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| Sunday, 14 March 2004 |
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Karuna Amman: From favoured confidante to renegade commander By E. Weerapperuma Vinayagamurthi Muralidharan alias Karuna Amman, popularly referred to as 'Karuna' the former Eastern Military leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been in the spotlight these past couple of weeks, following the breakup with the LTTE. Said to have formed his own group the Revolutionary Tigers of Tamil Eelam (RTTE). Karuna's defection is being viewed as both a brave and foolhardy move. While speculation is rife as to why he split, with some hinting at a foreign hand and some others alluding to sneaky business, we take a closer look at the man causing rumbles in the Wanni jungles. The first born of the Vinayagamoorthy family, Karuna (born in 1965) at Kiran, a hamlet 25 kilometres north of Batticaloa hails from a feudal family owning several paddy lands. Karuna's father Vinayagamoorthy was a staunch supporter of the United National Party in the East and campaigned actively for UNP stalwart K. W. Devanayagam in the 70s. Karuna had his primary education at the Kiran Maha Vidyalaya and continued his higher education at the Methodist College Batticaloa. He joined the LTTE in 1985, and was initially trained by Kugan alias Ponamman who was the brother of Yogaratnam Yogi, a former LTTE key figure. When India provided training to LTTE members in the 80s Karuna was in batch six and received tough training in guerilla warfare in Vetharaniyam, a coastal hamlet in Tamil Nadu. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1986 and was one of the key members in the LTTE's Intelligence unit. After the death of Kugan in 1985 in a destructive explosion in Kaithady, Jaffna, Karuna came under the direct supervision of LTTE leader Pirabhakaran and remained one of his body guards. Karuna is often referred to as the " Eye" of Pirabhakaran and the story is that whenever Pirabhakaran wanted to fight, he moved his eye-lids and Karuna understood it well. Most of the LTTE cadres who received training in India were from Jaffna, as Pirabhakaran could not trust those from the East. But with the entry of Karuna as one of the trusted confidantes of Pirabhakaran, the mistrust was removed and members of the LTTE cadres in the East got positions in the LTTE administration, Karuna was clever, trustworthy and faithful to leader Pirabhakaran, who rewarded him by appointing him the Commander of East, which included Batticaloa and Ampara districts. At that time Sri Lanka was in dialogue with India, and the Government was preparing to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Pact, the JVP displayed its opposition to the move with a killing spree in the South. There was internal conflicts in the Cabinet. Both late Prime Minister (later President) Ranasinghe Premadasa and Minister Lalith Athulathmudali were not pleased with the way the dialogue moved. When India and Sri Lanka government signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Pact and decided to set up an Interim Administration, Karuna was also upset as his nominee from the East was rejected. The LTTE cadres arrested by the government killed themselves by taking cyanide, while in custody. This aggravated the situation and led to the massacre of Sinhalese in the East, triggering the second Eelam war. The massacre was led by Karuna, who was also responsible for sabotaging talks between LTTE and Premadasa, leading to the third Eelam war, which was in fact triggered off by the killing of Sinhala policemen in the East. Karuna's action destroyed any chance of success of talks between Chandrika and LTTE and saw the unfolding of the 4th Eelam war. Karuna wanted fully armed LTTE cadre to move into government controlled areas. When this was rejected, he got Pirabhakaran to declare war, attacking Trincomalee. The 4th Eelam war saw the fall of Elephant Pass,destruction of security forces, bombings in Colombo and the Katunayake Air Port. When the Sri Lanka army took position in Jaffna in 1995 and the LTTE ran away to Wanni, Karuna prevented the Sri Lanka Army from proceeding to Jaffna along the A-9 Road. When the Sri Lanka Army recovered its losses, and regained lost ground defeating the LTTE in Jaffna through operation Riviresa and later on launched operation Jaya Sikuru to take control of A-9 high way, Karuna was responsible in preventing the march from going forward to Jaffna. In fact when the LTTE was weak, Karuna gave it new life, and a shot in the arm by shattering operation Jayasikurui, taking the leadership and paving the way for the LTTE to come to the door-step of Jaffna with confidence. Karuna is married to a member of the LTTE's women wing from Batticaloa, he is the father of two children. Karuna's wife and children are currently domiciled in Malaysia. They moved to Malaysia following the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002. Karuna's recent act of defiance is seen as a measure of his displeases with the LTTE supremo, for ignoring his requests, and not giving due recognition for East, especially in negotiations with the government. After the split from the Wanni hierarchy, Karuna has reported to have said that he could survive without any financial or any other logistic support from the North for another ten years. He has also said that he would not return to war but remain faithful to his leader Velupillai Pirabhakaran. Political observers believe that the change in the militant attitude of Karuna would have emerged following his representation on behalf of LTTE in foreign countries. Many believe that he would have preferred to give up the arms struggle following his meetings and interactions with politicians and diplomats with democratic backgrounds. But only time will tell. |
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