Thamilselvan's death stings Tiger leader

The Tiger leader for the first time in three decades long history in the North East conflict felt the sorrow and agony of losing one of his topmost leaders, when its political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan was killed in an air raid by the Sri Lanka Air Force on Friday.

Though they were in constant fear of being killed at the hands of the military they may not have expected that their second in command would be killed in an air attack.

But the most unexpected thing in history came to reality on Friday morning, not at the hands of a human bomb but as a result of patient collection of intelligence reports and accurate and pinpoint attack by skilled pilots of the Sri Lanka Air Force.

They might have now for the first time, after the killing of 'Col' Shankar in 2001 by Long Range Reconnaissance Patrolling groups of the Sri Lanka Army in Oddusuddan would have felt that their terror operations are no longer a secret to the outside world.

The SLAF received very reliable information that high ranking LTTE leaders were to visit this well known Alex communication centre in the South of Kilinochchi regularly.

The Centre was the main operations room of the LTTE handing all international affairs and local military operations. 'Lt. Col' Alex who is fluent in English and French headed this communication centre to keep contact with the international community and also with Tamil Diaspora for fund raising purposes.

The Tiger leader S. P. Thamilselvan as the second in command of the LTTE used to visit here to calculate the funds raised from the Tamil Diaspora all over the world; arms procurement deals; military operations and logistic supports to Tiger cadre in the battlefronts.

Usually the operation room starts functioning in the night as it was the time they could link up with the Western countries and also countries like Australia which starts daily activities five hours ahead of the Sri Lanka time.

Even LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran used to visit this location to communicate with the international community.

There was no suspicion on the part of the LTTE to visit this location, since the operation centre is not located in the Kilinochchi town but just three kilometres south of Kilinochchi, imagining that it would not become a target of the SLAF fighter jets fearing bombs would hit civilian settlements in Kilinochchi.

It was a fateful day for the Thamilselvan as SLAF received intelligence reports that top level LTTE leaders were to meet at this location.

The pilots on board the Kfir and MiG fighter jets which took off from Katunayake with the determination of hitting the right target, proved their capability by hitting the location exactly at 5.55 a.m. without causing any damage to civilian settlement in the Kilinochchi town.

Despite the successful hits by the fighter jets, no statements were made to suggest that Tiger Political Wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan was killed in the attack.

Simultaneously, the fighter jets also hit a Black Tiger camp in the East of Iranamadu.

For the past one and half years the SLAF pilots have proved their capabilities, despite, misinformation campaigns carried out by the LTTE to confuse the SLAF and to exert pressure on the SLAF to stop air raids which had become a headache for them.

Therefore, the direct hit on the Tiger International Communication centre, causing the death of second in command of the Tiger outfit was the climax of the air raids conducted by the SLAF.

The attack also came as a fitting reply to the Black Tiger attack on the Air Force base in Anuradhapura on October 22 destroying number of aircraft and killing 13 airmen.

The attack targeting the LTTE international communication centre was the tenth attack by the SLAF after the Black Tiger attack on Anuradhapura air base.

The first attack was on the Iranamadu airstrip on October 22 at 5.30 a.m. The second one in the north of Mankulam on October 24, and the third one was in Thampanai in Vavuniya-Mannar border on October 25. The forth attack was launched on October 27 targeting Kalmunai Point in Pooneryn. On October 29, the SLAF fighter jets hit yet another gathering of LTTE intelligence leader in Puthukuduiruppu. Though LTTE denied they were hit by this air attack pro-LTTE websites announced the death of a Tiger leader saying that he was killed in an accident. Subsequent to this attack the SLAF carried out three more air attacks in Chilawatta, Vishvamadhu on October 30, Udayankattukulam on October 31 and Kokkuthuduvai on November 01. The tenth attack was on November 02 targeting the LTTE communication centre in Thiruvai Aru which took the life of Tiger political wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan and five other Tiger leaders.

Though LTTE announced only six deaths in this air attack the SLAF has now received very reliable information that 18 of their cadres were also killed in the attack.

This clearly shows that the fighting capability of the SLAF has not affected due to the Black Tiger attack on Anuradhapura. At the same time the SLAF too demonstrated their capability to hit back despite the attempts by various groups to ridicule them forgetting all their earlier successes.

The morale of the SLAF has not declined at all as they have shown their capabilities, through this successful air raid.

On the contrary, the LTTE which had boasted about the attack on Anuradhapura has been stung by the death of Thamilselvan. Tiger leader Prabhakaran is the most affected man by the sudden demise as he lost another trusted lieutenant, shortwhile after the demise of Anton Balasingham.

Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran paid his last respects to his departing comrade last night at an undisclosed location in Kilinochchi. The Tiger leader would have preferred to pay his last respects during the night, fearing he too may be subjected to are air attack if he attends the funeral during daytime. The death of a human being, do not call for a celebration. But the death of Thamilselvan should not be treated as a loss of a political figure as he had never been successful in giving a real political face to the Tiger outfit despite serving as the political chief of the organisation since 1993. Though, there were many attempts to highlight the incident as a deprivation of an opportunity to end the North East conflict, in the real sense, there is no deprivation of such opportunity due to the death of Thamilselvan.

If anyone tries to build such an argument, they should also be taken into account that Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has also deprived thousands of opportunities to end the North East conflict by peaceful means, by assassinating hundreds of leaders who made sincere attempts to solve the Tamil question by peaceful means.

The assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, Opposition Leader Gamini Dissanayake, Dr. Neelan Thiruchelvan, former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and the assassination attempts on President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga should also be put on the other side of the scale, if they try to point the finger at the Security Forces for targeting political leaders.

In reality it was yet another attempt by the Security Forces to get rid of LTTE terrorism from the Sri Lankan soil in their efforts to find permanent peace.

These critics easily forget the fact that Thamilselvan was appointed as the Political Wing leader after his military career had to come to an end, after he was hit by a shrapnel of in their encounter with the Security Forces during the Yal Devi Operation in 1993.

The walking stick and the permanent limp gave him a outward appearance of a political leader but not at inwardly as his conduct very explicitly displayed that he was not all a political leader.

His vow to take revenge from the Security Forces once they lose entire Eastern province very clearly indicates that he was not at all committed for a political solution to the North east conflict.

He had to choose the military fatigue once again when the leadership directed him to oversee the Pooneryn sector at a time when the movement was fast distancing itself from political affairs.

The promotion that was accorded to him after his demise very clearly indicates that Thamilselvan has been honoured not as a political leader but as a military leader.

Paramu Thamilselvan, born in August 1964 in Mirusuvil, near Chavakachecheri reportedly gave up his profession as a barber to join the LTTE as a military cadre in 1983 soon after the 1983 riots.

He had proved to be a militant rather than a political figure, in the LTTE, as he was able to become one of the close confidante of the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1984 when he was in India as one of the bodyguards of Tiger leader Prabhakaran.

He was not outstanding as a political leader in the same manner the LTTE failed in every endeavour to convince world as a group fighting for the cause of the Tamil people.

That might be the prime reason, Thamilselvan too had to revert to his old military fatigues once again, taking up the military leadership in Pooneryn which the LTTE is using as a strategic point to destabilise the Jaffna peninsula by launching artillery attacks.

Thamilselvan played a key role in the Elephant Pass attack in July 1991 as a prominent figure among the LTTE military leaders. His terror plans against the Security Forces were once again highlighted in the Kilali Operation in 1993 and the 'Yal Devi' Operation.

He twice escaped death during this operation and was left with a permanent limp due to shrapnel injuries on his leg on October 13, 1993 during the Yal Devi counter operation by the Security Forces.

He had reportedly taken medical treatment in overseas hospitals by managing to escape through sea routes. The walking stick he holds became a permanent part of his life giving him a more 'political look' after this incident in 1993.

Prior to these attacks Thamilselvan also acted as the Thenmarachchi Zonal Commander to fight the Indian Peace Keeping Force. In March 1991 he was posted as the Special Commander of Jaffna and in 1993 as the Military Commander of Jaffna district.

It was on February 16, 1993 he appeared as the Political Leader of the Tiger outfit as his physical disabilities did not qualify him as a military leader.

Thamilselvan was instrumental in organising many covert military operations against the Security Forces and also to assassinate many politicians, civilians and key Security Forces personnel and Tamil leaders opposing the views of the LTTE.He was involved in the peace talks held between Bishop Kenneth Fernando and the LTTE in January 1993. Thamilselvan received the Government delegations participating at the peace talks during held from October 13, 1994 to March 28, 1995.

He participated in all the rounds of peace talks held after the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement on February 22, 2002 in Thailand, Norway, Germany and in Japan.

Thamilselvan also participated in the LTTE conference in Paris on August 23, 2003. After the Paris conference Thamilselvan left for Switzerland to study the federal system from August 29, 2003 to September 03, 2003.

Once again Thamilselvan participated in the discussion held to finalise the proposals for interim administration in the North and East at the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation in Ireland from October 03, 2003 to October 10, 2003.

In 2005 Thamilselvan headed a LTTE delegation to Europe and toured Norway, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa and Ireland. This tour was mainly focused on fund raising activities of the LTTE and to obtain the support of the European countries towards their cause.

Thamilselvan also participated in the Geneva Talks between the Government and the LTTE held from February 22 to 23, 2006 and again from October 28 and 29, 2006 in Geneva.

He did not give up his military activities even after participating in a number of peace talks rounds with his large contribution towards the attack on Kilali, Muhamalai and Nagar Kovil Security Forces defences on August 11, 2006 in which the LTTE suffered severe blows at the hands of the Security Forces.

Therefore, the arguments built by various section of society over the death of Thamilselvan have become invalid as LTTE made no attempt to give a political face to their terror outfit as they always made attempts to cover up their terror operations appearing before the international community as political leaders.