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Tamils disturbed by CFA withdrawal
The
government’s decision to withdraw from the Ceasefire Agreement
(CFA) has disturbed the Tamil people. A sense of insecurity has
crept into their lives.
Thousands
of Tamils crowded police stations during the weekend to register
themselves as residents of the areas they live.
Police arrested 198 Tamils and took eight vehicles into custody
in a massive sweep in Colombo city on Sunday, as Sinhala newspapers
printed stories about the infiltration of a 38-member LTTE commando
unit into Colombo, to conduct ‘fierce attacks:’ The January
2, Slave Island bombing had already upset the police and the civilians.
Tamils look forward to the January 15 Thai Pongal, the harvest festival,
with nervousness instead of the usual joy. They fear that bombs
would replace firecrackers on that day’s traditional thanksgiving
festivities, including resting and feting their cattle for contributing
to the plentiful harvest.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces are poised to march into the Wanni,
a leading Sinhala newspaper announced on Saturday, quoting a military
spokesman.
The Armed Forces and the LTTE are making hectic preparations for
the ‘big battle.’ Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa
has said that the Armed Forces had encircled the LTTE held Wanni
and are waiting to break in.
LTTE ideologue Velupillai Balakumaran told the National Television
of Tamil Eelam (NTT) on Saturday, “We are waiting for the eventual
Sri Lanka Army push. We are cognizant of the enormity of the possible
disaster and are waiting for that to happen.”
He said they were aware that the Armed Forces were testing their
strength and were trying to kill their cadres through limited skirmishes
during the last few months. Also, he added that the Armed Forced
would try to break in, either through Pooneryn via A-32 highway
or advance to Oddusuddan via A-34. The LTTE was prepared to deal
with them in either situation, Balakumaran warned.
Viduthalaipulikal – LTTE’s official newspaper – Chief
Editor Ravi, gave more details of the LTTE’s intended military
plan, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
on December 27, a few days before the government’s decision
to withdraw from the CFA. He was replying to Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s
announcement that 2008 will be the year of wiping terrorism.
He said, “The government has proclaimed 2008 as the year of
war. Our movement is waiting for that.”
Ravi answered some of the criticisms voiced by the Tamil diaspora.
He discounted the rumour that the LTTE would proclaim the independent
state of Tamil Eelam on the Thai Pongal day. He said that the LTTE’s
primary task would be to win back militarily the ‘Tamil soil.’
He used the effective Tamil phrase ‘man meedpu.’ He said
the state of Tamil Eelam would be proclaimed at the completion of
that task.
He told the diaspora that LTTE Supremo Prabhakaran had planned the
necessary strategies and possessed the military might to accomplish
the task he had set for himself. “It is going to be a major
battle. It is going to be a battle in which unprecedented victories
would be won. It is going to be a battle that would create military
history.”
None can be certain about the truth or falsity of Ravi’s claim.
Certain comments made by slain Political-wing Leader S.P. Thamilselvan,
during his interviews to the foreign media shortly before his death,
may serve as indicators. He said that the final battle would be
intense and spill outside the northeast. TNA Parliamentarian N.
Sri Kantha’s comment that the war would be destructive and
would spread across the entire country seems to support Thamilselvan’s
prediction.
Tamils are worried about their safety and security. The international
community, headed by the United Nations has voiced their anxiety
about Tamils, using the usual diplomatic phrases such as ‘deeply
worried’ and ‘troubled.’
Therefore, peace loving people, especially the Tamils, have lost
confidence in the international community.
This is especially true of India. As Pazha Nedumaran said on Saturday,
in his statement issued to the magazine, Then Seithi, “India’s
policy towards Sri Lanka is totally unrealistic and erroneous.
The
Indian Government had abandoned its responsibility and handed it
to bureaucrats who talk in unintelligible mathematical language.”
Public opinion in Tamil Nadu is building up against the Delhi administration.
Leaders of regional parties like Eela Ganeshan of BJP, D. Raja of
the Communist Party have expressed reservations about Delhi’s
handling of the Sri Lankan situation. The leading Tamil daily Thinamani
gave vent to its frustration in its editorial on Saturday, highlighting
the explosive situation developing there.
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