Western bloc wanted to save Prabhakaran

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

The LTTE has been eliminated from the Sri Lankan soil and the nation is now celebrating that glorious victory as their right to fight terrorism in domestic front has been endorsed not only by the Sri Lankan community, but also by the international community with an overwhelming majority at the special session on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

The victory achieved by Sri Lanka at the UNHRC special session marked the victory of the diplomatic warfare fought by the Government against those countries that opposed Sri Lanka eliminating the LTTE, in the guise of safeguarding the civilians trapped inside the safe zone.

It was a group led by the Western bloc and the EU which tried to adopt a resolution to conduct investigations into Human Rights violations and war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Security Forces during the battle to eliminate LTTE terrorism. But that effort was finally defeated by the friendly nations dominated by the South Asian, Asian, African, Middle Eastern countries.

That explicitly demonstrated how Sri Lanka maintained diplomatic relationships with the entire world who are genuinely expressing their view on the Sri Lankan situation whilst another section of Western displayed their hypocrisy towards the victory achieved by a little nation like Sri Lanka against what they branded as the most ruthless terror outfit in the world.

The latest international media reports soon after the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and its top level leaders were killed in the last battle very clearly indicates that the efforts made by the Western nations to negotiate for pause in the battle was no meant to rescue the civilians kept hostage by the LTTE.

It has been proved beyond any doubt that the intention of the arrival of so many western diplomats to Sri Lanka was to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to stop the last ditch of battle in Vellamullivaikkal and finally to rescue Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and his gang from the Sri Lankan Security Forces, but not to safeguard the civilians.

That confidence placed on the western nation by the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran did not pay off with the terrorist falling to the gunfire of the Sri Lankan Security Forces. If he had placed confidence on the Sri Lankan Government and the Security Forces and negotiated directly with the Sri Lankan Government and the President he would not have faced this destiny at the last hour of the battle.

Repeated appeals

President Mahinda Rajapaksa made repeated appeals to Velupillai Prabhakaran to disarm and surrender to the Security Forces, at each and every victory they secured against the LTTE. That humble and genuine appeal to that terror leader was made after the capture of Pooneryn, Paranthan, Kilinochchi, Elephant Pass and finally when the civilians were rescued by the Security Forces in Puthumattalan.

But the Tiger leader Prabhakaran did not want to heed it and continued his terror campaign risking the lives of innocent Tamil civilians until his death, keeping faith on the negotiations continued by Kumaran Pathmanathan the international negotiator of the LTTE.

Those efforts of the Tiger leader to surrender to a third party were futile as the Government did not waver in its position and rejected the offer made by the US government. It was due to miscalculations in his judgments on this Government, that the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, wanted by the Sri Lankan Government and the Indian Government for his acts of terror, had to die under those circumstances.

Displeased due to the rejection of all the conditions laid down by the Western nations by the Sri Lankan Government, those western nations tried their best to belittle the victory achieved by this Government against the most ruthless terror outfit in the world at the highest international forum. Finally, it was defeated by the friendly nations who had understood the ground realities in a fight against terrorism.

Belittle

Even after the effort to belittle the victory achieved by the Sri Lankan Security Forces, many international media, who had not even reached the conflict zone, are trying to gather evidence to charge the Sri Lankan Security Forces for war crimes. It is ridiculous and hilarious to learn that some journalists, who had a bird view on the conflict zone over helicopter rides across the conflict zone, are trying to gather information about the use of heavy caliber weapons by the Security Forces.

Those efforts even ridicule their journalistic instinct as local journalists covering the battlefront with unimpeded access to this zone had not seen such craters created by the use of heavy weapons by the Security Forces. But we have seen the mayhem the LTTE had created there through huge explosions and suicide attempts on the advancing troops under the cover of the huge civilian influx.

It is pathetic to observe that they have kept a blind eye to those incidents when tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were suffering due to the inhuman acts of the Tiger cadres on their own community.

Those NGOs and INGOs are trying to accuse the Security Forces of killing over 20,000 civilians in the last ditch of battle according to their calculations made out of the situation but not considering any verified evidence from the ground. The basic fact is that they were baffled as to how our Security Forces were able to rescue such a massive number of civilians from the clutches of the LTTE, as there is no such example for them in the West to talk about such a victory without civilian casualties.

As this argument over the elimination of LTTE terrorism continued, the Security Forces are still trying to ascertain the way the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed in Vellamullivaikkal in the Nanthikadal lagoon and how he had arrived there.

According to military sources, there is information that the Tiger leader had reached there from his hideout in the early hours on May 19 as troops had heard a pedalling of boat under the cover of the thick darkness. It was after that sound that the commando troops engaged in fierce fighting with that group. A number of commando troops were injured and also killed during that confrontation. Therefore, troops believe that Prabhakaran was killed during that confrontation in the early hours of May 19.

But the troops engaged in search operations on Tuesday (May 19) morning had reportedly engaged with the group of terrorists before they recovered the body of the Tiger leader in a small islet in the Nanthikadal lagoon. So the military is still piercing together all this information to have a clear picture about the way. Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed. Much speculation is being made about his death and circulated among the general public.

DNA test

However, the DNA test carried out to identify the bodies of Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran with his son Charles Anthony has been positive clearing all doubts about his death.

Apart from the way the Tiger leader got killed, the military is also still investigating Tiger Intelligence Wing leader Pottu Amman’s death as they could not find his body among the top level Tiger leaders.

Therefore, they have to believe in the information divulged by a Tiger cadre who surrendered said that Pottu Amman got killed before the LTTE teams arrived in military controlled areas to escape.

The deaths of Prabhakaran’s wife Madivadanee and daughter Dvaraka is also a puzzle to the military as they could not find their bodies among the scores of Tiger cadres killed.

But military on Wednesday found the parents of Prabhakaran among the civilians in the Zone -4 of the Menik Farm welfare camp. Veraswami Thiruwengadam Velupillai (84) and mother Velupillai Parvathi Pillai (79) had been identified by military authorities on the information given by the civilians.

According to the statements given by the Tiger leader’s father, they have lived in exile in Tritchy in India and returned to Sri Lanka in 2003 during the ceasefire period. Although they had asked Prabhakaran whether they could go to their native village in Velvetithurai the Tiger had not allowed them to go there. So they had lived in Visuamadu area after their return to Sri Lanka but separately from Prabahakaran’s family.

According to Prabhakaran’s father, they had not met their son regularly despite occasional visits. When the fighting erupted in Puthukudiyiruppu, Prabhakaran has sent a vehicle for them to arrive in Puthumattalan area and they had lived among the other Tamil civilians in the safe zone.

They had left the safe zone on May 17 among the last batch of civilians who were arriving in Mullaitivu area across the Vadduvakkal bridge.

Among these civilians, a large number of ex-Tiger cadres are still living and the military is in the process of identifying them. The identification of LTTE Women’s Political Wing leader Thamilini among the civilians was due to these efforts. If these hardcore Tiger cadres are allowed to move, they will try to regroup and reorganize as a strong Tamil diaspora across the globe with those still backing them to reorganize the LTTE in Sri Lankan soil.

So, those, who pressurised the Government to allow free movement for these civilians and free access for the outsiders to meet them inside camps, should understand the danger behind that move as the Security Forces were able to bring down a terrorist organization to this level after their existence in this country for more than 30 years.

Operations

The Security Forces have launched extensive search and clear operations in the Eastern jungle patches as a handful of Tiger leaders and cadres are still operating inside the jungles in the East, especially in Trincomalee and Batticaloa.

According to military intelligence, Tigers Ram and Nagulan are still operating in the Eastern jungles in the Trincomalee district along with a 12 to 14 members of LTTE.

Apart from them, two other Tiger leaders Thevan and Kulilan are reportedly operating along with another 12 to 14 cadres. Kokkadicholai Tiger leader Daya Mohan is also missing from the Tiger leaders who had got killed among the last batch of Tiger cadres.

The Special Forces and Commando troops are engaged in extensive search operations in the East to nab the last set of Tiger cadres operating in the East.

A set of Tiger cadres got killed at the hands of the Special Forces troops in the Peraru jungles soon after the final assault on the LTTE on May 19 in Vellamullivaikkal. It included all the top Tiger leaders.Ram, who had fled to the East, had contacted Nation Building Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan to negotiate his surrender soon after he got information about the death of Prabhakaran. But, there was no communication from him thereafter.

However, it was on Wednesday the commando teams operating in Kanchikudichchiaru jungles lay in ambush and killed 11 Tiger cadres operating there. Although it was believed that the team was led by Nagulan, they could not find a trace about him.

Therefore, the Security Forces along with the Police Special Task Force troops have launched extensive search operations in the Eastern jungles. The Security Forces also facing the challenge of searching the estate sector and also in Colombo to eliminate the remaining Tiger links locally as the threat of the emergence of the LTTE still exists internationally with the presence of Kumaran Pathmanathan emerging as the leader of the LTTE.