In one instance of a quiet chat with Velupillai Prabhakaran, I asked him for his vision of a settlement with the Sri Lankan state. His face imperturbable and his pupils fixing me in an unblinking stare, he answered in polite Tamil that a settlement was out of the question and that Eelam was not a negotiable idea. The inflexible man — a consummate guerrilla tactician, and an inspiring leader to his cadres — showed till the end his limited grasp of strategic purpose. In the process, he assassinated not just foes, but friends and well wishers, loyal colleagues, moderate Tamils and innumerable innocents. That the good of the Tamil people can be obtained within the Sri Lankan state remained beyond his mindset.

The success of Sri Lanka’s military in liberating the entire territory of LTTE has been a slow and long process. The late Lakshman Kadirgamar, as foreign minister, had worked to get the LTTE declared a terrorist organisation by the international community. This led to the freezing of its accounts and an end to its operations from foreign soils. The building of a national consensus by President Rajapakse on full-scale military operations had led to 90 per cent public support in the country. The creation of the Eastern Province under a Tamil leader by masterminding a split in the LTTE top leadership had reduced Prabhakaran’s capacities by half. The multi-pronged military offensive to seize back territory from the LTTE was a long and costly strategy but forced Prabhakaran into conventional defence. The LTTE’s strong card of terror attacks began to lose momentum and impact.

... contd.