Chris Slee
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have accused the Sri Lankan army of using paramilitary groups to create violence in eastern Sri Lanka, as part of a strategy to expand the army's area of control.
LTTE officials claim that the army is using paramilitary groups to create tension in the region, which is then used by the army to justify an increase in its presence.
The June 2 edition of the Tamil Guardian newspaper reports that over the preceding six-week period, 11 LTTE cadres were killed, as well as two civilians — a university lecturer and a journalist. The LTTE has charged that several of the attacks on its cadres were carried out with the collusion of the army.
Meanwhile, Tamil National Alliance member of parliament Selvam Adaikalanathan has written to Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga complaining about the army's establishment of new checkpoints in the Mannar and Vavuniya districts in the north of Sri Lanka. He said the checkpoints were intimidating refugees who fled their homes during the war from returning to their homes, and that they were creating fear that the army is preparing for renewed military action.
For the past two and a half years there has been a ceasefire between the LTTE, which had been fighting for an independent Tamil state in the north and east, and the Sri Lankan government. However the Sri Lankan army has continued to occupy part of the area claimed by Tamils as their homeland.
Peace talks between the LTTE and the former United National Party government made little progress, despite the LTTE's willingness to accept something less than a fully independent Tamil state. The LTTE would accept self-government for the Tamil areas within a united Sri Lanka, provided the self-governing authority has a high level of autonomy. In recent parliamentary elections, the LTTE-aligned Tamil National Alliance won overwhelming support in Tamil areas campaigning on a platform of self-government.
The newly elected United Peoples Freedom Alliance government is even more hostile to Tamil aspirations for self-determination. This seems to have encouraged the army to increase its harassment of Tamils.
The UPFA is an alliance between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Peoples Liberation Front (JVP). The latter, which calls itself Marxist, denies the right of Tamils to self-determination. Relations between the coalition partners are acrimonious, with the JVP complaining it is not being consulted about government decisions.
The presence of a self-described Marxist party in government has not stopped the Sri Lankan armed forces from forging closer links with the US military. The US and Sri Lanka will co-host a multinational "peace-keeping" exercise in southwest Sri Lanka next month, involving troops from Nepal, Bangladesh and Mongolia, as well as Sri Lanka and the US.
From Green Left Weekly, June 23, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.