The message is very clear. The non- national forces, which include the foreign powers, seem to be telling the government either you devolve and retain power or depart and make way for Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a government so that he can finish off what Mr. J. R. Jayawardhane started. Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga has already told the country of a conspiracy to topple the government.

It is true that the governments in this part of the world come to power through the vote of the people. However it is also true that there are external powers which interfere with the elections and the elected governments. If the countries are small and poor the interference is very much great.

Even in the case of the rich and large countries the western powers are able to exert their influence through various means. Those who had visions of Asia becoming the economic giant in the twenty first century would have had their initial shocks after the recent collapse of the stock markets in a number of Asian countries. Neither Economics nor Politics is Physics where the so-called laws and theories are applied to inanimate objects. Even in Physics the theories are (western) man (meaning males, one Curie does not make an Academy) made and the laws only formulate a world as seen by the western culture. I often wonder what shape Physics (or some such thing) would have taken if it were formulated by the Asian women (not the westernised English/French speaking variety and their followers). Would there have been any laws to begin with?

In Economics and Politics the situation is much worse. There the laws, concepts and theories are not only man made but applicable to the lives of people who are supposed to think and be conscious of what is happening. Though all people are supposed to think, some think for the others as well. In fact the thinking of some people affect the thinking of the others. The Buddha did not think for the others though Buddhism has affected many of us. However it is not the case with the present day theorists in the west. Their thinking not only affect us but they have burdened themselves with the task of thinking for the others as well.

It is difficult to think that the laws of capital are on the same footing as the Newton's laws of motion, which describe the motion of inanimate objects in a Newtonian world. The capital as well as the laws of capital control us. On the other hand the people who have the ability to control the capital will not hesitate to control us. It is not only the capital, which affect our lives but the laws themselves condition us. Those who create or construct these laws influence the way we think and live. Those who inhabit the non-western world have been conditioned to think that they think. It was Descartes who said, 'I think therefore I am'. All that we can say is 'I think that I think therefore I am not'.

As long as London is the finance capital of the world and thinking is done in London as well as in the other western cities Asia has no hope. Until Asia thinks for herself she will only be a dwarf among the American and the European giants. We are so much dependent on western knowledge that even in Sinhala Literary criticism we follow the western theories, of course, with a time lag. Dr. Sarachchandra started the rot and the rest followed. Only Mr. Martin Wickremesinghe was able to come out with some form of indigenous literary criticism and today we have Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera keeping the tradition alive. The argument is that modern literature is a creation of the west and therefore we have to follow the west in criticism as well. This is good only for the imitators who know nothing of assimilation of knowledge and the eastern theories of knowledge. This type of reasoning goes on to prove that the culture that creates knowledge rules the world.

The west will never give up the stranglehold that they have in our countries. Whether it is called neo colonialism or world imperialism there is the cultural component, which includes subjugation through theory construction. More than anything else we are under this cultural colonialism. Our countries are still under cultural, political and economical colonialism.

The west is most interested in continuing with the cultural hegemony over the other cultures in the world. Their educational system, with which we are saddled, only reinforces this hegemony. The cultural, political and economical components of world imperialism are interdependent and they assist each other.

In Sri Lanka the problem in the Eastern and the Northern provinces was baptised by the British. They created Tamil racism in order to use it against the Sinhala people. It tallied with their divide and rule policy, which was practised throughout their empire. After the so-called second world war some kind of a political independence was given to the colonies but the British continues to interfere with these countries. They want to make sure that their hegemony is not lost as a result of the semblance of independence given.

The problem of Tamil racism has only one solution in the eyes of the British, that being the creation of a separate state in the East and the North. That will make sure that Sri Lanka will not be able to evolve a common culture with Sinhala Buddhist culture as the main component. Instead there will be two countries, one in the East and the North with a Hindu culture and the other in the rest of the country not with a Sinhala Buddhist culture but a 'mixture of cultures'. The antagonism between the two countries will grow giving rise to wars between them. The so-called Eelam wars are not wars. The war will start only after the separation. Those peace merchants who advocate 'political solutions' are only clamouring for a war that will go on for years and years. The British and the rest of the west will be very happy with such an outcome as then the cultural and the other hegemonies will continue without much challenge.

On the other hand an Eelam in the East and the North will give an incentive to the Tamils in Tamil Nadu to separate from India and join with Eelam to form a Tamil state for the entire region. That will make the west happier and they will only encourage the Tamil Nadu Tamils to agitate for a separate state.

Why should the British High Commissioner take a deep interest in the Tamil problem? Why should Dr. Liam Fox the former British Under Secretary for foreign affairs get interested in the talks with the LTTE? Why should the British import the Frasers to advice us on constitutional devices in connection with the G. L. - Neelan package? There are many more questions that can be asked. The British are not interested in our welfare. Why should they be so? They have only their interests to look after and they just want to maintain their domination in the 'empire'.

The non-national (not only the foreign) forces were instrumental in making Ms. Kumaratunga the leader of the PA and then presenting her as the presidential candidate. The Tamil racists and their sponsors were of the opinion that it would be easier to devolve power through a SLFP led coalition than through a UNP government as they thought that then the Sinhala nationalist forces, which usually sympathise with the SLFP would not oppose such a move. Their thinking was that in such situation the UNP will vote with the government and the bill for amending the constitution would be passed, as only a handful of 'extremists' would be against it.

However there was a problem. That was to get the SLFP to present the bill in the parliament. With Mrs. Bandaranaike as the leader, the non-national forces were not confident that they would succeed. At that point Ms. Kumaratunga who had visited the LTTE terrorists with her late husband and who was in England and who had some WIDER connections emerged from hibernation. She who had been an SLMP stalwart and the founder of the Bahujana Nidahas Party, joined the SLFP for the sole purpose of hijacking that party. Meanwhile Dr. G. L. Peiris, who had been a well-known UNP sympathiser, all of a sudden found that the UNP was engaged in dooshanaya and bheeshanaya and joined the SLFP. The Tamil racist parties and the two 'major Marxist' parties also rallied round Ms. Kumaratunga. The non-national forces had finally found the leader and the team for the mission. The missionaries went into action and the PA was ready with the G. L.- Neelan package.

It now appears to be a mission impossible. The non-national forces had not estimated the strength of the Sinhala nationalist movement. Even without the leadership of the SLFP the Sinhala nationalist forces campaigned against the G. L. - Neelan package.

The assignment given to Ms. Kumaratunga and Dr. Peiris remains unfulfilled. Time is running out for the government. If the PA government cannot devolve power then they will be devoid of power. The non-national forces would have already given them orders to depart if not for the executive presidency. Ms. Kumaratunga seems to have an understanding of the situation and she has referred to a conspiracy by the LTTE and the UNP.

Her suspicion is partly built on the alleged visit of Dr. Jayalath Jayawardhane to Vanni to meet the LTTE terrorists while on pilgrimage to Madhu. Probably there is no truth in this allegation and Dr. Jayawardhane did not meet any terrorists in Vanni or Madhu. But any body could have met with the LTTE terrorists while he or she was in Madhu without going to the Vanni jungles. The monthly bulletin of the St.Mary's church, Dehiwala in its September issue states that ' once the pilgrims went past the army checkpoint and were in the area controlled by the LTTE, they were received and escorted by unarmed LTTE cadres dressed in immaculate white, to the shrine at Madhu' (pg.8). Whether dressed in immaculate white or not the terrorists are terrorists The question is whether anybody met these terrorists in Madhu and whether the proposed talks with the LTTE have anything to do with these meetings.

In any case, it is clear that the Tamil racists and their sponsors have already chosen their next presidential candidate. He is occupied with meeting LTTE front organisations and organising so-called all party conferences. Ms. Kumaratunga who could not accomplish the job given to her will have to depart, from the point of view of the non-national forces. In the meantime these forces are busy preparing the stage for the so-called unconditional talks with the LTTE. The Sinhala nationalist movement should take note of all these developments in assessing the present situation.

UNP Chairman Karu Jayasuriya's refutation of a news item in the Island that major NGOs failed to participate in the UNP's 'All Party Conference' on free and fair elections was ironic, and not entirely accurate either. Some major NGOs did attend, and many others did not. As its name suggests, the conference was originally envisaged as a 'non-partisan' one to be attended by all the political parties. But it ended up with the main players being the NGOs, and the UNP taking solace in their presence. The government had a large part to play in ensuring the small turnout of political parties.

The denunciations by government leaders both before and after the conference, indicated a governmental determination to sabotage the UNP's attempt to engage in a public dialogue with other political parties on a matter of undoubted national importance. As a result, relations between the government and the largest opposition party have plunged to a new low, and there is even less likelihood of cooperation between them on matters of national importance. Free and fair elections may not be a governmental priority at this time of postponed provincial council elections, a stalled economy and a stalled Jayasikuru. The fact that the government felt it should prevent the UNP from discussing the issue with other political parties in this context suggests self-interest. It is a pity that so many other political parties thought it fit to heed the governmental request to boycott the conference summoned by the UNP on a relevant matter and on which it had staked its prestige. They are all so petty in their behaviour to one another. Dialogue and engagement are always better than petulant boycotts.

It is generally a matter of courtesy when an invitation for a meeting is issued by a political party as important to the country's future as the UNP, that the invitation should be accepted. Many NGOs that were invited, attended the conference out of courtesy to the UNP, not necessarily because they were particularly impressed by the purpose of the meeting. Having accepted the invitation, they put across their point of view, and the UNP had the courtesy to listen. The large number of individuals present at the conference gave an impression of strength. But the absence of the major political parties could not but be felt. In addition, even though the main conference hall of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute was nearly filled to capacity with about three hundred persons in attendance, several of the country's largest and most vocal NGOs were not present, perhaps because memories of the past still remained. Relations between the former UNP government and the NGO sector had not been very cordial. They reached rock bottom during the period of President Premadasa who appointed an NGO Commission which earned notoriety by hounding two of the country's best known NGOs, the Sarvodaya Movement and the Eye Donation Society. IMPROVED RELATIONS But in recent years, the UNP's relationship with the NGO sector has shown considerable improvement. Being in opposition, and having more free time, has no doubt been the main reason for this phenomenon. Those in the seats of government have little time to spare, busy as they are with their ministry work and enjoying the perks of high office. Parliamentarian Mahinda Samarasinghe also has played an important role in creating a positive relationship by arranging meetings between the UNP leadership and NGOs. In a strange reversal, NGOs that once had regular access to PA politicians have lost that, but gained access to the UNP. The goodwill built up by Mr Samarasinghe over the past four years enabled him to make last minute calls to several key NGOs thus ensuring their participation. NGOs are aware that, despite its seeming political isolation at the moment, the UNP is still the 'government-in-waiting,' and worth investing time on. There was, however, another factor that also loomed in the calculation of NGOs that attended the conference. This was precisely the issue of free and fair elections. The local government elections held in March last year were the most violent of all local government elections ever held in the country.

The blatant and widespread use of political thuggery at the local level by the PA politicians was shocking. The words of censure of the government leadership against such abuses appeared to be for cosmetic purposes, and did little to reduce the violence on the ground. At the conference, Godfrey Gunatilleke, the Chairman of PAFFREL, the country's largest election monitoring network, referred to the high level of violence at the local government elections and explained that NGOs were attending this conference because they regarded free and fair elections as extremely important. He added that the government's constitutional reform proposals did not go far enough in setting up protections against abuses of the electoral process, and also called for reforms within the political parties themselves.

Mr Gunatilleke also used the occasion to frontally address the main issue on which the government had succeeded in dissuading its coalition partners from attending the conference. This was the suspicion that the All Party Conference was being held to divert attention from the UNP's failure to come up with a decent set of political proposals that could seriously address the ethnic conflict. Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, who is turning out to be the nemesis of the UNP has skilfully pointed out that the UNP's most recent proposals on land are half-baked, like the rest of its proposals. NEW IMAGE To its credit the UNP gave Mr Gunatilleke the freedom of the floor to make his observations, and in the process make a critique of the conference for not dealing with the ethnic conflict. In fact, the UNP gave the floor not only to Mr Gunatilleke but also to several other speakers who used the occasion to criticise the UNP. Mahinda Samarasinghe referred to this phenomena, which would not have occurred under the previous UNP leaderships, as being representative of the 'new image' of the UNP. Unfortunately, the UNP had no immediate answers to give to the issues that were raised by the speakers at the conference.

Apart from the new image of tolerance to a cacaphony of voices, there was no indication of any UNP vision or plan to take the country forward. Instead there was the hurried appointment of two committees to look into the factors bearing upon free and fair elections, and to draft the recommendations for a follow-up All Party Conference to consider. But a major problem remains that threatens the survival of the committees that were appointed. One of the two committees is headed by the UNP chairman Karu Jayasuriya himself, and both committees have several well known UNP stalwarts within them. It may not be beyond them to act in a 'non-partisan' manner, but appearances count as much as the reality, and the appearance of 'non-partisanship' has become quite doubtful. This is contrary to the letter of invitation which specified that the committees would be 'non-partisan'.

Some of the NGOs who agreed to serve on the committees are now having second thoughts about their continued participation if the UNP stalwarts are also a part of the committees. NGOs with integrity may be prepared to cooperate with the 'government-in-waiting' in the interests of good governance, but not to be used. In his opening address UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe extolled the virtues of listening to the people. It seems clear, however, that despite its 'new image', the UNP still wishes to control the outcome of the committees' deliberations rather than listen to the voice of the people. The old politics continues in new forms.

We publish excerpts of 'Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis and National Security' by Rohan Gunaratna, which sheds fresh light on the LTTE domestic and international organisation. Stating that the LTTE rate of recruitment is higher than its fatalities, the author argues that the government can win against the LTTE only by adopting unconventional military concepts and restructuring its current political posture towards the Tamil. The book's foreword is by General Richard Clutterbuck, Britain's foremost authority on counter-insurgency. The 428 paged illustrated book is available in Colombo.

The assassination of Gandhi was becoming a necessity for the LTTE to survive as an organization. The implications of the assassination for the Sri Lankan Tamil community, dependent on the goodwill of Tamil Nadu and New Delhi, was of secondary importance. The political developments in India-monitored and reported by BAby Subramanium, an India expert and head of the LTTE propaganda wing confirmed Prabhakaran's fears Prabhakaran, a master-premptist, who did not wish to take a chance, consulted his chief-of-intelligence Shanmuganathan Sivashankaran alias Pottu Armman Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman drew a plan to eliminate Gandhi Chandrashekharan Pakiachandran alias Sivarasan alias Raghuvaran alias Raghu, a one-eyed LTTE leader was tasked with organizing the actual assassination. Prabhakaran, an expert in improvising technology grasped the idea of suicide from a video 'Death Wish II', in which a political leader is blown-up by a beautiful woman while presenting him with a bouquet of flowers, and ordered the making of a suicide body suit prototype.

Unlike during the pre-IPKF period, operating in Tamil Nadu required the support of a few Indian Tamils. The LTTE picked its first target - Bhagynathan - a committed DK activist from Shubha News and Photo Agency owned by Shubha Sundaram, who was personally known to Prabhakaran. Bhagynathan, wanted to bring out a political magazine but lacked the financial resources. His family, steeped in debt, was in search of accommodation. He himself managed to earn a living by supplying stationery items to a firm where his sister, Nalini, was employed as a secretary. His mother Padma was a nurse. The LTTE exploited the situation to gain closer access to Bhagynathan's family. Baby Subramanium casually mentioned to Bhagynathan that he was looking for a buyer for his printing press as he was thinking of switching to another business. Baby Subramanium sold the press to Bhagynathan at a ridiculously low price of Rs. 5000, payable in small instalments. The family moved to the press premises, which also offered perfect cover for a suitable hide-out for LTTE activists. 'Baby's strategy of convincing Nalini to help her brother run the press was starting to pay off. Nalini was exposed to the LTTE literature which was then being churned out and conveyed one key message: Rajiv Gandhi was solely responsible for the 'crimes' perpetrated by the IPKF in Sri Lanka'. Nalini began working on a book titled 'Satanic Forces' and sub-titled 'Heinous Crimes of the Indian Peace Keeping Force'.The book carried no comment from the LTTE except one innocuous message from Prabhakaran: 'Work is worship'. The book itself was merely a compilation of sundry news reports, photographs, cartoons and editorials published in the Indian media about the negative aspects of the IPKF in Sri Lanka and the mishandling of the situation by Rajiv Gandhi's government.'

Meanwhile, Ravi Shankaran from Shubha Sundram's agency and Haribabu from Vigneshwarn Video - who had previously worked for the LTTE as an employee of the Shubha News Agency - were being cultivated for the operation. Haribabu was told that Balan, who needed training in photography, was arriving from Jaffna and would stay with Haribabu as a paying guest. Balan, 'gradually brain-washed the young photographer into believing that Rajiv Gandhi was solely responsible for the brutality indicted on the Sri Lankan Tamils and that his return to power would mean yet another bout of atrocities.' In consultation with the operations commander Sivarasan, an LTTE explosives expert Murugan hand picked S. Jayakumaran and B. Robert Pias, two LTTE cadres from Sivarasan's village and despatched them to Madras in February 1991. Initially they stayed at G. Perarivalan alias Arivu Perulibalan's house, and thereafter moved to new accommodation. Arivu, an LTTE member, was an electronics and computer specialist, living in Madras since early 1990. Murugan who followed the team, tasked Arivu to improvise a bomb out of grenades that could be detonated by a suicide bomber. Sivarasan visited briefly in March 1991 to review the progress. Baby Subramaniam returned to Jaffna, after introducing the Indian team they had cultivated for an important LTTE operation - the target remained a secret.

Both to ascertain Gandhi's mind and to ensure that Gandhi did not step up his security, Prabhakaran arranged for the LTTE philosopher and poet Kasi Anandan to travel to New Delhi, and meet Gandhi at his No. 10 Jampath residence. Kasi Anandan, expressed that it was a mistake in the past that LTTE-India relations had turned sour particularly when both Gandhi and his mother had played such a 'decisive role in supporting them during the early stage of their liberation.' Referring to the LTTE-IPKF confrontation, Kasi Anandan said, it was 'an unfortunate chapter in our history and it should be totally forgotten by both sides. As far as we are concerned, even when we fought India, we never sought help from Pakistan or China which are inimical to India. We have never worked against India at any time.' Gandhi was cordial to Kasi Anandan, also a Central Committee member of the LTTE political wing PFLT, but did not depart from his commitment to the Indo-Lanka Accord. The olive branch for peace set Gandhi's mind at peace. Kasi Anandan reported Gandhi's thinking - the young Indian leader's resolve to end the Sri Lankan thinking - the young Indian leader's resolve to end the Sri Lankan conflict by implementing the Accord - to Prabhakran. In March, ten days apart, two LTTE emissaries met Gandhi. The outcome of the discussions in New Delhi, strengthened Prabhakaran's resolve to assassinate him.

Upon Sivarasan's return from Madras, he briefed Prabhakaran and Pottu Amman. Prabhakaran tasked Sivarasan to rehearse as well as to photograph the operation. Sivarasan returned to Tamil Nadu with gold to finance the operation and suicide bombers Kalavathi Thenmuli Rajaratnam alias Dhanu alias Gayatri and Shubha alias Shalini, reportedly cousins of Sivarasan. Dhanu - the daughter of A. Rajaratnam, former TULF supporter and later LTTE ideologue - was trained in the seventh batch at the Sirumalai camp, Dindugal district, India. Contrary, to LTTE propoganda that she had been raped, she had taken part in active combat against the IPKF. She was prepared for the operation by Akila alias Akilakka, the women's deputy head of intelligence, who was operationally only responsible to Pottu Amman. Upon the arrival of the three cadres in Madras, Arivu developed an ingenious design for a belt-bomb. Six grenades could be fitted in a series on the belt. Each grenade would be made up of 80 gm of the Cyclonite (C4 RDX, each filled with 2800 splinters of 2mm) procured from Singapore and enclosed within a casting of Trinitrotoluene (TNT). The grenades were connected in parallel with a silver wire. The circuit, completed with two goggle switches, for arming and triggering the bomb, was charged with a 9mm battery. Murugan found an Indian tailor to stitch a vest out of blue denim, a fabric strong enough to support one-kg of explosives. Arivu carefully fixed the bomb into the vest. With an experimental suicide jacket, Sivarasan arranged for the dry-runs ordered by Prabhakaran. The first dry-run took place on April 21, in Marina Beach in Madras. This was Rajiv Gandhi's first campaign meeting in Tamil Nadu and was also addressed by the AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha. The meeting was photographed by Ravi Shankaran and videographed by the Shubha Photo Agency in the presence of Haribabu. The next dry-run was executed on May 12, at a meeting featuring the former premier V. P. Singh and M. Karunanidhi at Thiruvallur in Arkonam, 40 km away from Madras. This time, the exercise was more fruitful Dhanu was able to touch the feet of V. P. Singh. The session was videographed by Shubha Photo Agency. With the newspaper announcement of the May 21 meeting at Sriperumbudur, Sivarasan reached Nalini's home on the morning of May 20. At Nalini's house Shubha helped Dhanu try on the explosives-laden denim jacket. The jacket fitted around the waist would be undetectable under her salwar-kameez. She also tried out the spectacles as a disguise. The night of May 20, Sivarasan watched a film with Dhanu and Shubha. That night to relax herself Dhanu took a pain killer - Brufan. On May 21, at 4.30 p.m., Nalini, Subha, Dhanu and Sivarasan left for Parry's Corner, Madras for a rendezvous with Haribabu, waiting with the sandalwood garland, bought an hour earlier from the state emporium in Poompuhar. They boarded a bus which reached Sriperumbudur around 8.00 p.m. All five, with Dhanu holding the garland, positioned themselves around the VIP enclosure. When a woman sub-inspector Anushya Kumari questioned, Haribabu identified himself as a press cameraman, waiting to photograph Dhanu garlanding Rajiv Gandhi. When the sub-inspector informed Rajiv Gandhi was coming much later and said the photographer should go to the press enclosure, they moved away. Sivarasan disguised as a journalist, had positioned himself near the dais, armed with a 9mm pistol. In the event Dhanu failed to reach the target, Sivarasan was ready to assassinate Gandhi. Dhanu and Haribabu stood close to the red carpet on which Gandhi would walk on his way to the dais.

Until Gandhi arrived at 10 p.m, Dhanu befriended a congress worker Latha Kannan, and her daughter Kokila Vani. As Gandhi arrived, Kokila Vani recited a Hindi poem. As Gandhi moved forward affectionately patting Kokila Vani, Dhanu gained access to Gandhi from behind. As Dhanu approached Gandhi, sub-inspector Anushya, tried to prevent her but Gandhi said, 'Let everybody get a chance.' As Anushya moved away, Dhanu bent and touched Gandhi's feet. As Rajiv bent to lift her up, Dhanu's right hand activated the belt bomb worn at her waist. The blast, directed from the waist of Dhanu towards Gandhi head, scooped his face, Dhanu's head, arms and legs, were severed from her torso. With Rajiv Gandhi, 17 others perished, including 9 police personnel and 7 civilians. 44 others were injured. The dead included Haribabu, who had photographed the sequence of events, but failed to estimate the kill radius of the explosion. His last frame recorded an explosion. Nalini, Shubha and Sivarasan took an auto-rickshaw to reach the LTTE safe house at Porur. Attempts by Sivarasan to recover the camera through Shubha Sundaram failed. As Madras cordoned off the scene of the explosions, New Delhi immediately appointed D. R. Karthikeyan from the Central Bureau of Investigations as head of the Special Investigations Team (SIT) to probe into the Gandhi assassination. DNA printing of the pieces of flesh found at the explosion along with the flesh piece attached to the belt, matched with the portion of the assassin's body. The reconstruction of the denim vest and part of the belt by the bomb experts of the National Security Guards established that the assassin was a human-bomb. The arrest on May 25, of the LTTE cadre, Shankar, revealed that he was sent to India by Prabhakaran to assassinate Vardarajah Perumal, the former Sri Lankan Tamil Chief Minister, then living in Bhopal. When shown the SIT recovered pictures taken by Haribabu, Shankar identified the kurta-pyjama clad man in the photographs by name. Ravi Shankaran, who was desperately looking for Haribabu's camera was arrested and revealed the identity of Nalini's brother, Bhagynathan. Bhagynathan was picked up from his printing press but Nalini and Murugan managed to flee. Murugan and Nalini travelled to Tirupathi, where they performed the Hindu ritual angapradakshinam. Murugan planned to shave his head to celebrate the success of the operation and get married to Nalini. But, with Nalini's photograph splashed in the press. Murugan and Nalini were arrested, which then led to the arrests of Arivu and Pias.

To retrieve his marooned operational commander Sivarasan, Pottu Amman dispatched skilled Sea Tiger leader David, but he was killed in an encounter with the Sri Lanka Navy. Sivarasan, accompanied by Subha, Nehru alias Nero alias Gokul, an LTTE intelligence wing member retreated in an empty tanker lorry to Tirupathi, where they performed angapradakshinam, and thereafter retreated to a safe house in Bangalore. On August 19, 1991, the SIT tracked them to Konananakunte, near Bangalore. Ideally, they wanted to pour petrol over themselves and set fire to their bodies to ensure that no evidence remained. But, the security cordon compelled the team of six to commit suicide using the Potassium Cyanide phial. The exception, Sivarasan, shot himself through the glass eye ball to prevent positive identification. Another operative, Dixon alias Kishore, a communications expert, committed suicide when his hideout was raided in Coimbatore. Displaying both a high level of organizational commitment and sanity, he left a note to the head of the SIT, which read, 'Mr. Karthikeyan, I appreciate your efficiency in tracking me down.' The photographs, some key arrests and letters, exposed the role of the LTTE.' But in keeping with the LTTE code of not claiming responsibility for military action overseas, the LTTE denied its role in the Gandhi assassination.

LTTE attempted to destroy the control tower of the Katunayake International Airport during Eelam War III by blasting an explosive laden Hi-Ace van. The operation was unsuccessful as only a small quantity of explosives went off.

The LTTE policy towards India in the aftermath of the assassination has been to built support for the LTTE by working with Indian Tamil parties and groups advocating an independent Indian Tamil state - Dravidastan. The LTTE is known to have links with about 30 Tamil Nadu secessionist groups. Despite the proscription, the LTTE continues to maintain a low level presence in Tamil Nadu, India headed by Kasi Anandan, a politburo member.

Outcome of the military campaign

Examining the Sri Lankan forces as well as LTTE casualties since 1983, supports two arguments. First, due to the adoption of inappropriate military concepts the performance of the Sri Lankan forces in the face of the LTTE has been unimpressive. Second, the lack of an overall national and a strategic plan, has constrained even the best trained troops from achieving results that could decisively alter the balance of power.

Dependent on the source, the Government of Sri Lanka estimates the total loss of civilians, insurgents and security forces personnel at about 60,000. The figures estimated by the LTTE and independent sources are comparable to the government statistics but vary substantially on the ratio of insurgents to civilians killed . The four phases in the Sri Lankan security forces - Tamil insurgent confrontation produced a total of 57,385 fatalities until August 10, 1997.

Eelam War I:
Until the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in the northeast to maintain law and order on July 29, 1987, the Sri Lankan forces suffered 900 fatalities and 519 injuries. Of the fatalities, 551 were army, 37 navy, 23 air force, 273 police and the Special Task Force (STF) and 16 auxiliary force. Of the injuries, 373 were army, 5 navy, 7 air force and 133 police and STF. The LTTE suffered 788 fatalities. The LTTE wounded figures are not made public. Although, government statistics estimated civilian injuries during Eelam War I at 1986, at 3000 civilians were killed. A bulk were killed during bombings of public places and in reprisal attacks by the security forces in response to border village massacres by the LTTE. There were at least 30 non-LTTE Tamil militant groups fighting the Sri Lankan state prior to the induction of the Indian troops. The casualty figures of these groups have not been documented. It could be assessed that at least 3000 members of the groups were killed both by the Sri Lankan forces and by LTTE. After self-proclaiming that they were the sole representatives of the Tamil people, the LTTE banned and liquidated all the other Tamil insurgent groups from 1985. During Eelam War I, the total number of service personnel, insurgents, and civilians killed can be assessed at 7,688. The duration of the conflict was three years and one month. The fighting raged throughout except during a few weeks in 1985 when the government and insurgents discussed peace in Thimpu, Bhutan.

IPKF Period:
Between Eelam War II and III, one hundred thousand peace keepers drawn from the world's fourth largest military - the Indian security forces - were deployed in Sri Lanka's northeast. The IPKF suffered 1155 killed and 2987 injured. The IPKF killed 2592 LTTE cadres, injured 1185 cadres and recovered 1587 weapons including 576 automatic rifles. IPKF figures are disputed by the LTTE - the LTTE claimed that the IPKF added some of the civilian deaths into the LTTE list. It can also be assessed that about 3000 insurgents of rival LTTE groups, were killed during this period. Human rights groups claims that the IPKF killed at least 6000 civilians during their operation which began on July 29, 1987 and ended on March 24, 1990.

The IPKF went into military action against the LTTE only on October 10, 1987 when the LTTE reneged on an agreement with the peace keepers - the IPKF ceased offensive operations towards to the end of 1989. For instance, for September 26, 1989 to March 24, 1990, only 46 men died and 133 suffered injuries. During the IPKF period up to the commencement of Eelam War II, total number of Sri Lankan troops killed were 262 while 944 were injured.

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(To be continued)