Did Bala blind the British?

by Deshaputra

LTTE's Anton Balasingham passed away and his funeral was held in London last Wednesday. Though Balasingham, according to his close associates shunned pomp and pageantry, the financially sound LTTE decided to keep his remains at the plush "Alexandra Palace" for the Tiger supporters to pay their last respects.

Reports indicated that the cost for that exercise was Pound Sterling 40,000. In local currency it is well over Rupees eight million. Balasingham was never employed in the final phase of his life. He and his wife Adele lived on LTTE funds. The Tigers collect funds sqeezing the throats of the expatriate Tamil community. In other words, the Balasingham couple lived on ransom.

A grand funeral

Upon the death of Balasingham, the LTTE hurriedly made arrangements to have the funeral conducted in a grand manner and it could have been much to the dislike of late Balasingham who wanted to show that he lived the life of a down to earth man.

Contrary to this phenomena of Balasingham, he (Balasingham) in reality lived a posh and luxurious life mostly travelling in the air (at times at the expense of the Norwegians) occupying the best of the luxury hotels in the West.

Though Balasingham always claimed he liked to be dressed in a "Veshti", there was never a day in his life that he travelled dressed in such a traditional Tamil outfit. Given this scenario, it does not help the common Tamil man to assume that Balasingham lived a life among them.

Be that as it may, the "God Father of Tamil militancy" and the "Promoter of Tamil terrorism" passed away in London in the week gone by. The first to go was E. Ratnasabapathy who introduced Tamil militancy by training Tamil to take up arms. He later represented the EROS as a MP for a short time. Ratnasabapathy, a liqour addict died of an ailment of the liver just two days before Balasingham.

Both these men dreamt of an elusive state called Tamil Eelam. That never materialised in their lifetime. Ratnasabapathy, being the man who introduced Tamil militancy was not recognised in the manner in which Balasingham was treated before and after death. His funeral was on a low key with only family members performing the final rites.

Following the death of Balasingham, many an inside story surfaced. Prabhakaran who conducted a requiem in memory of Balasingham in Wanni had even crossed swords with Balasingham.

The latter in the final phase of peace talks favoured a solution under a federal system. But the LTTE wanted Balasingham to drag the talks to replenish depleted cadres to resume a full scale war. On this issue the two had clashed. Balasingham had thereafter decided to stay overseas and curtail visits to Wanni.

Though the Wanni leadership tries to display that he had a good relationship with Balasingham, it was otherwise in truth.

Wealth of the LTTE

Coming back to the wealth of the LTTE in London, it is incumbent upon the British authorities to investigate how and who paid that massive bill as the rental for Alexandra Palace to keep Balasingham's remains.

The LTTE is a banned organisation in that country. Britain is a country that vehemently condemns global terrorism. How did LTTE become so rich in a banned country is the question. If so, the LTTE yet continues to raise funds in the United Kingdom in mysterious ways.

If that trend is allowed to continue in the United Kingdom, Premier Tony Blair's appeal to combat global terrorism will bear no fruit. The ban imposed on the LTTE on British soil has already proved negative as Anton Stanislaus Balasingham, the "Promoter of Tamil Terrorism", lived, died, and was buried on British soil despite a ban effected several years ago. It is clear that some bans on terrorism are limited to just mere words and paper with no effect at all.