Green Man has taken everyone by surprise
(This is the text of the speech that Prabha really wanted to deliver on 'Heroes Day'....)
Enemies, Countrymen and Sinhalese,

I didn't think that I would ever be talking to you in this manner because I prefer sending messages through bomb blasts and landmines but even I have to accept that the world is now changing and that I have to change with it.

But what surprises me is how everyone wants to analyse every word that I say to see whether we have given up our demand for a separate state and whether we have ceased our armed struggle. It really makes me laugh when people ask "Did he actually say he is giving up Eelam?" or "What did he really mean when he said that?"

After all, none of us including Satellite, the Green Man and even people like Bush, Saddam and Osama never really say what they want to say and I would have thought you people already knew that. All of us say what our people want us to say and that is all there is to it.

Then, it also makes me laugh to see your people finding fault with the Green Man for organising and attending that Oslo meeting with Bala, calling him a traitor for that.
Just see what he has achieved with that: he tricked us into attending the meeting and we did just that because we thought we were gaining some international credibility instead of being branded 'terrorists'.

But what we got in return was a slap in the face by that American chap who said that we were still in fact terrorists till we promise we won't take up arms again. And, when Bala tries to tell something to offset that damage, you react by trying to analyse every word that he said!

But of course, it does seem that contrary to expectations we do seem to have been taken for a ride by the Green Man which is quite the opposite of what we wanted to do, though few would give him credit for that! In his own words, he said that he would like to see the 'peace process' become "irreversible" and that indeed seems to be happening even though I don't enjoy this at all.

The problem with all of you who sit and analyse the so-called process is that you do not for a moment consider what will ultimately happen to the man who decides on the process-me.

And what I would like to know now is what is there in it for me while you chaps are passing 200-year death sentences and our neighbouring giant is offering a reward for my head. Are you chaps willing to sacrifice all of that in return for peace? I have yet to hear anyone saying 'yes' to that!

But of course, I am not unduly worried. I still have some tricks up my sleeve. In fact, at times I wonder whether I should really bother about the prospect of peace talks succeeding. Why should I, when Satellite is there to sabotage it all? I only have to utter a few words about a 'homeland' for our people and there she is talking about protecting the country! With enemies like that, who needs friends?

So, don't bother to read too much into what everyone says or does. I'll just go along for the moment but I do admit that I have to be careful about what the Green Man is planning for all of us-the way he is doing it, it may be very difficult for us to say 'no' to what he is offering!

And, by the way, just in case we settle for something short of a separate state, don't believe that everyone will live happily ever after. Why, we can always trust Rauff's brethren to spoil the party!


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