Analysis of Prabakaran’s speech

Inaccessibility of guerrilla and terrorist leaders who live in hideouts far removed from civilisation makes journalists, scholars and even diplomats confer a degree of great importance and even much credibility to their statements when compared with those of hum- drum politicians who face the media frequently . When Velupillai Prabakaran’s speech on the so called heroes day of the terrorists went over their clandestine radio, Colombo based foreign correspondents and local ‘ foreign’ corespondents went into a flurry of activity which generally conferred the impression that there was indeed light seen at the end of the tunnel after 15 long years.

An authority on Tamil affairs and the LTTE, The Island Correspondent D.B.S. Jeyaraj, analysing the terrorist leader’s speech in today’s Midweek Review says that all this adrenaline that flowed in the veins of journalists and even politicians need not be justified when Prabakaran’s past record and even the very speech that has caused this excitement, are analysed.

‘ The overall impression gained by anyone who reads or had heard the complete version in Tamil would only have been that peace and

a negotiated settlement were elusive as ever’, Jeyaraj has said.

Even though these comments may be a wet blanket thrown over the hopes that have been generated, if the objective is peace through negotiated settlements, our corespondent’s observations deserve intense scrutiny.

Even though some Tamil politicians have gone into ecstasies, they know fully well what the LTTE is all about, says our corespondent Tamil politicians seem to suggest that the LTTE leader has opened the door for peace, but does it mean that hitherto Prabakaran had never been for peace talks and is changing stance instead, ? , it is asked.

Some of the other points made by Jeyaraj are:

*The LTTE always paid lip service to the concept of peace negotiations but during such talks what they had tried to gain was beyond the scope of any Sinhala oriented government to concede

* In none of the talks entered into by the LTTE had substantive issues concerning alternative systems of governance being discussed. Instead all talks had focused on different issues such as removal of the Sixth Amendment.

*In the latest ‘Heroes Day’ speech Prabakaran had said that a climate for peace and goodwill must be created and a congenial environment evolved for satisfactory peace negotiations to begin. The day- to- day needs of the people must be addressed first and that the suffering of the people cannot wait indefinitely until a solution is evolved. During the talks with the Chandrika government too Prabakaran had wanted ‘Andraadaipirachanaigal’ ( day- to- day problems) before ( Adippadaipirachanaigal’ ( Fundamental problems) and the Chandrika government had responded to those terms and not touched fundamental issues. After the talks collapsed LTTE propagandists had a field day blaming Kumaratunga for the failure— one charge being that instead of addressing fundamental issues she tried to hoodwink the Tamil people by dealing with trivial issues!

There are many other points which corespondent Jeyaraj makes such as Prabakaran’s tender concern for the suffering of the Tamil people and the concluding remakrs of his speech which belie any genuine inentions of a peace settlement.

He would have hoped to take off pressure now on the LTTE in developed countries where terrorism is now being frowned upon. It also does put the Kumaratunga government in a spot, because rejection of this offer even, on genuine grounds, would result in the peace establishment firmly entrenched in this country with the support of dubious foreign organisations pointing an accusing a finger at President Kumaratunga as a war monger .

She cannot refuse to negotiate but should welcome it but before that the agenda for talks should be formally fixed unlike the previous misadventure with no agenda and spokesmen like Mr. Vasantha Raj. If necessary a foreign facilitator could be invited to draw up the agenda but from that point onwards it should be between the two parties concerned.

But under no circumstances can she permit changes in the military strategy at the behest of Prabakaran such as withdrawing troops from the Eastern province and letting the terrorists in to the once cleared province at great cost to men and funds. Prabakaran should be told he is a dreamer if he thinks that the armed forces will be withdrawn from the Jaffna peninsula until the pole there will be free to live in peace and elect representatives of their choice.

Talks with Prabakaran is the latest mantram that is being chanted by many including the UNP to end this conflict. But much has to be done before that . It will be an essential requirement that the UNP and the PA political parties reach an agreement on what can be negotiated.