Opinion The untamed Tiger

After a brief honeymoon with the Indian Peace-Keeping Force following the latter’s arrival in 1989,Prabhakaran turned against it when he began to see signs of dependence in the local population. Having become confident enough to fight set-piece battles against the Sri Lankan army,he attempted the same tactic against the IPKF. The result was the loss of Jaffna. Better sense then prevailed,and he resorted to guerrilla tactics — which,too,would have met with the same fate if the IPKF had more time and political support.

The question is: how will posterity remember Prabhakaran? Militarily and administratively,he was a leader par excellence; the way he raised,trained and equipped the LTTE was brilliant. He not only motivated the LTTE cadres,but also kept them motivated over three decades. A small example: after the fall of Jaffna,as LTTE cadres re-grouped in the jungles,we intercepted innumerable messages reporting critically ill cases and no medicines. The stock answer from Prabhakaran,or his headquarters,used to be to give the patient cyanide. And yet motivational levels remained high. This ability to motivate and maintain that level is a quality that our military schools would be well-advised to study — though use of cyanide pills or of death with a tyre around the neck could hardly be a recommended option. He perfected the use of suicide bombers,raised a navy and an air force and put in place a very effective public relations organisation that created the illusion of a victim fighting for his people’s rights.

But on the political front he was a disaster. From humility in the days I knew him,he became egoistic and imperious. As the Tamil activist Dr Rajini Thiranagama wrote in her 1989 book The Broken Palmyra (for writing which she was assassinated,apparently by the LTTE,a few weeks later): “The LTTE religion was hierarchical. The common man counted for little except as devotees. Militants from other groups,whatever their contributions,were counted as criminals or anti-social elements. Only LTTE members could make sacrifices,be counted as martyrs and become gods. One should not underrate such a religion which has a resemblance to the official religion of the Third Reich.”

The servility — not merely sycophancy — this power created led Prabhakaran into many political blunders. On September 28,1987 a peace-cum-autonomy deal was presented to Prabhakaran at the IPKF headquarters,giving Tamils everything they wanted,less independence. Prabhakaran accepted the deal in our presence at 5 pm but two hours later,on returning to Jaffna,he called up to say the deal was not acceptable. The main reason for these repeated refusals,we were to realise,was that any deal ushering in a democratic system was totally unacceptable to Prabhakaran; only a dictatorship with him in unquestioned command could be accepted. He spurned many such opportunities resulting in untold misery for the population he sought to protect. It became apparent to us who knew him that,till he lived,no peace deal could be arrived at and the tribulations of Tamils in Sri Lanka would continue. He failed to see the changed environment where the world started to see him for what he had become.

With his death a great opportunity presents itself. For the government there must be magnanimity in victory; for the Tamils the realisation that the LTTE’s defeat begins a new era in their political fortunes which they must grab with both hands to take their rightful place as free and equal citizens. Remember,the LTTE’s battered remnants could still resurface if the Tamils feel that they have not got a fair deal. On the other hand,if a fair and honourable deal is worked out,these remnants would be like fish out of water. India can help heal wounds: while food,water,medicines and so on will be welcome assistance in the relief and rehabilitation process,another field is our expertise in resurrecting lifeless towns and villages through efficient civil services — as the IPKF so successfully did in Jaffna,through then-Brigadier R.I.S. Kahlon.

The writer,as the GOC-in-C Southern Command,was overall force commander of the IPKF express@expressindia.com