Rise and Fall of the Tamil Kingdom

Three decades old military conflict precipitated on May 16, 2009 when the exuberant Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared unanimous victory over the LTTE rebels. After the civil war officially ended this day, the status quo in Northern Sri Lanka continues to be quite disturbing with thousands of Tamil civilians being driven shelter less and forced to survive in filthy conditions. A ruthless secessionist campaign led by the elusive warrior Velupillai Prabhakaran will leave indelible stories in the pages of history of island nation of Sri Lanka. LTTE was a saga of longest armed resistance thriving since 1976 against a democratic nation in entire Asia.

The Tamil community in Sri Lanka is suffering from discrimination in all aspects from the majority Sinhalese since ages. The majority Buddhist population of Sri Lanka never acknowledged ‘Tamil’ identity. Sinhalese schools do not teach Tamil and Sri Lanka recognizes only Sinhala as their official language in spite of enormous Tamil presence.

In the 70s there were numerous groups representing the Tamil agenda in the island namely TELO, ENLF & EROS. LTTE evolved gradually under the erstwhile Prabhakaran as the most powerful entity after dislodging the other Tamil splinter groups. LTTE remained the sole unified force fighting against the Lankan military till this year. LTTE kept the Sri Lankan military on tenterhooks by unleashing deadly attacks on Lankan soil and territorial waters by deploying full scale offensive using both naval and air force capabilities. LTTE trained and drilled like a regular army which specialized in bomb making, use of conventional and advanced artillery. The suicide commando unit ‘Black Tigers’ pioneered suicide bombings eliminating high profile targets.

Tamil emancipation became so vexed over the decades that there seemed to be no easy solution. India failed repeatedly to come to the rescue of Tamil population in Sri Lanka. Indian government’s decision to sign a peace accord with Sri Lanka without involving the Tamil groups in Sri Lanka was a disaster in late 80s. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) sent to oversee the regional autonomy of Tamil regions awarded by Sri Lankan President became embroiled in a military conflict with the LTTE instead. Operation Pawan launched by Indian forces in Sri Lanka was not successful and eventually Indian Army left Sri Lanka. Later in 1991 the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE. Ranasinghe Premadasa also was eliminated by LTTE in 1993. It was humiliating situation for India. In the following years LTTE fought vigorously and controlled almost a third of the island nation. High morale of cadres, discipline among the ranks of LTTE, unfettered logistical and financial support from wealthy Tamils in England and rest of the world kept the organization belligerent. The cease fires and peace talks with Sri Lankan government with and without involvement of third party mediation over several years never yielded any prolific results.

Sri Lanka continued to grow its military arsenal by acquiring fighter jets, anti-aircraft guns, air-surveillance radars and hi-tech rifles from China. Pakistani air force trained their Sri Lankan counter parts in precision guided attacks and the Pakistani government has been pumping $ 100 million annually in Lankan coffers in form of military assistance. The Chinese factor in Sri Lanka is a disturbing development for India. Chinese influence in Indian Ocean has proliferated in the previous decade. China sees Sri Lanka from a geopolitical prism mainly due to the island nation’s strategic location in Indian Ocean for sea routes for trade. Chinese firm is building a multi-billion dollar port in Hambantota in southeast Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan forces eventually blew the LTTE strong holds to smithereens and the entire surviving LTTE cadre is on the run.

The rigorous campaign of the Lankan military against the Tigers sets a precedent for countries facing the surmounting issue of rebel movements. The use of force instead of counter insurgency techniques is evident in history and is also practiced by many governments in contemporary age and to quote a few examples: Russian military overwhelmed the Chechnya rebels in 1999 with massive use of weapons, Chinese forces are dealing with the East Turkestan Islamic militants with an iron hand, Columbian army has made no compromises when it came to FARC and several other nations fighting armed movements.

The utter failure of LTTE in protecting the rights of Tamil population in Sri Lanka is very disheartening. Many may not consider LTTE as the voice of Tamil cause in Sri Lanka but there was no other entity as visible as LTTE which could take up the Tamil cause. LTTE made cardinal errors in the path of achieving autonomy for Tamils in the island. We live in a different world after 9/11 attacks and the public perception against terrorist activities has changed drastically. LTTE should have been pragmatic and should have got involved in political dialogue when they were on the height of power in Sri Lanka in early 90s. Not just the Tamil aspirations but lack of influence of India was exposed in this fiasco. India could face an extreme situation of flooding refugees and the possible tilt of strategic balance of power towards China in South Asia.