CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

LTTE Extortionists Holding IDPs to Ransom

Dilrook Kannangara

It is said that terrorism started with hostage taking. Planes were hijacked, bank staff held to ransom, school and hospital staff held at gun point, family members abducted for ransom and other similar extortion tactics were followed by early terrorists. LTTE has gone back to the roots of terrorism in search of protection! They called themselves liberators of the people and now they are hiding behind people to move about, save their sorry lives and feed and medicate themselves. Many religious groups, human rights bodies and political groups are demanding a stop to the military campaign in order to stop further displacement of people. However, they fail to recognise the extortionist element involved which is central to the problem.

A similar situation is brewing up in Western Pakistan where the Pakistani military is carrying out counter terrorist operations on a large scale that has displaced half a million people. Pakistan, however, has an added incentive to do so. US-led coalition forces have threatened Pakistan that unless it takes care of its own territory, they (the coalition forces) will be forced to make incursions into Pakistan. Seemingly the Americans are avoiding the mistakes of the Russians who restricted their operations to Afghanistan only whereas Western Pakistan has always been the staging platform of the Al Qaeda/Mujahiddin.

Should the government give in to extortionist demands? There is enormous pressure building up on the government to abandon the military operation into Vanni in view of hardships caused to IDPs. What will happen if the government entertains extortion demands? The business of extortion will continue and LTTE will not only save itself, but also stage a comeback. It will use the process of hostage taking to advance its territory and eventually get all their demands.

The Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was a classic example of extortionist behaviour of the LTTE. The CFA trapped the government with inaction while the LTTE had a field day. Whenever the matter was raised, pro-LTTE groups threatened that any action that antagonizes the LTTE will result in large scale calamities. Hon Lakshman Kadirgamar was ridiculed for pointing out this. However, LTTE managed to play their extortion game only until the government went to war with it in an unprecedented aggressive manner in 2006. Thereafter LTTE was pleading for the continuation of the CFA!

In 1985 LTTE held the government to ransom at Thimpu talks. It demanded that army deployment from Mannar to Trincomalee should be done away with in favour of immigrants from Tamil Nadu. To make their demand look less suspicious, they also demanded that all resident illegal immigrants from Tamil Nadu be granted citizenship. The then government acceded to both demands. This coastal stretch became an unhindered supply route for the LTTE ever since.

Following high terrorist activity and ethnic cleansing initiatives by the LTTE tens of thousands of Sinhala people from the north were displaced in the early 1980s and none of the concerned groups that shout today gave a damn. Again in Black August (August 1990) when LTTE embarked on yet another ethnic cleansing act this time against the Muslims, the vociferous human rights champions and the Catholic Church were basking in silence. These are the longest suffering displaced people of this country and they are still languishing in refugee camps in Puttlam. When can they go home? They can definitely go home after security forces conclude the extermination of the LTTE.

While not giving into demands to stop the war, the government should seek avenues to help people in Vanni and minimize disruption to civilian life. The age old technique of forcing tigers and people out of a target area is not going to work. This can be done by targeting LTTE cadres efficiently. Artillery fire should target LTTE cadres and facilities. Blindly firing a large number of artillery shells is of no value as it is costly, ineffective, disruptive and causes mass civilian exodus. Sri Lanka air force can also help in this by target bombing LTTE positions with higher frequency. LTTE weapons dumps, supply chain, transportation systems, identified bunkers, etc. should be constantly targeted. It is sensible to avoid areas of high population density in favour of less populated areas. While Kilinochchi is a relatively highly populated area, Mulativu is not. When it comes to military significance, Mulativu is much more important than Kilinochchi. Capturing Kilinochchi is a political stunt as it is the de facto capital of the mythical state of Tamil Elam while Mulativu enjoys less political significance. Following the election victory, the government is poised to make more political stunts in military operations which will eventually be disastrous. Operations should be evaluated primarily on their contribution to exterminating the LTTE.

Unless the LTTE is weakened in the eyes of Vanni people, they are not going to flock to the government side. However, continued hardships will not be put up with for long by these people who see no solace in the LTTE. They would eventually be convinced that those who went to government controlled areas enjoy a better quality of life albeit displaced.

Pro-LTTE groups know this very well. They are getting increasingly desperate now. They are in a race against the people of Vanni. Their assignment is to put pressure on the government to stop the military push before Vanni people turn against the LTTE. The government should be wary of their timeline. It must be stressed that as long as the LTTE keeps its stranglehold on the people of Vanni, displaced or not, they will live in misery. A good example is tsunami reconstruction. In spite of millions of dollars of tsunami aid to Vanni, nothing has happened. LTTE is only too keen to continue with ?tsunami camps' that provide both human shields and fighting cadre for the ?liberation struggle'. While this is happening in the north, south has overcome the effects of tsunami in spite of astronomical levels of corruption. In an undeniable exposure, tents and building material despatched to north for the benefit of those displaced by the tsunami emerged from LTTE bunkers! This is the predicament of IDPs.

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