(August 07, 2010, Colombo - Lanka Polity) According to pro-government Business Today of Sri Lanka, 'Kumaran Pathmanathan was the international chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE). He was the mastermind behind the arms procurement, shipping and financial networks of the LTTE abroad.' Notably, he is not linked in with any direct crime like the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, although the pro-government media often said so previously.
KP is currently in the custody of the Government, says the Business Today, although the government contradicts this idea. However, KP says in Business Today interview "Even I do not know when I will be released. My life is like this but I do not care about that." He adds. "The Government has given me security but I am under house arrest."
One year ago on August 5, 2009, Thambiaiya Selvarasa Pathmanathan alias “KP” was taken into custody in Kuala Lumpur at First Tune Hotel on 316 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman Road and he was brought to Colombo the following day. Some government officials have accepted that they had rapport with this then notorious terrorist as they had branded him, since 2007 during the time he was sidelined from the organization in 2003. However with the escalation of the conflict Prabakaran reappointed him in January 2009 as the Chief of International Relations. He claimed himself as the leader of the LTTE following the death of Prabakaran.
KP's role is clearly dubious. Present LTTE elements accuse him of being a double agent. His arrest at a hotel in Malaysia was an arranged affair according to them. It could be a move protect him from his own brethren in LTTE. However, KP said in the Business Today interview that he was arrested.
He said to D.B.S. Jeyaraj, "I was sitting in the Hotel room talking to former LTTE political commissar Nadesan’s brother and son who had come down from England to Malaysia.I then got a telephone call from Canada. It was Ragavan from the CMR radio . The reception was not good. So I excused myself and went out.
"I sat outside on a chair in the lobby and kept talking. Suddenly a group of Malaysian officials surrounded me. One of them said “Very sorry Mr.KP” and grasped my phone. It fell to the ground and was picked up by an officer. They asked me to come with them. I had no choice but to go with them.
"I was taken to the immigration detention centre in KL and kept there for nearly 36 hours for about two days and a night. I had to sleep there in the detention centre room. I realised from their conversation that I was going to be officially deported. But I was not sure whether it was going to be Sri Lanka, India ,USA or somewhere else.
"Then I was taken to the KL airport where a Sri Lankan airlines plane was waiting. Then I knew I was going to Colombo. I was taken into the plane through the economy class entrance and then moved inside to the business class. There I was formally handed over to some Sri Lankan officials and brought to Colombo."
Anyway, according to Business Today during the past few months his persona has changed significantly. He speaks about building trust between all communities and the need for all to live together. He stresses the need to forget the past in order for the country to move forward.
From government side, we see, if it was true, bringing their man KP back home and providing him with an opportunity to join in mainstream politics appears as ending the conspiracy in one sense. He could be manipulated much effectively disintegrate Tamil Diaspora politics if he was planted in it.
LTTE so far had the credit of having sleepers or moles like Babu that assassinated late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. But what if the successor of Prabakaran was a mole of the government?
In an interview with D.B.S. Jeyaraj, KP says, "Let me tell this clearly. When the Sri Lankan intelligence officers began talking to me there were two choices for me. One was to confront them and the other was to cooperate. If I confronted I would have had to face long prison term and not be of any use to anyone. But if I cooperated I could win their trust and confidence. This may have given me an opportunity to do be of some service to our people.
"If the struggle was still continuing and my leader was alive then I would have willingly challenged the govt and not cooperated. I would have faced any consequence. But that was not so. Everything was over. So there was no point in confronting. So I chose to cooperate."
The writer feels KP is genuine at least at this point unless he is the simple man read through his recent media interviews. Many former sympathizers of LTTE now seek him being imprisoned. But the government, especially the Defense Secretary has kept his word so far to KP without betraying him to law. We are living in a country that so many past errors have surmounted the present. We have to hail the unconventional minds if they contribute progressively to social development.
It seems Prabakaran has taken away all the glory of the Tamil struggle with his death. No more heroes. In that sense, Past is the Past as KP says in the headline of the Business Today interview.
'.....when we look at the post conflict situation in our country we have to work hard to bring economic opportunities to the war affected people. We need to rebuild their lives. It is with this aim that we established the North East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO) to work and provide facilities to the conflict affected communities.'
Tamils actually need to uplift the lives of the communities that lived long in the island without migrating bearing all the brunt of prolonged war. It is very easy for the rulers to create and maintain hostility between the Tamil Diaspora and the local communities even in an environment the government does not address the political issues of the Tamils if Tamil Diaspora continues to wish the plight of the local Tamils to deepen broadening their opportunities to proceed in the path of struggle they have now chosen.
The avenue opened by the autocratic Sri Lanka government for the Tamil Diaspora is like this as KP points out: "As of now NERDO is only a registerd organisation and we are planning to work with the Government. We need to understand that if any Non-Governmental Organisation wishes to work for the people they should cooperate with the Government. We ensure transparency in all of our activities, including financial accounts. There is no purpose of an NGO if they are corrupt or become involved in politics. We cannot do that. We are 100 percent transparent and whatever projects that we do we obtain approval from the Government. Therefore NERDO is working with the Government because if we do not cooperate we would not be able to work."
Tamil Diaspora activists that has large and reasonable ego will not like to accept these conditions directly. This is where KP can place himself comfortably as a coordinator.
KP highlights transparency and it is a good point in the context the NGOs made the social work sector a mess. One can question the rationality of the corrupt government's search for NGO purity. But it is the NGO's own responsibility to clear their names in whatever the opportunity given to them.
KP says, "NERDO is totally different it has been established entirely for the people. They can come to our office and meet our staff who are willing to give answers 24 hours a day. Anyone who comes to our office will be able to see that we do not have a hidden agenda. TRO (Tamil Rehabilitation Organization) made the mistake, but because of that you cannot say that NERDO is going to make the same mistake. It is entirely for the people."
Keep your trust on his integrity as the mastermind behind the arms procurement, shipping and financial networks of the LTTE abroad even though he could be a double agent. He is still the LTTEman and TRO, surrender your funds or perish. "I will give them some more time. At one time Dr Maheshwaran was also in charge of the TRO; we also know who is in charge of the TRO in every country. Slowly they are changing their minds. They have to answer to the people and if they do not, when the people in the Diaspora ask them what is happening they will have to answer. They cannot be like this for long. It is the people's money. They have to utilise the money for the betterment of the lives of the people. They do not have the right to keep the money."
"Actually I would like to point out that there is a war between truth and lies; two extremes. One section repeats the lies but what we are saying is actually the truth. There are people who are talking about starting the arm struggle and unnecessarily blaming the Government in the pretext of trying to rebuild the LTTE and collect funds. This is not the way to solve the problem or rebuild the lives of our people. We have to accept the reality. The war is over. We have to unite and rebuild our people and our country.
"For more than 2500 years we have been friends and brothers in this country. Some third party came and created this problem and we are the victims. Now we have to use our intelligence to bring back life. We can be an example to the world and show that though once we were enemies, now we understand the war is over and we are working together. We have to listen to what the people want on the ground. They realise that they have to live in this country and that we have to live together. This is the reality and thus we cannot speak lies.
"We cannot continue our lives on a dream, I can say ‘ok, continue the arm struggle' but I do not know for how long I can speak the lie. There are sections of the Diaspora who speak in this way while living in western countries, but they need to understand that it is impossible. They have to understand the reality and the new world order. Internationally the arm struggle will never be accepted, separatism will not be accepted. It is a challenge to convince these people and I do not say it is easy but we need to work on it."
KP's interview displays the pathetic situation LTTE is facing in which the present leadership lacks the caliber KP has. Present Diaspora leaders are pro-moderates that appear to be elements that can be easily lured one by one by KP.
Business Today asks, "Rudrakumaran and Nediyavan have been propagating the idea of separatism and the resumption of the arm struggle while living abroad. They have been silent in the recent months. What are the reasons behind their actions?"
KP says, "Nediyavan is nothing. He joined the movement in the 90s and his loyalty lied with Castro. I do not think about this person. Not only is there the Rudrakumaran group and Nediyavan group there is Father Emmanuel, Tamilnet Jeya and also the ex-MP Jayanandamoorthy who was pushed to carry the LTTE flag and claim the Tamil Eelam separate state.
"Actually, this transnational government was formed because there was a need for a democratic organisation as the LTTE was banned all over the world. That is why Jayanandamoorthy was made the coordinator of this movement. What happened during the past year is that they took a U turn. There are people pushing and threatening him, if he did not make the move he would not have been able to survive. He took the LTTE flag and he spoke about separatism. I passed the message to him through my friends that what he is doing is wrong. The purpose of forming the transnational government was different. I feel that he will realise soon. Rudrakumaran will also realise this soon and will think like Dr Maheshwaran and come back to us."
KP tries to express the feelings of his leader Prabakaran and the others who finally were open to the reality as the time to ponder before coming to decision and the military brutality grabbed their opportunity to change their cause. "Prabakaran, myself and other colleagues we worked together and we sacrificed a lot. Now all of them are dead. At that time we thought we were doing the right thing for our people. These people who live abroad and criticise or write something; they do not know the pain. I have a lot of pain, my sister and my brother, they are dead. My parents, they are dead. My brothers are in the rehabilitation centres. I have a lot of pain. I had many people around me but today I am alone. The LTTE was my family, I lost everyone, my friends and my family. Now again they are talking about an arm struggle, what is that? Are they joking? If they talk about an arm struggle again I will be the first person to say no. Not only in Sri Lanka even abroad and also to the others I will tell them, if anyone wants to start an arm struggle again I will be the first to say no. No more arm struggle and separatism in this country. No more pain. For what?"
Can nationalism irrespective of either it is minority and oppressed or majority and oppressive make any progressive contribution to social development? In the post-war Sri Lanka, the writer personally feels 'no'. KP seems reflecting the same although he has not directly stated. "The people have realised one thing; that is we have to live in this country and we need to live with the majority of the people in order to rebuild our lives. This is their thinking and they do not want a separate state and they know the arm struggle is over," says KP.
KP highlights the need of working to uplift the collapsed lives of the local Tamils before thinking of the next stage of the struggle. "The people were affected for 30 years. They need a life. The Diaspora and the political parties should work together at least for five years. Then they can talk. If they genuinely want to work for the people they have to unite." This itself is the struggle. The next stage can be one beyond nationalism, who knows?
KP recalls the past follies of the LTTE's narrow-minded arrogance: "We were alone. Then Balasingham came here I think it was when they were going to Japan for talks. The LTTE did not agree to the peace talks, but Balasingham tried to explain to them the difficulties because we were already in the peace process. If we did not go, the world would be against that. He tried very hard but he lost hope. At that time he spoke to me and said we have to convince the leadership and explain to them and participate in all peace talks. But he couldn't and he told these people that they do not understand the reality. The whole world is going to knock us out and everyone is going to die. Those were his own words."
He also says, "We met the Norwegian Ambassador in Malaysia. I asked their point of view. They said that if things went smoothly with the peace talks we could achieve some kind of settlement. Maybe the federation, that could have been a good chance but we missed the bus. Even those who worked towards peace, who were involved in the peace talks were of the same view. Unfortunately the LTTE members on the ground did not understand the reality.
Who broke the ceasefire and started the war? It is the LTTE. Then the LTTE will lose, that was the thinking at that time. They said that. If we do not understand the reality, if we do not start to work for the ground reality, we will be the same as the dinosaur. That is the truth. Peace is more difficult than arm struggle. We are a small tiny country we are not Russia or any other big country but a small population."
KP seems to have a vision on which he bases his present actions. Tamils will not achieve the expected political freedom from him. Therefore, it is useless to consider him further as a leader of the Tamil political struggle. He alienates himself from politics. But his struggle is rational and should be upheld. Tamils should first built up normalcy within the community before deciding how to proceed the struggle for a better polity.
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