Assassinating Rajiv Gandhi was a big blunder by a short-sighted LTTE

The newly elected chief minister of Sri Lanka’s eastern provincial council was a child soldier in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), only 15 years old, when former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991. In his first interview with an Indian newspaper, S. Santira Kanthan, alias Pillayan, calls the assassination a big mistake on the part of LTTE. Edited excerpts:

What made you join the LTTE and what do you think about it now?
I joined the LTTE in 1991 when I was 15 years old and I thought that through the armed struggle, we could achieve the rights of the Tamil people.

One time the LTTE was very strong, the people believed that it was the only hope for the Tamils, but now they are struggling. That is why the people ended up voting for us.

Why did you leave the LTTE?

In 2004, differences between the northern and eastern provinces became accentuated. I am very attached to the Eastern Province people because I was born there and I know how they were discriminated by the LTTE. I knew that it would be difficult to get Tamil Eeelam (independent homeland for which the Tamil rebels are battling) because the LTTE started killing their own Tamil people. The killing of Rajiv Gandhi was a big blunder which we will never be able to rectify. We lost the dream of Tamil Eelam and left the LTTE and thought better to start a political party through which we can get the aspirations of the Tamil-speaking people (fulfilled).

Where were you when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated?
I was in the LTTE training camp.

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Ex-rebels’ party to support Rajapaksa

Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikkal (TMVP), the LTTE rebel group-turned-political party, has formally joined the All-Parties Representative Committee (APRC) constituted by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to find a solution to the ethnic conflict.

The TMVP was invited to join the APRC by its chairman Tissa Vitharana, after its impressive performance during the election, held in May, in the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC).

Minister Vitharana said the TMVP had nominated Batticaloa Mayor Sivageetha Prabhakaran to represent it at the APRC. The committee is expected to meet next week.

The APRC has not been convened for a while after the Jathika Hela Urumaya and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna suspended their participation pending the accommodation of the TMVP in the committee, said Mr. Vitharana.

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http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/15/stories/2008071555551300.htm

British official to meet Chandrakanthan

Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan is expected to meet British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown. The British official is scheduled to arrive in Colombo today (14) on a four-day official visit.

During his visit Lord Malloch-Brown is scheduled to hold discussions with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, and several other government officials.

The meeting with Chandrakanthan is expected to take place in Trincomalee. Recently, a high level EU delegation declined to meet Chandrakanthan, an ex-LTTE cadre and the leader of the breakaway LTTE faction.

This is Lord Malloch-Brown’s first visit to Sri Lanka after becoming State Minister. He has visited Sri Lanka twice before as Deputy Secretary-General of the UN.

xtracted from,
http://www.island.lk/2008/07/14/news2.html

TMVP accepts Karuna as Leader

Following a crucial politburo meeting and amidst conflicting reports regarding a leadership struggle the TMVP yesterday re-affirmed that Karuna Amman was their leader and present Chief Minister of East Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan was its deputy leader.

TMVP spokesman Azath Moulana told the Daily News yesterday

that the recent media frenzy about a rift within the party since the arrival of Karuna Amman was without basis and the story was the result of an LTTE attempt to create a wrong impression among the public.

TMVP leader Karuna Amman who was deported by British authorities following a short jail term for violating immigration regulations in UK returned to the island recently.

Moulana added that there was no dispute regarding the Chief Minister’s position in the East and the present Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan would continue to hold the post until the end of his term.

He said during Saturday’s meeting where all 13 members took part the politburo had discussed at length the current political trends and the TMVP’s future plans.

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Karuna returns as LTTE eyes the East

LTTE renegade Commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman returned to Sri Lanka this evening from London. His return was preceded by newspaper reports of the former LTTE 'Colonel' threatening to allegedly return to the ranks of the LTTE.

In Karuna's absence, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan alias Kubeiran became the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, a post he said he would cede to his superior, Karuna upon his return. It will be interesting to see whether this pledge is actually carried through.

Informed sources told this site that Karuna's return has come at a time when LTTE's current 'Special Commander' to the East, Keerthi and his band of Jeyanthan Brigade cadres are planning to create havoc in the Eastern Province.

The Karuna group, which broke into two groups, became one after Karuna's arrest and detention. After Pillayan became Chief Minister, it became virtually impossible for TMVP cadres to engage in open combat with the growing LTTE units in the East.

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http://defencewire.blogspot.com/2008/07/karuna-returns-as-ltte-eyes-east.html

Wimal-Pillaiyan in ‘historic’ pow-wow

National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa yesterday appeared to have found a new political ally in the shape of Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan, who pledged his support to the NFF if it decided to compete in the Eastern Province.

In an event which resembled the reunion of two long-separated brothers amidst surprising ‘closeness,’ the Eastern Province Chief Minister who later addressed the media, briefly said that the discussions between the two parties had turned out successfully and that the TMVP would support the NFF if the occasion demanded.

“If the NFF decides to take part in elections in the east, we will support them. We plan to meet again in the future for further discussions because the discussions we had today were highly successful,” Pillayan said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by NFF Leader Weerawansa. “This was our first meting with TMVP Leader Pillaiyan and we hope to meet again in the future to discuss the political situation prevailing in Sri Lanka,” Weerawansa added.

Meanwhile, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP K.D. Lalkantha said that this new “friendship” between the two was nothing that was unexpected since Weerawansa had been acting like a TMVP member during the last few months.

“Wimal has the freedom to meet anybody he wishes to. However, this was something that was waiting to happen. Wimal has been supporting Pillaiyan and the TMVP for the last few months. He justified the armed Pillaiyan’s victory at the Eastern Provincial Council election so this we believe is a step taken by Pillaiyan to express his gratitude to Wimal,” Lalkantha added.

Extracted from,
http://www.nation.lk/2008/06/29/news7.htm
Photos,
http://www.nffsrilanka.com/news.html

“LTTE will have no option but to negotiate”

Sarath Amunugama, Sri Lankan Minister for Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion, says the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, whose strength in the Eastern province now stands reduced, will have to hold negotiations with the government very soon.

On the lines of the provincial elections to the Eastern province held in May, polls would be conducted for the north if and when the province comes under the control of the government security forces. He was speaking to senior journalists at The-Hindu in Chennai on Wednesday. Excerpts.
Dr. Amunugama’s opening remarks:

We are now reaching a critical phase in the relationship between the government and the LTTE. Now, there has been the provincial council election in the east and Mr. Pillayan who was the assistant of Karuna has been made the Chief Minister. Pillayan [Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan] started as a child soldier, graduated through the LTTE. But when there was this conflict with the security forces, Karuna’s group joined hands with us.

The LTTE’s strength in the Eastern province has been largely reduced. Initially we had the local bodies election — elections of Batticaloa and one of the smaller villages. Both were won by Mr. Pillayan. Subsequently, there was the Eastern provincial election. The government and Mr. Pillayan [referring to the electoral pact between the Sri Lankan Freedom Party and Mr. Pillayan’s Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal] won that election.

Now he is the Chief Minister. He is getting on famously with other Chief Ministers. Recently he has been appointed chairman of the Chief Ministers’ Council. That has led to a lot of consequences.

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http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/21/stories/2008062154991100.htm

LTTE providing East Muslim youth arms training in Vanni to target TMVP in the East

News reaching Asian Tribune, from local sources, in the East claim that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are training local Muslim Youths from Akkaraipattu, Amparai and Kaathankudy, Batticaloa and other areas.

It is said that these youths may be affiliated to the Wahabbist Group that is linked to several murders including members of the TMVP. Agents of the LTTE are clandestinely picking up these Muslim youths locally and dispatching them for training in Vanni.

The purpose for the LTTE giving these Muslim youths training is clear as it is their intension to manipulate and make use of the Wahabbist Group to target members of the TMVP and possibly other democratic political groups in the East.

Extracted from,
http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/11755

Two local government members killed in eastern Sri Lanka

Ayyathurai Pushpanadan (27), the Deputy Chairman of the Eruvilpattu, Kaludavil Pardeshiya Sabha (local council), and Arasakoon Pullei Mohandas (30), a member of the same local council, were murdered by unidentified gunmen at Kalawanchikudi, Batticaloa, in this afternoon.

According to police sources, two motorbike-riding gunmen shot at the victims, who were traveling in a three-wheeler around 12.30 PM today. Both victims were members of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a political party that had emerged victorious at the recently-held local government polls in the Batticaloa district.

TMVP spokesperson Asad Maoulana said the party strongly condemns the violence committed against its political activists.

Police are conducting further investigations.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/June2134231JR.html

APRC to include TMVP JHU, MEP to continue with proceedings

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has responded positively to the inclusion of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) to the All Party Representative Committee (APRC).

With this new development the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and the Jathika Hela Urumaya, the parties which insisted on the participation of the TMVP at the APRC have withdrawn their boycott and decided to continue with the APRC proceedings from this week, Minister of Science and Technology and Chairman of the All Party Representative Committee Prof. Tissa Vitharana said.

Prof. Vitharana told the Sunday Observer that one-and-a-half months ago the Jathika Hela Urumaya and Mahajana Eksath Peramuna kept away from the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) proceedings for not including the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), the breakaway party from the LTTE to the APRC.

“However, I brought this matter to the attention of the President who decides on the parties that represent the APRC.

Following the performance of the TMVP at the local government polls and thereafter at the Provincial Council polls in the eastern province the President took a positive stance with regard to the participation of the TMVP at the APRC sessions.

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http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/06/01/pol01.asp

Tamil to head Sri Lankan CMs’ forum

Sri Lanka’s first Tamil Chief Minister, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan of the Eastern Province, on Saturday became the first Tamil chairman of the Chief Ministers’ Forum, an all-Island body.

Pillayan was appointed Chairman of the Forum for the next four months, at its 24th. meeting in Badulla in the Uva Province of South Sri Lanka.

It was agreed that the next meeting would be held in Batticaloa, Pillayan’s pocket borough in the east, signifying confidence that the area had been cleared of the LTTE.

In his speech, Pillayan did not mince words when he spoke of the rights of the provinces enshrined in the Sri Lankan constitution. He said there would be no lasting peace in the country if the powers devolved to the provincial councils under the 13th Amendment continued to be withheld.

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US mulls military support to Lanka

Sri Lanka can look forward to US military assistance to crack down on LTTE terrorism as the United States is now considering to lift the arms embargo following the recent release of child soldiers by the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP).

The United States which has come down hard on terrorism, suspended air and maritime surveillance assistance to Sri Lanka last year citing two reasons - recruitment of child soldiers by the TMVP and human rights violations.

US Ambassador Robert O. Blake told the Sunday Observer that there was a possibility of resuming military assistance to the government to defend the LTTE.

“US military assistance is currently suspended due to two provisions in the US law. The first being child soldiers. The TMVP has released over 50 child soldiers and this is a very good sign”, he said.

Blake said that the US had welcomed the move publicly and hope they would release more.

According to UNICEF figures over 100 child soldiers were still in the custody of the TMVP, he said.

“The US believes that we will be able to lift that particular restriction and to continue to provide military assistance if the TMVP releases more children”, he said adding that the United States is working closely with the government to improve its human rights record too.

Blake said that US military assistance in the areas of air and maritime surveillance has helped the government to detect LTTE arms shipments in the territorial waters of the country.

Read more,
http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/05/25/sec02.asp

Political crisis in Lanka's Eastern Province ends

The political crisis in the newly-established Eastern Provincial Council ended on Thursday, when the dissident Muslim leader, MLA M Hisbullah, joined the government as Minister of Health, Youth and Women’s Affairs.

Hisbullah had threatened to walk out of the ruling United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) with two other councilors and reduce the government to a minority, if he was not made Chief Minister after the UPFA won the provincial elections on May 10.

But the head of the UPFA, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, stood firm on his decision to appoint TMVP leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, as the CM in order to help solve the long-standing Tamil problem.

Hisbullah was willing to reconsider his threat if he was offered important portfolios like Health, Education and Land, but Rajapaksa offered only Health and stuck to his stand. It is believed that Muslim religious leaders urged Hisbullah to accept the President’s offer and not precipitate a Muslim-Tamil communal problem.

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Pilleyan' sworn in as Chief Minister

Leader of the TMVP, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pilleyan was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council before President Mahinda Rajapaksa today (May 16).

Chandrakantha obtained the highest number of preferential votes from the Batticaloa District in the recently concluded Provincial Council elections.

Extracted from,
http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5871&Itemid=44
Photo,
http://www.dinamina.lk/2008/05/17/mainpic.asp?pic=mainpic_L.jpg

“Col” Karuna may face deportation

Rebel LTTE leader “Col” Karuna Amman, who was serving a jail sentence here after being found guilty of travelling to the U.K. on an allegedly forged Sri Lankan passport, was on Friday released and transferred to an immigration detention centre pending a decision on whether he should be deported back to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan High Commission sources said they had not received any request to issue travel documents that would enable it to deport ``Col” Karuna. Human rights groups want him to be tried for war crimes following allegations that his Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) which he formed after breaking away from LTTE in 2004 was involved in murders, torture and abductions.

The BBC quoted the Crown Prosecution Service, responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in England and Wales, as saying that according to the police there was “insufficient evidence” to provide a realistic prospect of his conviction.

Extracted from,
http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/10/stories/2008051055031800.htm

Armed group releases underage recruits as vital election nears

The Karuna faction, the Tamil Tiger breakaway group, which has been transforming itself from an armed military group into a political party, released 39 underage recruits in April 2008.

The group, officially known as the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP), released 28 children on 24 April after 11 were let go on 11 April.

The TMVP was formed by the former eastern military commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan, alias Karuna, after he broke away from the Tigers in April 2004. It now controls all nine local governing divisions in its native Batticaloa District in eastern Sri Lanka following a clean sweep in elections on 10 March, and is contesting the Eastern Provincial Council election on 10 May as a coalition partner of the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance.

The TMVP is now led by Karuna’s chief lieutenant Sivasuntharai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the party’s candidate for the chief minister of the province, who has taken pains to rehabilitate the party's image.

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KARUNA SENT FROM A JAIL TO AN IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTER

Karuna Amman alias Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan , the former leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) has been released from a British jail and detained in an immigration centre, May 8.

British Home Ministry source said, “ He is detained under immigration powers of the government.”
It is customary for the British authorities to request the Sri Lanka High Commission in London to issue temporary travel documents for him to be deported to Sri Lanka. Those travel documents are different from a passports and a limited to a piece of paper carrying the photograph of the traveller. Sri Lanka High Commission sources in London said so far they have not received a request for the issuance of such a document from the British Home Office.

He fled to Britain, where his wife Vidhyawathie and her three children are living in London and got arrested, November 2 2007 for travelling with a forged diplomatic passport. He was later convicted on the offence and spent time in the jail.

Political analysts say the breakaway of Colonel Karuna, the man who was in charge of the Eastern Province under the LTTE was the beginning of the end of the Tamil terrorist outfit. After his departure the LTTE lost the sprawling Eastern Province to Sri Lanka government security forces. Karuna’s departure is believed to have supplied a pot of gold in intelligence to the Sri Lankan forces to drive away the Tamil Tigers from the province.

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http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items08/090508-1.html

LTTE breakaway party should not be forced back to the jungles, say Sri Lankan ministers

Several ministers of the Sri Lanka government said today that the Pilliyan group, a LTTE breakaway party that "came out of the jungle", must not be forced back into the jungle.

Speaking at a press briefing at the parliamentary complex today, a group of senior government ministers said that the allegations leveled against the Pilliyan group are false and fabricated by the United National Party (UNP) to justify its “inevitable” electoral defeat.

Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said that the two victims of election-related murders that have been reported so far were also Pilliyan supporters. Therefore, he said it was not the Pilliyan group that committed violence but was subjected to violence. He added that the election itself is a great victory for the government.

Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa charged the UNP with setting up a bogus election-monitoring mission to spread fallacy on election violations. He alleged that the said group, which is comprised of fulltime UNP supporters, is trying to hoodwink the world as an independent group and is engaging in false propaganda.

Extracted from,
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_08/May6191928JR.html

High stakes for Rajapaksa in Eastern Province polls

Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province will, for the first time in 20 years, hold provincial council elections on May 10.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, whose United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is a front-runner, has high stakes in the elections. Rajapaksa has to win to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the nation and the international community.

By all accounts, the contest is neck and neck. But political pundits believe that the UPFA and its ally, the Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP), will likely win. Indeed, the UPFA-TMVP combine is very strong, but it is also feared that it may use every stratagem and resource to get the desired result, given the importance of the poll to it.

If Rajapaksa wins, he will have proved that he has the support of all the three ethnic communities in the East for his project to rid the province of the Tamil Tiger terrorists and separatists, and to restore democracy.

Though predominantly Tamil-speaking, the Eastern province comprising the three districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai, is ethnically mixed. The Muslims constitute 39 per cent, the Tamils 36 per cent, and the Sinhalese, 25 per cent.

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'Prabhakaran not keen on peaceful solution to Lanka strife'

LTTE breakaway faction Tamil Makkal Vidhuthalai Pullikal has accused Tamil Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran of not being keen on a peaceful solution to the 25-year-old ethnic strife in Sri Lanka.

"Prabhakaran only believes in an armed solution to the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka and is not interested in any peaceful means to resolve the crisis," said Pillayan, the TMVP leader and a leading contender for the Chief Ministers post in Eastern Provincial council where elections are to be held next month.

The TMVP split from LTTE towards the end of 2004 following differences between Prabhakaran and his senior colleague Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, better known as Colonel Karuna.

Pillayan alleged in an interview on Thursday that Prabhakaran would rather rule a small portion of Sri Lanka on his own terms rather than coming forward for ending the clashes, which had left about 70,000 people dead in the island nation.

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