Even as this article is written, Velupillai Prabhakaran is alive (albeit cornered) along a narrow stretch of land in Northern Sri Lanka. Regardless of weather he is caught / killed / escapes, one thing are for certain, the edifice of terror that he built, has now crumbled to dust. The reign of suicide bombings and raids that he had promised on Colombo hasn’t materialized, instead like a coward he fights for survival – using Tamils has a human shield - the same Tamilians he had promised an independent Eelam.
But even as Prabhakaran is gasping for breath – there is a lot of hue and cry that is being made about him in India. The ‘humanitarian crisis that is brewing in Lanka’ has given the Congress a pretext to stop the war immediately, while conveniently forgetting that the ‘humanitarian crisis’ is as much the creation of the LTTE as much as Lankan forces. It’s this kind of soft approach that lands the Indian Government into hot water all the time, half-baked, half-hearted and hot potch, that’s our standard reaction to terror – be it Kandahar or 26/11.
True that the Congress had to protect its (and the DMK’s) Tamil vote base, but Prabhakaran is the man who annihilated the IPKF, assassinated a former prime minister and alienated every peace loving Tamil sympathizer. Killing was/is Prabhakaran’s raison d'être and every offer to smoke the peace pipe with him was brutally stubbed out. Yet it seems that India wants him to live - to kill another day.
Conversely if Prabhakaran had been in India, he would have retired peacefully – handing over the reigns of his terror organization to his son, who would have taken the organization to new high’s (pun intended). In India, any attempt to flush him out would be abandoned as the ‘civilian casualty’ would have been unacceptable. (Never mind the civilians he would have bombed – maimed and tortured) That’s the exact reason why we let the Naxlas flourish, now they decide where and when to strike and it’s the government that’s on the run.
If Veerappan, a mare forest brigand outran the law for more than twenty years, then a Prabhakaran with his micro lights, submarines and guerrilla tactics would have lasted a century. At a very basic level there are a lot of similarities that can be traced between Veerappan and Prabhakaran. Both started out, avenging the ‘wrongs’ that had been done to their near and dear ones. Both used the forests to their immense advantage. Both had local support and sympathy – part driven by loyally but more due to fear. But significantly both were not taken seriously enough – until they became too serious to handle.
Case in point - Besides conducting several daring raids and escapes, Veerappan famously kidnapped popular Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar in July 2000. Despite having sufficient grounds to do so – the Karnataka government did not call the army – as it would have reflected ‘poorly’ on the state. (There are allegations that as much as Rs. 50 crore was paid to Veerappan to secure Dr. Rajkumar’s release)
Similarly when the IPKF was pushing him back towards Kilinochchi, the Tiger chief Prabhakaran conveniently put his scruples aside and made a peace pact with the then President, Premadasa. The IPKF suddenly found itself stabbed in the back and had to make a humiliating exit from the island nation. (Of course Prabhakaran eventually eliminated Premadasa too)
The point his that the Sri Lankan government learnt its lesson the hard way – that’s why Rajapakse does not want to stop before he gets Prabhakaran’s head. Not a bad move – considering that all ceasefires in the past have been used by the LTTE to rearm, regroup and reinforce. Any guesses as to how India would have reacted in a similar situation? Imagine Prabhakaran in the jungles of Tamil Nadu, holding several hundred Indianans as hostages? Is there a chance in hell that there would have been a military operation against him? Going by the empirical evidence provided by the Kandahar hijack – the answer is blatantly obvious.
Veerappan finally ran out of breath in 2004 and fell to bullets fired by the STF. On the wrong side of fifty, with no organization to speak of, the sandalwood smuggler met his ‘natural’ end. But Prabhakaran in India would have continued on and on….although he too is on the wrong side of fifty, Prabhakaran had a structure and organizational hierarchy that the GOI would have found difficult to dismantle. When we can’t counter a rag tag group like the ULFA then the LTTE would have been a far cry.
Ofcourse the Lankan government has committed atrocities on the Tamil population, ofcourse there was justification behind the rise of the LTTE – but when a rebel looses sight of his cause, his inevitable downward spiral begins. Prabhakaran has been spiralling for quite sometime now. True that the Lankan Army will have to tread cautiously – minimize the civilian casualties, but the Rajapakse knows that there will collateral damage - and it’s a choice that he’s willing to live with. It’s a choice that Indian politicians find impossible to make.
Meanwhile our political leaders continue to do, what they do best - make statements. Bang before the elections, Jayalalithaa says he she will demand a separate state of Tamil Eelam. Prabhakaran and Co. do not worry, there is someone to take up your cause after you are gone, by the way, if you do manage to escape in that submarine of yours, just land up on Marina beach – your political asylum request shall be earnestly considered (At least till the elections are over!)
1 comment:
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