Tigers Incorporated

In the sections quoted in this article earlier from Dr. Rohan Gunaratne and Dave Howler, some mention has been made about the international business activities extensively carried out by the LTTE in a global scale. The Asiaweek Magazine had a lead article titled `Tiger International' in it's July 26th 1996 issue revealed the following.

Quote
Following the loss of a substantial populations and taxation base on the Jaffna Peninsula, the LTTE's international funding is today more important than ever. The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora is concentrated mainly in North America, Western Europe and Australia. Some 140,000 Tamils live in Canada alone, over 85% in Toronto area. And almost everywhere, political mobilization and the collection of financial donations is a monopoly of the LTTE. Studies in various countries suggest that expatriate Tamil part with their money for several reasons. Many are, or have been, believers in the Tiger prescription of a separate state as the only long-term solution to their grievances. The war and the atrocities committed in the past by Sinhalese security forces have only reinforced that perception. Some, often illegal migrants or asylum seekers on the fringes of an alien society, see in the well-entrenched LTTE a form of insurance. For others, fear - either for themselves or for relatives in LTTE controlled areas - is a powerful incentive to aid the cause, `` Collection is often a form of blackmail," notes one Sri Lanka analyst. " It might be: We know your mother is on the Jaffna peninsula, so pay up. Hard-knuckle extortion seems to have played a part in LTTE fundraising in Switzerland, where there are some 23,000 Sri Lankan Tamils. According to LTTE sources, Tamil donors are coaxed to part with $ 40 to $ 80 each month. Encouragement does not always stop at friendly chats. Following a spate of violent incident, including several murders, Swiss police finally moved. A nationwide roundup in the early hours of April 10 netted 15 suspects including the LTTE's swiss chief, Nadarajah Muralidaran. He and others are charged with extortion and threats of violence. " Before, there were allegations by Tamils, but never any witnesses prepared to go public," one Swiss official told Asiaweek. " That now seems to be changing".

In addition to direct donations, LTTE coffers also benefit from investments in small Tamil-run businesses. In many cases these operate on a system of ownership by proxy in which the initial investment is made by the Tigers and profits are subsequently split between the party and the business's ostensible owner. This type of operation is favored in Tamil Nadu. Despite a crackdown in the state the LTTE is, as one Tamil politician puts it, " still doing very well financially". Rough estimates of the LTTE's monthly revenues are telling. From Switzerland, best guesses are that the tigers bank $ 660,000 monthly. In Canada, officers of the Asian Crime Task Force have calculated the Tigers pull in around $ 730,000 monthly. In Britain, sources estimate a monthly income of around $ 390,000. Says Sri Lankan Scholar Rohan Gunaratne, " It's fair to say the LTTE is making at least $ 2 million per month. And this year over 60% of their income is probably coming from abroad"

Almost inevitably, accusations of drug-running have become a contentious piece of the LTTE's financial jigsaw. In the increasingly hard-fought propaganda was waging between Colombo and the Tigers, the government has not hesitated to claim the LTTE owes it's rise in large measure to the Asian heroin trade. " Collection of money from Tamil expatriate sources is insignificant compared to income from narcotics," asserts one senior Sri Lankan diplomat.
Unquote

LTTE using it's front organizations, organizers regular musical events, drams, entertainment nights in the U.K., Australia and North America and raises as much as U.S.$ 25,000 per event. In Canada along five jewellery stores are known to belong to the LTTE. Four of them are called Ambika Jewellers. These stores belong to the Canada WTM Leader Inpanayagam. Inpanayagam was a staff member at the Jaffna University before he became a "refugee" in Canada. The fifth store belongs to Siva Sinnathamby and is called Srisiva Jewellery.
Pirated Video and Audio productions in Canada are owned by Akilan Nagarajah alias Jeya. Video stores called Jeya Video have four branches. These are in Toronto and one in Vancouver. Similar operations function in the U.K, France, Germany, Switzerland and in Australia.
Accordingly, it is clear that if the LTTE gives up it's current struggle and resorts to a democratic way of life they would lose an estimated U.S.$ 2 million per month in revenue. The question that has to be asked then is whether a constitutional reform or a peace package would be more attractive for Velupillai Prabakaran than the U.S.$ 2 million they earn every month?

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