By Charles.S.Perera,

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is unfortunate that Sri Lanka is saddled with political parties such as the UNP and the JVP leaving aside the TNA and the TULF which are not of great importance for a developing Nation. The UNP and JVP are both interested, like Prabhakatran, to fulfill their own dream of having their own government one day rather than in the development of the country and make the people the beneficiary of such development.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The UNP as the main opposition should be interested in the welfare of the country not allowing it to be again pushed into another period of terror and suffering. But UNP has made the statement of warning of the Prime Minister D.M.Jayaratne from what ever channel he had his information, to pass a vote of no confidence on him rather than making it an occasion to make investigations. Because if UNP were to come in to political power one day it would be of interest to them to have first hand information of dangerous manipulations by the Tamilnadu State to destabilise Sri Lanka.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ UNPƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s proposal of a no confidence motion on the Government, which is a favour to India reeks with abject shame. It was Ranil Wickramasinghe the leader of the UNP who was responsible for exposing the names of the elite Sri Lankan army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol who were specialized in carrying out reconnaissance and sabotage operations in deep battle space.

The LTTE training camp in Kulathur, Salem district, India, where the 16th batch was trained in 1985/6. The photographs were taken by Wasanthan, an Indian national employed by the press section of the LTTE.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is said to have resulted in PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s pistol gangs assassinating every one of these valiant officers of the LRRP. Therefore Ranil Wickramasinghe now proposing a vote of no confidence on the Prime Minister for his statement to the Parliament, because it had apparently embarrassed the Indian Defence Minister is inacceptable. Is UNP defending the interest of Sri Lanka and its people or India and its Central Government ?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The statement of the Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne to the Parliament at the debate on the extension of the emergency, whatever its diplomatic repercussion, is a timely adequate warning for the politicians ( of the UNP and JVP as well) and the country to be aware of a danger which is still not over and which would, if not vigilant result in Tamil Nadu with the expatriate Tamils and the Western promoters of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-political dissentionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in developing countries, provoking a terrorist uprising or foreign intervention in Sri Lanka to break up the country.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Our ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-bigƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ neighbour has two different faces, one of which it masks with the one it shows in public. Indian Defence Ministry is more concerned about the damage the fears spoken out by our Prime Minister may cause to its image of leadership in Asia, rather than any danger befalling to Sri Lanka. It tries to be like the ostrich hiding its head in the sand, pretending not aware of any dangerous plots being hatched in secret by the politicians in Tamilnadu who have not completely given up promoting terrorism back into Sri Lanka.

LTTE leaders (RƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚L), Sirumalai camp, 1984 – Chief of Intelligence Pottu Amman (M 16), Mannar commander Victor (M203), Trincomalee commander Pulendran (AK47), chairman Prabhakaran (pistol). Batticaloa commander Aruna (Berreta SMG), and Prabhakaran’s bodyguard Lingam (Hungarian AK).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ When the Indian government accused that Sri Lanka Navy had killed two fishermen and put them in the sea, the President of Sri Lanka made a categorical statement that the Sri Lanka Navy had not killed any fishermen. But still the Government of India did not accept the PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Statement and sent the Secretary of Foreign Affairs Nirupama Rao to meet the Government of Sri Lanka as part of IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s investigation of the incident, express IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s concern over the matter, and warn Sri Lanka to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- desist from reacting to speculative and uncorroborated reports.”

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In addition the Consulate General of India in Jaffna took a very high handed decision to interfere with the Justice of Sri Lanka meeting the Judge personally to demand the release of Indian fishermen who had been taken into custody. One questions whether the Consulate General has double employment ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” one in the Consulate and other in the RAW ?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But yet when the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka made a statement to its Parliament to emphasize the need of the extension of the emergency regulations as he had reason to believe that terrorism is not altogether over and done with as it has been reported that there are at least three terrorist training Camps in India, India was highly offended by the statement.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Indian Defence Ministry promptly reacted to the statement , demanding the Government of Sri Lanka to desist from making such statements on unsubstantiated information. The Prime Minister had merely said of the probable existence of the terrorist training camps in India but did not say they were run by the Indian Government or by its Secret Agency the RAW.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But Indian External Affairs Ministry ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚« jumped to the conclusion ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚» that the Prime Minister had said that the Indian Government is running three terrorist training camps in India: Indian Defence MinistryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s anger appears strange !

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ However, no Government whether India with its RAW, USA with its CIA or Israel with its Mossad, would accept that its Secret Service takes part in subversive activities in other Countries.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Take for instance the Central Intelligence Agency of USA. It had been responsible for ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- Covert United States foreign regime change actionsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ . The Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in the Internet has the following to say about it:

The United States government has been involved in and assisted in the overthrow of foreign governments (more recently termed regime change) without the overt use of U.S. military force. Often such operations are tasked to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Many of the governments targeted by the US have been democratically elected, rather than authoritarian governments or military dictatorships. In many cases the governments toppled were replaced by dictatorships, sometimes installed with assistance by the U.S.

Regime change has been attempted through direct involvement of US operatives, the funding and training of insurgency groups within these countries, anti-regime propaganda campaigns, coup d’ƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚©tats, and other, often illegal, activities usually conducted as operations by the CIA. The US has also accomplished regime change by direct military action, such as following the US invasion of Panama in 1989 and the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚»

In Iran in 1953: the CIA worked with the United Kingdom to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeqh who had attempted to nationalize Iran’s petroleum industry, threatening the profits of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

In GuatamalaMain in 1954; The CIA participated in the overthrow of the democratically-elected government of Guatemala led by Jacobo Arbenz. Arbenz was elected without a secret ballot. He considered himself a communist and joined the Communist Party in 1957.

In Brazil in 1964: A democratically-elected government headed by President JoƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚£o Goulart was successfully overthrown by a CIA-supported coup in March 1964

In Ghana in 1966: On 24 February 1966, Kwame Nkrumah, the President of Ghana, was overthrown in a military coup backed by the CIA while on a state visit to North Vietnam and China.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covert_United_States_foreign_regime_change_actions

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The list is long. But these were only to show that it is the current practice of big countries against its small neighbouring states to keep them safe and harmless within their orbits of influence.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The fact that India had been maneuvering to sabotage Sri Lanka is evident from the information we now get through Indian Journalists themselves (Wikileaks by The Hindu). When Sri Lanka had asked India to provide it with a 3D radar system it had provided only a 2 dimensional system which stops every seven hours and the LTTE terrorists managed to fly into Katunayake and bomb the airport and fly back undetected. Was the LTTE terrorist ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚« in the know ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚» of the time when the radar system stops for seven hours ?

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Indian Defence Ministry of course has the right to defend itself, but there is lot of material in the internet that speaks of Indian covert action by its Secret Service. And they refer to the terrorist training camps in Kalathur , Salem District in India. One of them is the Federation of American Scientists Website (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/india/raw/index.html

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The two photographs come from.(http://sundaytimes.lk/970119/plus4.html )

LTTE: the Indian connection

Following is an excerpt from researcher Rohan Gunaratne’s latest book “Sri Lanka Tamil Insurgency”. This chapter is published to coincide with Indian External Affairs Minister I. K. Gujral’s visittoSri Lanka beginning today as a grim reminder of Indo-Lanka relations of yesteryear

From the late 1970s, the LTTE developed links with a number of Tamil Nadu political groups-they were comparatively small in organization and membership.

The most significant of them were Dravida Kazhagam headed by Veramani, the Kamraj Congress headed by Nedumaran and the Pure Tamil Movement headed by Perinchintanarayanan. To date, the leaders as well as cadres remain strong supporters of the LTTE. Veeramani called a meeting of all his key party organizers throughout Tamil Nadu and asked them to support the LTTE. Nedumaran wrote a biography of Prabhakaran. Perinchintanarayanan gave his property for the use of the LTTE. Thereafter, the LTTE developed excellent relations with M.G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, who succeeded each other as chief ministers

The LTTE training camp in Kulathur, Salem district, India, where the 16th batch was trained in 1985/6. The photographs were taken by Wasanthan, an Indian national employed by the press section of the LTTE.

Although Tamil insurgents had established a few training camps in Tamil Nadu in 1982, there was no official assistance from the Central Government of India prior to August 1983 In the eyes of many Indian hard- liners, Sri Lanka since 1977 had stepped out of the non-aligned orbit and had become an ally of the West. There were Israeli intelligence operatives, British counter insurgency experts, South African mercenaries and rumours about offering Trincomalee one of the finest deep water harbours to the US navy. Sri Lanka had good relations with Pakistan and China, two countries that had fought border wars with India and they were in the process of stepping up military assistance to Colombo. Further, President J.R. Jayewardene of Sri Lanka did not enjoy with Premier Indira Gandhi the same warm relationship he had with her father, Premier Jawaharlal Nehru. After Premier Indira Gandhi, also the leader of the powerful Congress (I) Party, took a policy decision to support Sri Lankan northern insurgency from August 1983. The need to have leverage over Colombo was adequately demonstrated by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the agency also responsible for advancing India’s secret foreign policy goals. Within her inner circle, the decision was justified. Geopolitics and domestic compulsions validate the rationale.

The Third Agency of RAW a supra intelligence outfit, was entrusted with the task. Within a year, the number of Sri Lanka Tamil training camps in Tamil Nadu mushroomed to 32. By mid 1987, over 20,000 Sri Lankan Tamil insurgents had been provided sanctuary, finance, training and weapons either by the central government, state government of Tamil Nadu or by the insurgent groups themselves. While most of the initial training was confined to Indian military and paramilitary camps in Uttara Pradesh, specialized training was imparted by the Indian instructors attached to RAW to Sri Lankan insurgents in New Delhi, Bombay and Vishakhapatnam. The most secretive training was conducted in Chakrata, north of Dehra Dun, India’s premier military academy for training service personnel, where RAW had also imparted training to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Tibetan dissidents.

With the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987, RAW assistance culminated. Rajiv Gandhi ordered the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to fight the LTTE, when it went back on its pledge to surrender its weapons. The LTTE-IPKF war, apparently deprived the LTTE of its invaluable base, India. But, Tamil Nadu assistance to the LTTE continued even after M.G. Ramachandran’s death in December 1987. Tamil Nadu State assistance under the Karunanidhi Administration despite the presence of the IPKF, continued for the LTTE. Although the LTTE was at war with India, Tamil Nadu still remained LTTEƒÆ’†’ƒ¢¢”š¬‚¢s main source of supplies.

The Indian Net

LTTE leaders (RƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚L), Sirumalai camp, 1984 – Chief of Intelligence Pottu Amman (M 16), Mannar commander Victor (M203), Trincomalee commander Pulendran (AK47), chairman Prabhakaran (pistol). Batticaloa commander Aruna (Berreta SMG), and Prabhakaran’s bodyguard Lingam (Hungarian AK).

Throughout the IPKF episode and until Rajiv GandhiƒÆ’†’ƒ¢¢”š¬‚¢s assassination in 1991, the LTTE continued to maintain a substantial presence in India. When the law enforcement agencies stepped up surveillance, the LTTE moved a bulk of its cadres from Tamil Nadu to other towns such as Mysore, Bangalore and Bombay. Even at the height of the IPKF-LTTE confrontation, the LTTE had twelve sections in India to manage:

(1) Intelligence
(2) Communications
(3) Arms Production
(4) Procurement of explosives
(5) Propaganda
(6) Political work
(7) Food and essential supplies
(8) Medicines
(9) Fuel supplies
(10) Clothing
( 11 ) Transport
(12) Finance and currency conversion

The LTTE had also converted Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu, and nine other Tamil Nadu districts, into centres for war supplies to the LTTE. Each centre was linked by a sophisticated wireless network. Individual units carried Sanyo walkie talkie sets. The centres of war supplies and other activities were:

( I ) Dharmapuri: Procurement of explosives
(2) Coimbatore: Arms and ammunition manufacturing
(3) Salem: Explosives manufacturing and military clothing manufacturing
(4) Periya (Erode) Military clothing manufacturing
(5) Vedaraniyam: Coastal area from where supplies were dispatched for the LTTE
(6) Madurai: Transit area
(7) Thanjavur: Communications centre
(8) Nagapattnam: Landing area for supplies from LTTE deep sea going vessels.
(9) Rameswaram: Refugee arriving area and recruitment
(10) Tiruchi: Treatment of wounded LTTE cadres
(11) Tuticorin: LTTE trade in gold, silver, narcotics and other merchandise goods
(12) Madras: Liaison with Tamil Nadu political leaders.

Implications for India

The LTTE-lndia nexus did not secure the geopolitical security New Delhi needed from Sri Lanka. It weakened Indian as well as Sri Lankan domestic security. In many ways, the presence of a foreign military strengthened the fighting spirit of LTTE and weakened the anti-terrorist capability of the Sri Lankan forces, then engaged in an anti-subversive campaign in the South The organization gained mastery of guerrilla warfare by fighting the fourth largest military in the world. The LTTE suffered heavy causalities but replenished their ranks and gained a confidence paralleled by the Viet Cong and the Afghan Mujahidin. LTTE also innovated new weapons, mostly projectiles and mines. Johnny mine, the anti personnel mine invented by Prabhakaran, has at least claimed 5,300 Indian and Sri Lankan war causalities. Many Tamil Nadu political leaders from Nedumaran to Gopalasamy and Ramakrishnan visited the LTTE jungle base – known as the one four base complex over the years – and expressed solidarity with Prabhakararn.

The role of the IPKF in Sri Lanka became a politically sensitive issue. When the IPKF returned to India, under the National Front government of V.P. Singh, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi did not visit the port of Madras to welcome the Indian soldiers. Even after the IPKF departed the LTTE continued to maintain excellent relations with Tamil Nadu politicians. The LTTE had managed to preserve Tamil Nadu as a critical base by retaining the goodwill of the Tamil Nadu leaders.

In fact, when the LTTE hit teams under the one eyed Jack Sivarasan assassinated the anti-LTTE EPRLF leader Padmanabha and his colleagues in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister Karunanidhi asked the Tamil Nadu police and the state agencies to turn a blind eye. A few months later, the LTTE used the very same infra- structure of the LTTE in Tamil Nadu to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The LTTE penetration of the Tamil Nadu polity was so good that a decision reached at a high level meeting comprising intelligence agencies in New Delhi about anti-LTTE operations was conveyed to the LTTE within 24 hours. Investigations revealed that the culprit was the then Tamil Nadu Home Secretary and at the instruction of Karunanidhi. The dismissal of Karunanidhi did not prevent the LTTE from continuing to operate in Tamil Nadu. The LTTE made a statement during the subsequent Jayalalitha administration, “If the Tamil Nadu leadership cannot support the LTTE, at least we expect them to be neutral to the LTTE.” This meant that LTTE operations should continue unhindered in the state of Tamil Nadu.

In retrospect, the LTTE-India relationship has been one of love and hate. It is a relationship that will have its ups and downs but a relationship that will nevertheless continue. Despite the fact that the LTTE eliminated Rajiv Gandhi, the last of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty, there will always be a segment of the Tamil. Nadu leaders and people that will support the LTTE. The contradiction stems, from India’s own structure the diversity within India, particularly, the disparity in culture between the Indian Tamils and the rest of India’s polity. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was imperative for the LTTE. If the LTTE did not, the IPKF that withdrew would have returned heralding another period of bloody fighting. Prabhakaran’s calculus was right As a leader, he had done his duty by his rank and file. By assassinating Rajiv Gandhi, he prevented the reintroduction of the IPKF to Sri Lanka. Even for Prabhakaran, it would have been a painful decision. Antagonizing India at the southernmost point of peninsular India meant the permanent closure of the door for creating Tamil Eelam and Prabhakaran becoming its ruler.