Lanka after accepting the LTTE as the sole representative of all Tamils. Karuna has challenged Prabhakaran’s uncompromising stand that the LTTE alone represents the Tamilsâ€â€� there cannot be two LTTEs, one led by Prabhakaran and the other by Karuna. The LTTE’s history, brief though it is, is mercilessly violent against traitors. Can it be different in the case of Karuna? Does the Tiger change its spots?

The new commander of Batticaloa, ‘Col.’ Ramesh has said that the ‘supreme leader’ has already set in motion a cautious plan to deal with Karuna’s problem, which will not affect the people. The only consideration will be the forthcoming elections during which the LTTE hopes to put up a united show of total support of the Tamils for its goals, and the restrictions placed by the two-year old ceasefire agreement brokered by the Norwegians, banning all violence. This explains the caution in dealing with Karuna. The coming days will make it clear whether Prabhakaran continues to retain his hold over Tamil minds in Sri Lanka, or  whether the combination of regional aspirations and the strength that media exposure has given  to the LTTE’s  regional commanders would finally split the monolith.